Psychology Commons^™

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 …

Sales Performance And Intuition – The Role Of Gut Feelings, David Locander

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation extends the dual theory of salesperson information processing by examining the relationship between salespersons' emotional intelligence (EI) and their preference for and use of decision-making styles (intuition and/or deliberation) in the selling process. This dissertation contains two studies, Study 1 employs a descriptive research design and Study 2 uses experimental manipulations to investigate the role that intuition and deliberation play within the sales process. Data for both studies come from a sample derived from a national online panel of business to business salespeople.

Study 1, using a survey approach, assesses two competing models and one post hoc model …

May I Help You? How Stereotypes And Innuendoes Influence Service Encounters, Lauren Michelle Brewer

Doctoral Dissertations

"You only get one chance to make a good first impression." The dissertation focuses on marketing agents; among the most visible is the "service provider." Previous research establishes the important role of cognitive social schemata in determining the way consumers react to different types of marketing agents, including service providers. In the literature review, a classification schema is developed for service provider stereotypes derived from theory using social stereotypes. The development of the Service Provider Perception Framework (SPPF) creates a classification for the individual service provider along two main dimensions: competence and affect.

In services design (particularly situations involving a …

The Importance Of Community Resilience: Developing The American Red Cross International Services Department In The New Hampshire Region, Sarah Romac

Capstone Collection

Disaster management and humanitarian aid organizations have had to reevaluate how communities and individuals can better adapt and prepare for future disaster events. One concept organizations are incorporating into their overall framework is strengthening community resilience. Increasing a community’s resilience level increases its ability to cope with the changes that affect it. Creating awareness of the vulnerabilities in an area, addressing these vulnerabilities with preparedness training, disaster risk reduction (DRR), and sustainable changes made over the long-term can develop a community’s adaptive capacity to be more resilient.

For my practicum, I was given the opportunity to be the International Services …

The Image Of Psychology Programs: The Value Of The Instrumental-Symbolic Framework, Greet Van Hoye, Filip Lievens, Britt De Soete, Nele Libbrecht, Eveline Schollaert, Dimphna Baligant

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

As competition for funding and students intensifies, it becomes increasingly important for psychology programs to have an image that is attractive and makes them stand out from other programs. The current study uses the instrumental-symbolic framework from the marketing domain to determine the image of different master's programs in psychology and examines how these image dimensions relate to student attraction and competitor differentiation. The samples consist of both potential students (N = 114) and current students (N = 68) of three psychology programs at a Belgian university: industrial and organizational psychology, clinical psychology, and experimental psychology. The results demonstrate that …

Self-Regulating Teamwork Behaviors In Low-Volume & High-Complexity Production, Aaron W. Powell

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

An environment of ever increasing competition drives manufacturing organizations to continually search for ways to improve the performance of their production operations. Lean manufacturing, born out of the Toyota Production System (TPS), has become the dominant improvement method sought to meet this need. Although well established in high-volume production settings, the application of lean production methods in low-volume and high-complexity (LVHC) manufacturing contexts has not been as successful. A commonly cited reason is a biased focus on the technical aspects of implementing lean methods with little regard for the social system involved in the change. In the LVHC manufacturing context, …

Physical Ability Testing: A Review Of Court Cases 1992-2014, Joseph Westlin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Selecting employees for hire and promotion is one of the most essential functions of an organization. Many companies that have positions which contain a physical component rely on physical ability testing as part of their selection procedure. The establishment of both the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) had a profound impact on the manner in which selection testing may legally be conducted (Gutman, Koppes, & Vodanovich, 2011). The current study sought to analyze court cases involving physical ability testing. Results revealed that pure ability tests did not significantly differ from work sample tests with regard …

The Perceived Relevance Of Training In Industrial/Organizational Psychology At The Terminal Master's Level, Seth A. Kline

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to replicate and expand upon the survey research by Erffmeyer and Mendel (1990) on the perceived relevance of graduate training in industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology at the terminal master’s level. A review of the literature discussed core competencies, as well as the advantages of internship experiences and thesis requirements. Results indicated that graduates view their training as well targeted towards knowledge and skills they regard as useful at their internship, first job, and current position. Results also indicated that graduates viewed their internship experiences as highly beneficial and worthwhile experiences, regardless of their supervisor. Results …

Passion Isn't Always A Good Thing: Examining Entrepreneurs' Network Centrality And Financial Performance With A Dualistic Model Of Passion, Violet Ho, Jeffrey Pollack

Management Faculty Publications

We propose a conceptual model that links entrepreneurs' passion, network centrality, and financial performance, and test this model with small business managers in formal business networking groups. Drawing on the dualistic model of passion, we explore the relationships that harmonious and obsessive passion have with financial performance, mediated by network centrality. Results indicate that harmoniously passionate entrepreneurs had higher out‐degree centrality in their networking group (i.e., they were more inclined to seek out members to discuss work issues), which increased the income they received from peer referrals and, ultimately, business income. Obsessively passionate entrepreneurs had lower in‐degree centrality (i.e., they …

