A Meta-Analysis of the Faking Resistance of Forced-Choice Personality Inventories

This study presents a comprehensive meta-analysis on the faking resistance of forced-choice (FC) inventories. The results showed that (1) FC inventories show resistance to faking behavior; (2) the magnitude of faking is higher in experimental contexts than in real-life selection processes, suggesting that the effects of faking may be, in part, a laboratory phenomenon; and (3) quasi-ipsative FC inventories are more resistant to faking than the other FC formats. Smaller effect sizes were found for conscientiousness when the quasi-ipsative format was used (delta = 0.49 vs. delta = 1.27 for ipsative formats). Also, the effect sizes were smaller for the applicant samples than for the experimental samples. Finally, the contributions and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Automated summary

This study found that forced-choice inventories exhibit resistance to faking, with quasi-ipsative formats showing greater resistance. Faking is more pronounced in experimental settings, suggesting it may be a laboratory phenomenon. Additionally, smaller effect sizes were observed for conscientiousness in quasi-ipsative formats, and for applicant samples compared to experimental samples.