The expert assessor perspective on assessment center taxonomies

Research on assessment centers (ACs) has advanced the development of taxonomies for the evaluation of dimension and exercise performance. However, largely missing from current AC taxonomies is the perspective of subject matter expert assessors. Assessor perspectives could contribute toward improving construct differentiation and the development of a theoretical understanding of AC dimensions and exercises. In this study, 197 internationally based assessors participated in a series of multidimensional scaling (MDS) tasks involving stimuli from extant dimension and exercise taxonomies. For our dimension taxonomy, results suggested distinctions between (a) task orientation, (b) interpersonal relations, (c) activity, (d) organizing and planning, and (e) tolerance for stress/uncertainty. For our exercise taxonomy, results suggested that exercises are distinguished by varying levels of (a) media richness and (b) interpersonal interaction. We investigated assessor perceptions of illustrative dimension-exercise combinations and found, in contrast to findings for operational ACs, that assessors expected to rate same dimensions across different exercises. Our results suggest updates to and unique perspectives on taxonomies for dimensions and exercises. We discuss novel theoretical and practical insights that contribute to knowledge relevant to AC research and practice. We furthermore offer applied methodological contributions based on our unique application of MDS in the context of assessor perceptions.