1. STUDY UNIT 5 FAIRNESS & BIAS

2. OUTCOMES
Distinguish between the meaning of fairness, bias, and “culture”.
Name the principles which is related to procedural fairness in the selection process.
Explain why it is of such importance to adhere to the above-mentioned principles.
Explain the meaning of “adverse impact,” as defined by the 80%/four-fifths rule, and what the ramifications of this rule are for selection.
Explain which aspects should be taken into consideration in order to restrict bias to a minimum when using a measuring instrument.
Distinguish between Messick’s model of test bias and Jensen’s internal measures of bias.

3. … OUTCOMES
Explain which steps can/should be taken in the quest for culture-fair tests.
Give an exposition of the legal framework in South Africa, with specific reference to the Constitution and the Employment Equity Act, within which we should strive to maintain fair employment practices.
Explain the role which societal values play in the application of employment laws.
Give an explanatory exposition of the nature of the following two models of test fairness, namely that of differences in regression lines and Thorndike’s “quota”-model.
Supply general guidelines for ensuring fairness in personnel decisions.

4. INTRODUCTION
In SA the focus is on democracy & equality  need for fairness & equal treatment
Primary factors against which fairness in personnel decisions will be measured:
Gender
Race
Age

5. FAIRNESS DEFINED Fairness:
Social concept (rather than psychometric/statistical)
No single meaning & no single statistical definition
Not the result of selection instrument/predictor
IS: the total of all the variables that influence the final personnel decision
(Can inlude the test, predictor, integration of data, recommendations based on data, final decision made by management).

6. … FAIRNESS DEFINED
Definition of fairness (Arvey & Renz, 1992) focused on procedural fairness, related to the following principles:
Objectivity
Consistency in the treatment of all applicants
Freedom of the selection procedures from any form of manipulation
Selection process must be developed and conducted by professionals
Confidentiality of data maintained
Final decisions to be based on a review of candidate’s data, and decision made by more than one individual
Protection of candidate’s right to privacy
Selection procedures in which faking takes place = unfair (results can be manipulated to meet the criteria)

7. … FAIRNESS DEFINED Taylor (1992) adds the following criteria:
Info must be quantifiable (ensures objectivity& allows for caparisons between candidates based on their scores)
All info used must be directly related and relevant to the decision being made
Fairness should be applied when making ANY decision that would affect the existing workforce.
Training & promotion
Disciplinary steps & measures
Dismissal

8. … FAIRNESS DEFINED
Ethical & moral obligation for psychologists & HR practitioners to ensure fair & equal treatment.
Code of Professional Conduct – HPCSA states:
As employees/employers, psychologists may not engage in or condone practices that are inhumane or that result in illegal or unjustifiable actions. Such practices include those based on consideration of sex, race, religion or national origin in hiring, promoting or training.
When adhering to these principles  :
more likely that assessment instruments would be accepted
employees more likely to be satisfied with decision
made

9. BIAS DEFINED
Based on original definition of fairness (Arvey & Faley, 1988):
Unfair discrimination or BIAS exist when members of minority group have lower probabilities of being selected for a job when, in fact, if they had been selected, their probabilities of performing successfully in a job would have been equal to those of non-minority group members.

10. … BIAS DEFINED SHL (2001) – Distinguish between fairness & bias
Have different meanings
BUT can be used interchangeably
Bias = The impact of the psychometric properties of the test
which has an impact on the test result
Fairness = The way in which the results are interpreted &
applied (thus, it is a function of how personnel
decisions are affected in the social context)
E.g. A test may be valid and unbiased, but results used
unfairly, resulting in discriminatory & unfair labour
practices.

11. … BIAS DEFINED Adverse Impact:
DEF: Possible impact of assessment results on personnel decisions regarding different previously disadvantaged groups.
Problem arises when NB difference between average test performance of different cultural/gender groups.
Group with lower average performance = being discriminated against
80% RULE:
Textbook p. 157 (bottom right)

12. CULTURE DEFINED Culture:
Addresses the extent to which the test taker has had an opportunity to become familiar with the subject matter or processes required by test item.
E.g. Idiomatic expressions
Use of an instrument in more than one culture  items should have the same meaning for all cultures (construct equivalence)

13. MEASURES OF TEST BIAS Def of Test Bias:
The overprediction or underprediction of criterion measures.
Consider the following when selecting a test:
Criteria measured by the test
Characteristics of groups on which test norms are based
Test reliability
Test validity
Context in which attributes measured will be used
Level of test difficulty (in relation to the level the job would require the attribute measured)
Report on steps taken to guard against test bias.

