Chapter 12: Faking on Noncognitive Measures: The Interaction of Cognitive Ability and Test Characteristics

Over the past 15 years, researchers interested in personality testing have debated the impact of applicant faking on validity. Much of the faking research has focused on the effectiveness of social desirability scales used to correct scores. On the whole, research suggests that correcting scores for social desirability does little to improve criterion-related validity (Barrick & Mount, 1996; Ones & Viswesvaran, 1998; Ones, Viswesvaran, & Reiss, 1996). Some have viewed these findings as evidence that applicant faking doesn’t matter (Ones et al., 1996). Others have viewed the findings as misleading, arguing that social desirability scales fail to accurately capture applicant faking (e.g., Goffin & Christiansen, 2003; Snell & McDaniel, 1998; Snell, Sydell, & Lueke, 1999).