Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T20:39:40.365Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Clearly Defined Constructs and Specific Situations Are the Currency of SJTs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2016

Lijun Chen*
Affiliation:
College of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
Jinyan Fan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Auburn University
Lu Zheng
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Auburn University
Elissa Hack
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Auburn University
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lijun Chen, College of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, 234 Mengmingwei Hall, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China310058. E-mail: [email protected]

Extract

Although we echo Lievens and Motowidlo's (2016) view that situational judgment test (SJT) research should subscribe to the construct-driven approach, we disagree with their argument on two counts. First, we question whether measuring general domain knowledge represents the only way to advance SJT research. Second, we question whether it is appropriate to downplay the importance of situations in SJTs. In this commentary, we first briefly review construct-driven SJT studies and then share our own experience in developing an SJT for integrity in China using the construct-driven approach. Based on the review and reflection, we come to two major conclusions: (a) construct-driven SJT research has progressed well so far without the reconceptualization of SJTs as measures of general domain knowledge, and (b) specific situations are an important feature of SJTs that should not yet be dismissed.

Type
Commentaries
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bledow, R., & Frese, M. (2009). A situational judgment test of personal initiative and its relationship to performance. Personnel Psychology, 62, 229258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, L. (2009). Cheng xin de ben zhi, ping jia he ying xiang ji zhi: Yan jiu shi jiao xia de zhong xi fang cheng xin [The nature, assessment, and mechanisms of integrity: A research perspective to integrity in Chinese and Western societies]. Beijing, P. R. China: Economic Science Press.Google Scholar
Kaptein, M. (1999). Integrity management. European Management Journal, 17, 625634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lievens, F., & Motowidlo, S. J. (2016). Situational judgment tests: From measures of situational judgment to measures of general domain knowledge. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 9, 322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDaniel, M. A., Morgeson, F. P., Finnegan, E. B., Campion, M. A., & Braverman, E. P. (2001). Use of situational judgment tests to predict job performance: A clarification of literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 730740.Google Scholar
Meijer, L. A. L., Born, M., Zielst, J. V., & Molen, H. T. (2010). Construct-driven development of a video-based situational judgment test for integrity: A study in a multi-ethnic police setting. European Psychologist, 15, 229236.Google Scholar
Motowidlo, S. J., & Beier, M. E. (2010). Differentiating specific job knowledge from implicit trait policies in procedural knowledge measured by a situational judgment test. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 321333.Google Scholar
Mumford, T. V., Iddekinge, C. H. V., Morgeson, F. P., & Campion, M. A. (2008). The team role test: Development and validation of a team role knowledge situational judgment test. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 250267.Google Scholar
Sharma, S., Gangopadhyay, M., Austin, E., & Mandal, M. K. (2013). Development and validation of a situational judgment test of emotional intelligence. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 21, 5783.Google Scholar
Weekley, J. A., & Ployhart, R. E. (2005). Situational judgment: Antecedents and relationships with performance. Human Performance, 18, 81104.Google Scholar