[IPAC-List] Stress tolerance test

[mhammer at 295.ca]

Not a criticism, as such, but I think one ought to begin by asking
"resiliency" or "tolerance" to what?  Are we talking about:
- managing work/life balance?
- handling overwork (or insufficient resources)?
- managing conflict with management, peers, subordinates, or the public?
- being in over your head in terms of domain expertise?
- handling insults?
- all of the above?
- etc., etc.
There's a lot one might conceivably need to be "resilient" about, and a
lot of stressors one might need to be tolerant of, or successful in coping
with, but maybe some are more endemic to the position than others.  It's a
bit like use of personality tests for selection; more a question of what
*kinds* of tests, or aspects of personality, than a matter of blanket
validity.

None of that is a criticism of the exercise or intent.  I just think that
starting out with a brief inventory of what sorts of common stressors
arise in the position, and consideration of the sorts of unsuccessful
coping that would impair job performance, would lead to a more
finely-tuned shopping list.  It may well turn out that what fits best is
not a more general stress-tolerance test, but rather some particular
personality trait (and associated index) that predicts weathering the
trials and tribulations that come with that position more specifically.

As always, relevance is correlated with predictive validity.

Mark Hammer
Ottawa

P.S.: Hope one and all are safe and sound.