Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Empirical Examination Of Consequential Factors Of Negative Program Culture As Determinants Of Affective Well-Being In Graduate Students, Morgan Chandler

All Theses

There is evidence of a crisis of low affective well-being troubling graduate students nationwide. Recent studies have shown that graduate students exhibit indicators of low affective well-being, such as levels of anxiety and depression six times greater than the general population (Galleo et al., 2021; Glover, 2019), high levels of being overwhelmed (Kaler & Stebleton, 2019), and overall increased psychological distress (Hacker, 2021). The prevalence and severity of these issues indicate that their causes may exceed personal factors (Bekkouche et al., 2022). Previous research has identified the quality of culture and culture-related factors within graduate schools and programs to be …

“Fit Check”: Testing A Model Of Perceptions Of Team Level Person-Group Fit, Alexandria Wentworth

All Theses

Teams are become a mainstay in nearly every sector of business. Teams are complex and evolve to meet the demands of their unique environments. One team structure growing in popularity is a multiteam system (MTS), a system comprised of multiple teams working interdependently to achieve goals. Understanding the mechanisms by which a MTS is successful is challenging; however, the concept of fit may offer further explanation. Person-group fit has been shown to improve coworker satisfaction, job attitudes, and task performance. Most research has only explored individual-level outcomes of person-group fit, yet there are numerous calls for further exploration into team-level …

Beyond Labels: Understanding The Complexities Of Lgb Employee Team Networks, Mohammed S. Akib

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to investigate the team network of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) employees, as well as the factors influencing those team networks. The findings were based on responses from 13 participants who identified as either lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Participants completed a 60-minute interview, which was audio recorded and transcribed for analysis. The data was analyzed using MaxQDA qualitative analysis software, employing a phenomenological approach. Two research questions were addressed: (1) How, if at all, does the form and nature of the team network differ between the subgroups of LGB employees? and (2) How do various contextual factors …

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 …

Too Many Constructs In The Kitchen: Toward A Feature-Based Approach To Mistreatment, Sarah Carver

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The field of workplace mistreatment has grown considerably over the last two decades yet continues to be plagued by construct overload and measurement challenges. Constructs such as incivility, bullying, abusive supervision, and social undermining are definitionally distinct in terms of their frequency, intensity, and intentionality but this is seldom explicitly measured. Across three studies, we created and developed the Features of Mistreatment (FOM) measure to explicitly measure frequency, intensity, and perceived intentionality. In Study 1 (N = 282), we examined the psychometric properties of the initial 28-item FOM measure and revised the subscales to four items each. We found …

Beyond Rank Attainment: Examining The Nature And Function Of Dominance And Prestige In Teams, Lynden Jensen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Social hierarchies are fundamental to human societies, shaping group dynamics and outcomes. Ongoing debates attempt to understand their functional and dysfunctional consequences. While the conflict account of hierarchy emphasizes the potentially detrimental conflict-inducing effects of hierarchies, the functionalist account proposes that hierarchies create contexts conducive to coordination. This study investigates if team-level dominance and prestige processes might account for these diverging consequences of hierarchy with dominance fueling conflict-prone environments and prestige nurturing coordination processes. Additionally, it examines whether the inherently competitive nature of team-level dominance yields more favorable outcomes in highly competitive, zero-sum, contexts.

Across two studies, I investigated the …

Developing And Validating A Measure Of Transformational Followership, Noelle Baird

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Leadership and followership are inherently interdependent, yet research has primarily focused on the unilateral influence of leaders. To advance a more balanced perspective and highlight how followers can positively contribute to the leadership process, I conceptualized and validated a measure of transformational followership. Transformational followership represents leaders’ perceptions of effective followership tendencies that enable productive, generative, and motivating engagements with and for their leader. After conducting a comprehensive literature review of both followership and leadership research, I created an initial item pool which was then subjected to rigorous testing across three distinct phases. Phase 1 leveraged feedback from organizational …

Third-Party Reactions To Performance Feedback, Daroon Mohammed Jalil

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Although the provision of feedback has traditionally been treated as a dyadic event, I argue for the existence of a neglected third-party - the witness. Drawing from the dual process model of vicarious mistreatment and feedback intervention theory, I hypothesize that 1) third parties experience negative [positive] affect when witnessing an unjust [just] feedback event, 2) negative [positive] affect is stronger when feedback cues are self-referenced [task-referenced], and 3) negative [positive] affect is related to a subsequent decrease [increase] in feedback seeking intentions. Results from a 2x2 between-subjects experiment with 470 participants provide partial support for the hypotheses. Third-parties experienced …

