Faking in personality assessments: an investigation of a method factor measure of faking

The goal of this study was to assess the efficacy of a newly developed method factor measure of faking to control for the effects of faking when personality tests are used to predict performance criteria. Traditional measures of faking, such as social desirability scales, have not been found to adequately control for faking. This study assessed the adequacy of the newly developed measure. When controlling for faking, as measured by the method factor, the validity of conscientiousness as a predictor of undergraduate GPA was larger. Additionally, the nature of the method factor across experimental conditions was investigated. The method factor was found to be positively correlated with self-esteem and negatively correlated with depression in an honest condition. It was positively correlated with cognitive ability in an instructed faking condition. However, no clear evidence identifying the faking factor was found in an incentive-to-fake condition