Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons^™

Implicit Trait Policies And Situational Judgment Tests: How Personality Shapes Judgments Of Effective Behavior, Alexander Edward Johnson

Industrial-Organizational Psychology Dissertations

The Situational Judgment Test (SJT) is a popular selection tool used by employers to

make hiring decisions due to their strong predictive validity. SJTs present job candidates with

hypothetical scenarios, asking them to choose the responses that best fit those situations. SJTs

have been used to measure a range of knowledge, skills, and abilities, but what they measure and

why they predict performance remains unclear. Lievens and Motowidlo (2016) called for a

reframing of the SJT as a measure of general domain knowledge. According to their theory, SJTs

measure procedural knowledge, which is composed of general domain knowledge—

operationalized as …

Patterns Of Risk Behaviors And Their Value: A Latent Class Growth Modeling Approach, Anthony Naranjo

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The current body of individual risk behavior research has been mainly driven by two streams of literature. Stable risk researchers propose individuals tend to display similar risk behaviors across time and situations due to individuals' underlying propensity to either engage in risk averse or risk seeking behaviors. Changeable risk researchers have sought out to examine variability in risk behaviors due to factors such as personality and contextual characteristics. However, might it be the case that there are subgroups of individuals who may be more prone to display static risk behaviors and other subgroup whose risk behaviors are more amendable? To …

The Effect Of Personality On Performance Under Change, Sydney Mazur

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between personality and performance under changing circumstances. Specifically, this paper analyzes how the personality trait of optimism, and a moderator of ambiguity tolerance, affects performance under changes in an Air-Traffic Control Simulation. Previous studies have not examined the effect that optimism has on performance under change. Results indicated that personality does not correlate significantly with performance. This study was completed due to interest in a positive attitude and how it may relate to performing in the workplace

The Impact Of Personal Resources, Job Resources And Job Demands On Nurse Engagement, Michael J. Kern

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In today’s VUCA (Volatile, Complex, Uncertain, and Ambiguous) world, the more we understand about how individual differences interact with the work environment to impact employee engagement the greater our chances are of making changes to lead to positive work outcomes regardless of the profession. There is no profession better suited for this type of investigation than that of nursing. Previous research has shown that more highly engaged nurses are able to provide better care and thus increase the chances of a more favorable outcome. There are many factors that can impact work engagement and one accepted model that helps to …

“I Can See The Forest For The Trees”: Examining Personality Traits With Trasformers, Alexander Moore

All Dissertations

Our understanding of Personality and its structure is rooted in linguistic studies operating under the assumptions made by the Lexical Hypothesis: personality characteristics that are important to a group of people will at some point be codified in their language, with the number of encoded representations of a personality characteristic indicating their importance. Qualitative and quantitative efforts in the dimension reduction of our lexicon throughout the mid-20^th century have played a vital role in the field’s eventual arrival at the widely accepted Five Factor Model (FFM). However, there are a number of presently unresolved conflicts regarding the breadth and …

Using Survival Analysis Techniques To Examine The Relationship Between Personality Facets And Employee Turnover, Devon Kinsey

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Employee turnover continues to have severe monetary, time, performance, and human capital implications for organizations. Due to these implications, multiple areas of research have examined the possible predictors of employee turnover, such as personality factors and the narrow facets that comprise those factors. This study examines the facet-level scores of the conscientiousness and openness to experience factors as predictors of employee turnover using data from the ETS® WorkFORCE™ Assessment for Job Fit (Naemi et al., 2014), an assessment based on the Five Factor Model (FMM) of personality. Survival analysis techniques were used in addition to logistic regression analysis when …

Using Metaperceptions To Evaluate Conscientiousness And Predict Gpa, Montana R. Woolley

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Personality measures have been used for decades to predict many important workplace outcomes, however, the literature reveals weak predictive validities (Barrick et al., 2001; Morgeson et al., 2007). This study investigates metaperceptions, or an individual’s belief about how others perceive them (Laing et al., 1966), to determine if they are a more effective predictor of behavioral outcomes than the typical self-report measures used today. Metaperceptions capture a different perspective than classic self-reports and other-reports, and therefore may measure a different source of construct relevant variance. Using a student sample (N = 181), we tested three main hypotheses: (1) combining self-ratings, …

Personality And Organizational Justice Effects On Counterproductive Work Behavior, Alec C. Drabish

