Select a psychological test and describe how it is used in the workplace. What are the pros and cons of using this particular test? What ethical issues arise when using psychological testing?

           Psychological tests are a series of problems or questions, which are standardized and they assess the characteristics of a certain individual (Spector, 2012). The common use of psychological testing is for assessing KSAOs, which include knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, interests, and personality (Spector, 2012). These tests consist of multiple items that are an indication of certain characteristics of concern. Several types of tests are available, which are used for assessing individual characteristics that number in the hundreds (Spector, 2012). Selecting a particular test is determined by a particular characteristic of interest. One psychological test of interest is a personality test. A personality test is a means to assess one's personality traits, which are predispositions or tendencies of behavior in varies situations. Certain personality tests are used for assessing a single personality trait; whereas, personality inventories are used for assessing multiple dimensions as well as they are used for profiling individuals as to include or take into consideration several personality traits.

          As for the workplace, personality tests are used for predicting the behavior of perspective or current employees. Personality tests help for weeding out employees who may not be conducive for the organizational goals of a workplace and employers use personality tests as a means to understand the traits of perspective and current employees. These test help employers place employees where he or she fits best within organizational settings. These types of tests are also used to help predict if perspective or current employees will engage in fraud or theft.

          A couple pros of using personality tests are that employers can use them for comparing perspective employees to ideal employees and for testing the different aspects of one's character. A couple of cons of using personality tests are the cost of them and the regulations for using them. The ethical issues that arise when using psychological testing are the issues of them being used for unfair or discriminatory practices, misuse of psychological tests and the information they provide, and confidentiality breaches.  

Reference

Spector, P. E. (2012). Industrial and organizational psychology (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.