Personality Types and Applicant Reactions in Real‐life Selection

The study aimed to determine if an applicant's personality type is associated with his/her reactions (fairness perceptions, face validity perceptions, and predictive validity perceptions) to the selection process. The participants (N = 258) were real‐life applicants for admission to a vocational school. A person‐centered approach was applied to find subgroups with similar personality profiles. Latent profile analysis found four personality types: Resilient (45%), Overcontrolled (13%), Undercontrolled (10%), and Bohemian (32%). The Resilient and Bohemian personality types had more favorable perceptions of test fairness than the Overcontrolled type. Personality type did not affect face validity or predictive validity perceptions. The results suggest that personality (type) could be included in applicant reactions models and in analyses investigating the antecedents of applicant reactions.