Personality Tests and ADHD
Conscientiousness Assessments for People With ADHD: Measurement Properties and Potential Issues
Let me break down this interesting research paper in a friendly way!
The study, conducted by Elisabeth R. Silver, Mikki Hebl, and Frederick L. Oswald, looks at how personality tests might affect people with ADHD in the workplace, particularly when they're applying for jobs.
Here's the key stuff:
A lot of employers use personality tests that measure something called "conscientiousness" - basically how organised, careful, and responsible someone is. About 22% of HR managers use these tests when hiring. The problem is, these tests might not be fair to people with ADHD.
The researchers found that people with ADHD tend to score lower on these tests, but here's where it gets interesting:
1. When the test questions were specifically about workplace behaviour (like "How organised are you at work?") rather than general behaviour, the difference in scores between people with and without ADHD got smaller.
2. The biggest differences weren't even in the areas that matter most for job performance! The traits where people with ADHD scored lower were things like general organisation, but they scored much closer to others on really important job-related traits like being achievement-focused and dependable.
3. They also found that people with and without ADHD might interpret some of the test questions differently, which could affect the scores.
The takeaway?
“Instead, the implication of our findings is that conscientiousness assessments, as one part of a holistic approach to evaluation, can be improved through contextualization and facet-specificity, with particular benefits to those with ADHD.” (Silver et al., 2024, p. 10)
This is really important because at least 4% of adults have ADHD, and we want workplaces to be fair and inclusive for everyone. Props to the research team for highlighting this issue and suggesting practical ways to make hiring processes more equitable!
Fascinating study - thanks Silver, Hebl, and Oswald for this important contribution to making workplaces more neurodiversity-friendly!
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