Situational judgement test - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs) or Inventories (SJIs) are a type of psychological test which present the test-taker with realistic, hypothetical scenarios and ask him to identify an appropriate response. These are generally in a multiple choice

Multiple choice

Multiple choice is a form of assessment in which respondents are asked to select the best possible answer out of the choices from a list. The multiple choice format is most frequently used in educational testing, in market research, and in elections-- when a person chooses between multiple...

format, but represent a distinct psychometric approach from the common knowledge-based multiple choice item. They are often used in industrial-organizational psychology applications such as personnel selection

Personnel selection

Personnel selection is the process used to hire individuals. Although the term can apply to all aspects of the process the most common meaning focuses on the selection of workers.-Overview:The professional standards of industrial psychologists require that any selection system be based on a job...

.

Unlike most psychological tests SJTs are not acquired ‘off-the-shelf

Commercial off-the-shelf

In the United States, Commercially available Off-The-Shelf is a Federal Acquisition Regulation term defining a nondevelopmental item of supply that is both commercial and sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace, and that can be procured or utilized under government contract...

’, but are in fact designed as a bespoke

Bespoke

Bespoke is a term employed in a variety of applications to mean an item custom-made to the buyer's specification...

tool, tailor-made to suit the individual role requirements. This is because SJTs are not a type of test with respect to their content, but are a method of designing tests.

History

The earliest judgement test was a scale in the George Washington University Social Intelligence Test published in 1926.

Situational judgement tests then went on to be used in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

by psychologists in the US military

Military of the United States

The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...

.

Today, SJTs are used in many organisations, are promoted by various consulting firms, and are researched by many.

Example

Everyone in your work group has received a new computer except you. What would you do?

A. Assume it was a mistake and speak to your supervisor.

B. Confront your supervisor regarding why you are being treated unfairly.

C. Take a new computer from a co-worker’s desk.

D. Complain to human resources.

E. Quit.

Advantages over other measures

They show reduced levels of adverse impact, by gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...

and ethnicity
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

, compared to cognitive ability tests.
They use measures that directly assess job relevant behaviours.
They can be administered in bulk, either via pen and paper or on-line.
The SJT design process results in higher relevance of content than other psychometric assessments They are therefore more acceptable and engaging to candidates compared to cognitive ability tests since scenarios are based on real incidents
It is unlikely that practice will enhance candidate performance as the answers cannot be arrived at logically – a response to a situation may be appropriate in one organisation and inappropriate in another.
They can tap into a variety of constructs
Social constructionism
Social constructionism and social constructivism are sociological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena or objects of consciousness develop in social contexts. A social construction is a concept or practice that is the construct of a particular group...

– ranging from problem solving and decision making to interpersonal skills. Traditional psychometric tests do not account for the interaction between ability, personality and other traits.
They can be used in combination with a knowledge based test to give a better overall picture of a candidate's aptitude for a certain job.

Criticisms

The scenarios in many SJTs tend to be brief; therefore candidates do not become fully immersed in the scenario. This can remove some of the intended realism of the scenario and may reduce the quality and depth of assessment.
SJI responses can be transparent, providing more of an index of best practice knowledge in some cases and therefore failing to discriminate between candidates’ work-related performance.
The response formats in some SJIs do not present a full enough range of responses to the scenario. Candidates can be forced to select actions or responses that do not necessarily fit their behavior. They can find this frustrating and this can affect the validity of such measures

Sample test

Assessmentday.com SJT (four questions)

History

Example

Advantages over other measures

Criticisms

Sample test

See also