Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Psychology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 76

Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Employee Satisfaction And Perceptions Of Organizational Leadership Accountability, Caroline M. Clancy Jan 2022

Employee Satisfaction And Perceptions Of Organizational Leadership Accountability, Caroline M. Clancy

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Leadership can truly make or break an organization with regard to virtually every work-related outcome. So, what characterizes an effective leader? Research suggests that leaders who embody organizational values and are held to same standards as their subordinates are related to optimal organizational outcomes. These values and standards start with an organization’s accountability practices. We hypothesize that perceptions of accountability will demonstrate a positive relationship with job satisfaction (H1) and a negative relationship with turnover intentions (H2). Additionally, communication will moderate the relationship discussed in our first hypothesis (H3). Finally, communication will moderate the relationship discussed in our second hypothesis …


The Effects Of Transformational Leadership On Sales Performance In A Multilevel Marketing Organization, Alexander Techy Jan 2022

The Effects Of Transformational Leadership On Sales Performance In A Multilevel Marketing Organization, Alexander Techy

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Despite the rapid growth of multilevel marketing (MLM), there is little research that examines distributor performance in this unique organizational setting. The present study focused on the relationships between individual distributors and the people who recruited them into the organization (i.e., their sponsors). Given the unique structure of MLM organizations and the importance of sponsor-recruit relationships, it has previously been proposed that sponsors should employ a transformational leadership style. This study investigated transformational leadership as a predictor of performance, which was defined using both objective and subjective measures. Participants were 479 distributors at an MLM organization who were instructed to …


The Impact Of Professional Perspectives On Team Participation And Satisfaction On Intent To Implement Interventions Determined By Multidisciplinary Teams, Julieanna Bowen Jan 2021

The Impact Of Professional Perspectives On Team Participation And Satisfaction On Intent To Implement Interventions Determined By Multidisciplinary Teams, Julieanna Bowen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Multidisciplinary teams have become a consistent part of school culture and the decision-making process (Buck et al., 2003), however limited and inconsistent research (Huebner & Gould, 1991) is available regarding the effectiveness of multidisciplinary teams within the school environment. Current literature provides common themes regarding typical team membership, team procedures and processes, professional roles, and team goals. However, it often fails to provide insight concerning the aspects of the multidiscipline team process and how each professional contributes to team outcomes. As demonstrated within social psychology and industrial psychology literature, understanding team participation and member satisfaction can assist in the prediction …


Assessment Of Perceived Levels Of Stress And Coping Mechanism Use Among Elementary School Teachers, Lauren Larson Jan 2021

Assessment Of Perceived Levels Of Stress And Coping Mechanism Use Among Elementary School Teachers, Lauren Larson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The teaching profession is known to be highly stressful. Teacher stress is a real concern as there is a well-established link between job stress, burnout, and teacher attrition. Teacher attrition rates are currently at concerning levels in the United States and around the world. A cross-sectional, correlational study design was used to assess the relationship between perceived levels of stress and coping mechanism use among elementary school teachers. Participants consisted of a convenience sample of 420 public elementary school teachers in Minnesota. A 48-item survey which included the Perceived Stress Scale and Brief COPE was used to measure perceived levels …


Too Illegit To Quit: The Impact Of Illegitiate Tasks On Turnover Intentions And Well-Being, Jacob Wessels Jan 2021

Too Illegit To Quit: The Impact Of Illegitiate Tasks On Turnover Intentions And Well-Being, Jacob Wessels

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Illegitimate tasks are a contemporary workplace stressor characterized by perceived violations of norms about what can reasonably be expected to do in the workplace. Based on the “Stress-as-Offense-to-Self” (SOS) theory, the assignment of illegitimate tasks lead to feelings of disrespect and threatening to one’s professional identity, which is inherently stressful. The stressor has been linked to numerous strain outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms explaining how or why these relationships occur has seldomly been addressed in the literature. The present study examined whether illegitimate tasks were positively related to intentions to quit via organizational identity, negatively related to work engagement via …


The Effects Of Positive And Negative Humor At Work, Trevor Frey Jan 2020

The Effects Of Positive And Negative Humor At Work, Trevor Frey

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The relationship between humor and work has been an extensively studied subject in psychology related to work. Past research has found a positive relationship between positive humor and work outcomes and a negative relationship between negative humor and work outcomes, though less research has been conducted in the realm of negative humor. This study aims to contribute towards research by replicating past studies when it comes to humor and job satisfaction – the relationship between positive supervisor humor was found to be positively related to job satisfaction for employees while negative supervisor humor was found to be negatively related to …


