Construct validity and applicant reactions of a gamified personality assessment

Abstract

This study introduces the HEXACO-RUSH, a gamified version of the HEXACO Situational Judgment Test developed by Oostrom and her colleagues (2019). HEXACO-RUSH is a new fantasy-adventure, narrative game, where the player makes a series of decisions in a similar format like a situational judgment test. We first present evidence on the construct validity (N = 240) of the game in relation to an existing traditional personality assessment (HEXACO-60), and in a second study (N = 160), we explore perceptions towards the game using a repeated measures, within-samples research design, again compared to HEXACO-60, with a sample of participants who assumed the role of a job applicant. Our results provided preliminary support for a moderate alignment between the new game and the HEXACO model, with average correlations of .43 across the six dimensions. It also exhibited positive participants' reactions, compared to HEXACO-60, although these were moderated by previous video-gaming experience (but not age). Overall, this study provides some initial evidence for an alternative assessment of the six personality factors with improved participants’ reactions and higher resistance to faking, but further research is required to confirm its test re-test reliability and criterion-related validity, with larger employee or applicant samples.