Hiring Procedure

[jsky]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

I have a question in regards to hiring. I was recently given a CJO, final offer was pending background checks and an MMPI following a psych exam.

I took the MMPI and the results came back as "too positive". I was told to take the test over and change some of the answers to take the test more "honestly". I informed them that I was being honest and wasn't comfortable. I was then told that if I didn't retake the test (which was 15 minutes after I took it the first time) I would not be considered for employment. I reluctantly re-took it and later met with a psychologist for 15 minutes. I told the psych that I wasn't necessarily comfortable as I had retaken the test and was feeling on edge. She said the results of the second test were gradeable and we proceeded.

I later found out that my application had been set aside for review.

My question is, is it ethical to take the MMPI test twice in a row like that and be told to change answers? Can I be denied a job for this?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

I have a question in regards to hiring. I was recently given a CJO, final offer was pending background checks and an MMPI following a psych exam.

I took the MMPI and the results came back as "too positive". I was told to take the test over and change some of the answers to take the test more "honestly". I informed them that I was being honest and wasn't comfortable. I was then told that if I didn't retake the test (which was 15 minutes after I took it the first time) I would not be considered for employment. I reluctantly re-took it and later met with a psychologist for 15 minutes. I told the psych that I wasn't necessarily comfortable as I had retaken the test and was feeling on edge. She said the results of the second test were gradeable and we proceeded.

I later found out that my application had been set aside for review.

My question is, is it ethical to take the MMPI test twice in a row like that and be told to change answers? Can I be denied a job for this?

I don't see anything terribly unethical so long as you didn't lie. Yes, you can be denied a job for this. The reason is that there is nothing discriminatory about it so it's not illegal.

 

[commentator]

The MMPI has a built in screening/measure for "faking positive." Someone who says they have only great feelings, who is consciously trying to give the impression that they are a wonderful happy well adjusted positive person instead of answering the questions honestly will score very high in this "faking positive" criteria. Nobody is happy happy joy joy wonderful all the time with absolutely no negative feelings, fears or worries, so from the test results you were apparently trying to hide something. If I had been the examiner I'd have simply recommended that you be dismissed as a candidate at that point, due to your deceptiveness, but it appears they may have been more than casually interested in you as a prospective employee, because they did give you another shot at taking the test.

A great many people in the prison population take this test. You can bet they aren't terribly honest about their real feelings on any test. But it has been validated by many years of research and many years of great numbers of subjects taking the test. Faking good and faking bad are both picked up pretty reliably on this instrument. Think of all the people who want early release, or are trying to establish an insanity plea.

Your reaction to being asked to retake the test may have been the issue for which you were eliminated. Or perhaps they simply had someone else who appeared to be a better candidate. It may have had nothing to do with the test issue.

If there was an ethics issue involved, it would have been an issue of whether it was ethical for the examiner to be telling you what they'd found and asking you to retake the test and answer the questions more honestly this time. Frankly, I don't see how it was anything but helpful to your situation or your potential employment.