title: Racial/ethnic differences in the criterion-related validity of cognitive ability tests: a qualitative and quantitative review.
abstract: The correlation between cognitive ability test scores and performance was separately meta-analyzed for Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White racial/ethnic subgroups. Compared to the average White observed correlation ( = .33, N = 903,779), average correlations were lower for Black samples ( = .24, N = 112,194) and Hispanic samples ( = .30, N = 51,205) and approximately equal for Asian samples ( = .33, N = 80,705). Despite some moderating effects (e.g., type of performance criterion, decade of data collection, job complexity), validity favored White over Black and Hispanic test takers in almost all conditions that included a sizable number of studies. Black-White validity comparisons were possible both across and within the 3 broad domains that use cognitive ability tests for high-stakes selection and placement: civilian employment, educational admissions, and the military. The trend of lower Black validity was repeated in each domain; however, average Black-White validity differences were largest in military studies and smallest in educational and employment studies. Further investigation of the reasons for these validity differences is warranted.
authors: Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA. cmberry@tamu.edu
authors: Christopher M
authors: CM
authors: Berry
authors: Malissa A
authors: MA
authors: Clark
authors: Tara K
authors: TK
authors: McClure
mesh_terms: D001077:Aptitude Tests / Q000592:standards*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards*; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results