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) costs U.S. organizations billions annually (e.g., Bennett & Robinson, 2000). Any behavior that goes against the goals of an organization and is intended to harm either the organization or its members can fit the definition of CWB. To properly address these problems an accurate understanding of CWB and its’ determinants is necessary. Employee perceptions of fairness (organizational justice) is linked to CWB because employees reciprocate unfair treatment with CWB (e.g., Shaw et al., 2003), and the personality traits honesty-humility and self-control are also strong determinants of CWB because high levels of these traits will suppress the …

Improving The Accuracy Of References: The Effects Of Felt Accountability On Personality Ratings, Cullen W. D. Mccurrach

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

References are a useful preemployment assessment for gathering unique personality information about job applicants. However, despite the capacity for external observers to provide valid personality ratings, references tend to be less accurate than similar preemployment assessments. This problem is important to address, since almost all organizations use references of some kind when hiring. This study attempted to improve the accuracy of the personality ratings provided in references by using two novel interventions believed to improve referees’ felt accountability to the hiring organization. These interventions included (a) a more elaborative rating format that asked participants to provide the reasons underlying each …

Individual Differences And Social-Comparative Feedback, Kabir N. Daljeet

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of the overall program of research was to investigate whether there are individual differences that facilitate the acceptance of, or preferences for, social-comparative performance feedback. In doing so, we aimed to establish how individual differences could be leveraged to mitigate the negative reactions that some individuals experience in response to social-comparative feedback (Feeney, Goffin, & Schneider, 2016; Roch et al., 2007). Likewise, we sought to determine whether individual differences were associated with a preference for social-comparative feedback. The results of the first study (N = 255) advanced a novel experimental design and found that, with limited exception, …

Understanding The Importance Of Ambition In The Workplace, Jeff Bean

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Though a common term, ambition is a multifaceted concept that is vastly under researched despite it being labeled necessary for success in the workplace. Of even greater irony is that several sources indicate a significant majority of the reason that employees leave organizations is due to a perceived lack of career development or opportunity, a problem that speaks directly to talent management practices. In light the costly nature of this problem and the presence of sophisticated talent management professionals in large and medium-sized organizations which comprise half or more of the workforce, it causes one to question the assumptions that …

Profiles And Culture: Multi-Level Latent Profiles Based On Personality Traits And Facets And Profile Influences On Performance Outcomes Across Cultures, Weiwei Liu

Theses and Dissertations

Personality research has traditionally adopted a variable-centric approach but recently more studies have adopted a person-centric approach. A person-centric approach can provide additional insights in that it explores for multiple unobserved subgroups within a population and examines the extent to which relationships may differ across subgroups. The current study adds to this growing area in four ways. First, studies have attempted to identify common personality profiles, but results have been inconsistent and very few studies have examined work-relevant samples. The current study addresses this issue based on a large sample that is diverse in terms of industries, occupations, and countries. …

Finding Teams That Fight Fair: Exploring Trajectories Of Team Conflict Over Time, Natasha E. Ouslis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Disagreements are a reality for teams. Yet how and when teams experience conflict may impact their chances of success. We know relatively little about how team conflict emerges over time, especially for project-based teams. Disagreements over personal topics, logistics, and contributions have been consistently damaging to team performance (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; O’Neill, Allen, & Hastings, 2013). The implications of task-based conflict over time, however, are inconsistent and poorly understood. To resolve these questions, I conducted three studies examining how conflict developed over the lifetimes of 272 engineering design project teams. Study 1 explored the measurement and patterns of …

Impact Of Warnings On Gamified Personality Assessments, Sabrina Yu

Student Theses and Dissertations

Over the past several years, there has been a growing interest in using gamified and game-based assessments to measure individual differences (e.g., cognitive ability, personality) in both research and selection contexts. This interest, in part, stems from the research showing that gamified assessments are associated with more positive candidate reactions to selection processes and the potential to mitigate faking on personality assessments. To date, little research has examined the impact of gamification on faking overall and little research has combined gamification with a more traditional method of mitigating faking on personality assessments such as warnings. The purpose of this study …

Gender Differences In Personality: An Item-Level Analysis, Casey C. Smith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Personality is a social and organizational construct with a substantial history and discourse. One particular area in personality that is of interest is gender differences in personality. Gender differences have been found on scales measuring various aspects of personality, such as narcissism (Grijalva et al., 2014). While there are differences present in personality data, there hasn’t been a consistent explanation for why this occurs. This research looked specifically at the construction of personality items to begin to understand the differences in personality by gender. While social roles and social context are mostly referenced to inform the response patterns of men …

The Myers-Briggs Personality System And Its Moderating Effects On The Relationship Between Job Characteristics And Job Satisfaction, Rebecca Marshall

