General Mental Ability and Selection in Private Sector Organizations: A Commentary

Abstract

Key considerations are summarized relating to the design of cognitively oriented selection procedures for the purpose of minimizing group differences and maximizing selection effectiveness. It is concluded that selection effectiveness and selection rate equality trade off within the cognitive domain and that design efforts to minimize group differences are likely to result in differential prediction where it was previously absent. It is also suggested that the frequently cited premise that selection procedures of equal validity are substitutable is not, in general, true. Equal validity does not imply equal value for the organization. Finally, it is argued that additional research and discussion is necessary to clarify and reach professional consensus regarding two competing perspectives about the meaning of differential prediction. One perspective views differential prediction as an extension of validation requiring the criterion to be theoretically construct-relevant to the predictor. The other views differential prediction as analysis of valued outcomes requiring the criterion to be an encompassing measurement of valued outcomes created by employees.