Use of Response Latencies to Enhance Self-Report Personality Measures

Previous research has demonstrated that latencies to personality inventory items explain unique variance in criteria such as peer rating of personality Popham Holden, 1990. The present research was designed to determine if such latencies, reflecting a construct called the self-schema Markus, 1977, would contribute to the prediction of pilot training performance. Latencies and scale scores from items on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory MMPI were examined for a sample of U.S. Air Force pilot candidates. The results indicated that, as in previous studies, scale scores and response latencies tended to be correlated, although the pattern was not consistent across all trait dimensions. Furthermore, response latency measures for two trait dimensions added incremental validity over inventory scores alone to the prediction of flying training performance. The results were interpreted as providing support for further investigation of the utility of response latencies as indicants of the self-scheme that may be useful for personnel selection.