Unifying Specific Climate Research With A Molar Climate Measure: A Situational Affordances Approach, Alice Brawley

All Theses

Organizational climate - briefly, the shared perceptions of a workplace - was originally studied as a molar concept, but this approach generally lacked focus and thus resulted in unmanageable measures. Organizational climate research has been subdivided into many areas of specific climate research focusing on particular organizational factors or outcomes, such as safety or customer service (Schneider, Ehrhart, & Macey, 2013). While the study of specific climates has been and remains worthwhile, recent literature in the area has called for a return to the molar or global conceptualization of organizational climate (Kuenzi & Schminke, 2009; Schneider et al., 2013). In …

The Role Of Self-Concept In Consumer Behavior, Marisa Toth

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Understanding the influences underlying consumption has become an increasingly important goal for marketers. This study examined the role of self-concept in consumer behavior, specifically product evaluation. The influences of various dimensions of the self-concept are examined in regard to four product dimensions: public luxury, public necessity, private luxury, and private necessity. Differences due to variations in individual levels of self-monitoring are also measured. Overall, results showed that the more conspicuous a product is (higher on luxury/public dimensions) the greater the relationship between evaluation and ideal self-images (ideal self and ideal social self) for both high and low self-monitors.

Stupid Doctors And Smart Construction Workers: Perspective-Taking Reduces Stereotyping Of Both Negative And Positive Targets, Cynthia S. Wang, Gillian Ku, Kenneth Tai, Adam D. Galinsky

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Numerous studies have found that perspective-taking reduces stereotyping and prejudice, but they have only involved negative stereotypes. Because target negativity has been empirically confounded with reduced stereotyping, the general effects of perspective-taking on stereotyping and prejudice are unclear. By including both positively and negatively stereotyped targets, this research offers the first empirical test of two competing hypotheses: The positivity hypothesis predicts that perspective-taking produces a positivity bias, with less stereotyping of negative targets but more stereotyping of positive targets. In contrast, the stereotype-reduction hypothesis predicts that perspective-taking reduces stereotyping, regardless of target valence. Three studies support the stereotype-reduction hypothesis. Perspective-taking …

A Model Of Hospitality Employee Engagement, Hee Jung Kang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study focuses on employee's state-like psychological resources by investigating individual and organizational antecedents to employee engagement and valued human resource outcomes. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a theoretical model that explains the interrelationships among six constructs and to explore the mediating effects of employee engagement. Structural Equation Modeling using AMOS (18.0) statistical software was used to test the full structural model (measurement and structural model) of the hypothesized relationships among the variables with a sample of hospitality employees. The findings supported all hypothesized relationships except the direct relationship between employee engagement and turnover intention. …

The Role Of Self Concept In Consumer Behavior, Marisa Toth

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Understanding the processes that underlie consumer behavior has become an increasingly important area of research, especially for businesses and marketers. One of the most commonly studied variables believed to impact consumer behavior is self-concept.

The purpose of the current study is to examine the influence of self-concept in consumer behavior and identify factors that influence the relationship. Specifically, what is the relationship between different aspects of the self-concept and the consumption of publicly and privately consumed luxuries and necessities? Furthermore, how will this relationship be affected by the level of self-monitoring an individual displays?

Best Integrated Writing 2014 - Complete Edition

Best Integrated Writing

Best Integrated Writing includes excellent student writing from Integrated Writing courses taught at Wright State University. The journal is published annually by the Wright State University Department of English Language and Literatures.

Career Intentions Of International Master Students In Hospitality And Tourism Management, Wenjun Li

Open Access Theses

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate career intentions of international master's students in hospitality and tourism management (HTM) in the United States. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 19 participants at two different U.S. institutions. Interview questions were designed to better understand students' career intentions upon graduation and the determinants behind the plans. Results indicated that student's career intention should include measures of career decision self-efficacy, academic and career outcome expectations, and career exploration intentions. Unique personal background (e.g., gender and marital status, length of time in the U.S.), industrial working experience (e.g., internships), and …

An Exploratory Study Of Hotel Manager Side-Taking Behavior And Its Influence On Employee Unfairness Perception And Negative Emotion, Yan Zhou

Open Access Theses

It is not rare that hotel managers show inconsistent attitudes and behaviors in front of customers and employees in their daily work. With limited time and resource, sometimes it is inevitable that hotel managers present certain tendencies to side with one party over the other when service failures occur between the two groups. However, in academia few studies have discussed these side-taking phenomena. The present researcher conducted an exploratory study about their definition and influence on hotel employees. Two video-based experiments were conducted and their results testified to the hypotheses that hotel managers' side-taking behaviors can lead to employee perceptions …

Gap Between Hospitality Employers' Demands And Hospitality Students' Perceptions Regarding Entry-Level Managers' Requirements In The United States, Yijun Huang

Open Access Theses

This study aims to identify the gap between recruiters and students regarding what knowledge, skills and abilities are most needed for graduates to secure entry-level managers in the hospitality industry. Previous literature used different approaches to attain a similar idea that students and recruiters do have different opinions, especially for those intrinsic or person-related characteristics. The researcher borrowed statements from different researchers and added two statements to make up the missing part of previous research and then combined, split and revised these statements to see whether students' thinking matched the industry's thinking. The results showed that recruiters generally ranked these …

