Psychometric tests are now a multi-million-pound business: What lies behind a coach's decision to use them?

Abstract

The use of psychometric tests has grown into a multi-million-pound industry. This paper describes a phenomenological study to investigate the reasons why coaches choose to use psychometric tests designed for personality assessment in their coaching. The aim of the study was to explore the decision-making process involved and whether accreditation is important. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with six experienced coaches who were accredited to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and at least one other psychometric test. The findings suggest that a background of psychological knowledge is as important as the knowledge of the use of psychometric tests.

Keywords

Phenomenology psychometric test coaching psychological knowledge

References

Allport

G. W.

(1967), Autobiography, in Boring

E. G.

and Lindzey

(eds.) A history of psychology in autobiography (pp. 1-26), New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, in Pervin

, Cervone

, and John

(eds.) (2005), Personality Theory and Research, Hoboken: John Wiley.

Berglas

(2002), ‘The Very Real Dangers of Executive Coaching’, Harvard Business Review, June 2002, R0206E.

Berry

(2000), Jung: A Beginner's Guide, Reading: Hodder & Stoughton.

Bluckert

(2006), Psychological Dimensions of Executive Coaching, Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Briggs Myers

(2000), Introduction to Type, Sixth Edition, OPP, Oxford.

The British Psychological Society Testing Centre http://www.psychtesting.org.uk/downloadfile.cfm?file_uuid=648F1A9C-CF1C-D577-94EB-E0B28414B0F4&ext=pdf (accessed 1st June 2008).

Brookes

and Wright

(2007), ‘A Survey of Executive Coaching Practices in New Zealand’, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, Vol. 5, No. 1, February 2007.

Brunning

(ed.) (2006), Executive Coaching: Systems-Psychodynamic Perspective, London: Karnac.

Buckley

(2007), ‘Working On The Boundary: When psychological and mental health issues impact on coaching’, The Bulletin of the Association for Coaching, New Year 2007, Issue 10, 2–5.

10.

Casement

(1996), in Dryden

(ed.) Handbook of Individual Therapy, London: Sage.

11.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2006), Recruitment, retention and turnover survey 2006, London: CIPD, http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/recruitmen/general/_rcrtntvr06.htm?IsSrchRes=1 (accessed 1st June 2008).

12.

Colaizzi

P.F.

(1978), Psychological research as the phenomenologist views it, in Vaile

and King

(eds), Existential phenomenological alternatives for psychology, 44–71, New York: Oxford University Press.

13.

Creswell

(1998), Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among five traditions, Thousand Oaks: Sage.

14.

Daly

Novice to Expert: How Do Professionals Learn?

1998 AERC Proceedings, http://www.edst.educ.ubc.ca/aerc/1998/98daley.htm (accessed 1st June 2008).

15.

Devenish

(2002), ‘An Applied Method for Undertaking Phenomenological Explication of Interview Transcripts’, Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, Vol. 2, Ed. 1, April, 1–20.

16.

Downey

(2003), Effective Coaching: Lessons from the Coaches’ Coach (Second Edition), Mason: Thomson.

17.

Edens

J.F.

, Cruise

K.R.

, and Buffington-Vollum

J.K.

(eds.) (2001), ‘Forensic and Correctional Applications of the Personality Inventory’, Behavioural Science and the Law, 19: 519–543.

18.

Giorgi

(ed.) (1985), Phenomenology and psychological research, Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press.

19.

Giorgi

and Giorgi

(2003), in Smith (ed.) 2003, Qualitative psychology: a practical guide to research methods, London: Sage.

20.

Goleman

(1995), Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, London: Bloomsbury.

21.

Groenewald

(2004), ‘A Phenomenological Research Design Illustrated’, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3 (1), 1–26.

22.

Hardingham

, Brearley

, Moorhouse

, and Venter

(eds.) (2004), The Coach's Coach: Personal Development for Personal Developers, London: CIPD.

23.

Hogan

and Hogan

(2001), ‘Assessing Leadership: a view from the Dark Side’, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 1/2, March/June, 40–51.

24.

Howard

(2008), Testing times, Accountancy Age, (March 2008) p. 19, VNU Business Publications.

25.

Howes

R.J.

and Carskadon

T.G.

(1979), ‘Test-retest reliabilities of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a function of mood changes’, Research in Psychological Type, 2, 67–72.

26.

Hycner

R.H.

(1985), ‘Some guidelines for the phenomenological analysis of interview data’, Human Studies, 8 (3), 279–303.

27.

Hycner

R.H.

(1999), ‘Some guidelines for the phenomenological analysis of interview data.’ In Bryman

and Burgess

R.G.

(eds.) Qualitative research, Vol. 3, 143–164, London: Sage.

28.

International Coach Federation Guidelines, http://www.coachfederation.org/ICF/For+Current+Members/Ethical+Guidelines (accessed 1st June 2008).

29.

Jenkins

(2001), ‘Companies’ Use of Psychometric Testing and the Changing Demand for Skills: A Review of the Literature’, Centre for the Economics of Education, London School of Economics and Political Science, London.

30.

Jung

C. G.

(1935), Complete Works, 17: par. 116, in Papadopoulos

(ed.) (2006), The Handbook of Jungian psychology: theory, practice, and applications, Hove: Routledge.

31.

Kast

(2006), in Papadopoulos

(ed.) (2006), The Handbook of Jungian psychology: theory, practice, and applications, Hove: Routledge.

32.

Kirkpatrick

(1996), ‘Great Ideas Revisited: Revisiting Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Model’, Training and Development, January, 54–59.

33.

Kline

(1993), The Handbook of Psychological Testing, London: Routledge.

