Situational Judgment: Antecedents and Relationships with Performance

As situational judgment tests (SJTs) increase in popularity, efforts to understand their correlates and validity (particularly incremental validity) have also increased. In this article, multiple measures from the ability (general cognitive ability, grade point average), experience (general work experience, job tenure, training experience), and personality (Five Factor Model) domains, along with an SJT, were used to predict managerial performance. Using path analysis, several alternative models describing the interrelations among these variables were tested and compared. Results showed the SJT fully mediated the effects of ability and experience on performance, and partially mediated the effects of personality on performance. The pattern of relations is consistent with an interpretation of this SJT assessing general (rather than job-specific) forms of knowledge. Finally, hierarchical regression analyses found the SJT showed incremental validity above the cognitive ability, personality, and experience measures.