Consumer Perceptions Of Child-Friendly Shaped Healthy Fruit And Vegetable Snacks, Selena Lauren Baker

Open Access Theses

Fruits and vegetables (FV) are widely recognized as healthful foods by the public, and most individuals are aware of dietary guidance recommendations to consume more FV. However, actual consumption of FV has been and continues to be low in the United States and many other countries, despite public health efforts to change this trend. The sub-optimal intake of FV among children and adolescents is of particular concern due to high nutrient requirements for proper growth and development during these life stages. Fruit and vegetable intake patterns in childhood have been shown to track into later life and may affect individuals' …

Measurement Invariance Of The Wong And Law Emotional Intelligence Scale Scores: Does The Measurement Structure Hold Across Far Eastern And European Countries?, Nele Libbrecht, Alain De Beuckelaer, Filip Lievens, Thomas Rockstuhl

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In recent years, emotional intelligence and emotional intelligence measures have been used in a plethora of countries and cultures. This is also the case for the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), highlighting the importance of examining whether the WLEIS is invariant across regions other than the Far Eastern region (China) where it was originally developed. This study investigated the measurement invariance (MI) of the WLEIS scores across two countries, namely Singapore (N= 505) and Belgium (N= 339). Apart from items measuring the factor use of emotion, the measurement structure underlying the WLEIS ratings was generally invariant across both …

Mutual Performance Monitoring In Virtual Teams, Nathan Haugejorde Bjornberg

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The use of virtual teams in organizations has become commonplace (SHRM, 2012). While a great deal of research on teamwork exists, much of it has focused on collocated teams. Spatial and temporal separations inherent in virtual teams make working together as a team more difficult. This research examined a teamwork process previously unexplored within virtual teams -- mutual performance monitoring. An experimental intervention was conducted and outcomes at both the individual and team levels of analysis were examined. A total of 161 participants were assigned to work together in 47 teams on a decision-making task. Participants communicated and worked together …

Multiple Generations In Today’S Workplace, Nicole Ritter

Best Integrated Writing

Nicole Ritter explores how to manage differences between Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X’ers, and Millennials in the workplace in this essay written for MGT 3110: Business Ethics & Leadership Development, taught by Mrs. Donna Back at Wright State University.

A Review Of Anatomical Presentation And Treatment In True Hermaphroditism, Jodie Heier

Best Integrated Writing

Jodie Heier studies genetic and hormonal contributors to gender identity in hermaphroditism in this essay written for PSY 4950: Sexuality and Endocrinology Capstone, taught by Dr. Patricia Schiml at Wright State University.

The Global Market And The Status Of Women, Khadija Kirksey

Best Integrated Writing

Khadija Kirksey examines the exploitation of women working in textile factories in India in this essay written for SOC 4090-03/WMS 4000: Gender and Sexuality: Global Issues, taught by Dr. Julianne Weinzimmer at Wright State University.

Health Program Planning/Evaluation 2012-2013 Grant Application, Tyler Begley

Best Integrated Writing

Tyler Begley proposes a plan to get junior high and high school students to eat more fruits and vegetables in this essay written for HED 4430: Health Program Planning and Evaluation, taught by Dr. Mary Chace at Wright State University.

Successful Strategies: Marketing For Tomorrow, Benjamin Banning, John Breyer, Candice Turner

Best Integrated Writing

Benjamin Banning, John Breyer, and Candice Turner generate a marketing campaign for a tricycle using three different aspects of psychology in this essay written for PSY 4100: Applied Psychology Capstone, taught by Dr. Gina F. Thomas at Wright State University.

End Of Life Ethical Dilemma, Gregory Heiser

Best Integrated Writing

Gregory Heiser explores the options and dilemmas involved in deciding on care for a 93-year-old female patient with Alzheimer’s disease in this essay written for NUR 4800: Transition to the Role of the Professional Nurse, taught by Dr. Ann M. Stalter at Wright State University.

Classicism And Humanist Ideology In Donatello’S Gattamelata And David, Shayla Wheat

Best Integrated Writing

Shayla Wheat traces Classical and Humanist influences on Donatello and his works Gattamelata and David in this essay written for ART 3130: Early Italian Renaissance, taught by Dr. Caroline Hillard at Wright State University.

Chandara’S Power, Amy Kasten

Best Integrated Writing

Amy Kasten analyzes the struggles of women against oppression in Rabindranath Tagore’s short story “Punishment” in this essay written for ENG 2040: Great Books: Literature, taught by Ms. Carolyn Stoermer at Wright State University.

Reflection On Pema Chödrön’S When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice For Difficult Times, Carol Jones

Best Integrated Writing

Carol Jones reflects on suffering, self-knowledge, and enlightenment as presented in Pema Chödrön’s When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times in this essay written for CST 2320: Non-Western Religions, taught by Dr. Sharon A. Showman at Wright State University’s Lake campus.