Diverse Teams, Team Effectiveness, And The Moderating Effect Of Organizational Support, Hannah Tilstra Jan 2020

Diverse Teams, Team Effectiveness, And The Moderating Effect Of Organizational Support, Hannah Tilstra

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study adds to the growing literature on diversity in teams and team effectiveness. This study reviews the literature examining theoretical perspectives of diversity in teams, surface-level diversity attributes, team training and team outcomes. To test hypotheses, an archival dataset from a study focusing on team training, which is coded to represent the presence of gender and ethnic diversity on teams. Variables including team performance, shared mental models, and team behavioral processes are used to measure team effectiveness. The results of this analyses suggest mixed results, but do indicate that teams with diversity are more effective, particularly in measures of …


Effects Of Psychological Need Satisfaction On Proactive Work Behaviors, Shota Kawasaki Jan 2019

Effects Of Psychological Need Satisfaction On Proactive Work Behaviors, Shota Kawasaki

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The present study examined the drivers of proactive behavior in a workplace. Amazon Mechanical Turk workers (N = 218), currently employed in the US for either a full-time or part-time position, completed a questionnaire measuring four different types of proactive work behaviors, three basic psychological needs, task interdependence, task significance, and employee engagement. The most important predictor in the study was the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Participants who scored high on psychological need satisfaction were more likely to perform proactive work behaviors than those who scored low. Also, psychological need satisfaction moderated the relationship …


A Study Of The Soft Skills That Contribute To The Success Of Newly Graduated Business Students In The Workplace, Promeet Jaswant Singh Jan 2018

A Study Of The Soft Skills That Contribute To The Success Of Newly Graduated Business Students In The Workplace, Promeet Jaswant Singh

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This quantitative study is focused on assessing the soft skills that newly graduated business students possess. Using the first and only skills inventory in the United States that has been endorsed by Department of Labor, the study seeks to determine what sets employees apart based on their level of performance on the job. The main purpose was to assess and interpret the soft skills that employees bring to the workplace soon after graduating. The population for the current study was human resources professionals from a variety of industry sectors in the state of Minnesota. The businesses represented a range of …


Gender Differences In Development Center Performance In A Healthcare Organization, Samuel Lawson Jan 2018

Gender Differences In Development Center Performance In A Healthcare Organization, Samuel Lawson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Over the past 50 years, the assessment center has evolved into a tool used for making selection and job placement decisions, as well as for identifying development areas among incumbents to promote skill and competency development where gaps exist. The present study examined the latter, that of development centers, to address potential gender differences in performance on a variety of exercise and competency areas within a development center context. Research efforts were also directed toward the exercises and competencies themselves and the relationships between them. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate exercise-competency relationships, while t-tests were conducted to investigate …


Moderating Effects Of Resilience And Recovery On The Stressor-Strain Relationship Among Law Enforcement Officers, Austin Hearne Jan 2017

Moderating Effects Of Resilience And Recovery On The Stressor-Strain Relationship Among Law Enforcement Officers, Austin Hearne

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between individual resilience, recovery from work, and the relationship between stressors and strains in a sample of police officers. I primarily plan to test whether individual resiliency and recovery moderates the relationship between law enforcement-related organizational and operational stressors and strains such as burnout, sleep disturbances and poor general well-being. I hypothesize that individual resiliency and recovery will both moderate the stressor-strain relationship, so that officers who exhibit higher resiliency and engage in appropriate recovery will experience less strain from the stressors of their occupation. Additionally, I hypothesize that recovery …


Success In Learning Groups: Where Have We Been? And Where Are We Going?, Tiffany Michelle Ackerman Jan 2017

Success In Learning Groups: Where Have We Been? And Where Are We Going?, Tiffany Michelle Ackerman

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Group discussion activities and collaborative projects for teams are some learning strategies widely used by instructors; however, limited research has examined comparative effects of these strategies. The present study examines collaborative learning activities, trust, the “bad apple” effect, and other variables that relate to learning effectiveness for teams. The paper summarizes several years of research on different collaborative activities across different team settings. It also presents an agenda for future research in team training and learning, and provides best practices and guidelines for both researchers and practitioners. With a growing focus on the importance of teamwork and collaboration in the …


