What is Face validity?
Face validity is whether a test looks relevant to the people taking it. It is not evidence that the test measures anything, and an instrument can be highly valid with poor face validity or the reverse. It matters anyway, because it drives completion rates, candidate goodwill and whether a hiring manager trusts the result.
Why a non-statistical property still belongs in the decision
Face validity has no place in a validity argument and a large place in an implementation plan. A test that candidates find irrelevant produces drop-out, careless responding and complaints, all of which degrade the data that the statistical validity was computed on.
It also determines whether the result gets used. A hiring manager who cannot see why a puzzle predicts anything will override the score, and an instrument that is routinely overridden has no effect on hiring quality regardless of its coefficients.
The trade-off worth naming
Work samples and situational judgement tests tend to have high face validity because they visibly resemble the job. Abstract reasoning tests often have low face validity and can still predict well.
The wrong response to low face validity is to swap in a less valid instrument that looks better. The right one is to explain the link to the job in the invitation, and to place the more abstract instrument where the candidate has already seen something recognisable.
Not the same as content validity
Content validity is a judgement by subject-matter experts that the items sample the job domain properly, and it is real validity evidence. Face validity is a judgement by the candidate that the test looks relevant, and it is not.
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