You are a counselor in the career placement office at your university. Jackie, a business student, recently completed a personality survey

You are a counselor in the career placement office at your university. Jackie, a business student, recently completed a personality survey. You are reviewing the results and find she has low self-esteem and low- to mid-range self-efficacy. Sketch out some possible steps Jackie can begin to undertake to improve both of these personality dimensions.

Individuals with low self-esteem have high levels of self-doubt and frequently question their overall self-worth. Often those with low self-esteem try to become invisible. Thus, Jackie may largely keep to herself at the university, not being part of any clubs or social groups. As a counselor, you might want to encourage her to find a club related to her major and join it, initially attending meetings as a listener and working up to a more participative role. Also, Jackie should attend events on campus where she can meet others and begin to forge ties. Low self-esteem individuals need positive feedback to begin the process of enhancing their self-worth. Putting herself in the aforementioned situations will help Jackie begin to get such feedback. Initial positive feedback from club meetings may be things as simple as smiles of recognition from other club members for regular attendance or acknowledgements of Jackie by those club members when they see her on campus. Later, short conversations will develop both in meetings and on campus as the concept of self-worth will build.

Low self-efficacy is the belief that you are unable to perform a specific task successfully. Improving one’s level of self-efficacy begins by placing yourself in the situation where you will have the opportunity to perform the task. Then, set a simple achievable goal for that task. Congratulate yourself on its achievement and set the goal higher the next time you encounter the situation. In Jackie’s case, she may find that she is struggling with finance, as the low grade on her first test indicates. Instead of dropping the course, she might consider a change in study habits, committing herself to reviewing material each day after class and visiting her professor for assistance during office hours. The professor will encourage her as she successfully completes problem sets. Jackie could then set a goal of an average grade on the next exam; as that is achieved, she can continue to place herself in situations where her skills can be honed and tested.

154. You are a member of a human resource department in a large corporation. One of your colleagues has recently developed a personality test he wants to use along with the cognitive abilities test you have been using to select employees for positions in the firm. He has come to you for help in deciding how to validate the test. What recommendations would you give him?

Validation involves ensuring that the test measures what it is intended to measure and looks for the relationship (correlation) between the predictor (the personality test) and some standard or measures of success on the job (criteria). You might, therefore, suggest that the personality test be given to current employees. From the group of current employees tested, you would assess who are your best performers and who are not quite as effective. You then would examine the results of the personality test and look for relationships between the personality profiles and the individual employee’s performance level. For example, do you have an employee who has been rated a very high performer over the last few years in the firm and whose personality profile indicates him to be high in conscientiousness, agreeableness and low in neuroticism? If the answer is yes, then you could assume the personality test has some validity because the research suggests that the traits uncovered tend to produce better performers. Similarly, if the personality test indicated a second worker, a manager, was high in neuroticism and you note that his performance appraisal results suggest his subordinates complain that he does not treat them fairly, you can again assume the personality test is valid. It predicted what it was supposed to predict.

You also must examine the personality test to ensure it is not discriminating in any manner against any of the groups who are legally protected by their characteristics including race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, and disabilities.