HDS Research Digest
23 April 2014
HDS RESEARCH DIGEST It’s been a great start to the year for the Hogan Development Survey, with new and exciting research published in the first quarter of 2014. Here we summarise just some of the studies that have caught our eye. ! Enjoy!!
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The Dark Side of
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs
The conclusions from a two year study mapping the HDS profile of entrepreneurs
Leadership coaching
Mapping the HDS profile of entrepreneurs!
!
The relationship between the HDS and perceptions of coaching effectiveness
Following two years collaborative work exploring
BUROS test review
have accumulated some enlightening findings on
The highly respected test review centre, BUROS, give the HDS a thorough once over
entrepreneurs completed the assessment, of which
The rise of the narcissist
with ‘moving away’ or ‘moving against’ others.
How narcissism can spell both career success and failure and what we can do about it
Score drift
!
Tracking HDS score consistency over time
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the ‘Dark Side’ of entrepreneurs, Foster and Edge the Dark Side of Entrepreneurs. Overall, 256 almost all were found to have profiles consistent In short, this patterning of profiles typifies individuals who can be described as driven, energetic and passionate. However, such individuals may also posses a tendency to show more concern for themselves than for others, as 1
HDS Research Digest
23 April 2014
demonstrated by the lower than average scores on the HDS scales Dutiful and Diligent. This suggests that a desire for independence is a particularly important characteristic in entrepreneurs; distinguishing this group from those in traditional organisations. A second interesting finding was that, overall, the entrepreneurs showed very high-risk tolerance. One in four were found to fall in the top 2% of the Mischievous scale, characterised by limit-testing and excitement seeking. The authors conclude that this is because willingness to take risks is a critical ingredient for entrepreneurs, enabling creativity, innovation and the ability to operate effectively in an uncertain environment. Foster, J. & Edge, J. (2014) The Dark Side Characteristics of Entrepreneurs, Hogan Assessment Systems
Leadership Coaching The impact of the dark side of personality An emerging body of research has been
fun, socially skilled, influential, yet sometimes
investigating the relationship between personality
lacking the ability to stay organised,
and coaching success. However, to date, results
everything about the coaching session – from the
have been inconclusive; with researchers
report to the coach themselves – in a more
attributing the success of coaching to personality
favourable light.
at varying degrees. In response, Bolen, Nei and
Diligent individuals, described as detail-
Fuhrmeister (2014) set out to fill this void by exploring the ingredients of effective coaching.
rated
conscious, conscientious and yet critical and inflexible, did not find their coaching sessions as
The participants, 214 Coaches and Coachees,
particularly useful but did like the detailed
were asked to complete a coaching effectiveness
assessment reports they were given. The authors
survey immediately after a 1 hour developmental
note that these findings may be useful to help
coaching session. Personality was measured using
Coaches guide sessions and pinpoint potential
the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI), Motives,
difficulties.
Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) and the HDS.
Lastly, the HDS of the Coach was also found to
Here we will focus only on the latter.
play an important factor in determining coaching
Interestingly, it was found that individuals who
effectiveness. When differences in HDS profile
scored highly on the Reserved scale,
between Coach and Coachee were large,
characterised by an independent and at times
particularly across the Diligent scale, the coaching
self-absorbed and socially insensitive nature, were
session was deemed less effective. This highlights
less likely to perceive their coaching session as
the benefit of selecting Coach-Coachee pairing;
effective or useful. On the other hand, those who
carefully paying attention to the HDS profile of
scored high on the Colourful scale, perceived as
both sides of the party.
Bolen, H., Nei, K. & Fuhrmeister, K. (2014) Evaluation of Leadership Development Coaching: The Impact of Personality, Hogan Assessment Systems
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HDS Research Digest
23 April 2014
BUROS Test Review The HDS is put through its paces The BUROS Centre for Testing, an American organisation whose aim is “to improve the science and practice of testing and assessment”, recently subjected the HDS to a thorough review, picking apart its theoretical background and construction and critically analysing its reliability and validity data. Overall, the outcome was extremely positive. The HDS was praised for its critical role in detecting leadership effectiveness and for filling an important gap in the psychometric market. The psychometric properties of the HDS were, on the whole, highly praised and the reviewer recommends the HDS for use in screening candidates in leadership positions. Axford, S. (2014) Test review of Hogan Development Survey [Revised]. In J. F. Carlson, K. F. Geisinger, & J. L. Jonson (Eds.), The nineteenth mental measurements yearbook.
