They Don't Do It Often, But They Do It Well: Exploring the relationship between applicant mental abilities and faking

Authors: Levashina, Julia¹; Morgeson, Frederick P.²; Campion, Michael A.³

Source: International Journal of Selection and Assessment, Volume 17, Number 3, September 2009 , pp. 271-281(11)

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Abstract:

Despite its scientific and practical importance, relatively few studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship between job applicant mental abilities and faking. Some studies suggest that more intelligent people fake less because they do not have to. Other studies suggest that more intelligent people fake more because they have increased capacity to fake. Based on a model of faking likelihood, we predicted that job candidates with a high level of mental abilities would be less likely to fake a biodata measure. However, for candidates who did exhibit faking on the biodata measure, we expected there would be a strong positive relationship between mental abilities and faking, because mental abilities increase their capacity to fake. We found considerable support for hypotheses on a large sample of job candidates (N=17,368), using the bogus item technique to detect faking.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2389.2009.00469.x

Affiliations: 1: College of Business Administration, PO Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242-0001, USA., Email: jlevashi@kent.edu 2: Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan State University, N475 North Business Complex, East Lansing, MI 48824-1122, USA 3: Krannert Graduate School of Management, Purdue University, 403 W. State St. West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA

Publication date: 2009-09-01