The impact of development centre participation and the role of individual differences in changing self-assessments

Although much research has focused on assessment centres, rather less has b een done on development centres (DCs), and in particular on the effects the y have on participants. A study is reported of the impact of DC attendance on self-assessment made by ill customer service staff. Participants rated t hemselves on the DC dimensions before and after attending, and these rating s were correlated with observers' assessments made at the DC. Results indic ated congruence on only two out of 10 dimensions between observer- and self -assessments pre-DC, rising to six out of the 10 dimensions post-DC. Sell-e steem also increased following attendance at the DC. Females showed more se lf-assessment accuracy than did males. Classifying the participants (pre-DC ) into underraters, accurate raters and overraters showed chat underraters became more accurate in their self-assessments post-DC: whereas overraters did not; the latter group continued to have self-ratings significantly high er than observer ratings, and were unchanged in level of self-esteem it is concluded that the DC studied has demonstrated its value as a process for i ncreasing self-awareness for some but not all participants. The findings ar e discussed in terms of their implications for both research and the applic ation of DCs in practice.