Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

The Influence Of Affective State And Social Loafing On Teams Over Time, Amy N. Cunningham

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Teams are a growing force in the workplace today. An interesting aspect of team research in recent years involves the maturation of teams over time and the processes teams go through as a novice team to a fully accomplished performing team. One impediment to team maturation and performance is social loafing. There were two goals in the present research and are presented in the following questions. First, do team members' effective states influence social loafing? Second, does team training affect affective state of team members, social loafing, and performance? These variables were investigated, using an interrupted time series design, as …

The Effects Of Equal Opportunity Fairness And Diversity On Work Group Efficacy, Job Satisfaction, And Organizational Commitment In The Military: A Test Of Structural Invariance, Nancy P. Emery

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to test the invariance of a structural equation model of equal opportunity fairness (EOF) in the U.S. military across ethnic and gender groups. Military Equal Opportunity Climate Survey (MEOCS) data drawn from four distinct sociocultural groups in the military were tested on a model that fit the MEOCS data drawn from a sample of White men. A series of multi-group analyses was conducted on the established structural model using LISREL 8 (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1996) to determine whether data from sociocultural groups other than White males would fit a White male model. Further …

Effects Of Organizational Climate, Feedback-Seeking Environment And Innovation Characteristics On The Implementation Of A 360-Degree Feedback System, Simon Alan Bartle

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the effects of organizational climate, feedback seeking environment and innovation characteristics on the implementation of a 360-degree feedback system within a large financial holdings company. The effect of user attitudes toward the 360-degree feedback system was also assessed. A sample of responses from 255 360-degree feedback system users was collected over a 14-month time period. LISREL was used to test the hypothesized structural model. Overall goodness of fit for the model was poor (using generalized least squares estimates: the Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI) = .95, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = .96; Root Mean Square Error of …

Fairness In Chinese Organizations, Kai-Guang Liang

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the roles of organizational justice and individual cultural characteristics in affecting employees' work attitudes and behaviors, in particular, the contextual aspect of job performance in Chinese organizations. Data were collected from 232 employee-supervisor dyads in three Sino-western joint ventures in the People's Republic of China. Results indicated that distributive justice had a significant impact on one dimension of contextual job performance, i.e., interpersonal facilitation, and various attitudinal outcomes, such as job satisfaction, pay satisfaction, affective commitment and turnover intention. Among the three procedural justice variables (participation at company level, participation at job level, and appeal mechanism) examined, …

The Application Of Role Theory To The Sexual Harassment Paradigm: A Policy Capturing Approach, Lora L. Jacobi

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This research utilized policy capturing techniques to analyze the different factors individuals use when determining sexual harassment. The importance of level of power, verbal behavior, and invasiveness of touch were examined. Additionally, role theory was applied to the sexual harassment paradigm in order to understand how context factors within an organization affect the perception of sexual harassment. Profile analysis was used to determine how the perception of what constitutes harassing behavior is mitigated by one's role in the organization.

Participants were one hundred and five males and one hundred and fifteen females who were either currently employed or employed within …

Effects Of An Interview Guide On The Accuracy Of Ratings For Applicants With Disabilities, Catherine Quinn Greenwald Mergen

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The problem of bias in the employment interview for applicants with disabilities was addressed with research to identify if a decision aid can increase the decision making accuracy of interviewers. A survey designed to allow participants to rate applicants with five disabilities for three jobs (with three essential functions listed for each job) was used to assess rating accuracy of two groups. Participants who received the decision aid in the form of a Guide to Interviewing People with Selected Disabilities were expected to have more rating accuracy than those participants without access to the Guide. Accuracy was assessed by comparing …

A Structural Model Of Antecedents And Consequences Of Satisfaction With Growth And Development, Greg E. Loviscky

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Because downsizing and re-organizing have altered the social contract between employers and employees, employees have found additional incentive to grow and develop by adding to their portfolio of skills. In order to establish the validity of satisfaction with growth and development, an hypothesized model is tested and compared with competing models. 'our hundred and sixty three employees from a large southeastern city completed a questionnaire that examined attitudes regarding satisfaction with growth and development, general job satisfaction, and hypothesized antecedents (i.e., context and individual variables) and consequences (i.e., organizational commitment) of satisfaction with growth and development. LISREL VIII (Joreskog & …

The Effects Of Perceived Upward Influence Rewards And Personality Moderators On Job Satisfaction And Productivity In An Employee Suggestion Program, David J. Braun

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The extent to which work satisfaction, task satisfaction, suggestion quantity and suggestion quality may be affected by upward influence and reward in a suggestion program was investigated using 160 students as subjects. Locus of control and growth need strength were investigated in terms of their effects as personality moderators. Subjects offered suggestions during three trials for nine topics representing university problems. The percentage of suggestions accepted by a review committee was manipulated as four levels of an upward influence condition (0'/o, 25'/0, 50'/o and 75'/o). In addition, subjects were randomly assigned to either a no-reward or reward condition, in which …

The Impact Of Leadership Style And Subordinate Charisma On Organizational Outcomes, Amy L. Vick