The Hogan Development Survey: Personality In Selecting And Training Aviation Pilots, Jenna Mcchesney Jan 2017

The Hogan Development Survey: Personality In Selecting And Training Aviation Pilots, Jenna Mcchesney

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Data from approximately 24 students enrolled in the aviation programs at two medium sized Midwestern universities were analyzed as part of this study. Students were asked to take a personality test, the Hogan Development Survey, and share their cumulative GPA. Using multiple regression to analyze the information, we investigated if the Hogan Development Survey can be used to predict student’s performance in collegiate aviation programs (student GPA). A better understanding of how to train and select pilots has the potential to reduce the costs and time spent educating students who are likely to drop out or perform poorly in aviation …


Participant Self-Assessment Of Development Center Performance, Ryan Powley Jan 2017

Participant Self-Assessment Of Development Center Performance, Ryan Powley

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In order to navigate the political and cultural realities of modern organizations, individuals must possess an accurate self-perception (Ostroff, Atwater, & Feinberg, 2004). One way to gauge the accuracy of a person's self-perception is to compare that individual's self-assessment against other people's assessments of him or her. This technique is known as self-other rating agreement (SORA). Heneman (1980) posited that development centers are an ideal setting in which to study self-assessment and SORA. The present study examined self-assessment and SORA in development centers. Particular attention was paid to exercises, competencies, and gender differences in self-ratings and SORA. Correlations and t-tests …


“Let’S Be Clear”: Exploring The Role Of Transparency Within The Organization, Maxwell Salazar Jan 2017

“Let’S Be Clear”: Exploring The Role Of Transparency Within The Organization, Maxwell Salazar

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In the wake of corporate scandals such as Enron and WorldCom, organizational transparency has received increasing attention in the media and socio-political discourse. Widespread commercial fraud has shaken the trust of employees and consumers alike. Transparency, or the lack thereof, is often cited as the underlying cause of this debacle (Edelman, 2007). The term transparency has now become commonplace across a broad range of disciplines (e.g. public relations, accounting, leadership, political science, and economics). While this cross-discipline interest serves to highlight the relevance of the construct, it hinders a consensual definition.


911,What's My Emergency? Emotional Labor, Work-Related Rumination, And Strain Outcomes In Emergency Medical Dispatchers, Jessica Lee Deselms Jan 2016

911,What's My Emergency? Emotional Labor, Work-Related Rumination, And Strain Outcomes In Emergency Medical Dispatchers, Jessica Lee Deselms

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The work of Emergency Medical Dispatchers (EMDs) is filled with a variety of stressors, and one of those being emotional labor. Despite research on emotional labor, few studies have quantitatively examined this construct within EMDs. Compared to the plethora of emotional labor literature that focuses on the display of positive emotions, EMDs are required to suppress or neutralize any negative reactions they may experience. Hence, this study was concerned with the further examination of emotional labor, physical health outcomes, burnout, and job satisfaction in a unique population. Additionally, the construct of work-related rumination is in its infancy. It can be …


Assessing The Effect Of Personality Characteristics Of Minnesota Golfers On The Brand Equity Of Golf Drivers, Eric Schinella Jan 2016

Assessing The Effect Of Personality Characteristics Of Minnesota Golfers On The Brand Equity Of Golf Drivers, Eric Schinella

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Although many researchers have focused on the attributes of a product that affect brand equity, this study focuses on the attributes of the consumer that affect brand equity. More specifically, the current study examines how a variety of golfer personality characteristics affect the equity they assign to various brands of golf equipment. The results of the survey showed that as golfers are more skilled, they are willing to pay a higher premium for their preferred driver. This may be because golfers who are more skilled tend to take the sport more seriously and will probably have no problem spending more …


The Effect Of An Email Intervention Tailored To Highly Ambitious Students On University Retention, Lauren Bahls Jan 2016

The Effect Of An Email Intervention Tailored To Highly Ambitious Students On University Retention, Lauren Bahls

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study sought to increase student retention through the use of email interventions tailored to a specific group of ambitious students as determined by the Hogan Personality Inventory. Previous literature shows the relationship between ambition, the similar constructs of work drive and achievement seeking, and positive academic outcomes such as higher GPA, higher ratio of credits earned to credits attempted and increased likelihood of returning to the same institution. Focusing on students who rated high on ambition according to the Hogan Personality Inventory, the treatment group received emails with activities that may be of interest to help them build their …


