What do we mean by affinity bias?
Affinity bias is the term we use when a candidate is able to bring their positive personal qualities effectively to the fore during an interview while hiding their negative ones.
In such cases it does not become clear whether the candidate’s unseen weaknesses might make them unsuitable for filling the position successfully. In this situation we are in effect judging the candidate on their social skills alone, without seeing their other important personality traits.
What do the tests reveal?
As well as uncovering strengths, the tests can bring weaknesses clearly to the surface, and on that basis they also show whether the applicant is recommended for the role being assessed.
Assessments and tests
- Assessing fit for the role with a personality test
- Assessing general practical intelligence
- Assessing analytical intelligence
- Tests that support the development of leaders and employees
Measuring distortion
By building in hidden psychological anomalies and making a large number of validating comparisons, the tests also measure distortion, so if a test produces an uninterpretable result for a candidate, it is clear that the respondent has manipulated the test. This, too, can be important information when judging a person’s suitability.
Supporting development
By completing personality tests, we can widen the range of tools for getting to know ourselves.
Because of their accuracy and reliability, they are widely used to support the development of employees and leaders through coaching and training. The advantage is that the coach or trainer sees the areas for development more precisely and can prepare more effectively when putting together development programmes.
Supporting organisational development
Personality tests are used with great success:
- to uncover faults in corporate processes,
- to set up and restructure motivation systems,
- to bring about improvements in workplace security (e.g. in cases of shoplifting or staff turnover).
Completing them can also strengthen the cooperation and effectiveness of a work group.
