Personnel selection has always focused on one question: who will perform best? A 2025 provocation article argues this singular focus is ethically and practically inadequate, and that employee wellbeing should be treated as an explicit criterion alongside performance in how organisations select people.
Personality tests are widely used in hiring, with validity evidence drawn largely from low-stakes research settings. A 2025 meta-analysis finds that validity is consistently lower when the stakes are high and candidates have reason to present themselves strategically, raising questions about how well the published evidence base applies to real selection contexts.
Algorithms consistently outperform human judgment when combining assessment data to predict performance. A 2023 survey finds that practitioners know this and largely ignore it, and identifies the specific reasons why the evidence has failed to change practice.
Cognitive ability tests are a staple of graduate recruitment. A 2023 critical review finds that the validity evidence used to justify them has been overstated, their adverse impact is real and consequential, and their use in high-volume screening raises questions that the field has been too slow to confront.
Conscientiousness is one of the most trusted predictors in personnel selection. A 2023 meta-analytic review finds that barely 12 percent of the supporting research was conducted under realistic hiring conditions, leaving the real-world validity of the measure more uncertain than its reputation suggests.
Game-based assessments promise to make hiring more engaging while measuring the same things as traditional tests. A 2024 study finds the validity case is reasonable, but the engagement promise is not: applicants actually reacted more negatively to the game format, especially those without much gaming experience.
A 2024 debate in organisational psychology asks whether selection tests are being systematically undervalued due to how their effectiveness is calculated. One side says yes, and proposes a correction that makes the numbers look considerably more impressive. The other side agrees with the conclusion but argues the correction answers the wrong question.
What is the best way to measure how cognitively demanding a job is? A 2023 study argues the answer might be simpler than we thought: just look at the average intelligence of the people doing it.
Growth Mindset Interventions: What Does the Evidence Actually Show? Growth mindset programs have spread through classrooms worldwide on the promise of large gains in student achievement. A rigorous 2022 meta-analysis of 97,000 students suggests the evidence behind that promise is far thinner than advertised.Growth mindset programs have spread through classrooms worldwide on the promise of large gains in student achievement. A rigorous 2022 meta-analysis of 97,000 students suggests the evidence behind that promise is far thinner than advertised.
The Problem The study of wisdom in psychology has long suffered from a curious irony: the field itself has lacked the very
