Candidates' reactions to assessment centres and their outcomes: A longitudinal study

A longitudinal study was carried out on the effects of attending an assessment centre and of assessment decision on candidates. Questionnaire measures of need for achievement, organizational commitment, job involvement, and psychological well‐being were administered immediately before, immediately after and six months after an assessment centre for identifying management potential. Results indicate that the experience of going through an assessment centre does have an impact on candidates, but that some elements of this tend to diminish over time. Assessment decision also had a significant effect, with unsuccessful candidates showing a drop in self‐esteem and lower scores on some aspects of need for achievement. However, there were consistent differences between successful and unsuccessful candidates across all stages of the study which were not attributable to the impact of assessment decision. The implications of the findings for assessment centre feedback processes and for research methods in this area are discussed.