Dealing With The Effects Of Covid-19 Job Demands On Public Sector Employees’ Work Engagement And Job Burnout: The Role Of Public Service Motivation, Servant Leadership, And Mission Valence, Phillip Joseph Dillulio

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The global recession stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the public sector of the U.S. economy. Specifically, reduced tax revenues from a dramatic decline in economic activity and increased demand for public services resulted in new and increased job demands for public sector employees (Eggers et al., 2020). However, limited research has examined the effects of COVID-19-related demands on job burnout and work engagement among public sector employees, and the role of personal, social, and organizational resources to protect their well-being (Demerouti & Bakker, 2023). The current study addressed this gap by employing the Job Demands …

The Prevalence Of Burnout In Saudi Arabia Dental Hygienists, Nouf Hamad Aldayel

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the prevalence of burnout in Saudi Arabian dental hygienists and identify risk factors associated with burnout. Methods: A descriptive survey design using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) assessed burnout among a convenience sample of n=123 Saudi dental hygienists. The survey was disseminated electronically to 1,000 Saudi Arabian dental hygienists. The CBI measures three subscales: personal, work-related, and client/patient-related burnout on a five-point Likert-type scale. The survey also included six demographic questions, two Likert-type, one “yes/no,” and one openended question, related to burnout. Descriptive statistics, one-way between subject’s ANOVA, independent samples …

With A Little Help At Home: The Impact Of Romantic Partner Support On Daily Burnout And Workplace Incivility, Matthew Aplin-Houtz

Dissertations

With rude and discourteous encounters in the workplace becoming more common, Workplace incivility (WI) is at an all-time high. As such, workers experience levels of burnout from these negative social interactions. The literature concedes that the results of these interactions lead to mounting burnout, causing negative physical and emotional outcomes at the individual and organizational levels. Considering that the literature also supports that employees have the potential to recover from burnout symptoms through rest, obtaining the perception of control of their circumstances, and cognitive reframing, the time and activities a worker spends at home carry the potential for minimizing burnout …

Equity Among Equity Workers: Public Service Motivation In An Educational Nonprofit Organization, Russell C. West Jr

Theses and Dissertations

What opportunities and challenges arise when an equity-focused educational organization aims to support employee’s individual equity practices while simultaneously developing the organization’s equity practice? In this study, employees of a non-profit educational organization were asked what rationales and expectations played a role in their decision to volunteer in an equity working group. Their responses were used to understand whether Perry’s (2000) process theory of Public Service Motivation helped describe their decision. In a second round of interviews, employees were asked what outcomes they perceived came from their participation. These responses were used to understand whether the outcomes aligned with those …

Effects Of Genes And Gene-Environment Interactions On Work-Family Conflict And Enrichment, Peter Yu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how macro-level issues can influence how we manage work and family responsibilities. Yet, work-family (WF) research at different levels of analysis is relatively scarce. To address this, I take a multilevel lens to study WF conflict and enrichment in the context of micro-level factors (in the form of genes), macro-level factors (in the form of family and community-level demands), and their cross-level interactions (i.e., gene–environment interactions). To study genetic main effects, I drew from the work-home resources model to identify four candidate genes associated with conditions that could impact the ability to accrue WF resources …

Avoiding Success: How Does Fear Of Success Impact Today's Workforce?, Bradley E. Gray

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fear of success refers to the anxiety experienced by individuals as they come close to accomplishing a goal, ambivalent and even paralyzed over choosing to accept or avoid success. Success fearers are more likely to avoid success, choosing to forego their goal to avoid the assumed negative repercussions that will accompany the success (Canavan, 1989). Though interest in fear of success has waned since its introduction in the 1970’s, evidence of fear of success still exists today. However, original theories of fear of success cannot explain its impact on both men and women, and little is known about how it …

Invisible Disability: A Review Of Hearing And Vision Impairment Challenges In The Workplace, Melissa Ann Aguinaldo

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the factors related to individuals with vision and hearing impairments in organizational contexts within the United States. It overviews the definitions, current state, and U.S. legislation pertaining to individuals with disabilities in the workplace. The thesis reviews disclosure practices, psychological theories, and recommendations for supporting and accommodating individuals with hearing and vision disabilities. In reviewing these factors, this research aims to enhance understanding of the challenges faced by individuals with hearing and vision impairments in organizations and contribute to fostering inclusive and supportive work environments. The thesis also identifies areas for further research in order to advance …

