A Serious Game for Assessing Person-Organization Fit

Description

Assessing candidates’ Person–Organization fit (P-O fit) using Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) is a common practice aimed at identifying individuals who best align with the organization and are likely to remain in the long term. While SJTs generally demonstrate satisfactory psychometric properties, their low fidelity may limit both reliability and validity, particularly raising concerns regarding construct validity.

The use of Serious Games (SGs) presents a promising approach to address these limitations. It is widely assumed that these tools possess good psychometric properties and enhance measurement validity, as supported by numerous empirical studies.

This research evaluates the validity of a SG developed from a previous SJT to measure candidates’ P-O fit. We hypothesize that the SG will demonstrate superior construct and predictive validity compared to the original SJT.

To test this, we conducted two longitudinal, repeated-measures cross-lagged studies. In Study 1, 359 first-year Officer candidates were randomly assigned to either the SG condition or a control condition using the original SJT on the first day of their Military Basic Training (MBT), referred to as Time 1. At that time, self-reported measures of performance and mental health were collected, along with observed retention data. These measures were repeated at the midpoint (Time 2) and at the end (Time 3) of the MBT. Study 2 followed the same methodology with 485 first-year NCO candidates. In this case, Time 2 corresponded to the end of the MBT, while Time 3 represented the completion of their subsequent specialized training.

The results of these studies will be presented and are expected to inform future developments in the use of serious games for military personnel assessment, thereby helping armed forces address the critical challenge of identifying candidates whose values best align with those of the organization.

Period	25 Sept 2025
Event title	International Military Psychology Conference
Event type	Conference
Location	Antwerp, BelgiumShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International