Test Takers' Attitudes and Beliefs About the Graduate Management Admission Test

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess test takers’ attitudes and beliefs about an admis- sions test used extensively in graduate schools of business in the United States, the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), and the relationships of these atti- tudes and beliefs to test performance. A set of attitude and belief items was adminis- tered by computer to GMAT test takers after they finished the computer-based test. On average, test takers reported moderately negative attitudes about whether the test was valid and moderately positive attitudes about whether the test was unbiased. Few test takers reported that they believed their test performance reflected innate ability. The results were similar for men and women, and for different ethnic groups, though White test takers’ attitudes about whether the test was unbiased were generally more positive, and Black test takers’ attitudes were generally less positive than those of other ethnic groups. Test takers’ reported attitudes and beliefs were slightly related to their test performance. These relationships were similar for men and women, but var- ied for some ethnic groups.