How Open-Response SJTs Reflect Nuances of Social Intelligence and Professionalism

July 2, 2026

Every day, people in high-stakes professions are asked to navigate situations where there is rarely one perfect answer.

They may need to respond to a frustrated patient, work through tension with a colleague, recognize when someone needs support, or make a judgment call with incomplete information. In these moments, what matters is not only what someone decides to do, but how they understand the people, context, and responsibilities involved.

That is part of what situational judgment tests (SJTs) are designed to explore.

Open-response SJTs, including Casper, give test takers the opportunity to explain how they would approach complex interpersonal and professional scenarios in their own words. Those responses can offer insight into qualities such as communication, empathy, ethics, and problem-solving, etc.

But they also raise an important question: when assessors evaluate these responses, what are they picking up on beyond the formal scoring guidelines?

This question is explored in Acuity Insights’ January 2025 paper, Evaluating Factors that Impact Scoring an Open Response Situational Judgment Test: A Mixed Methods Approach. published in Frontiers in Medicine.

Read on for a glimpse at some of the insights uncovered in the study.

A Closer Look at the Study

Open-response SJTs, like Casper, are often associated with stronger reliability and validity. The open-response format provides test takers the opportunity to explain the “why” and showcase their critical thinking skills within their responses.

While scoring guidelines are provided to assessors, the varied and complex responses resulting from the open-response format allow for greater nuance in interpretation. In addition to the scoring guidelines, assessors may consider additional response attributes when assigning scores.

With that in mind, it is worth looking more closely at the actors that may shape how social intelligence and professionalism are evaluated in open-response situational judgment tests.

What Did the Study Find?

Using a mixed-methods approach, the study combined statistical analysis with qualitative interviews to explore the research question from multiple angles. The findings identified several subtle, nuanced factors related to social intelligence and professionalism that were reflected in Casper scores. Specifically, Casper scores may provide insight into the extent to which an applicant can:

Use examples to demonstrate key aspects of social intelligence and professionalism
Understand and interpret social dilemmas in nuanced and complex ways
Thoughtfully justify their approach to the situation presented
Provide novel or creative ideas or solutions
Apply critical thinking in situations that require a professional approach
Demonstrate sound professional and ethical judgment
Carefully consider multiple perspectives

What Does This Mean for Applicants?

There are no right or wrong answers in the Casper test because its open-response format allows test takers to answer the question in any way that is most authentic to them. However, we do have some suggestions regarding response characteristics that may be helpful. Test takers should:

Know the competencies (empathy, communication, etc.) Casper probes for and consider how they could apply them.
Use examples to demonstrate the competenciesCasper probes for.
Justify their approach to the situation. The ‘why’ is just as important as the ‘what’.
Consider various perspectives when determining their approach to the situation.