Wilberforce Mark, Dunn Abby, Tiffin Paul A
School of Business & Society, University of York, York, UK.
Family Fund, York, UK.
Innov Aging. 2023 Oct 7;7(9):igad112. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igad112. eCollection 2023.
Studies have found that older people value care workers' character traits and interpersonal judgment even more highly than their technical skills. Yet identifying these traits at recruitment is challenging. This study aimed to evaluate the first situational judgement tests (STJs) for direct care workers.
Online tests were conducted with 251 care workers and members of the public in England. Participants evaluated the appropriateness of 61 potential behavioral responses to 11 "critical incidents," each depicting challenging care work scenarios. Data collection included a measure of personality traits. A subsample of 72 participants completed a second "test-retest" assessment.
A majority of test-takers (53%) found the test easy/very easy to complete, and most (55%) participants who worked in care reported the scenarios were highly realistic. Psychometric tests were positive. Test scores were unidimensional under a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (RMSEA = 0.038), and items broadly fit Rasch assumptions. Test-retest reliability (rho = 0.77) was acceptable, and for the general public sample, a modest increase in perceptions of the social standing of care work was observed. Test scores were positively correlated with 2 personality traits: agreeableness ( = 0.250, < 0.001) and openness to experience ( = 0.179, = .005). Test scores were not related to age, gender, or education level.
The findings indicate support for the use of SJTs in direct care work. Its psychometric properties appear satisfactory, and collectively give confidence in the use of SJTs for assessing the suitability of candidates during recruitment. Further research should corroborate these findings in a new sample, and examine the relationship between test scores and job performance.
研究发现，老年人对护理人员性格特质和人际判断力的重视程度甚至高于其技术技能。然而，在招聘过程中识别这些特质具有挑战性。本研究旨在评估针对直接护理人员的首个情景判断测试（STJ）。
对英格兰的251名护理人员和公众进行了在线测试。参与者评估了对11个“关键事件”的61种潜在行为反应的适宜性，每个事件都描绘了具有挑战性的护理工作场景。数据收集包括一项人格特质测量。72名参与者的子样本完成了第二次“重测”评估。
大多数应试者（53%）认为测试易于/非常易于完成，并且大多数（55%）从事护理工作的参与者表示这些场景非常逼真。心理测量测试结果呈阳性。在验证性因素分析下，测试分数是单维的（RMSEA = 0.038），并且项目大致符合拉施假设。重测信度（rho = 0.77）是可接受的，并且对于公众样本，观察到对护理工作社会地位的认知有适度提高。测试分数与两种人格特质呈正相关：宜人性（ = 0.250， < 0.001）和经验开放性（ = 0.179， = 0.005）。测试分数与年龄、性别或教育水平无关。
研究结果表明支持在直接护理工作中使用情景判断测试。其心理测量特性似乎令人满意，并共同为在招聘期间使用情景判断测试评估候选人的 suitability 提供了信心。进一步的研究应在新样本中证实这些发现，并研究测试分数与工作绩效之间的关系。
