An Examination of Ethnic Subgroup Score Differences Between Different Types of Situational Judgement Tests

Abstract

Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) are assessments growing in popularity for purposes of selecting new employees. A current issue is their proneness toward having significant differences in scores between ethnic subgroups, which may cause adverse impact against protected groups. The purpose of the present study was to explore and re-examine SJT components and types previously researched that may contribute to greater score differences between ethnic subgroups. Specifically, this study examined differences between an audio-enhanced SJT and a normal written and read SJT, in addition to SJTs assessing cognitive and interpersonal ability. After data screening, 31 African Americans were paired with 31 White participants on similar demographical characteristics for the testing of hypotheses. Data analyses indicated no significant differences were found between conditions and groups for each type of SJT. While this did not support the given hypotheses, they provide valuable insights for both researchers and practitioners regarding the construction of SJTs.