Psychology Commons^™

Fanning The Embers Of Discrimination At Work: Does Reward Structure Fuel Incivility?, Sam Allen

University Honors Theses

In recent years, there has been an uptick in public awareness of systemic and structural inequities within the workplace. Organizational reward structures (i.e., performance-based and seniority-based) act as incentives for employees' contributions toward organizational goals, but could also motivate employees' drive for gaining or maintaining social status by undermining other employees, particularly targeting people with minority status. The proposed research will study the relationship between reward structures and the perpetration of incivility by accounting for perpetrators' social dominance orientation (SDO), their motivations to protect the status quo (MPSQ), and the presence of minority race targets. We draw from SDO, status …

Disability Severity, Professional Isolation Perceptions, And Career Outcomes: When Does Leader–Member Exchange Quality Matter?, Brent J. Lyons, David C. Baldridge, Liu-Qin Yang, Camellia Bryan

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Employees with disability-related communication impairment often experience isolation from professional connections that can negatively affect their careers. Management research suggests that having lower quality leader relationships can be an obstacle to the development of professional connections for employees with disabilities. However, in this paper we suggest that lower quality leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships may not be a uniform hurdle for the professional isolation of employees with disability-related communication impairment. Drawing on psychological disengagement theory, we predict that employees with more severe, rather than less severe, communication impairment develop resilience to challenges in lower quality LMX relationships by psychologically disengaging from …

Working Outside The Binary: Experiences Of Nonbinary Employees In The Workforce, Mordeky C. Dullum

University Honors Theses

Transgender issues in the workplace have only recently become a focus in research, and it is still new and understudied. Even less studied is the demographic of gender expansive individuals including nonbinary and gender non-conforming individuals. This qualitative study aims to explore and highlight workplace experiences for nonbinary people, with a particular focus on younger nonbinary people who experience less employment stability in more public facing jobs. Thirteen participants engaged in interviews where they were asked to describe their experiences dealing with discrimination, harassment and transphobia in the workplace, in addition to sharing their ideas for practical solutions or changes …

Avatar: The New Employee? Creating Online Employment Personas May Benefit Stigmatized Employees, Esenaman Batirov, Larry R. Martinez

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although we appreciate and agree with the conclusions that (Wilcox et al., 2022) come to in their review of the literature related to cybervetting, our intention in this response is to discuss the potential utility of cybervetting in a post-COVID world in which fully remote employment is much more prevalent. Specifically, we draw parallels to other contexts in which individuals interact completely remotely successfully and highlight how such arrangements can actually be beneficial —rather than detrimental—to employees with stigmatized identities or characteristics.

Examination Of An Individual-Level Stigma Reduction Tactic In Front-Line Service Encounters, Christopher J. Waterbury, Nicholas A. Smith Phd., Larry Martinez Phd., Shi (Tracy) Xu Phd.

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Minority stress theory links short- and long-term negative health outcomes to stigma and discrimination. It is important that workers have the agency to effect change in the processes of discrimination as a social determinate of health. Identity management strategies are elective tactics that workers may wish to use to reduce discrimination. Front line service workers may be discriminated against by customers in the form of negative customer service evaluations. Group-level stereotypes may influence customer service perceptions more than objective service quality. In this poster, we report findings from two studies in which we examined the effectiveness of an individual-level stigma …

The Role Of Cognitive Load And Individual Differences When Interpreting Human-Resource Data Visualizations, Zachary Hesson

University Honors Theses

Data visualizations (e.g., bar graph, dashboard) can be used as decision-support and storytelling tools that aid users’ interpretation of sometimes complex information, including within the human resource management (HRM) context. As HRM evolves towards implementing more data-informed decisions, it is important to understand how users interpret data visualizations. The aims of this thesis are to (a) identify whether cognitive load affects the amount of time users spend arriving forming and interpretation and the accuracy of their interpretations, and (b) to evaluate whether cognitive load moderates the association between individual-difference variables and interpretation time and accuracy. The individual differences that are …

