Validity of Social Media Assessments in Personnel Selection

Abstract

Abstract: Approximately two out of three recruiters report screening candidates’ KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics like personality) or hireability based on social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn), often referred to as cybervetting. However, various researchers cautioned against engaging in this emerging practice due to questions about the validity of social media assessments. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review to summarize initial research on the psychometric properties of social media assessments: Reliability, construct-related validity, and criterion-related validity. Our literature search yielded 12 studies with 536 raters and 2,019 ratees, and most of these studies addressed personality traits. We found that single-rater reliability of social media assessments was mostly poor; convergent validity regarding personality traits was adequate, and criterion-related validity for job-related outcomes was small or close to zero. Convergent validity tended to be higher for ratings of extraversion and lower for neuroticism. However, given that evidence was scarce, we highlight that substantial gaps in the current state of knowledge about social media assessments remain. Thus, we conclude by discussing various avenues for future research to better understand and improve their validity.

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