Hidden Traits, Visible Reaction? Ability to Identify Criteria and Reactions to an Implicit Test of Workplace Psychopathy

Workplace psychopathy is linked to harmful outcomes, yet it is rarely assessed in hiring due to limitations of existing tools. The Conditional Reasoning Test for Workplace Psychopathy offers a promising alternative by using implicit reasoning to reduce faking. We examined whether test-takers could identify the test’s purpose (ATIC) and how different types of disclosure impacted test-takers’ reactions in two studies: a generic application scenario with ( N = 187) students and a more ecologically valid scenario with ( N = 230) active job-seekers. Most participants did not recognize the test assessed psychopathy. ATIC scores were unrelated (Study 1) or weakly related (Study 2) to test performance. Reactions were moderate, although disclosing that the test measures psychopathy (vs. personality) led to slightly lower justice perceptions and organization attraction.