Psychological Reportr, 2002.90, 105-1 15. O Psychological Reports 2002 OVERT HONESTY MEASURES PREDICTING ADMISSIONS: AN INDEX OF VALIDITY OR RELIABILITY ADELHEID A. M. NICOL AND SAW0 V. PAUNONEN Royal Milifav College of Ca,~ada Universi~ of Western Ontario Strm,nary.-Honesty questionnaires are often validated against a paper-and-pencil criterion in which respondents are asked to admit to past incidents of dishonesty. However, substantial overlap in the methods of assessment and in item content be- tween predictor and criterion suggest chat it is not validity that is being assessed, but rather a form of reliability. In this study, the relations between two overt measures of honesty (the Phase 11 Prof'ile and the Workplace Productivity Questionnaire) and an admissions criterion were evaluated. The results suggest that the strong correlations benveen the Phase I1 Profile and the admissions criterion (r = -.67) and benveen scores on [he Workplace Productiviry Questionnaire and the admissions criterion (r = -.62) may be largely due to overlapping item content. Honesty can be defined as consisting of three facets: cheating, deceiv- ing, and stealing (Nicol, 1999). Overt honesty tests, sometimes c d e d clear- purpose tests (Sackett, 19941, capture different aspects of these facets and are used primarily for selection of job applicants. They measure attitudes, beliefs, and past behaviors regarding theft and other undesirable behaviors, e.g., lateness, sloppy work, drinking alcohol on the job. Factor analyses of these questionnaires' items have generally identified numerous dimensions, each reflecting a different style of item (Murphy, 1993). Examples of these ddferent styles include admissions of dishonest acts, rationalizing dishonest behaviors, being lenient toward others who are dishonest, and believing that most people would engage in dishonest activity. Little research, however, has been conducted to assess whether all these styles of items refer to the same underlying construct of honesty and whether the measurement of each con- tributes individually to the prediction of criteria such as theft, tardiness, and poor perfornlance. One criterion measure frequently used to demonstrate the overall pre- dictive validity of overt honesty instruments is the admissions test. This type of measure simply asks respondents to report on past dishonest acts they have committed A meta-analysis by Ones, Viswesvaran, and Schmidt (1993) We thank Dr. Lousig-Nont for permittin us ro use che Phase I1 Profile for research purposes. k i s research was supported by the sociaf sciences and Humanities Research Council of Cana- da Research Grant 410-98-1555 to Sam o V Paunonen. 'Address corres ondence to Adelheid 1. ~.'~icol, Military Psychology and Leadenhip Depan- ment, Royal Miitary College of Canada. P.O. Box 17000. Station Forces, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7K 7B4.