“Integrity testing” for personnel selection: An unsparing perspective

Federal legislation (the Employee Polygraph Protection Act) adopted in 1988 prohibits virtually all private sector employers from requiring or requesting preemployment polygraph examinations for prospective employees. Since then, written integrity testing designed to reliably distinguish those prospective employees who may steal from the company from those who are far less likely to do so has been something of a growth industry. Indeed, the American Psychological Association has recently noted that honesty tests have demonstrated useful levels of validity as an employee selection measure. We provide an alternative perspective. We argue that, even under the most charitable of assumptions, the propensity of integrity tests to generate false positives (i.e., to identify prospective employees as potential thieves when, in fact, they are not) is unsuitably large. Thus, the integrity test as currently configured is largely without merit as a personnel selection device.Dan R. Dalton is the Dow Professor of Management and Director of Graduate Programs, Graduate School of Business, Indiana University. Formerly with General Telephone & Electronics (GT&E) for thirteen years. Widely published in business and psychology, his articles have appeared in theAcademy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Executive, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Business Ethics, Business Ethics Quarterly, Journal of Law and Public Policy, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Business Strategy, Behavioral Science, andHuman Relations, as well as many others.Michael B. Metzger is currently Professor of Business Law, Indiana University Graduate School of Business. Formerly Associate Dean for Academics and chair of the Business Law Department at I.U. He received his J.D. in 1969. Before entering academia he held a variety of positions, including Deputy Securities Commissioner, State of Indiana and Senior Legislative Analyst, Indiana Legislative Council. He also was in private practice in Indianapolis, Indiana with the firm of Baratz, Sosin, Jodka and Metzger. Widely published in legal and business and ethics journals, his work has appeared in theGeorgetown Law Journal theVanderbilt Law Review, theMinnesota Law Review, theEcology Law Quarterly, theBusiness Ethics Quarterly, and theSouthwestern Law Journal, as well as numerous others. Three times he has received theAmerican Business Law Journal's award for the best article of the year. He is a coauthor ofBusiness Law and the Regulatory Environment: Concepts and Cases (8th ed.), and is the winner of 12 awards for teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels. He regularly addresses public and industry groups on business ethics issues.