Building A Leader's Identity On Social Media, Morningstar Dickson

University Honors Theses

How can leaders use social media effectively to shape their identity as a leader? Based on previous scholarship, this paper argues that using an authentic leadership approach to social media usage, would balance a leader’s true identity as well as maintaining their relationship with their followers. Which would allow the leaders’ influence to be more effective. This paper consists of a literature review on authentic leadership, and trust, and then builds a conceptual model that will break down how a leader should build and present their identity on online formats. The model shows how identity on social media is a …

Perceived Overqualification And Task Performance:Reconciling Two Opposing Pathways, Allen Lee, Berrin Erdogan, Amy Tian, Sara Willis, Jie Cao

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, we predict that higher levels of relative deprivation and higher levels of task mastery constitute two pathways through which perceived overqualification (POQ) has indirect and opposing effects on task performance. Further, we predict that occupational instrumentality, the degree to which the individual regards their job as a stepping tone to future career opportunities, will serve as a moderator for both pathways. Across two studies, as well as a supplementary study, we found evidence that POQ is positively associated with followers’ perceptions of both task mastery and relative deprivation. In both studies, we also found consistent evidence for …

Recruitment Marketing: How Do Wellness And Work-Life Benefits Influence Employer Image Perceptions, Organizational Attraction, And Job Pursuit Intentions?, Amy Christine Pytlovany

Dissertations and Theses

A global talent shortage is motivating employers to change the way they approach recruitment. To stay competitive, business leaders are strategizing new ways to attract employees and market their organizations to prospective employees. This research examined the impact of work-life and wellness programs on employer image perceptions (instrumental, symbolic, and experiential) and recruitment outcomes (organizational attraction and job pursuit intentions). It integrated these literatures to inform evidence-based organizational decision-making.

Study materials were developed with pilot testing conducted using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Pilot 1 (N = 40) assessed the value of 32 types of benefits across traditional (e.g., health …

Plea Decision-Making: The Influence Of Attorney Expertise, Trustworthiness, And Recommendation, Kelsey S. Henderson, Reveka Shteynberg

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Attorney recommendations influence defendant plea decisions; and the degree of influence likely rests on the perceived trustworthiness and level of expertise of the attorney (factors of source credibility). We explored attorney source credibility factors and how these characteristics influence defendants’ plea decision-making. MTurk participants read a hypothetical plea scenario and were asked to imagine themselves as the defendant in a DWI/DUI case making a plea decision; in the scenario, we manipulated the defense attorney’s level of trustworthiness, expertise, and plea recommendation. There was a significant interaction between attorney recommendation and trustworthiness on defendants’ plea decisions; participants who were advised to …

Understanding The Consequences Of Newcomer Proactive Behaviors: The Moderating Contextual Role Of Servant Leadership, Talya N. Bauer, Serge Perrot, Robert C. Liden, Berrin Erdogan

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Proactive newcomers are more successful in terms of integration and job satisfaction, than newcomers who are less proactive. However, it is unclear whether contextual factors, such as the leadership style experienced by newcomers, matter. To address this gap in the literature, we gathered data at three times from 247 new employees across their first six months after joining a company in France. Given that past research has found that newcomers play an active role in their own adjustment process, in the current study we investigate how newcomer proactive behaviors relate to the key outcomes of job satisfaction, person-job fit, and …

Morning Reattachment To Work And Work Engagement During The Day: A Look At Day-Level Mediators, Sabine Sonnentag, Kathrin Eck, Charlotte Fritz, Jana Kühnel

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reattachment to work (i.e., rebuilding a mental connection to work) before actually starting work is important for work engagement during the day. Building on motivated action theory, this study examines anticipated task focus, positive affect, and job resources (job control and social support) as mediators that translate reattachment in the morning into work engagement during the day. We collected daily-survey data from 151 employees (total of 620 days) and analyzed these data with a multilevel path model. We found that day-level reattachment to work in the morning predicted anticipated task focus, positive affect, social support, and job control through goal …

Recommended Practices For Academics To Initiate And Manage Research Partnerships With Organizations, Laurent M. Lapierre, Russell A. Matthews, Lillian T. Eby, Donald M. Truxillo, Russell E. Johnson, Debra A. Major

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although academics can receive considerable training in selecting appropriate research designs, types of data to collect, and methods for analyzing data, as well as guidance on preparing scholarly manuscripts, there is a dearth of information on how to initiate and manage partnerships with organizations in order to conduct high-quality applied research, particularly when the research is quantitative in nature. In this article, we provide our own experience-based insights and recommendations to help academics more easily (a) initiate a research relationship with senior organizational leadership, (b) decide early whether to pursue or end a research collaboration with an organization, (c) keep …