The Effects Of Innovative Work Culture And Training Quality On Counterproductive Work Behaviors, Emily Anne Garreton

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In the present study, I examined how innovative work climate influenced job training quality and behavioral intentions and perceptions of employees. Employee reactions to job training foreshadow workplace intentions and behaviors that employees might engage in. The intentions that were investigated were Counterproductive Work Behaviors (CWBs) and the reduction of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs). The sample consisted of 338 participants who have been employed recently. In a self-report questionnaire, participants recalled their perceptions of the job training at a current or recent job and indicated how likely or interested they were in committing certain work behaviors. Survey items were gathered …

“If I Was That Cop…”: Improving Attitudes Toward Police Through An Educational Intervention For Use-Of-Force Knowledge And Empathy, Randle Aaron Molina Villanueva

All Dissertations

While public outrage in response to excessive force is appropriate and understandable (e.g., Rodney King), there are also use-of-force instances which may be misconstrued as excessive by civilians due to a lack of understanding of the law, policies, and procedures for police use of force (UOF). This can lead to negative perceptions of police officers. This poses a threat to healthy police-community relations, as positive perceptions of the police are reliable predictors of compliance and voluntary cooperation with them (Choi, 2021). To balance overly negative perceptions of police who are following protocol and potentially increase the positivity of perceptions, this …

A Pandemic’S Potential To Haunt: A Longitudinal Look At The Professional Wellbeing Of Tn’S Infant And Early Childhood Mental Health (Iecmh) Workforce, Robyn A. Dolson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) providers engage in uniquely relational work with high-risk families that expose them to the full advantages (i.e., compassion satisfaction [CS]) and disadvantages (e.g., burn-out [BO]) of a helper role. Though the pandemic seemed poised to escalate disadvantage, most early pandemic studies found high CS alongside elevated BO. Unfortunately, as COVID-19 has continued, CS has declined while BO has increased. Given the delayed COVID-19 impact on children, these changes may be particularly acute for IECMH providers. Using a longitudinal cohort of 27 IECMH providers, this study aimed to describe and quantify changes in professional …

Development And Validation Of The Employee-Supervisor Attachment Scale, Johnny Doherty

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Attachment theory and its connection to the workplace, as well as leader-member exchange (LMX) research, is reviewed before discussing strategies used for developing and validating the Employee-Supervisor Attachment (E-SA) scale. Analyses focused on an internal and external validation strategy. Study 1 consisted of item revisions from the Experiences in Close Relationships-Short scale (ECR-S) and SME ratings to develop the E-SA scale as well as a preliminary Exploratory Factorial Analysis to verify factor structure. Likewise, Study 2 tested the retained items to confirm factor structure, within a new sample, before assessing regressions between E-SA and relevant outcome variables. Furthermore, this project …

Parental And Individual Correlates Of Work Ethic In Young People In Albania, Eljona Elmazi

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the work ethic strength, dimensions, and correlates in young people in Albania. The review of the available research concluded that, regardless of the attention that youth-related topics have received in the last decade, there was a considerable gap in the understanding of the state and correlates of the work ethic in this group. Using the Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile – Short Form, the work ethic strength and dimensions were explored in an Albanian sample of (N = 501) 18 to 24 years old, otherwise known as Generation Z. Data were collected via …

The Impact Of Interdepartmental Psychological Safety On Interdepartmental Conflict Management Styles, Ryan Limpus

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Conflict is an inevitable part of life, and organizations spend a sizable amount of time addressing it. Literature has shown a connection between conflict management styles and psychological safety, but little research has been afforded to these interactions applied across departments. Data were collected from various companies across the United States using an anonymous survey to quantify respondents’ perceived level of general psychological safety, interdepartmental psychological safety, and preferred styles of conflict management. The results of this study indicated that a significant difference between interdepartmental and general psychological safety exists and is positively correlated with each other. Furthermore, certain styles …

The Emotional Intelligence And Conflict Management Relationship In Black Women Leaders, Tina Raylyn Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and conflict management styles in Black women leaders in the United States. The lack of literature surrounding Black women leaders' emotional intelligence or conflict management styles presented an opportunity to offer quantitative data connected to these constructs. A cross-sectional survey design was used to administer three surveys the Situational Test of Emotional Management- B, the Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory, and a modified version the Multidimensional Inventory of Black of Identity, that focused on Black female identity. Data from 124 participants were analyzed to learn if identity mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence …

