Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Constructed response formats and their effects on minority—majority differences and validity.

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The inflow of immigrants challenges organizations to consider alternative selection procedures that reduce potential minority (immigrants)â€"majority (natives) differences, while maintaining valid predictions of performance. To deal with this challenge, this paper proposes response format as a practically and theoretically relevant factor for situational judgment tests (SJTs). We examine a range of response format categories (from traditional multiple-choice formats to more innovative constructed response formats) and conceptually link these response formats to mechanisms underlying minorityâ€"majority differences. Two field experiments are conducted with SJTs. Study 1 (274 job seekers) contrasts minorityâ€"majority differences in scores on a multiple-choice versus a written constructed response format. Written constructed responses produce much smaller minorityâ€"majority differences (d = .28 vs. d = .92). In Study 2 (269 incumbents), scores on a written constructed versus an audiovisual constructed format are compared. The audiovisual format further reduces minorityâ€"majority differences (d = .09 vs. d = .41), with validities remaining the same. Results are suggestive of cognitive load as a contributor to the reduction in minorityâ€"majority differences, as are rater effects: Scores of raters evaluating transcribed audiovisual responses, which anonymized test takers, produce larger differences. In sum, altering response modality via more realistic response formats (i.e., the audiovisual constructed format) leads to significant reductions in minorityâ€"majority differences without impairing criterion-related validity. Implications for selection theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)