Workplace Incivility And Employee Sleep: The Role Of Rumination And Recovery Experiences, Caitlin Ann Demsky, Charlotte Fritz, Leslie B. Hammer, Anne E. Black

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study examines the role of negative work rumination and recovery experiences in explaining the association between workplace incivility and employee insomnia symptoms. Drawing on the perseverative cognition model of stress and the effort–recovery model, we hypothesize a moderated mediation model in which workplace incivility is associated with insomnia symptoms via negative work rumination. This indirect effect is proposed to be conditional on employees’ reported level of recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment from work and relaxation during nonwork time). In examining this model, we further establish a link between workplace incivility and sleep and identify one pathway to explain this …

Linking Workplace Aggression To Employee Well-Being And Work: The Moderating Role Of Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviors (Fssb), Nanette L. Yragui, Caitlin A. Demsky, Leslie B. Hammer, Sarah Van Dyck, Moni B. Neradilek

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: The present study examined the moderating effects of family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) on the relationship between two types of workplace aggression (i.e., patient-initiated physical aggression and coworker-initiated psychological aggression) and employee well-being and work outcomes.

Methodology: Data were obtained from a field sample of 417 healthcare workers in two psychiatric hospitals. Hypotheses were tested using moderated multiple regression analyses.

Findings: Psychiatric care providers’ perceptions of FSSB moderated the relationship between patient-initiated physical aggression and physical symptoms, exhaustion and cynicism. In addition, FSSB moderated the relationship between coworker-initiated psychological aggression and physical symptoms and turnover intentions.

Implications …

Organizational Supports Used By Private Child And Family Serving Agencies To Facilitate Evidence Use: A Mixed Methods Study Protocol, Emmeline Chuang, Crystal Collins-Camargo, Bowen Mcbeath

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Challenges to evidence use are well documented. Less well understood are the formal supports—e.g., technical infrastructure, inter-organizational relationships—organizations may put in place to help overcome these challenges. This study will identify supports for evidence use currently used by private child and family serving agencies delivering publicly funded behavioral health and/or human services; examine contextual, organizational, and managerial factors associated with use of such supports; and determine how identified supports affect evidence use by staff at multiple levels of the organization. Methods: We will use a sequential explanatory mixed methods design, with study activities occurring in two sequential phases: In …

Filling The Holes: Work Schedulers As Job Crafters Of Employment Practice In Long-Term Health Care, Ellen Ernst Kossek, Matthew M. Piszczek, Kristie L. Mcalpine, Leslie B. Hammer, Lisa Burke

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although work schedulers serve an organizational role influencing decisions about balancing conflicting stakeholder interests over schedules and staffing, scheduling has primarily been described as an objective activity or individual job characteristic. The authors use the lens of job crafting to examine how schedulers in 26 health care facilities enact their roles as they “fill holes” to schedule workers. Qualitative analysis of interview data suggests that schedulers expand their formal scope and influence to meet their interpretations of how to manage stakeholders (employers, workers, and patients). The authors analyze variations in the extent of job crafting (cognitive, physical, relational) to broaden …

Combat Experiences, Personality, Iso-Strain, And Sleep Quality Affect Posttraumatic Stress Among Working Post-9/11 Veterans, Gilbert Patrick Brady Jr., Leslie B. Hammer, Olivia C. Preston, Anna K. Nishen

Student Research Symposium

We investigated the effects of combat experiences (CES), personality traits, sleep quality and iso-strain on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among a sample (N=382) of working, post-9/11 Veterans. As prior occupational stress research has neglected the role of personality traits, we sought to examine how two of the Big Five traits (i.e., Neuroticism and Conscientiousness) affected PTSS. Greater scientific understanding of how personality contributes to the post-deployment etiology of PTSD may help customize interventions aimed at reintegrating Veterans. Baseline data were drawn from the five-year, randomized control, Department of Defense-funded “Study for Employment Retention of Veterans” (SERVe). After controlling …

