Social desirability bias in personality testing: Implications for astronaut selection

The assessment of personality is recognized by space agencies as an approach to identify candidates likely to perform optimally during spaceflights. In the use of personality scales for selection, the impact of social desirability (SD) has been cited as a concern. Study 1 addressed the impact of SD...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta astronautica 2005-07, Vol.57 (2), p.634-641
Main Authors: Sandal, Gro M., Musson, Dave, Helmreich, Robert. L., Gravdal, Lene
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assessments
Astronauts
Astronauts - psychology
Aviation
Correlation
Humans
Men
North Sea
Personality
Personality Assessment - statistics & numerical data
Personality Inventory
Personality Tests
Personnel Selection
Pilots
Populations
Recognition
Rescue Work
Social Desirability
Space Flight
Space life sciences
Women
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Summary:The assessment of personality is recognized by space agencies as an approach to identify candidates likely to perform optimally during spaceflights. In the use of personality scales for selection, the impact of social desirability (SD) has been cited as a concern. Study 1 addressed the impact of SD on responses to the Personality Characteristic Inventory (PCI) and NEO-FFI. This was achieved by contrasting scores from active astronauts ( N = 65 ) with scores of successful astronaut applicants ( N = 63 ) , and between pilots applicants ( N = 1271 ) and pilot research subjects ( N = 120 ) . Secondly, personality scores were correlated with scores on the Marlow Crown Social Desirability Scale among applicants to managerial positions ( N = 120 ) . The results indicated that SD inflated scores on PCI scales assessing negative interpersonal characteristics, and impacted on four of five scales in NEO-FFI. Still, the effect sizes were small or moderate. Study 2 addressed performance implications of SD during an assessment of males applying to work as rescue personnel operations in the North Sea ( N = 22 ) . The results showed that SD correlated negatively with cognitive test performance, and positively with discrepancy in performance ratings between self and two observers. In conclusion, caution is needed in interpreting personality scores in applicant populations. SD may be a negative predictor for performance under stress.
ISSN:0094-5765
1879-2030
DOI:10.1016/j.actaastro.2005.03.011