Those among us who are lazy and harbour racist attitudes could soon be unemployable if software being developed in the United Kingdom becomes popular with local recruiters.
Titled Implicitly, the psychometric test uses implicit attitude theory, which suggests that people possess implicit attitudes about which they might not have conscious awareness, and is being developed by a postgraduate business psychology student at the London Metropolitan University. It has been endorsed by a Pretoria-based IT recruitment company called Abacus.
”If it is successful in the UK,” said Org Geldenhuys, a director at Abacus, ”it might be a good idea for our government to look at importing this new software and using it in the South African workplace … Elements of racism don’t just come from one side. In South Africa there is also sometimes an issue with black human resource managers, for instance, having a negative attitude towards hiring white workers.”
In the Implictly test, participants are asked to respond to a series of words and images of multiracial faces displayed in black and white by labelling them either ”good/positive” or ”bad/negative” by pressing specific keys on the keyboard very quickly, thereby undermining cognitive control and attaining an ”honest” answer as opposed to an ”acceptable one”.
The test also includes a multiple-choice questionnaire on one’s attitudes and behaviour towards others.
Geldenhuys emphasised that the product was merely academic research at this stage, but said that he was optimistic about its potential locally. ”If you had a company, you would want to find the right people with no racist attitudes. So it could work. Whether or not people would want to be subjected to a test of racism, that is a thorny issue. It could hit a raw nerve.”
The Employment Equity Act deals explicitly with psychometric testing. In chapter 2, which relates to the prohibition of unfair discrimination, it states that psychometric testing and other similar assessments of an employee are prohibited ”unless the test or assessment being used has been scientifically shown to be valid and reliable, can be applied fairly to employees and is not biased against any employee or group”.
David Benatar, a professor of philosophy at the University of Cape Town, said he was aware of many tests based on time responses, but it was the first time he had heard of one being suggested as a hiring tool.
”Tests can determine subconscious racism, but simply exposing it to people doesn’t eliminate it,” he said. ”Ethical questions come in when people don’t know they’re being tested. If you’re going to experiment with people, you need consent, but then again, in some tests, the methodology might be compromised if you inform people what they are being tested for.”