An Investigation Of Lgbtq+-Specific Workplace Microaggressions: Their Impact On Job Engagement And The Buffering Effects Of Organizational Trust And Identity Disclosure, Vishal Sooknanan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Minoritized employees are not protected from all forms of discrimination such as microaggressions. These are subtle discriminatory acts, with or without intent to harm, that target minoritized identities. Little research has investigated LGBTQ+ microaggressions even though the community is particularly at risk or tried to discern the unique nature of microaggressions when compared to other forms of subtle discrimination such as incivility. This study tested the relationship between LGBTQ+ microaggressions and job engagement, the roles of organizational trust and outness as moderators, as well as the unique contribution of microaggressions over and above incivility. LGBTQ+ microaggressions were not significantly related …

The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And Attachment Theory Among Field Grade Officers In The U.S. Army, Rebecca Ochs

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine what relationship exists between U.S. Army field grade officers’ self-reported scores on the five domains of the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) (Kouzes & Posner, 2002) and their self-reported scores on the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) (Brennan et al., 1998). Methodology: This study used a correlational approach to collect quantitative data from U.S. Army field grade officers. Using the LPI, a self-report transformational leadership measurement tool developed by Kouzes and Posner (2002), that measures five domains that include: (a) model the way, (b) inspire a shared vision, (c) …

Actions Speak Louder Than Words: The Role Of Organization Segmentation Norms On Work-Family Enrichment, Engagement & Burnout, Sarah Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

Increased frequency of virtual work environments has changed the dynamics of boundary management decisions for employees and underscored the importance of organizations being aware and purposeful of how their norms will impact their employees. The goal of this study was to a) understand how organizations norms towards segmentation impact employee burnout, engagement, and enrichment, and b) how segmentation preferences, job demands, and job crafting strengthen these relationships. Two samples of participants were recruited from a mental health organization (N = 73) and mTurk (N = 80) to complete surveys on the variables for the study. Organizations with a norm for …

Do Women See Leadership As Risky? The Potential Role Of Stereotypes And The Perception Of Risk In Claiming A Leader Identity, Julia Macgregor-Peralta

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine if women perceive leadership as riskier than men do, and whether that could be holding women back. Specifically, this study investigated the influence of gender and leadership views on the development of leader identity and the role that perception of risk of leadership plays. Role Congruity Theory of Leadership, Lack of Fit, and Adaptive Leadership Theory were used as theoretical frameworks in this cross-sectional study using 2022 archival data. Participants were undergraduate and graduate students from five different universities in the United States. Leader role alignment (LRA), which is the congruence between …

Am I Committed Or Conflicted? Examining Implications Of Self-Concept Structure For Self-Regulation, Well-Being, And Performance, Nicholas Aaron Moon

Theses and Dissertations

Although research on self-concept is extensive, few studies have examined the relationship between specific aspects of self-concept structure (e.g., self-concept clarity) and self-regulation constructs (e.g., goal commitment). In addition, research has linked aspects of self-concept structure with well-being outcomes, but less is known about the mechanisms involved in these relationships. This research addresses these two issues by examining self-concept structure (self-concept clarity and self-concept differentiation) as antecedents of key self-regulatory mechanisms (goal commitment and goal conflict) and how these linkages may help explain connections between self-concept structure and well-being and performance. More specifically, two studies examined these relationships, with Study …

Psychometric Validation Of The Team Resilience Inventory, Alexander J. Mcgregor 6971928

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Work teams frequently face adversities that may affect group processes and ultimately lead to a loss of performance. Despite a large literature on the characteristics of high-performance work teams, we know little about the processes by which teams resist, persist through, adapt to, recover from, or otherwise be resilient to challenges that they encounter. In part, this is due to the lack of a psychometrically sound and well-validated measure for team resilience; how work teams collectively respond to and ‘bounce back’ from adversities. The present dissertation project addresses this need in the literature through the development and validation of the …

Affectivity And Its Role In Predicting Sociometric Position In Small Group Networks, Roy Hui

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

An individual’s tendency to experience positive emotions can impact the likelihood they find themselves in advantageous positions within their social circle. Adopting a network perspective to map social relations, the current study examined the extent to which dispositional positive affectivity predicts one’s eigenvector centrality and indegree centrality within interaction networks and status networks, respectively. Gathering data during the Fall of 2023, I collected data from 16 student clubs and the members within them and utilised multilevel modeling to disaggregate data. Controlling for individual demographics and group-structure variables, the results suggest that dispositional positive affectivity significantly predicted eigenvector centrality for interaction …

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 …