Literature reaction and analysis

Camara, Wayne J., & Dianne L. Schneider. (1994, February) Integrity tests: Facts and unresolved issues. American Psychologist. 49(92):112-119.

According to the 1994 American Psychologist article entitled "Integrity tests: Facts and unresolved issues" by Wayne J. Camara and Dianne L. Schneider, the most famous 'integrity test' in popular culture is the polygraph test. However, most peer-reviewed studies of the polygraph have been published by professional polygraph analysts with a vested interest in validating the instrument. Psychologists, because of issues of ethical concerns regarding individual's privacy, as well as questions about the technical adequacy and validity of integrity tests had been cautious about conducting research on newer and more widely-used and potentially reliable exams. Then, in 1989 the American Psychological Association (APA) asked its members to examine existing data on such so-called 'integrity tests' and other ways that employers were attempting to predict dishonesty and the potential for theft amongst employees (Camara & Schneider 1994, p.113).

The APA study evaluated 37 instruments, voluntarily solicited from 30 separate publishers who responded to the APA request for data. The majority of the tests relied upon computer-scoring by the test publisher, and required no education on the part of the test administrators, most of who were employers and not trained in test administration. "Only 5% of the publishers required either a graduate degree or specialized licensure or certification for test users" and only 64% screened purchasers for qualifications (Camara & Schneider 1994, p.114). The APA also reviewed the validity and reliability studies of the test instruments themselves. A 1989 OTA study commissioned by Congress on integrity testing reviewed only nine such studies. "OTA decided that these reports were inconclusive in supporting or dismissing the assertion that integrity tests can reliably predict dishonest behavior in the workplace. [but] APA's task force reviewed nearly 300 studies using a wide spectrum of validity designs" (Camara & Schneider 1994, p.114). The APA found that few of the reliability and validity reviews of the tests met their standards for validity, but of those that did, surprisingly, unstructured interviews of candidates as a means of testing integrity had a lower reliability and validity rating than the computer-scored integrity tests.

The APA noted that employee background tests and surveillance can be costly and cause problematic legal concerns that are burdensome for businesses screening part-time employees. Although the OTA found that 95.6% of integrity test takers who fail to pass are incorrectly classified as dishonest, overall, the APA stated that the social value conveyed by such tests to employers outweighed such concerns. Rather than condemn integrity tests, the APA instead issued guidelines for test administration, including the demand that test publishers take more aggressive actions to ensure that qualified individuals administer and score the tests.