Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Gay, Straight, Or Slightly Bent? The Interaction Of Leader Sexual Orientation And Gender On Leadership Evaluations, Fred George Macoukji

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Existing research has shown that gender stereotypes regarding characteristics of men and women influence others' perceptions of their fit with organizational roles, including leadership roles (cf. Eagly & Karau, 2002). However, little research has examined stereotypes regarding other demographic characteristics (e.g., race, sexual orientation) and how they may interact with gender stereotypes to influence leadership evaluations. The current study examined whether leader gender and sexual orientation interact to influence subordinates' evaluations of leader effectiveness, likability, and boss desirability using an experimental design. In addition to examining whether leader gender and sexual orientation interacted to predict leader evaluations, the present …

Do Changing Reference Levels Affect The Long-Term Effectiveness Of Incentive Contracts?, Lee Michael Kersting

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines whether reference levels change over time and the impact on individuals' risk-taking behavior. I apply expectations-based reference-dependent preferences theory to analyze whether individuals' reference levels change over time in an economic setting. The theory suggests that individuals develop reference levels based on expectations of future outcomes (Koszegi and Rabin 2006). Therefore, this study examines whether individuals' expectations affect the setting of their reference level and how possible changes in reference levels affect subsequent risk-taking behavior. This study also provides evidence on how budget-based contracts impact individual risk taking behavior in a single period setting. Prior research has …

Psychological Distance: The Relation Between Construals, Mindsets, And Professional Skepticism, Jason Rasso

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine the influence of construals (interpretations) and mindsets on professional skepticism in auditors. Auditors have been criticized lately for not displaying enough professional skepticism, particularly in their audits of complex estimates (PCAOB 2008). Regulators speculate about and academic research shows a correlation between low professional skepticism and both audit failures and audit malpractice claims (Beasley et al. 2001; Anderson and Wolfe 2002). I hypothesize that prolonging the deliberative mindset in the audit judgment and decision-making process can increase professional skepticism in auditors.

Experienced auditors take part in a 1 x 3 between-participants experiment in which they …

Chinese Consumers' Evaluation Of Domestic And Foreign Products: The Roles Of Country Of Origin And Product Usage Experience, Yuze Gao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although COO has been a topic of central interest in international marketing research, most work has focused on consumers in western countries. The concept of product usage experience, though often implied in COO research, has yet to be investigated more directly and explicitly. The goal of the study is to examine the relationships among COO perceptions, product usage experience and purchase intention among Chinese consumers. The study examined two kinds of product usage experiences (usage variety and frequency) pertaining to products (products in general and laptop computers in specific) made in two countries (America and China). Empirical data gathered from …

Factors Prospective Students Consider When Selecting An Mba Program, Lorie Plyler Briggs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper adds to existing literature regarding MBA selection processes and helps identify and better understand the needs that motivate consumers to pursue an MBA degree. Through a series of qualitative, one-on-one interviews with 17 brand-new MBA students or prospective students, this research found that while many people have "always wanted" to earn the advanced degree, most have toyed with the idea of a graduate business degree for many years. The most frequent reasons that people cite regarding their decision to seriously consider an MBA at a large southern university centers around four desires. These are, not surprisingly, the desire …

Illegitimate Tasks And Employee Well-Being: A Daily Diary Study, Erin Eatough

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on an occupational stressor that has been recently introduced to the literature, illegitimate tasks, or tasks that seem unreasonable or unnecessary at work. Previous work has demonstrated the relationship between illegitimate tasks and a narrow set of discrete emotions as well as negative employee performance behaviors. The current research contributes to the literature by expanding the nomological network associated with illegitimate tasks and uses a rigorous daily diary methodology in a full-time working sample. It was expected that illegitimate tasks reduce state levels of self-esteem as well as other employee well-being indicators including anger, depressive mood, fatigue, …

The Role Of Consumer Gender Identity And Brand Concept Consistency In Evaluating Cross-Gender Brand Extensions, Laura Rose Frieden

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cross-gender brand extensions are a developing and valuable strategy that has quickly grown to become a vital component of strategic communications management. The goal of this study is to gain a greater insight on what makes for a successful cross-gender brand extension. In order to expand upon the Basic Model of Brand Extension Evaluation (Doust & Esfahlan, 2012), this study examines how marketing factors, more specifically product positioning, combined with consumer gender roles and brand concept, affect how consumers evaluate cross-gender brand extensions. In the past gender and brand concept have been studied within cross-gender brand extension research. Yet, the …

Variance In Faking In High-Stakes Personality Assessment As An Indication Of Job Knowledge, Timothy Ryan Dullaghan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the personality trait elevation between honest and applicant contexts that has been widely seen throughout the personality and selection research is merely universal, blatant trait elevation, or whether something else is underlying this faking behavior. By obtaining both honest and applicant context personality responses in which respondents were provided with focal job knowledge, this study determined that while there is near-universal trait elevation across seven personality traits, there is, in fact, some trait differentiation between jobs. As such, this study provided some evidence of knowledgeable faking, defined as distortion of personality …

Cause-Related Controversy: An Analysis Of Corporate Sponsor Response To The Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood Crisis, Christina Maria Cameron

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study advances crisis communication and relationship management application and theory by examining the crisis response strategies used by corporations during a time of crisis involving a nonprofit partner. A qualitative content analysis was performed on the Facebook pages of 57 companies that were corporate partners of Susan G. Komen in early 2012. Nineteen companies responded using their Facebook accounts during two crisis periods studied. The researcher argues that consideration must be given to additional contingent factors beyond those proposed by situational crisis communication theory. Contingent variables related to the corporations' relationship with the charity, including level of …

The Impact Of Organizations' Collaboration Strategies And Alliance Network Positions On Invention Performance, Fethullah Caliskan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the impact of organizations' collaboration strategies and network positional variables on invention performance. Organizations, particularly those pursuing a differentiation strategy, are motivated to introduce novel products and services in order to remain competitive. Thus, two questions of interest to such organizations regarding the network dynamics of the invention process are: 1) What kind of strategies allow them to attain superior invention results? 2) What is the most advantageous structural positioning in a collaborative network of innovators? Three independent studies attempt to find answers to these questions by using three complementary study approaches.

In the first study, in …