Introduction To The Special Issue Of New Methods In Work And Organizational Health, Liu-Qin Yang, Chu-Hsiang (Daisy) Chang, Vivien K.G. Lim

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Collectively, the eight articles included in this special issue examine some of the important methodological issues that affect the future progress and developments of WOHP research. Two papers review methods on research design (Ilies, Aw & Lim; O’Shea, O’Connell, & Gallagher), three advance methods in data collection including measurement (Eatough, Shockley, & Yu; McGonagle, Huang, & Walsh; Sonnentag & Pundt), and three describe important data analytical methods (Ilies et al.; Liu, Mo, Song, & Wang; Wang, Hernandez, Newman, He, & Bian). The last paper by Spector and Pindek discusses the common research methodologies used in WOHP and provided some ideas …

To Branch Out Or Stay Focused?: Affective Shifts Differentially Predict Organizational Citizenship Behavior And Task Performance, Liu-Qin Yang, Lauren S. Simon, Lei Wang, Xiaoming Zheng

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We draw from personality systems interaction theory (PSI; Kuhl, 2000) and regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997) to examine how dynamic positive and negative affective processes interact to predict both task and contextual performance. Using a twice-daily diary design over the course of a three-week period, results from multi-level regression analysis revealed that distinct patterns of change in positive and negative affect optimally predicted contextual and task performance among a sample of 71 individuals employed at a medium-sized technology company. Specifically, within persons, increases (upshifts) in positive affect over the course of a work day better predicted the subsequent day’s organizational …

Intervention Effects On Safety Compliance And Citizenship Behaviors: Evidence From The Work, Family, And Health Study, Leslie B. Hammer, Ryan C. Johnson, Tori Laurelle Crain, Todd Bodner, Ellen Ernst Kossek, Kelly Davis, Erin L. Kelly, Orfeu M. Buxton, Georgia Karuntzos, L. Casey Chosewood, Lisa Berkman

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We tested the effects of a work-family intervention on employee reports of safety compliance and organizational citizenship behaviors in 30 health care facilities using a group-randomized trial. Based on conservation of resources theory and the work-home resources model, we hypothesized that implementing a work-family intervention aimed at increasing contextual resources via supervisor support for work and family, and employee control over work time, would lead to improved personal resources and increased employee performance on the job in the form of self-reported safety compliance and organizational citizenship behaviors. Multilevel analyses used survey data from 1,524 employees at baseline and at 6-month …

The Multilevel Effects Of Supervisor Adaptability On Training Effectiveness And Employee Job Satisfaction, Joseph Alvin Sherwood

Dissertations and Theses

The present study explored the multilevel effects of supervisor learning adaptability on training effectiveness, and post-training employee job satisfaction in a work-family and safety-based intervention aimed at increasing family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) and safety behaviors. Using a sample of 291 municipal public works field workers from two independent organizations, it was hypothesized that supervisor adaptability positively relates to post-training FSSB and employee job satisfaction. Specifically, it was hypothesized that learning adaptability prepares those supervisors to be more inclined to engage actively in training, thereby increasing employee reported FSSBs more significantly for those supervisors and leading to intervention target results, …

Transformational Leadership, Diversity, And Creativity At Work: A Moderated Mediation Model, Aisha Smith Taylor

Dissertations and Theses

Organizational leaders often seek to hire and retain innovative employees as a source of competitive advantage. Both transformational leadership and effectively managed workplace diversity have been theorized and shown to lead to increased employee creative performance at work; however, a full model of the relationships between leadership and the multi-dimensional construct of workplace diversity has not yet been tested. Using a sample of 371 employees in three Chinese high-technology firms matched with 64 supervisors collected at three time points, this study theorized and tested a moderated mediation path model in which transformational leadership and diversity climate were predicted to significantly …

Investigating Relationships Among Work, Family, And Sleep: Cross-Sectional, Daily, And Intervention Effects, Tori Laurelle Crain

Dissertations and Theses

Few studies to date have investigated associations among work, family, and sleep outcomes. The following dissertation includes three studies that attempt to further understanding of such relationships by utilizing data from information technology workers within the Work, Family, and Health Network study. In Study 1, which is published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, associations between work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict, family-supportive supervisor behaviors, and sleep outcomes, measured both subjectively and objectively, are examined in a cross-sectional sample. Study 2 investigates associations among work-to-family conflict, family-supportive supervisor behaviors, and subjective sleep outcomes within a seven-day daily diary framework. Furthermore, workplace …