Why Do Some Employees Readjust To Their Home Organizations Better Than Others? Job Demands-Resources Model Of Repatriation Adjustment, Yukiko Yamasaki Jan 2016

Why Do Some Employees Readjust To Their Home Organizations Better Than Others? Job Demands-Resources Model Of Repatriation Adjustment, Yukiko Yamasaki

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The present study applied the Demands-Resources Model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007) to investigate factors related to repatriate adjustment. Specifically, this study proposed three organizational factors (role ambiguity, lack of work autonomy, and absence of pre-training) as job demands, which would inhibit adjustment of repatriates. The second part of this study identified three personal characteristics (openness, cultural intelligence, and proactivity) as job resources and examined whether these characteristics would minimize the negative effects of the job demands on repatriate adjustment. Repatriate adjustment was assessed as expatriate adjustment (Black & Stephens, 1989), job stress (Lambert, Hogan, & Griffin, 2007), job satisfaction (Warr, …


Examination Of The Antecedents, Reactions, And Outcomes To A Major Technology-Driven Organizational Change, Ngoc Dinh Nguyen Jan 2016

Examination Of The Antecedents, Reactions, And Outcomes To A Major Technology-Driven Organizational Change, Ngoc Dinh Nguyen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The goal of this study was to test a multi-level model of organizational change that examined how various antecedents, employee reactions, and organizational and personal outcomes relate to one another. The research was conducted via online surveys and as a longitudinal study. Participants were employees at a large supply distribution company, and were a part of the Pilot implementation of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Results from the study revealed that job stress was closely related to organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and psychological well-being, while change commitment was associated with higher organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Positive training …


Training Coping Techniques To Reduce Statistics Anxiety, Brittany Prothe Jan 2016

Training Coping Techniques To Reduce Statistics Anxiety, Brittany Prothe

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Undergraduate students in introduction to statistics courses have been shown to have difficulties and anxiety related to the course. This study examines how coping training might reduce the statistics anxiety associated with these courses using a sample of students currently enrolled in the course. Results indicate that individual differences such as negative affect, trait anxiety, disengaged coping strategies and cognitive ability are related to statistics anxiety. The specific coping training used in this study was unable to reduce statistics anxiety; however, other methods for reducing statistics anxiety are suggested and directions for future research are provided.


Prudence And Persistence: Personality In Student Retention, Logan J. Michels Jan 2016

Prudence And Persistence: Personality In Student Retention, Logan J. Michels

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Student retention is a concern for many higher education institutions and there are many techniques that can be used to increase student retention. Previous research has used student personality data to customize interventions aimed at increasing student success and retention. In this study, prudence levels of incoming students was assessed, and a customized email intervention was designed and administered to students with students having low prudence levels. A variety of outcome measures were used to assess the usefulness of the intervention, including GPA, academic and behavioral citations, and use of campus resources. Results indicate that prudence levels are positively related …


Expatriate Adjustment Of U.S. Military On Foreign Assignment:The Role Of Personality And Cultural Intelligence In Adjustment, Jennifer Pauline Stockert Jan 2015

Expatriate Adjustment Of U.S. Military On Foreign Assignment:The Role Of Personality And Cultural Intelligence In Adjustment, Jennifer Pauline Stockert

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The present study explored the relationships between personality, cultural intelligence, and adjustment to expatriate assignments. More narrowly, this study explored which facets of cultural intelligence are related to United States Air Force (USAF) members' adjustment to international assignments in Germany. The study also aimed to clarify the relationship between Big Five personality factors and adjustment in USAF expatriates. Expatriate adjustment was measured using the Expatriate Adjustment Scale by Black and Stephens (1989). Cultural Intelligence was measured using the Extended Cultural Intelligence Scale by Van Dyne, Ang, Ng, Rockstuhl, Tan, and Koh (2012). Big Five personality factors were measured using the …


Created Equal? Comparing Disturbing Media Outcomes Across Occupations, Christine Nicole Gundermann Jan 2015

Created Equal? Comparing Disturbing Media Outcomes Across Occupations, Christine Nicole Gundermann

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The present study was conducted in order to compare outcomes across distinct occupations that are exposed to disturbing media. Using four previously researched samples, I compared results across negative and positive outcomes such as STSD, burnout, social support, and growth. Samples included employees in roles within federal law enforcement and military legal professions. Results indicated that there were some significant differences between occupations on levels of STSD, burnout, and social support. In addition, results showed all samples measuring growth were scoring within the mid-range of scores, indicative of some growth potential. These results also showed that exposure type (Indirect, Combined …


