Predicting the performance of government security personnel with the IPI and MMPI

The Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were administered to 307 newly hired government security personnel. After 9 to 12 months on the job, each was rated by their immediate supervisor on a 4-point scale of global performance (exceptional, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, or very unsatisfactory). Discriminant function analyses indicated that the IPI was superior to the MMPI in predicting later job performance, but the greatest prediction accuracy was found in discriminant functions based upon both tests together. However, the costs of falsely identifying candidates as poor risks and screening out those who would have been successful increased along with accuracy in predicting the true risks. It was concluded that organizations must ultimately decide upon the degree to which they are willing to sacrifice candidates who may have been successful in order to screen out those who are unsuitable. The implications of psychological screening for organizational selection policy are discussed.