Abstract
Paper-and-pencil inventories have been suggested as a less invasive alternative to urinalysis drug testing. Using 702 students in three experiments, an overt integrity test, a personality inventory, an interest inventory and a no-testing control condition were compared. Subjects reacted most positively when no testing was required. When drug testing was required, subjects were most satisfied with either overt tests or urinalysis, and least satisfied with the personality inventory. Attempts to increase the acceptability of personality testing by providing explanations and rationale had no effect on subjects' attitudes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ambrose, M.L. & Rosse, J.G. (1993, August). Relational justice and personality testing: Sometimes nice guys do finish last. Presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Atlanta.
Borofsky, G.L. (1992).Psychometric properties of the Employee Reliability Inventory. Boston, MA: Bay States Psychological Association.
Brown, A. (1985). Employment tests: Issues without clear answers.Personnel Administrator, 30, 43–56.
Costa, P., & McCrae, R. (1992).NEO PI-R Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Crant, J.M., & Bateman, T.S. (1989). A model of employee responses to drug-testing programs.Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2, 173–190.
Crant, J.M., & Bateman, T.S. (1990). An experimental test of the impact of drug-testing programs on potential job applicants' attitudes and intentions.Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 127–131.
Crant, J.M., & Bateman, T.S. (1993). Potential job applicant reactions to employee drug testing: The effect of program characteristics and individual differences.Journal of Business and Psychology, 7, 279–290.
Cropanzano, R. (1994). The justice dilemma in employee selection: Some reflections on the Trade-offs between fairness and validity.The Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, 31 (3), 90–93.
Crown, D. & Rosse, J. (1991). Critical issues in drug testing. In J. Jones, B. Steffy, and D. Bray (Eds.),Applying psychology in business: The handbook for managers and human resource professionals. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books (pp. 260–274).
Glass, G.V. (1977). Integrating findings: The meta-analysis of research.Review of Research in Education, 5, 351–379.
Greenberg, J. (1992). The social side of fairness: Interpersonal and informational classes of organizational justice. In R. Cropanzano (Ed.),Justice in the workplace: Approaching fairness in human resource management. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
Hanson, A. (1990, July). What employees say about drug testing.Personnel, 32–36.
Harris, L., & Westin, A.F. (1979).The dimensions of privacy: A national opinion research survey of attitudes toward privacy. Stevens Point, WI: Sentry Insurance Company.
Harris, M. M., Dworkin, J. B., & Park, J. (1990). Premployment screening procedures: How human resource managers perceive them.Journal of Business and Psychology, 4, 279–292.
Jones, J. (1991a). Assessing privacy invasiveness of psychological test items: Job-relevant vs. clinical measures of integrity.Journal of Business and Psychology, 5, 531–535.
Jones, J. (1991b, April). Protecting job applicants' and employees' privacy rights: The employee's perspective. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, St. Louis, MO.
Jones, J., Ash, P., & Soto, C. (1990). Employment privacy rights and pre-employment honesty tests.Employee Relations Law Journal, 15, 561–575.
Konovsky, M., & Cropanzano, R. (in press). Justice considerations in employee drug testing. In R. Cropanzano (Ed.),Justice in the workplace: Approaching fairness in human resource management. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
Konovsky, M., & Cropanzano, R. (1991). Perceived fairness of employee drug testing as a predictor of employee attitudes and job performance.Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 698–707.
Murphy, K. R., Reynolds, D. H., & Thornton, G. C. (1990). College students' attitudes toward employee drug testing programs.Personnel Psychology, 43, 615–631.
National Treasury Employees Union v Von Raab, 649 F.Supp 380 (E.D.La 1986).
Rafilson, F. M. (1988). Development of a standardized measure to predict employee productivity.Journal of Business and Psychology, 3, 199–213.
Rosse, J. G., & Miller, H. E. (1989, August). Psychological screening for drug use among employees. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Washington, D.C.
Rosse, J., Miller, J.L. & Stecher, M.D. (1994). A field study of job applicants' reactions to personality and cognitive ability testing.Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 987–992.
Rynes, S.L. & Connerly, M.L. (1993). Applicant reactions to alternative selection procedures.Journal of Business and Psychology, 7, 261–277.
Sackett, P., Burris, L. & Callahan, C. (1989). Integrity testing for personnel selection: An update.Personnel Psychology, 42, pp. 491–529.
Sharf, J. C. (1987). Pre-employment questions about illegal substances held to violate the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination: Honesty testing on notice?The Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, 23, 44–45.
75% of large firms tested for drugs in '91. (1992, April 3).Los Angeles Times, Part D, p. 2.
Shils, E. B. (1966). Privacy: Its constitution and vicissitudes.Law and Contemporary Problems, 31, 281–306.
Smither, J.W., Reilly, R.R., Millsap, R.E., Pearlman, K. and Stoffey, R.W. (1993). Applicant reactions to selection procedures.Personnel Psychology, 46, 49–76.
Stecher, M., & Rosse, J. (1992, April). Attitudes toward random drug testing in the aviation industry. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Montreal.
Stone, D. L., & Bommer, W. (1990, August). Effects of drug testing selection method and justification provided for the test on reactions to drug testing. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Management, San Francisco, CA.
Stone, D. L., & Bowden, C. (1989). Effects of job applicant drug testing practices on reactions to drug testing. In F. Hoy (Ed.), Proceedings of the 50th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (pp. 290–294).
Stone, D. L., & Kotch, D. A. (1989). Individuals' attitudes toward organizational drug testing policies and practices.Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 518–521.
Stone, E. F., & Stone, D. L. (1990). Privacy in organizations: Theoretical issues, research findings, and protection mechanisms. In G. A. Ferris & K. M. Rowland (Eds.),Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management (Vol. 8, pp. 349–411). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Thornton, G., & Byham, W. (1982).Managerial assessment centers. NY: Academic Press.
Viswesvaran, C., Ones, D., & Schmidt, F. (1992). Integrity tests predict drug and alcohol abuse on the job. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, San Diego.
Westin, A.F. (1978). Privacy and personnel records: A look at employee attitudes.The Civil Liberties Review, 28–34.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
We wish to express our appreciation to Andrew Colfelt for his assistance in research design and data collection, and to Kevin Murphy and Terry Stecher for their comments on previous drafts of this paper.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rosse, J.G., Ringer, R.C. & Miller, J.L. Personality and drug testing: An exploration of the perceived fairness of alternatives to urinalysis. J Bus Psychol 10, 459–475 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02251781
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02251781