The aims of this research are to identify, for the first time, the dysfunctional features and processes perceived to take place in assessment centers (ACs) from multiple perspectives (assessment center designers, assessors, and candidates) and to indicate the frequency of these phenomena. Two surveys were conducted in this study. In the first, a wide variety of dysfunctional processes and events were identified, and, in the second, many of these processes are reported to occur with regularity. Based on these findings, it is proposed that ACs should be construed, researched, and managed, not only as large‐scale psychometric systems, but also as complex administrative, social, and political events susceptible to a broad range of dysfunctional phenomena.