Rapid Response Measurement: Development of a Faking-Resistant Assessment Method for Personality

• Published in: Organizational research methods Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 181 - 207
• Main Authors: Meade, Adam W., Pappalardo, Gabriel, Braddy, Phillip W., Fleenor, John W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2020; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Assessments; Personality; Reliability analysis; Validity; Viability; rapid response measurement; personality; faking; response latency
• ISSN: 1094-4281; 1552-7425
• DOI: 10.1177/1094428118795295

While rating-scale-based assessments have been shown to be useful for measuring a variety of workplace-relevant constructs, assessment length and response distortion present practical limitations on their use. We describe a new type of measurement method termed rapid response measurement (RRM) in which stimuli are presented on a computer screen one at a time in rapid succession and respondents are asked to quickly provide a dichotomous response. Two personality assessments using RRM were developed and reliability and validity evidence across four independent samples were evaluated. Both RRM assessments showed adequate reliability, even at short test lengths, with acceptable levels of convergent and discriminant validity with traditional survey-based measures. Analyses based on a within-participants design indicated that the RRM was significantly more difficult to fake when instructed than was a survey-based measure of personality. The second RRM was related to several aspects of job performance. While initial results show promise, further research is needed to establish the validity and viability of the RRM for organizational and psychological measurement.