Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Despite the evidence that assessment centers (ACs) are effective predictors of career advancement and job performance, considerable confusion remains regarding why this is the case. Traditional AC theory and practice suggest it is because the skill dimensions typically evaluated in ACs (e.g. such as critical thinking, organizing and planning, and stress tolerance) represent stable traits that can be assessed across various exercises (Sackett & Dreher, 1982). However, reviews of the empirical findings accumulated over the last 25 years show that correlations between different dimensions within exercises are larger than correlations of the same dimensions across exercises (Lance et al., 2004b). That is, participants tend to score higher on dimensions in one exercise but lower on all these dimensions in another exercise. Person-situation interactionist models suggest that these findings may be due to the interaction of individual differences and exercise characteristics (Lance et al, 2000; Schneider, 1983). Based on these models, exercise form (i.e. group interaction vs. individual presentation) and the competitive nature of the exercise were hypothesized to moderate the relationships between participants’ individual difference variables (i.e. communication apprehension and collectivistic values) and their dimension scores. 282 students participated in oral presentation and group discussion exercises in an assessment center and were scored on their performance by trained raters on oral communication and critical thinking dimensions. Regression results indicated that participants’ scores on critical thinking did vary across exercises depending on their communication apprehension. This demonstrates that performance is likely to vary across exercises depending on salient exercise characteristics and individual characteristics of
Author: Brian D. Blume
Language: English
Subfield: Applied Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W287408046