Fitting Flow: An Analysis Of The Role Of Flow Within A Model Of Occupational Stress, Jeffrey Alan Dahlke Jan 2015

Fitting Flow: An Analysis Of The Role Of Flow Within A Model Of Occupational Stress, Jeffrey Alan Dahlke

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Positive psychologists and occupational health psychologists have been studying similar topics for many years, but only recently has the construct of flow been incorporated into stress research. There is a great deal of overlap between the theories on stress and flow, with flow seeming to fit very nicely within the domain of stress as an analogue to eustress. In the limited studies in which stress and flow have been investigated together, researchers' results have shown promise for the integration of these topics into a common model. In this study, survey responses from 509 adult workers were analyzed to test how …


Organizational Trust As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Burnout And Intentions To Quit, Glenn Trussell Jan 2015

Organizational Trust As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Burnout And Intentions To Quit, Glenn Trussell

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This research explores an individual's trust in his or her organization and an individual's perceptions of the level of organizational trust he or she receives as potential moderators of the relationship between burnout and intentions to quit. Reciprocal trust, as defined by high levels of both individual and perceived organizational trust, was also examined as a potential moderator. Research was conducted in partnership with a regional consulting firm. Survey data was collected through MechanicalTurk. A total of 2,922 participants from eighteen business sectors across the United States and Canada were represented. Level of trust was shown to significantly impact intentions …


The Influence Of Perceived Similarity, Affect And Trust On The Performance Of Student Learning Groups, Jennifer Louise Lacewell Jan 2015

The Influence Of Perceived Similarity, Affect And Trust On The Performance Of Student Learning Groups, Jennifer Louise Lacewell

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examined trust as one of the ways to improve satisfaction and performance in face-to-face student learning groups. A model was developed where trust mediates the relationship between perceived similarity, affect, and individual outcomes of satisfaction and performance (grades). Perceived similarity is positively related to trust, meaning that when students perceive themselves as similar to their group members they will be more likely to trust those group members. Negative affect was also negatively related to trust, but only in the beginning of the semester the group project/discussion. Positive affect was not related to trust. This suggests negative affect is …


Depth Of A Salesman: Exploring Personality As A Predictor Of Sales Performance In A Multi-Level Marketing Sample, Colleen Rose Miller Jan 2015

Depth Of A Salesman: Exploring Personality As A Predictor Of Sales Performance In A Multi-Level Marketing Sample, Colleen Rose Miller

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Despite its growing prevalence in the realm of sales occupations, multi-level marketing (MLM) and its primary participants are not very well understood. In particular, there is a dearth of understanding in terms of the differentiating characteristics of individual sellers who are financially successful in comparison to those who perform poorly. This study sought to fill in some of these research gaps by exploring the antecedents of sales success by examining the validity of personality as a predictor of sales performance in the context of MLM. While significant relationships were indeed observed between certain facets of personality (specifically components of conscientiousness, …


Reaching Across The Aisle: The Benefits Of Interdisciplinary Work In Graduate School, Shelby Marie Afflerbach, Chelsea Chatham, Brittany Davis, Tracy M. Grimme, Kristie L. Campana, Jeffrey Buchanan Oct 2014

Reaching Across The Aisle: The Benefits Of Interdisciplinary Work In Graduate School, Shelby Marie Afflerbach, Chelsea Chatham, Brittany Davis, Tracy M. Grimme, Kristie L. Campana, Jeffrey Buchanan

Psychology Department Publications

In this article, we outline our own experiences with an interdisciplinary project we participated in at Minnesota State University, Mankato.


The Effect Of Online Training On Teams, Ariel Becker Aug 2014

The Effect Of Online Training On Teams, Ariel Becker

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Many organizations recognize the importance of utilizing teams to accomplish work (Chuboda et al., 2005; Devine et al., 1999; Ilgen, 1999; Martins et al., 2004). As technology has advanced, many of these organizations have recently become more reliant on virtual project work, which allows work teams to communicate across geographical distances (Driskell et al., 2003). Considering the growing prevalence of virtual teams in organizations, more needs to be known about how to facilitate virtual team effectiveness. In addition, the increased use of teams in organizations has identified and created the need for team training (Ilgen, 1999). Creating a training environment …