Theoretical and practical considerations of using traditional and game-based assessments of honesty-humility

Honesty-humility is an important predictor for work behavior. However, this trait is rarely taken into consideration in personnel selection. In four studies, we investigate how honesty-humility can be measured using traditional and game-based methods (a gamified instrument and an as-sessment game) for personnel selection. In Study 1, we demonstrate that equating honesty-humility to integrity is justified as honesty-humility covers concepts generally associated with moral integrity. In Study 2, we show that power is important for the trait activation of honesty-humility. This study suggests that honesty-humility assessments are especially important for positions in which candidates are given a lot of power. Studies 3 and 4 describe the development and validation of game-based honesty-humility assessments. These studies support the construct validity of these game-based assessments based on convergence with self-reported honesty-humility. However, Study 3 shows that a gamified assessment is just as fakeable as self-reported personality inventories. Finally, Study 4 demonstrates the predictive and incremental validity of an assessment game above and beyond self-reported personality in the prediction of relevant outcomes. The results show that it is possible to reliably and validly assess honesty-humility using game-based methods.