Ks. Shultz et al., The need for an evolving concept of validity in industrial and personnel psychology: Psychometric, legal, and emerging issues, CURR PSYCHO, 17(4), 1998, pp. 265-286
The Trinitarian view of validity (namely content, criterion-related, and co
nstruct) has dominated psychology for almost a half century. In industrial
and personnel psychology especially, content and criterion-related (in part
icular) forms of validity have served as workhorses. Such a limited focus h
as lead to a stagnation of the area and the inability to incorporate more t
heory into the research and practice of personnel psychology. Therefore, we
review the evolution of the concept of validity in the psychology discipli
ne, with a particular emphasis on industrial and personnel psychology. We t
hen review the legal and statutory history within industrial and personnel
psychology that has helped to shape the concept of validity over the years.
Finally, we examine some emerging trends in industrial and personnel psych
ology, including the issue of graduate training, which may have important c
onsequences on how we conceptualize validity in the future in both our rese
arch and practice of personnel psychology.