Employment integrity testing

The honesty or integrity of individuals can be tested via pre-employment screening from employers. Employers may administer personnel selection tests within the scope of background checks that are used to assess the likelihood that employees will engage in dishonest behavior. Integrity tests are administered to assess whether the honesty of the potential candidate is acceptable in respect to theft and counterproductive work behavior. These tests may weigh in on the final personnel decisions.

Integrity testing for employment selection became popular during the 1980s.Human Resources personnel found integrity tests were an improvement over polygraph tests. Polygraph tests were no longer able to be used for screening of most future employees in the United States due to the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (EPPA). The two types of tests related to integrity testing are called overt and personality-based measures. The overt test asks about past behavior and attitudes about theft and counterproductive behavior. The personality-based measures of personality traits that are associated with theft and counterproductive behavior.

Integrity tests in the past used self-report paper and pencil formats. Modern tests include at least 1 measurement of psychophysiological parameter like voice analysis, to ensure higher reliability. Integrity tests are designed to assess honesty, dependability, trustworthiness, conscientiousness, and reliability. Integrity tests were created to foresee counterproductive work behavior while on the job and employee theft.

An overt integrity test is a self-report paper and pencil test that asks a subject directly about their honesty, criminal history, attitudes towards drug use, thefts by other people, and general questions that show integrity. It is designed to find "undesirable" traits in a person's behavior, past crimes, and dishonesty, in order to sort out potential candidates. Overt tests are often split into two sections. The first being a series of questions evaluating the subject's attitude towards theft, their beliefs on the frequency of theft, punishment of theft and the assessment of the subject's own honesty. The attitude section also assess their own trustworthiness in the workforce. Typical questions might ask if people believe that everyone can be dishonest or the question might as how honest the test taker is. The second section asks the subject what type and amount of theft and/or counter-productive behavior they have been a part of with past employers or any other illegal behaviors. Typical questions for this section might ask if someone has thought about stealing something or what amount the test taker has stolen from past employers.

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