Faking on personality assessments in high-stakes settings: A critical review
Faking—deliberately self-presenting in an overly favorable light—is a persistent challenge for personality assessments in high-stakes contexts such as personnel selection. This review examines recent research on the impact of faking, strategies for its prevention and detection, and future directions...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97884 |
| _version_ | 1848766330990231552 |
|---|---|
| author | Dunlop, Patrick Xia, Mengting Anglim, J. |
| author_facet | Dunlop, Patrick Xia, Mengting Anglim, J. |
| author_sort | Dunlop, Patrick |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Faking—deliberately self-presenting in an overly favorable light—is a persistent challenge for personality assessments in high-stakes contexts such as personnel selection. This review examines recent research on the impact of faking, strategies for its prevention and detection, and future directions. Meta-analytic evidence supports the theory of validity declines from faking, but meaningful predictive utility remains. Research on prevention has grown, covering approaches such as forced-choice formats, neutralized items, warnings, gamified, and implicit measures. However, many methods involve practical or psychometric trade-offs. Although the literature is substantial, we encourage research involving larger samples, real applicants, and within-subjects designs. Finally, novel assessment methods, including those using generative artificial intelligence, warrant further investigation both as potential solutions and as tools for faking. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:49:26Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-97884 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:49:26Z |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-978842025-07-22T06:31:02Z Faking on personality assessments in high-stakes settings: A critical review Dunlop, Patrick Xia, Mengting Anglim, J. Faking—deliberately self-presenting in an overly favorable light—is a persistent challenge for personality assessments in high-stakes contexts such as personnel selection. This review examines recent research on the impact of faking, strategies for its prevention and detection, and future directions. Meta-analytic evidence supports the theory of validity declines from faking, but meaningful predictive utility remains. Research on prevention has grown, covering approaches such as forced-choice formats, neutralized items, warnings, gamified, and implicit measures. However, many methods involve practical or psychometric trade-offs. Although the literature is substantial, we encourage research involving larger samples, real applicants, and within-subjects designs. Finally, novel assessment methods, including those using generative artificial intelligence, warrant further investigation both as potential solutions and as tools for faking. 2025 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97884 10.1016/j.copsyc.2025.102057 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Elsevier fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Dunlop, Patrick Xia, Mengting Anglim, J. Faking on personality assessments in high-stakes settings: A critical review |
| title | Faking on personality assessments in high-stakes settings: A critical review |
| title_full | Faking on personality assessments in high-stakes settings: A critical review |
| title_fullStr | Faking on personality assessments in high-stakes settings: A critical review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Faking on personality assessments in high-stakes settings: A critical review |
| title_short | Faking on personality assessments in high-stakes settings: A critical review |
| title_sort | faking on personality assessments in high-stakes settings: a critical review |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97884 |