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Three hundred and forty members of the administration and finance departments in a loc~l university participated in a study designed to examine the relationships between leadership style (transformational, transactional, laissez-faire) and job satisfaction, rated leader effectiveness, effort, group cohesiveness, performance, group effectiveness, organizational involvement, role clarity, role conflict, intent to turnover, and absenteeism. Correlation and regression analyses indicated that transformational leadership often is associated with improved levels of important work outcomes. In addition, regardless of leadership style, followers high in charisma are more satisfied when their leader demonstrates a lower level of charisma. Lastly, the "falling dominoes" effect of transformational …

A Test Of Bass's Model Of Transformational Leadership Among Managers In The Dominican Republic, Nancy Urbaez Echavarria

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study tested the generalizability of Bass's theory of transformational leadership to employees of a company in the Dominican Republic. A Spanish translation of Bass's Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was used to assess the leadership styles. The factor structure for Dominican workers was not identical to the structure observed in United States samples. Nevertheless, the pattern of results followed rather closely the pattern observed in United States samples. Consistent with research conducted in the U.S., subordinates who had transformational leaders reported more satisfaction and effectiveness and greater effort and organizational innovativeness than subordinates who had transactional or laissez faire leaders. …

Computer Use In The Scientific Office, Douglas L. Miller

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Over the past two decades computers in research and development organizations have become a complex and integral part of the work process. Yet to date only a handful of systematic investigations have addressed issues involving scientists' or other professionals' use of computers, and very little is known about factors influencing use (Bikson and Gutek, 1983; Blacker and Brown, 1986; Collopy, 1988; Gasser, 1986; Helander, 1985; Nickolson, 1985; Pope, 1985). As a result, this research was designed to address four objectives. The first was to develop and evaluate a descriptive model of variables influencing scientists' computer use. The second objective was …

The Effects Of Training And Feedback Format On Reactions To In-Basket Feedback And On In-Basket Performance, Michael G. Fedorko

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of training and feedback format on reactions to in-basket feedback and on in-basket performance. Performance was evaluated with a 2 (Training) x 3 (Feedback) x 2 (In-Basket) x 5 (Dimension) repeated measures factorial design. Reactions were evaluated with a 2 (Training) x 3 (Feedback) x 2 (Questionnaire) repeated measures factorial design. The Training factor was comprised of frame-of-reference training (designed to prepare the recipient to receive the feedback) and a control condition (a lecture on Mintzberg's managerial role classification system). The Feedback factor was comprised of written feedback, oral feedback, …

Preschoolers' And Third Graders' Sorting Preferences And Strategic Knowledge Of Taxonomic Associative And Perceptual Organizational Strategies, Helene Ann Hembrooke

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated strategic use and metamemory concerning taxonomic, associative, and perceptual organizational strategies. Preschool and third grade children were asked to sort stimuli which varied orthogonally along three dimensions; taxonomically, associatively, and perceptually. Free recall was assessed. Each child also completed one of two metamemory tasks; a paired comparison or a peer teaching task. The order of the memory/metamemory tasks was counterbalanced within age groups. The results showed that older children sorted by taxonomic and associative attributes while younger children exhibited no sorting preference. Older children recalled significantly more pictures, although no significant age differences in recall clustering were …

The Relationship Between Response Variability And Interview Contrast Effects, Salvatore John Cesare

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The low reliability and validity of the interview has lead to research aimed at improving its effectiveness. One such strategy is the microanalytic approach developed by Mayfield (1964). This approach centers on the decision—making processes errors made by the interviewer. One type of error is the contrast effect. A contrast effect is that situation where the rating given to an applicant is contingent upon the quality of preceding applicants. This study used a 3 X 3 (Induced Set X Target Applicant) factorial design to assess how different amounts of response variability by an average applicant can influence contrast effects. Subjects …

A Perception Based Integrative Theory Of Individual Behavior In Organizations, John Edward Mathieu

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop an integrative theoretical approach to the study of individuals' behavior in organizations, and to present an application of the approach to understanding the performance of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets. Individuals' perceptions of the environment were proposed to exist at three levels of analysis: (1) psychological climate (i.e., individual); (2) group climate; and organizational climate. Further, climate perceptions were proposed to result from the simultaneous influence of objective (i.e., actual) situational characteristics, and individuals' needs and characteristics. The underlying dimensions that linked climate perceptions operationalized at the three levels of analysis …

The Effects Of Person-Job Environment Congruency On Individual And Organizational Outcomes, Eileen J. Mcdonald

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to ascertain the effects of person-job environment congruency on outcomes important to individuals and organizations, so that new personnel decision making strategies can be developed. To accomplish these aims, the research had two objectives: (1) to develop an operational model of person-job environment congruency based on an integration of available research evidence and (2) to investigate the effectiveness of the concepts and methods proposed by the model on individual and organizational criteria of success.

Within a person-job environment congruency model framework, there are essentially two matching systems. In the first, the work experiences of …

An Analysis Of The Relationships Between Environmental Stimuli Personality Variables And Levels Of Burnout In Intensive Care Nurses, Catherine Via Cauthorne

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The syndrome of burnout is characterized by the development of negative self-perceptions and behaviors designed to protect oneself from emotional distress in a worker as a result of painful emotional stress generated by interactions between psychological demands from the work environment, personality needs of the worker, and the worker's self-perceived difficulty in meeting these demands and needs. The contributions of both environmental characteristics and personality traits to burnout levels were examined in a group of 45 intensive care nurses. Tests used included the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, a data questionnaire, the Survey of Organizations, and the Maslach Burnout …