Rainforest empiricism and quasi‘-rationality: two approaches to objective biodata

TLDR: Two approaches to objective biodata, designed to achieve the interpretability and stability of rational approaches, yet minimize socially desirable responding, were explored in this paper, where a quasi-rational attempt to derive biodata analogs to an existing temperament measure, and then use them as rational scales.

Abstract: TWo approaches to objective biodata, designed to achieve the interpretability and stability of rational approaches, yet minimize socially desirable responding, were explored. The first was a quasi-rational attempt to derive biodata analogs to an existing temperament measure, and then use them as rational scales. The second was a theorybased variant of criterion-referenced keying, termed rainforest empiricism. Both were utilized with two consecutive classes of U.S. Military Academy cadets (n= 2,565) to predict leadership performance over four rating periods. The biodata analogs to the temperament measure added incremental validity over the Academy's current admissions package and had significantly smaller correlations with a social desirability scale than their equivalent temperament scales. Scales developed with the rainforest approach had higher incremental validities and lower social desirability. Both methods demonstrated satisfactory stability upon cross-validation, and provided complementary interpretability. Advantages to each approach, and the implications for their use, are discussed.