The Rise of the Narcissist How the narcissist climbs the corporate ladder The narcissistic individual believes that they are
(the NPI; Raskin & Terry, 1988), received
exceptional; they are self-centred, prone to
significantly higher ratings of ‘likeability’.
exaggerating their talents and, on the whole, will
Second, narcissists refuse to shoulder the
lack empathy for others. It just so happens that these traits are almost perfect for climbing the corporate ladder. According to research, narcissists possess three key
blame. When things go wrong, narcissists will be the first to deny or distort the
“We live in an era of selfcelebration. Fame is equated with success, and being self-
story and push responsibility on to someone else. Foster and Hickering (2014) note that narcissists are great at
‘tools’ that can pole vault
referential has become the
self-promotion; they are
them to the top of their
norm”.!
more likely to be viewed by
g a m e . Fi r s t , t h e y m a ke excellent initial impressions.
others as knowledgeable,
- John Dame & Jeffrey Gedmin
pro-active and results -
In one study, participants
orientated.
were asked to introduce
Third, narcissists are ‘natural leaders’. Brunell et
themselves to other participants. Those that scored higher on the narcissist personality scale
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al. (2008), found that not only did narcissists rate themselves as better leaders, but other group 3
HDS Research Digest
23 April 2014
members saw them as leaders too.
The HDS is uniquely orientated to measure narcissistic traits. The HDS scale ‘Bold’,
Despite this, objective data suggests they are in fact no better at being a leader than anyone else. In fact,
characterised by unusual self-
“There are plenty of people
confidence and feelings or
who are leadership emends in
grandiosity and entitlement,
these same characteristics
their own minds who are also
that enable narcissists to
charismatically challenged in
rapidly climb the corporate ladder are also
the eyes of others” !
likely to cause them to
- Gordon Curhpy
derail. Traits such as being
maps almost directly on to the D S M c l a s s i fi c a t i o n o f t h e narcissistic personality disorder. So what can be done about this? Tomas Chamarro-Premuzic, vice president of research and innovation at Hogan, says we
aggressive, impulsive, unrealistic, risk-seeking
need to ‘fake it until we make it’. If we are
and having an overinflated sense of entitlement,
competent, we need to fake being modest by
can cause devastating consequences when
relinquishing control, promoting others and
coupled with power.
acknowledging when others do well.
Back, M., Schmukle, S., & Egloff, B. (2010). Why are narcissists so charming at first sight? Decoding the narcissism–popularity link at zero acquaintance. Journal of personality and social psychology Brunell, A. B., Gentry, W. A., Campbell, W. K., Hoffman, B. J., Kuhnert, K. W., & DeMarree, K. G. (2008). Leader emergence: The case of the narcissistic leader. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(12), 1663-1676. Hogan Assessment Systems,Inc (2014) Hubris or Humility. Retrieved from http://info.hoganassessments.com/hubris-or-humility
Score Drift Examining changes in HDS scores over time The HDS is commonly used for both selection
the assessment twice, with a six year interval in
and development, based on the understanding
between. First, they conducted a series of
that it successfully predicts future performance.
correlations between scales to examine linear
Part of this understanding relies on the
trends in average scores over time. Next, they
assumption that an individual’s HDS profile will
ran a series of comparisons between the scale
not drastically change over time. The movement
score averages and the year the assessment was
of scores in a psychometric assessment across
taken - the assumption being here that if there is
years is called ‘score drift’, and it’s a serious
no score drift, there would be no interaction
problem for the reliability of a tool.
between these variables.
Score drift can occur for a number of reasons.
Overall, the results found little support for score
These include; norm samples that are no longer
drift in the HDS. These are reassuring results;
appropriate (e.g. demographically
they confirm the tool’s suitability for selection
unrepresentative), test items that have become
and development practices and should provide
outdated, over-familiarity with the assessment or
a boost in confidence for using the HDS for long-
changes in the purpose of application.
term prediction. Nevertheless, future research
In order to assess score drift in the HDS, Gaddis and Yang (2014) examined the HDS scores of
would do well to assess whether these findings still apply over a greater time-span.
individuals across 10 countries who had taken Gaddis, B. & Yang, R. (2014) Examining Score Drift in Personality Assessment Scales across the Globe. Paper admitted for application to SIOP symposium
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