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In this research, I examined how characteristics of the job, namely task significance and task identity, predicted job satisfaction and how those relationships were moderated by one’s Myers-Briggs type. It was hypothesized that the thinking/feeling dichotomy would moderate the relationship between task significance and job satisfaction and the sensing/intuition dichotomy would moderate the relationship between task identity and job satisfaction. In the study, I sought to understand how these moderated relationships would differ for people with good and poor psychological health. There were 945 people who participated which required them to answer questions about their job, personality, psychological health, life, …

The Influence Of Personality And Losses On Search In Decisions From Experience, Michael Mordechai Hay

LSU Master's Theses

Research in decision making has focused increasing attention on understanding search behavior without focusing on how individual differences might influence people’s search behavior. To increase our understanding of this topic, the present study examined how personality predicted the amount of search an individual engages in before making a risky decision. It was hypothesized that conscientiousness would be a positive predictor of search behavior and would emerge as an even stronger predictor of search behavior when choosing between options with negative outcomes. It was also hypothesized that neuroticism would be a negative predictor of search behavior and that individuals with higher …

A Computational Cognitive Architecture For Exploring Team Mental Models, Neil Benoit Outland

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Team Mental Models (TMM) are one of the strongest predictors of team behavior and performance. TMM direct team behaviors through the series of tasks they perform over time. Research in the area, although crucial in demonstrating the effect of TMM, has been largely static, failing to articulate specifically how TMM emerge or function in teams over time. This dissertation develops a computational model to explicate the process of TMM emergence and demonstrate necessary factors. First, I explain the core concepts of TMM emergence, including team composition, dyadic interactions, and contextual variables. Second, I develop a process-oriented theory of TMM development …

Evaluation Of Wildland Firefighter Leadership, Rebecca Rose

All Master's Theses

There has been growing research evaluating hazardous occupations to gain a better understanding of how crisis leaders and followers, such as wildland firefighters make decisions in high-stress environments. In this study, wildland firefighters were examined to assess their decision-making skills using a wildland fire simulation computer game called the Networked Fire Chief (NFC). These results were compared against both the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and the Big Five personality traits using Saucier’s abbreviated Mini-Markers. Only a small sample of wildland firefighters was available to participate due to the intense 2017 fire season. Additional participants were recruited through CWU Sona system. Results …

Investigating Employability: Testing The Raw Framework, Daniell Jean Study

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In a recent model of employability, Hogan, Chamorro-Premuzic, and Kaiser (2013) defined employability as the ability to gain and maintain employment and find new employment when necessary. The authors presented employability as a formative construct containing an ability dimension (the ability to do the job), a social skills dimension (being rewarding to work with), and a motivational dimension (being willing to work hard). There is no question as to whether these three dimensions affect one’s level of employability; research is abundant on the positive relationships between intelligence, social and emotional skills, motivation and career success. However, little research has been …

The Dreaded Performance Appraisal: Can The Process Ever Be Comfortable?, Lauren Labat

Dissertations

Previous research has indicated that individuals dislike and resist the performance appraisal process. Fewer studies have examined reasoning for unintentional rating distortion that may result from a lack of training and clear understanding of how to effectively evaluate behaviors. Researchers have shown that the appraisal process is uncomfortable for raters, but empirical studies have yet to explore how to reduce this discomfort. Rater training research has revealed that trained raters have improved observational skills, a more precise vocabulary to describe behaviors, and improved rating accuracy. This research explored the relationship between performance appraisal discomfort and trait motivational factors (i.e., personality …

Leadership Ineffectiveness: The Interactive Effects Of Leader Personality, Job Demands, And Job Resources On Ethical Climate And Employee Turnover Intentions, Michelle D. Corman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Goals of the present research were to demonstrate that: (a) leadership personality is related to employee perceptions of the organization’s ethical climate; (b) leader job stress moderates this relationship for certain personality attributes; and (c) such leader-associated ethical climate, in turn, is related to employee turnover intentions and ultimate turnover (see Figure 1). Specifically, I investigated how individual differences in certain leadership “dark side” traits interact with leader job stress to influence the perceived ethical climate of their employees, to ultimately impact employee turnover intentions and turnover. Another goal of this research was to make unique predictions for the leadership …

The Role Of Personality Traits On Goal Commitment: A Moderation Analysis, Matthew Hendrick Mellegers

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Managers and researchers alike have long yearned for a solution to garner peak performance from employees. With the use Locke and Latham’s goal setting theory as a motivational foundational principle, goal commitment was predicted from four primary personality traits commonly found in scientific literature: general self-efficacy, conscientiousness, honesty/humility, and learning goal orientation. The possible moderation effect of goal difficulty on these relationships was also explored. 248 undergraduate students at California State University, San Bernardino were presented personality inventories, followed by an anagram word task, and were assigned to either an easy or hard goal condition. Goal commitment was measured at …

