Review of The psychology of selecting men

Abstract

Reviews the book, The psychology of selecting men by Donald A. Laird (1927). The reviewer notes that the first fourteen chapters of this book are identical with those in the previous edition, and little additional need be said regarding them. They deal with the field of employment psychology, individual differences, application letters, the interview, character reading, the applicant's industrial history, methods of measuring employees' success in the job, measurement of certain personal traits, and various statistical methods for evaluating these factors. The new chapters, XV to XVIII, add distinctly to the value of the work. It has been suggested elsewhere that the first edition was a bit meager in the treatment of employment tests which are perhaps one of the most outstanding techniques used in this field. This lack is somewhat remedied in the present edition. Some of the other topics discussed include: psychological tests, emotional makeup of the applicant, interests, special abilities, and education. The book as a whole is a valuable contribution to this field and would seem especially suitable for arousing the interest of the business man in the possibilities of employment psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)