Workplace Aggression: A Multi-Study Examination Of Work And Nonwork Consequences, Caitlin Ann Demsky

Dissertations and Theses

Workplace aggression has been associated with a number of detrimental employee and organizational outcomes, both at work and away from work. This dissertation includes three studies that expand our knowledge of the implications of workplace aggression in the work and nonwork domains. Further, this research illuminates the processes through which this relationship occurs by utilizing various sources of data from employees in a variety of contexts including universities, long term health care, and the USDA Forest Service. In Study 1, which was published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, multi-source data are utilized to identify the indirect effects of …

Building Resources At Home And At Work: Day-Level Relationships Between Job Crafting, Recovery Experiences, And Work Engagement, Allison Marie Ellis

Dissertations and Theses

Work engagement is an increasingly popular construct in organizational and occupational health psychology. However, despite substantial advances in our understanding of work engagement at the between-person level, scholars have argued for increased investigation into what drives engagement on a daily level for individual employees. In the current study, a within-person, day-level design was employed to examine the relationships between nonwork mastery experiences, job crafting behaviors, and daily work engagement. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (Hobfoll, 1989) theory, nonwork mastery experiences and job crafting were operationalized as employee-driven, resource-building strategies that assist employees in generating important psychological and job resources that …

Dynamic Job Satisfaction Shifts: Implications For Manager Behavior And Crossover To Employees, David Ellis Caughlin

Dissertations and Theses

In this dissertation, I investigated job satisfaction from a dynamic perspective. Specifically, I integrated the momentum model of job satisfaction with the affective shift model and crossover theory in an effort to move beyond traditional, static conceptions of job satisfaction and other constructs. Recent research and theoretical development has focused on the meaning of job satisfaction change for workers and how such change impacts their decisions to leave an organization. To extend this line of inquiry, I posited hypotheses pertaining to: (a) job satisfaction change with respect to positive work behavior (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior, family-supportive supervisor behavior); (b) the …

Effects Of A Workplace Intervention Targeting Psychosocial Risk Factors On Safety And Health Outcomes, Leslie B. Hammer, Donald M. Truxillo, Todd Bodner, Jennifer Rae Rineer, Amy C. Pytlovany, Amy Richman

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The goal of this study was to test the effectiveness of a workplace intervention targeting work-life stress and safety-related psychosocial risk factors on health and safety outcomes. Data were collected over time using a randomized control trial design with 264 construction workers employed in an urban municipal department. The intervention involved family- and safety-supportive supervisor behavior training (computer-based), followed by two weeks of behavior tracking and a four-hour, facilitated team effectiveness session including supervisors and employees. A significant positive intervention effect was found for an objective measure of blood pressure at the 12-month follow-up. However, no significant intervention results were …

A Marathon, Not A Sprint: The Benefits Of Taking Time To Recover From Work Demands, Charlotte Fritz, Allison Marie Ellis

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

“Are you binge working?” was the title of a recent NBC News article14 de-scribing recent cases in which people reported working as many as three days straight without any breaks, and in some cases literally dying as a result. Although cases like these are extreme, they point to a growing trend in today’s workplace—one that suggests employees are working longer hours, coping with increasing work demands, and readily adopting technology that tethers them to their work 24/7. Coupled with a working culture that equates face time and being “always on” with high job com-mitment, we’re left—perhaps not surprisingly—with a workforce …

Bumps Along The Long And Winding Road: Factors Related To Truck Driver Turnover And Job-Induced Tension, Layla Rhiannon Mansfield

Dissertations and Theses

Voluntary turnover rates among truckload carriers are extremely high, ranging from 50% to more than 100% annually (Griffin & Kalnbach, 2002), furthermore, long-haul truck drivers operate in a stressor-filled environment, which exerts enormous adverse influence not only their well-being but also on their intent to quit. This study explores the relational aspects of the driver's work environment to highlight how the relationships that a driver has with their organization, supervisor, and dispatcher can explain turnover and job-induced tension. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory, Conservation of Resources Theory, and concepts from Hirschman's (1970) theoretical framework of Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, this …