I/O Psy

Journal of Applied Psychology
1989, m 74, No, 3,478-494

Copyright 1989 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.
0021-9010/89/S00.75

Validity of Personnel Decisions: A Conceptual Analysis of the Inferential and Evidential Bases
John F. Binning

Gerald V. Barrett

Illinois State University

University of Akron

Issues common to both the process of building psychological theories and validating personnel decisions are examined. Inferences linking psychological constructs and operational measures of constructs are organized into a conceptual framework, and validation is characterized as the process of accumulating various forms of judgmental and empirical evidence to support these inferences. The traditional concepts of construct-, content-, and criterion-related validity are unified within this framework. This unified view of validity is then contrasted with more conventional views (e.g., Uniform Guidelines, 1978), and misconceptions about the validation of employment tests are examined. Next, the process of validating predictor constructs is extended to delineate the critical inferences unique to validating performance criteria. Finally, an agenda for programmatic personnel selection research is described, emphasizing a shift in the behavioral scientist 's role in the personnel selection process.

Demonstrating the validity of decisions based on psychological assessment procedures is of fundamental importance to personnel and other applied psychologists. Furthermore, few

concept of scientific validity implies a simple model in which constructs and measures of such are inferentially linked. In the next section, we suggest that in personnel selection contexts, a conceptually truncated adaptation of this model often implic-

would argue with the fact that generating and articulating validity evidence is a complex process. To fully appreciate this com-

itly guides the validation of predictor-criterion relationships.
This

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