Biographical Data

Biographical data, or biodata, are measures of key aspects of job applicants’ life experiences intended to predict their future performance in organizations, whether that performance is reflected by task-specific job performance, teamwork, or counterproductive behaviors such as routine lateness or [Page 121]even sabotage. Although biodata can be developed to measure a wide array of experiences and psychological constructs, the fundamental and general premises underlying the predictive power of biodata measures are that

• individuals in free societies shape their life experiences, and they also are shaped by them;
• this process of reciprocal influence between personality and situations occurs over a large time span; and therefore,
• measures of past experience should predict future work behavior, especially given a relatively unconstrained environment where employees’ typical performance can be wide ranging.

In light ...