INCREMENTAL VALIDITY OF EMPIRICALLY KEYED BIODATA SCALES OVER GMA AND THE FIVE FACTOR PERSONALITY CONSTRUCTS

The major purpose of this study was to determine whether empirically keyed, cross-validated biodata scales accounted for incremental variance over that accounted for by the five factor model (FFM) of personality and GMA predictors. A concurrent validation study was employed using 376 employees in a clerical job (222 in the developmental sample and 154 in the cross-validation sample). Results for the cross-validation sample provided support for the hypothesis that biodata predictors accounted for substantial incremental variance beyond that accounted for by the FFM predictors and GMA for 3 of the 4 criteria. Support was also found for the hypothesized zero-order correlations between GMA, FFM, and biodata predictors and the 4 criteria. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.