Introduction and Definition
In the area of psychological testing, Cronbach and Gleser (1957) suggested that there is a trade-off between the bandwidth of a measure and its fidelity. Specifically, they argued that whereas broad measures (e.g., measures of general cognitive ability and global personality factors) are capable of predicting broad criteria (e.g., academic outcomes, overall job performance, life satisfaction, and depression) with moderate validity, maximum validity necessitates a higher degree of fidelity between the measure and the criterion, such as that achieved when specific criteria (e.g., academic outcomes in a specific subject, task performance, problems with concentration) are predicted with narrow measures (e.g., verbal reasoning tests, scales of positive emotions) that faithfully capture the particulars depicted in the criterion. This hypothesis is known in research literature as the bandwidth-fidelity dilemma (BFD).
The BFD, therefore, refers to the right balance...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Ashton, M. C. (1998). Personality and job performance: The importance of narrow traits. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 19, 289–303.
Ashton, M. C., Paunonen, S. V., & Lee, K. (2014). On the validity of narrow and broad personality traits: A response to Salgado, Moscoso, and Berges (2013). Personality and Individual Differences, 56, 24–28.
Chen, F. F., Hayes, A., Carver, C. S., Laurenceau, J.-P., & Zhang, Z. (2012). Modeling general and specific variance in multifaceted constructs: A comparison of the bifactor model to other approaches. Journal of Personality, 80, 219–251.
Cronbach, L. J. (1990). Essentials of psychological testing. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Cronbach, L. J., & Gleser, C. G. (1957). Psychological tests and personnel decisions. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Hogan, J., & Roberts, B. W. (1996). Issues and non-issues in the fidelity-bandwidth trade-off. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 17, 627–637.
Jackson, D. N. (1994). Jackson personality inventory – Revised manual. Port Huron: Research Psychologists Press.
Judge, T. A., Rodell, J. B., Klinger, R. L., Simon, L. S., & Crawford, E. R. (2013). Hierarchical representations of the five-factor model of personality in predicting job performance: Integrating three organizing frameworks with two theoretical perspectives. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98, 875–925.
Morin, A. J. S., Arens, A. K., & Marsh, H. W. (2016). A bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling framework for the identification of distinct sources of construct-relevant psychometric multidimensionality. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 23, 116–139.
Mount, M. K., Oh, I.-S., & Burns, M. (2008). Incremental validity of perceptual speed and accuracy over general mental ability. Personnel Psychology, 61, 113–139.
Ones, D. S., & Viswesvaran, C. (1996). Bandwidth-fidelity dilemma in personality measurement for personnel selection. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 17, 609–626.
Ones, D. S., Dilchert, S., Viswesvaran, C. & Salgado, J. F. (2017). Cognitive ability: Measurement and validity for employee selection. In N.T. Tippins & J.L. Farr (Eds.), Handbook of personnel selection. New York: Routledge.
Paunonen, S. V., & Jackson, D. N. (1996). The Jackson personality inventory and the five-factor model of personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 30, 42–59.
Ree, M. J., & Earles, J. A. (1991). Predicting training success: Not much more than g. Personnel Psychology, 44, 321–332.
Ree, M. J., Earles, J. A., & Teachut, M. S. (1994). Predicting job performance. Not much more than g. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 518–524.
Salgado, J. F., Moscoso, S., & Berges, A. (2013). Conscientiousness, its facets, and the prediction of job performance ratings: Evidence against the narrow measures. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 21, 74–84.
Salgado, J. F., Moscoso, S., Sanchez, J. I., Alonso, P., Choragwicka, B., & Berges, A. (2015). Validity of the five-factor model and their facets: The impact of performance measure and facet residualization on the bandwidth-fidelity dilemma. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 24, 325–349.
Schneider, R. J., Hough, L. M., & Dunnette, M. D. (1996). Broad sided by broad traits: How to sink science in five dimensions or less. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 17, 639–655.
Tett, R. P., Steel, J. R., & Beauregard, R. S. (2003). Broad and narrow measures on both sides of the personality-job performance relationship. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24, 335–356.
Ziegler, M., Dietl, E., Danay, E., Vogel, M., & Bühner, M. (2011). Predicting training success with general mental ability, specific ability tests, and (un)structured interviews: A meta analysis with unique samples. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 19, 170–182.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Salgado, J.F. (2017). Bandwidth-Fidelity Dilemma. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1280-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1280-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences