Psychology Commons^™

Evaluation Of Student Reactions To Consumer Products, Bryce K. Lesher

Honors College Theses

Based on gender role congruence theory, this research sought to understand how consumer perceptions differ for masculinized and feminized products when they are presented by the opposing gender. Additionally, our research sought to understand what role—if any—political affiliation played in the consumer’s perception of the products presented. The results of this study were inconclusive due to a data collection error, however, the study itself serves as a good framework for answering the question of interest and should be rerun to draw meaningful conclusions.

Considerations For Introducing, Facilitating, And Expanding Mindfulness Training In The Workplace, Laura H. Saher

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This creative thesis is designed to further the understanding of the considerations for offering mindfulness training in the workplace and to offer mindfulness practitioners a guide for introducing and facilitating mindfulness training into their workplaces. This thesis consists of two primary components: 1) a rationale paper and 2) a creative component. The rationale paper includes a literature review that focuses on the benefits and risks of offering mindfulness training in the workplace; these form the business case for bringing mindfulness to the workforce and identify the gaps in the research that prompted the questions underlying this thesis. These gaps were …

Perceptions Of Organizational Politics, Penny Putnam Collins, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are perceptions of organizational politics?

Perceptions of organizational politics (POP) is defined as an individual’s subjective assessment of the degree to which their work setting is believed to be self-serving of some individuals and groups, to the detriment of others (Ferris, Harrell-Cook, & Dulebohn, 2000). A popular and recommended 15-item measure assesses POP through three factors: general political behavior, going along to get ahead, and pay and promotion (Kacmar & Carlson, 1997). Example items from each factor include, “People in this organization attempt to build themselves up by tearing others down,” “Sometimes it is easier to remain quiet than …

Make More, Work Less, Michael Sutton

Marriott Student Review

Although the status quo in the business world is to work long hours and supposedly produce more each workweek, studies show that working less and taking appropriately regulated breaks actually lead to more productivity in individuals and businesses as a whole. Specifically companies would be wise to implement a limit of 50 work hours per week, encourage frequent breaks (about 15 minute every hour), and encourage patterns of sufficient sleep. By reducing mental fatigue in your employees, their productivity will increase.

Mont Ripley Ski Area: A3 Goals Celebration, Nick Sirdenis

Annual Copper Country Lean Conference

No abstract provided.

Facets Of The Museum Goals: Using Mtu's A3 Goals To Help The Museum Better Serve Our Guests, Patrice Cobin

Annual Copper Country Lean Conference

No abstract provided.

Transportation Services Spring 2020 A3 Accomplishments, Gail Kotajarvi-Gerard

Annual Copper Country Lean Conference

No abstract provided.

Creating A Universal Working Definition Of Smooth Operations, Theresa Coleman-Kaiser

Annual Copper Country Lean Conference

Every day striving to achieve an increasingly greater concurrence between processes and expectations produces increasingly smooth operations and is supported by our foundational strategies.

Gun Room 5s, Kathy Wardynski, Alexandra Holmstrom, Paul Rayment

Annual Copper Country Lean Conference

Problem Statement: Dining Services uses two storage rooms. Only one storage room, what used to the Gun Room, is now available. The storage rooms contain items that are used seasonally infrequently or are no longer used. Items are disorganized, overcrowded, and unlabeled, making it difficult to find items. This leads to waste in resources as items that cannot be found are reordered again. Time is wasted searching for stored items, leading to employee inefficiency. An employee safety hazard was created due to items stacked up.

Pavlis Honors College Pathways Kaizen, Briana Tucker

Annual Copper Country Lean Conference

Some students are not completing components and are missing opportunities due to communication gaps, flexibility of program (lack of deadlines), insufficient support for advising, and misconception regarding expectations (the Why).

Wadsworth Hall Big Freezer 5s, Megan Goke, Lori Hardyniec

Annual Copper Country Lean Conference

Project Goal: Evaluation the usage of the freezer space and identify waste. Reorganize the items within the freezer to make the flow work faster. By addressing these issues, it would lead to less confusion as to where items belong and less time wasted by having to ask questions.

Does Extrinsic Motivation Affect Creativity Within Diverse Teams?, Gitanjali K. Viswanathan

Honors Theses

This study analyzes the relationship between extrinsic motivation and creativity in teams. The moderation effect of functionality, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and diversity within a team is also considered. A survey was constructed and distributed to students within Sections 1 and 6 of the course Principles of Management at The University of Mississippi. Survey data were collected from 77 respondents and used for hierarchical regression and moderation analysis. The results of this study do not support extrinsic motivation as a significant predictor of creativity. Functionality, agreeableness, and conscientiousness each demonstrate a separate, significant interaction effect with extrinsic motivation. However, …

Humor, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is humor?

There are numerous definitions of humor in the research literature, with significant variety among them. A relatively simple definition of humor is something that is said or done to elicit levity or laughter (Dubinsky, Yammarino, & Jolson, 1995). Examples of the more complex aspects of other definitions of humor include expression, recognition, or appreciation of it; the purpose, nature, or target of it; and attitudes toward it. One way of summarizing some of the different perspectives is to define humor as being either (a) positive or negative and (b) directed inward or outward (Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray, …

An Examination Of Non-Traditional Bridal Wear And Its Primary Consumer, Erica Thalmann, Kristina Dimaria

Senior Honors Projects

Bridal wear has traditionally been viewed as big white dresses. But as times change, so do brides’ preferences for bridal wear. Jumpsuits, rompers, short dresses, and other “non-traditional” choices are experiencing an increased demand in the market. Unfortunately, brides who seek these options are often not met with a promising assortment. This study examined primary consumers of non-traditional bridal wear. Specifically, we sought to find out whether women who belong to the LGBTQ community choose to consume more non-traditional bridal wear compared to heterosexual brides. The study also examined through which channels (e.g., online, in store, etc.) consumers predominantly purchase …

Employer Perceptions About Addiction Recovery And Hiring Decisions, Haley Henderson, Joseph Barnet, Valerie Hoots, Andrea Clements

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Drug and alcohol addiction is a nationwide epidemic with an increasing number of Americans being affected. Individuals who seek treatment for their addiction often face barriers, such as costs, waiting time, and available support, and those who are able to receive treatment are likely to experience or anticipate stigma from others. Existing literature has found that many employers have negative perceptions of individuals in addiction recovery. However, there is limited research that has analyzed whether these negative perceptions affect hiring decisions. We predicted that employers would have negative perceptions of those in recovery, would be less likely to hire individuals …

Motivational Factors And Job Performance Of Banking Industry Employees In Klang Valley, Zaini Muhammad Ariff

Student Works (2020-2029)

Employees’ job performance has been found decreasing and variation changes from time to time. The main objective of this research is to study the relationship between the working conditions, employees’ satisfaction, salaries and benefits, and achievement/recognition towards the job performance of banking industry employees in Klang Valley. In this research study, a total of two hundred (200) bank employees who work in bank around Klang Valley has been selected as respondents. Descriptive analysis (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential analysis (Pearson correlation coefficient) were used. Pearson correlation analysis’s result shows a significant relationship between the independent variables (working conditions, …

Perception Of County Extension Agents’ Organizational Fit After Participating In The Mentoring Component Of The Cooperative Extension Service Onboarding Program, Angela Blacklaw-Freel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine the perception employees of the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service (CES) after participating in a mentoring program. The CES implemented an onboarding program in 2010 which included a yearlong mentoring component for county extension agents because they were resigning at an alarming rate. The study aimed to illuminate if the mentoring program increased the county extension agents’ perception of fit after completing the program by determining if they felt they possessed characteristics that were compatible with the organization.

This study was founded on the mentees’ viewpoints of their perceptions of person-organization (PO) fit, …

Accelerating Leadership And Professional Development For Adults: Developing A New Measure For Assessing Kegan’S Constructive Developmental Orders, Tom Pierce Coker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Much has been learned and theorized about adult development and its importance in leadership effectiveness and professional development interventions thanks to the framework proposed by Kegan’s Constructive Developmental Theory (CDT). However, research and practice in this area has been hindered by the difficulty of utilizing the current method for assessing constructive developmental Level, the Subject-Object Interview. The present study addresses this problem through the development and preliminary validation of a new self-report instrument that measures the Levels of development described in Kegan’s CDT. This new measure, the Constructive Developmental Self-Report (CDSR), was constructed through theoretical-based item generation that utilized both …

Mindfulness Arrives At Work: Deepening Our Understanding Of Mindfulness In Organizations, Jochen Reb, Tammy Allen, Timothy J. Vogus

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Mindfulness has become an increasingly popular practice and in parallel scholarly research has grown considerably. However, the study of mindfulness at work remains limited and motivates this special issue on “Mindfulness at Work: Pushing Theoretical and Empirical Boundaries.” In this introduction to the special issue we offer a brief initial grounding in the literature on mindfulness at work and in organizations. We then turn attention to how the six articles in this special issue advance this nascent field. We use both as a point of departure for considering the benefits and limits of mindfulness in organizations as well as the …

Job Knowledge Tests, Michelle Graef

Umbrella Summaries

What are job knowledge tests?

In an employment context, job knowledge tests are hiring tools that assess candidates’ knowledge of facts, principles, concepts, and other information that is important for performance of a job (Hunter, 1983). This knowledge falls into two general categories: (a) technical information and (b) the processes and judgmental criteria required to perform correctly and efficiently on the job (Hunter, 1983). Measures of job knowledge vary in the level of specificity of the content. Some measures are intended to test a candidate’s knowledge of specific content for a specific job, whereas other measures are designed to assess …

They Don't Make Bourbon Like They Used To: Nostalgia As A Predictor Towards Attitude, Likelihood Of Consumption, And Usage Occasion In True, Retro, Heritage, And False Nostalgia Brands, Montana Mcknight

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

This study investigates the relationship of brand nostalgia, brand attitude, likelihood to purchase the brand, and usage of the brand, based upon a four-way classification of nostalgia. Using multi-group analysis, a difference between types of nostalgia for the predictiveness of brand nostalgia is found in attitude and purchase likelihood. Managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.

Job Embeddedness, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is job embeddedness?

Job embeddedness refers to the extent to which employees are connected to their jobs through a social web. It includes three aspects, each of which is considered in light of the job or organization (“on-the-job embeddedness”) and the community (“off-the job embeddedness”): (a) links—the extent to which people have links to other people or activities, (b) fit—the extent to which their job and community are similar to or fit with the other aspects in their life space, and (c) sacrifice—what they would give up if they left, especially if they had to move to another city …

Text Messaging Between School Counselors And Students: An Exploratory Study, Nicholas R. Gilly

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

This exploratory case study examines the impact of text messaging on mentoring relationships when used as an outreach between school counselors and high school students, where established relationships are lacking. An SMS gateway was used to mediate communication between school counselors (N=2) and students (N=5) over a three-month timeframe. The SMS gateway converted email, sent from counselors, to text messages, which were received on mobile devices of students and allowed students to respond back to counselors. Findings indicate that the use of text messaging may ease scheduling of face-to-face meetings between counselors and students, but evidence does not support any …

Supervising Child Welfare Professionals Virtually During A Pandemic, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

We are in the midst of a pandemic and many child welfare professionals across the country are working from home. Not only are staff having to become accustomed to this new “normal,” but are having to do so while educating their own children, caring for elderly parents, and determining how to meet the needs of the families and children they serve. During the COVID 19 crisis, supervisors must consistently engage their employees, while assessing the needs of their employees and the needs of the families served by the child welfare system. The QIC-WD wants to bring the available evidence to …

Lgbtq Training For Aquatic Employees: Impact On Attitudes And Professional Competencies, Austin R. Anderson, Eric Knee, William D. Ramos

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

This study examined the impact of a LGBTQ diversity training on the attitudes and professional competencies of aquatic employees within a campus recreational sports setting. While diversity training is often discussed as a key component of inclusive aquatic programming, little empirical research examining the outcomes associated with such trainings exists. As such, members of the research team developed, implemented, and evaluated a four-month long training program consisting of one in-person training session and monthly inclusion handouts discussing issues related to the inclusion of LGBTQ participants. A comparative quantitative research design was used to measure employee’s attitudes towards the LGBTQ population …

Emotional Intelligence Tests, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are emotional intelligence tests?

In an employment context, emotional intelligence tests are tools that assess job candidates’ or employees’ abilities or tendencies related to recognizing, understanding, and managing emotions. Depending on the tool, they can be used to inform hiring decisions and/or for professional development. Beyond the general description above, there is variation in the definition and measurement of emotional intelligence, with the differences falling into three categories (Ashkanasy & Daus, 2005). When it was first conceived, emotional intelligence was considered to be a set of abilities or competencies, to be assessed through actual behavior (Salovey & Mayer, 1990; …

Washington Progress Update – Telework In Action, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

The vast majority of the U.S. workforce (80%) says they would like to telework at least part-time, according to research by Global Workplace Analytics. Although not all jobs are conducive to telework, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) is working with the QIC-WD to design, implement, and research the impacts of telework as a strategy to support and retain the child welfare workforce. Implementing telework is more complicated than giving staff a laptop and a cell phone and telling them to check in with their supervisor. This post summarizes what actions DCYF is taking to implement …

Integrity Tests, Michael Cunningham, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are integrity tests?

Employee integrity tests are attitude self-report hiring tools that measure candidates’ disposition to productively perform their work, while refraining from counterproductive actions. Counterproductive actions include behaviors such as theft; safety and procedure violations; revealing confidential information or falsifying records; arguing with customers, clients and staff; and tardiness, absenteeism and job abandonment (Gruys, as cited in Sackett, 2002). There are many commercially available integrity tests, and they are often classified as either overt or personality based (Sackett, Burris, & Callahan, 1989). Overt integrity tests (also known as clear-purpose tests) are designed to directly assess attitudes regarding dishonest …

Further Understanding Of The Spillover Process: Work Influences On Family Disengagement And The Mediating Effects Of Flexible Work Arrangements, Alexandra Myers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Organizations have long sought to determine methods in reducing the work family conflict employees experience in order to improve overall morale as well as producing more efficient and effective employees. My study examined the spillover process from the work to family domain. Specifically, I examined the influence of work related affective rumination on family disengagement, mediated by strain-based work-to family conflict. I also examined the buffering effects of flexible work arrangements on the relationship between strain-based work-to-family conflict and family disengagement. Utilizing a sample of employees recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and working full-time outside the home, I analyzed the …

Western Kentucky University Psychological Sciences Faculty Bars Revision, Brian Coyne

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In any organization, universities included, the development of quality personnel to perform work is of paramount importance. Thus, the ability to identify individual employee strengths and weaknesses and provide constructive feedback is vital. In this thesis I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of various performance appraisal formats, before suggesting behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) as an optimal tool in evaluating the performance of university faculty. I discuss BARS development in depth, as well as highlight BARS strengths as a performance appraisal tool. I further outline the process used and results obtained in updating the BARS used in the performance evaluation …