Predictors Of Job Boredom, Mitchell Eid

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Although job boredom is increasingly common in the workplace, little research has examined its’ causes. Reducing job boredom has relevance to companies looking to increase the well-being of their employees in addition to their productivity. This study examined what variables are related to and predict job boredom. The Big Five personality traits and job characteristics as defined by Hackman and Oldham specifically, skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback from the job itself were included. A regression analysis revealed that emotional stability, openness and autonomy were significant predictors of boredom. While those were the only variables predictive of …

Measurement Of The Propensity To Trust Automation, Sarah Ann Jessup

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Few studies have examined how propensity to trust in automation influences trust behaviors, those which indicate users are relying on automation. Of the published studies, there are inconsistencies in how propensity to trust automation is conceptualized and thus measured. Research on attitudes and intentions has discerned that reliability and validity of measures can be increased by using more direct and specific language, which reduces ambiguity and increases the ability to predict behavior. This study examined how traditional measures of propensity to trust automation could be adapted to predict whether automation is deemed as trustworthy (perceived trustworthiness) and whether people behave …

Investigation Of The Predictive Validity Of Implicit And Explicit Measures Of Integrity, Andrew C. Schneider

MSU Graduate Theses

The present study examined the incremental predictive validity of two overt-based Implicit Association Tests (IATs) and three personality-based IATs for behavior related to integrity and character. The overt-based IATs assess attributes related to self and honesty. The personality-based IATs assess attributes related to the “dark triad” of personality – Machiavellianism, subclinical narcissism, and subclinical psychopathy. A temptation manipulation provided opportunities for subjects to lie, cheat, and steal on a number finding task, to receive a greater financial reward. In addition to the five IATs, subjects also completed five explicit (self-report) overt and personality-based integrity measures. Findings did not support the …

A Longitudinal Examination Of Personality At Work: Examining The Relationship Between Variability In Personality And Job Performance And Turnover Intentions, Ryan Joseph Hirtz

Dissertations

The present study examined the relationship between variability in personality and important organizational outcomes, including multi-faceted job performance and turnover intentions. Furthermore, this study tested the mediating effects of self-esteem, anxiety, leader-member exchange, and job satisfaction. Finally, various situational contingencies were examined as a potential source of Big Five personality states. Experience sampling methodology was used to repeatedly measure working participants’ state personality over the course of two weeks. Self and other (i.e., coworker or supervisor) performance ratings were collected.

Results showed that variability in a general factor of personality had statistically significant relationships with anxiety, leader-member exchange, job satisfaction, …

I Warned You! Applicant Reactions To Different Types Of Warnings Against Faking On Personality Tests: An Organizational Justice, Trust And Affect-Based Perspective, Vanessa M. Lammers

Dissertations

Abstract

Despite their widespread use in employee selection procedures, personality measures are susceptible to applicant faking. Explicit warnings, often included in test instructions to deter faking behavior, inform applicants that items are included on the test to detect faking, and that those caught faking, will be removed from the applicant pool (i.e., invalidation warnings). The current research examined the effectiveness of another warning type informing applicants that faking is not in their best interest, as it is likely to get them into a job for which they are a poor fit (i.e., job fit warnings). Results for Study 1 supported …

That's Not Fair! Examining Individual Differences In Perceptions Of Fairness, Hayden Jerney Randolph Woodley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Within organizations, fairness is an important concept and has received considerable research attention. Some research, interestingly, suggests that individuals differ in their perceptions of equity. Building on this research, four empirical studies were conducted to develop a measure of a new construct (i.e., equity orientation) and examine its predictive validity. In Study 1 (N = 836) and Study 2 (N = 600), the Equity Orientation Scale (EOS) was created and its relations with two popular personality models – the HEXACO and the Dark Tetrad – were examined across self- and peer-ratings. In Study 3 (N = 433) and Study 4 …

The Psychometric Evaluation Of A Personality Selection Tool, James R. Longabaugh

Industrial-Organizational Psychology Dissertations

Personality is one of the primary ways that people are distinguished from one another on the basis of their unique tendencies and behavioral patterns. Decades of empirical research have yielded five primary personality traits which have consistently emerged, becoming known as the Five Factor Model (FFM). In particular, the FFM has been widely used in the employee selection realm. However, there have been mixed reviews as to how well the FFM of personality accomplishes that objective, with some research drawing into question the strength of the relationship between personality and job performance.

The purpose of the current investigation is to …