A Meta-Analysis of the Faking Resistance of Forced-Choice Personality Inventories

Area of Science:

• Psychological assessment
• Industrial-organizational psychology
• Measurement in psychology

Background:

• Faking, or response distortion, is a concern in self-report measures.
• Forced-choice (FC) inventories are designed to mitigate faking.
• Understanding the faking resistance of different FC formats is crucial for accurate assessment.

Approach:

• A comprehensive meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize existing research on the faking resistance of FC inventories.
• Data from experimental and real-life selection contexts were analyzed to compare faking magnitudes.
• Different FC inventory formats, including quasi-ipsative and ipsative, were examined for their differential resistance to faking.

Key Points:

• FC inventories demonstrate a general resistance to faking behavior.
• Faking is more pronounced in experimental settings than in actual personnel selection processes.
• Quasi-ipsative FC inventories exhibit greater faking resistance than other FC formats, particularly for conscientiousness.

Conclusions:

• FC inventories are a viable tool for reducing response distortion in assessments.
• The context of assessment significantly influences the degree of faking observed.
• Quasi-ipsative FC formats offer enhanced protection against faking, especially for personality traits like conscientiousness.
• Findings have practical implications for improving the validity of personnel selection and psychological testing.