RESPONSE LATENCY DETECTION OF FAKERS ON PERSONNEL TESTS

The ability of personnel test item response latencies to differentiate between individuals instructed to fake and those instructed to respon d honestly was examined. Based on a general model of lying derived fro m schema theory, it was predicted that fakers should take relatively l onger than honest respondents to admit to delinquent characteristics c oncerning themselves. Discriminant function analysis indicated that re sponse latencies to items on standard personnel tests could significan tly distinguish between fakers and honest test respondents in a person nel testing scenario. Results generalized across samples of students a nd unemployed job seekers and were interpreted as supporting a general model of lying. Implications are discussed.