Attitude Assessment Methods

A better way to test behavioral problems prior to hiring

A study of nearly 20,000 businesses - that do not use attitude assessment tools - determined that 46% of all new hires fail within their first 18 months. Eighty-nine percent fail for attitudinal reasons. Hence, potential behavioral problems in the workplace should be investigated thoroughly prior to hiring any candidate.

A typical psychometric attitude assessment questionnaire or a type indicator test may include 40-45 questions; each answer is associated with a margin of error. The more elaborate the questionnaire, the greater chance for erroneous assessments.

However, there are jobs that are more critical than others, e.g. policing, where a "bad apple" can cause irreparable damages. Or jobs that involve high-stakes business dealings that require special interpersonal sensitivities, etc.  In such jobs high failure rates are intolerable!

The more sensitive or critical a job, the more crucial it is to correctly predict the candidates’ attitudes in real life.

In their hiring process, many companies include an attitude assessment test. Some use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), others prefer the psychometric determination of the Big Five personality traits (Big5). The MBTI had been criticized by some experts as pseudoscience; they say that "The indicator exhibits significant scientific (psychometric) deficiencies" and therefore, the Big5 is "a more commonly accepted framework".

Recently, a more reliable Attitude Assessment Method (AAM) had been developed. It focuses on a single predefined situation, thus minimizing potential errors.  

Furthermore, the candidate has to answer only two questions; i.e., no need for long sophisticated questionnaires. A brief description of this AAM, dubbed State of Being Analysis (SoBA), follows.

A State of Being (SoB) is defined as the state of consciousness that is evoked by associations. It is also defined as the union of thoughts (intellect) and feelings (emotions) that are expressed with a set of given attributes. SoBA defines 64 possible SoBs that are the union of two sets of (the same) 8 symbols, each representing a distinct class of attributes for thoughts and feelings.

Exposure to a particular scenario evokes associations that are expressed by a person's attitude. Confronted with a similar scenario, in a different place and time, expression of a similar attitude is to be expected. SoBA registers the scenario and the candidate's choices of attributes. The analysis includes comments regarding the type(s) associated with the SoB.

SoB Analysis is best implemented when hiring a candidate for a sensitive or critical job.  Vivid presentations of scenarios are key for accurate results.

This article first appeared here.