Predicting Performance on a Situational Judgement Test: The Role of Communication Skills, Listening Skills, and Expertise

Situational judgement tests (SJTs) present scenarios drawn from a work context and ask respondents to select the most appropriate response from among a range of options. They therefore attempt to assess aspects of social cognition that are not often measured in traditional selection batteries. The present study asked participants to complete a high-fidelity SJT constructed by staff at ETS to assess communication skills in a medical context and also to complete three self-report instruments assessing listening skills, communication skills, and personality. A total of 107 participants completed the computer-administered test battery. Results indicated that listening skills, communication skills, and the agreeableness personality dimension combined to predict 22% of the variance in performance on the SJT. An expert group of doctors and nurses performed better on the SJT than a group drawn from occupations outside the health area. However, problems were noted with internal consistency reliability estimates for the SJT, suggesting that the effects noted above are underestimates of the true relationships. We conclude that if these problems can be overcome, SJTs have the potential to contribute to the selection of health professionals.