34.

Kline

(2000), A Psychometrics Primer, London: Free Association Books.

35.

Kwiatkowski

(2003), ‘Trends in organizations and selection: an introduction’, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18, 5, 382–393.

36.

Law

, Ireland

, and Hussain

(eds.) (2007), The Psychology of Coaching, Mentoring and Learning, Chichester: John Wiley.

37.

Lewis

(2002), in Cervone

and Mischel

(eds.), Advances in personality science, New York: Guilford Press, in Pervin

, Cervone

, and John

(eds.) (2005), Personality Theory and Research, Hoboken: John Wiley.

38.

Lidbetter

(2003), ‘For good measure’, People Management, 9, 1, 46.

39.

Lindahl

(1997), ‘Rewards of caregiving for older people: the perspective of women caregivers’, A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Social Work in the Faculty of Human and Social Development, University of Victoria, Canada, lodged with the National Library of Canada, Ottawa.

40.

Linley

P.A.

(2006), ‘Coaching Research: who? what? where? when? why?’ International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, Vol. 4, No. 2, Autumn, 1–7.

41.

McCann

(1992), ‘Criminal Personality Profiling in the Investigation of Violent Crime: Recent Advance and Future Directions’, Behavioural Sciences and the Law, Vol. 10, 475–481.

42.

McCarthy

and Garavan

(1999), ‘Developing self-awareness in the managerial career development process: the value of 360-degree feedback and MBTI’, Journal of European Industrial Training, 23/9, 437–445.

43.

McCleary

(2006), ‘Executive coach certification and selection: a contrarian's viewpoint’, Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 20, No. 4, 10–11.

44.

McDonald

and Edwards

H.M.

(2007), ‘Who Should Test Whom’, Communications of the ACM, January 2007, Vol. 50, No. 1, 67–71.

45.

McHenry

(2003), How to use psychometrics effectively, http://www.opp.eu.com/public/media/pdfs/Using%20psychometric%20tools%20effectively.pdf (accessed 1st June 2008).

46.

Melamed

and Jackson

(1995), ‘Psychometric instruments potential benefits and practical use’, Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 27, No. 4, 11–16.

47.

Morwood

and Taylor

(ed) (2002), The Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

48.

Murray

(2004), ‘Intuitive coaching – summary’, Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 36, No. 5, 203–206.

49.

Nelson-Jones

(2006), Theory and Practice of Counselling and Therapy, London: Sage.

50.

Papadopoulos

(ed.) (2006), The Handbook of Jungian psychology: theory, practice, and applications, Hove: Routledge.

51.

Patel

(2006), ‘Comparing the Usefulness of Conventional and Recent Personality Assessment Tools: Playing the Right Music with the Wrong Instrument?’ Global Business Review, 7, 195–218.

52.

Peltier

(2001), The Psychology of Executive Coaching, New York: Brunner-Routledge.

53.

Pervin

, Cervone

, and John

(eds.) (2005), Personality Theory and Research, Hoboken: John Wiley.

54.

Peterson

and Hicks

(1995), Development First: Strategies for Self-development, Personnel Decisions International, USA.

55.

Pittenger

(1993), ‘Measuring the MBTI… And Coming Up Short’, Journal of Career Planning and Placement, Fall 1993.

56.

Pittenger

(2005), ‘Cautionary Comments Regarding the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator’, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, Vol. 57, No. 3, 210–221.

57.

Rogers

(2004), Coaching Skills: A Handbook, Maidenhead: Open University Press.

58.

Simms

(2007), ‘Recruitment guide: Psychometrics – Test match’, Human Resources, March 2007, p. 15: Haymarket Press.

59.

Smith

J.A.

(ed.) (2003), Qualitative psychology: a practical guide to research methods, London: Sage.

60.

Spence

G.B.

, Cavanagh

M.J.

and Grant

A.M.

(2006), ‘Duty of care in an unregulated industry: Initial findings on the diversity and practices of Australian coaches’, International Coaching Psychology Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, April 2006.

61.

Taylor

S.N.

(2006), ‘Why the real self is fundamental to intentional change’, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 25, No. 7, 643–656.

62.

Thomas

P.R.

, Murphy

S.M.

and Hardy

(1999), ‘Test of performance strategies: Development and preliminary validation of a comprehensive measure of athletes’ psychological skills’, Journal of Sports Sciences, 17:9, 697–711.

63.

Wasylyshyn

(2003), ‘Executive Coaching: An Outcome Study’, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, Vol. 55, no. 2, 94–106.

64.

Wasylyshyn

(2005), ‘The Reluctant President’, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, Vol. 57, no. 1, 57–70.

65.

Whitmore

(1992), Coaching for Performance, London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

66.

Williams

A.P.O.

and Dobson

(1997), ‘Personnel Selection and Corporate Strategy’, in Anderson

and Herriot

(eds.), International Handbook of Selection and Assessment, Chichester: Wiley.

67.

Winter

(1995), ‘Assessment centres: keeping up with and getting ahead of changing organizations’, Journal of European Industrial Training, 19, 2, 15–19.

68.

Zagier Roberts

and Jarrett

(2006) in Brunning

(ed.) (2006), Executive Coaching: Systems Dynamic Perspective, London: Karnac.

69.

Zemke

(1992), ‘Second thoughts about the MBTI’, Training, April 1992, v29, n4, 43–48.

70.

Zeus

and Skiffington

(2000), The Complete Guide to Coaching at Work, Roseville NSW: McGraw-Hill, Australia.

71.

Zeus

and Skiffington

(2002), The Coaching at Work Toolkit, Roseville NSW: McGraw-Hill, Australia.