14. … MEASURES OF TEST BIAS
NB that test are directly related to the job requirements  ensuring fair & unbiased instrument
Use job description as tool to determine a person specification
NB to determine level of importance of attributes for the job  Ensure that:
test is not too difficult
cut-off points are not set too high

15. … MEASURES OF TEST BIAS Messick’s Model of Test Bias 2 Types of bias:
Intrinsic Bias =
Intrinsic/Psychometric properties of the test which may affect the test result.
Includes item bias (item has different levels of difficulty/meanings for different groups), level of language used, administrative procedures, testing environment, instructions given, etc.
Predictive (correlational) Bias =
The usefulness, validity, and fairness of the test for the purpose for which it was designed.

16. … MEASURES OF TEST BIAS Jensen’s Internal Measures of Bias
Can rely on internal psychometric properties of test to determine bias.
Following should be considered:
Differential reliability
Test may be more reliable for 1 group than another
Test-item by race interaction
If test is biased, there probably is a pattern of differential achievement for different items
Differential factor structures
Factor analysis can id a test that measures different factors for different racial subgroups
Differential item difficulties
Test may have different levels of item difficulty for different subgroups

17. … MEASURES OF TEST BIAS Quest for Culture-fair Tests
Ensuring confidence & familiarity (allow employees to practice test items if not familiar with the selection process)
Notification (Notify candidate well in advance that test should be taken  can practice)
Poor results may be due to environmental factors (lack of opportunity, socio-economic differences, language difficulties. Thus, issues not related to validity of instrument).
Developing culture-fair test:
Eliminate culturally-loaded items (or unique to Western society)
Eliminate verbal aspects of the test (verbal development of previously disadvantaged may cause misunderstanding of item or instructions)

18. LEGAL FRAMEWORK Labour Relations Act The Employment Equity Act:
NB to consider issues of law & fairness
Relies on social opinion of fairness
Equal opportunity to be afforded to all:
Section 8(2) of the Constitution and Section 187 of the Labour Relations Act: All are equal before the law and are protected against unfair discrimination…(e.g. gender, sex, ethnic/social origin, religion, age, disability…..etc.)
The Employment Equity Act:
Promote fairness & equality in the workplace:
Elimination of unfair discrimination
Affirmative action measures
Chapter III: Disabilities
Equal opportunities & fair treatment for disabled

19. … LEGAL FRAMEWORK … The Employment Equity Act:
Chapter III: Psychological testing:
valid and reliable
applied fairly to all
unbiased against all
Not unfair to:
Take affirmative action measures
Distinguish, exclude or prefer person based on inherent job requirements (minimum requirements)
Access to info
All info available at all parties’ request

20. … LEGAL FRAMEWORK Selection decision challenged in Labour Court
Employer should prove that selection criteria or the decision were fair & non-discriminatory
Distinguish between:
Direct discrimination = intentional, decisions not based
on job requirements
Indirect discrimination = disparate impact, decisions not
intentionally discriminatory, but
have effect of discriminating

21. SOCIETAL VALUES & EMPLOYMENT LAWS
Guion (1998):
Changes follow/accompany changes in the ideas & attitudes of society (spontaneously or in response to leadership). Even imperfect law is an expression of, and an understanding of, social policy.
Tenopyr (1996):
Strong link between psychology & social policy regarding employment.
Psychologists should address social issues through research (before national policy debates necessitates research).

22. … SOCIETAL VALUES & EMPLOYMENT LAWS
EXAMPLE: Men vs women as fire fighters = men are stronger than women  adverse impact on women.
Psychologists should consider 2 trade-offs:
Use tests that are valid, but have adverse impact OR
Use less valid tests that do not have adverse
impact
How avoid adverse impact?
Use different passing scores for different groups
The development of employment laws to:
Provide opportunities for all social groups to achieve their employment potential
Enhance workforce productivity

23. MODELS OF TEST FAIRNESS
Assessment measures should be valid & reliable.
Models of test fairness (ways to determine the fairness of a test):
Systematic mean differences between subgroups on test model
Differences in validity model
Differences in regression line model
Thorndike’s quota model
Conditional probability model
Equal risk model

24. ENSURING FAIRNESS
Thorough job analysis/analyses (relevance as evidence)
Avoid discriminatory selection criteria (criteria requiring prior knowledge of the job)
Candidates should only complete relevant measuring instruments (e.g. aptitude, ability, personality, interest tests)
All aspects of the testing session should be the same for all candidates (e.g. testing environment & instructions)

25. … ENSURING FAIRNESS
To differentiate between candidates; not to discriminate against them (equity, equality & special needs of candidates)
Clear job-related criteria
Establish a model of fairness (establish job-relatedness of all criteria used in selection)
Continually monitor assessment/measuring instruments (to ensure appropriateness & effectiveness)

26. QUESTIONS???