Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons^™

Harnessing The Power Of Cliftonstrengths®: How Multinational Corporations Can Use Deep-Level Diversity To Enhance Organizational Inclusion, Trapper Kay Pace

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research explicitly investigated how multinational corporations can enhance workplace inclusion through the novel use of the CliftonStrengths® assessment as a dimension of deep-level diversity. The study gleaned insights from employees’ perspectives, employing a constructivist grounded theory approach to explicate their experiences in rich qualitative narratives. Through open-ended surveys and intensive interviews, participants were selected using purposeful sampling to ensure meaningful data collection from the study organizations’ three global regions. The researcher conducted the analysis systematically through the constant comparison of data utilizing the NVivo14 software to assist in constructing codes, themes, and a theoretical schema. Results highlighted the significance …

The Chemistry Between Us: Illuminating Complementarity Patterns In Interpersonal Role Play Assessment Via Moment-To-Moment Analyses, Christoph N. Herde, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In assessment and selection, organizations often include interpersonal interactions because they provide insights into candidates’ interpersonal skills. These skills are then typically assessed via one-shot, retrospective assessor ratings. Unfortunately, the assessment of interpersonal skills at such a trait-like level fails to capture the richness of how the interaction unfolds at the behavioral exchange level within a role-play assessment. This study uses the lens of interpersonal complementarity theory to advance our understanding of interpersonal dynamics in role-play assessment and their effects on assessor ratings. Ninety-six MBA students participated in four different flash role-plays as part of diagnosing their strengths and weaknesses. …

The Blurry Line Between Corporation And Cult: A Retrospective Autoethnographic Study, Ernst Graamans

The Qualitative Report

In popular management literature corporations are sometimes loosely compared to cults. The comparison is a severe allegation as it implies the transgression of subordinate employees’ integrity. This paper explores to what extent such comparisons with cults are warranted as well as the implications this has for the practice of corporate culture management. On grounds of the author’s unique, first-hand experience in both corporate and cultic environments a retrospective autoethnographic (RAE) approach was chosen to further explore the supposed resemblance. The comparison is structured along Lifton’s eight criteria of thought reform and reveals that although akin to cults in all aspects …

Fostering Belonging In The Workplace: What Does Commitment Look Like At Interpersonal, Team, And Organizational Levels?, Jody Condit Fagan

Libraries

Researchers describe belonging as “an essential human need” that supports people’s abilities to share, create meaning, participate, and learn with others at work (Filstad et al., 2019, p117). Sense of belonging varies by culture (Cortina et al., 2017) and belonging-related stressors have been shown to be more intense for those who identify with outgroups (Walton & Brady, 2017). Given this context and the impossibility of directly creating belonging, how can people at all levels support an inclusive commitment to fostering belonging as an organizational value? This presentation will define belonging, outline relevant actions and behaviors, and illuminate potential pitfalls.

Exploring The Effects Of Autotelic Personality, Proactive Personality, And Positive Affectivity On Dispositional Employee Engagement, Stormy Soldonia

Industrial-Organizational Psychology Dissertations

The increasing focus on employee well-being and its organizational implications has shifted scholarly attention towards the dynamics of employee engagement. Prevailing research largely concentrates on the influence of the work environment in fostering engagement. However, the role of individual predispositions remains insufficiently explored. This study seeks to address this gap by evaluating the predictive capacity of specific individual traits – autotelic personality, proactive personality, and positive affectivity – on the innate tendency towards employee engagement. It also examines the extent to which an organization’s climate for engagement can enhance these individual characteristics’ impact. A survey was conducted with 403 adult …

The Experience Of Knowledge Workers In Remote Environments During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Dale F. Knapp

Doctor of Education Program Dissertations

When regional quarantine restrictions were rapidly implemented in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, knowledge workers were forced to vacate their traditional shared office spaces and transition to remote work environments. This unprecedented mass exodus from traditional in-person physical workplaces was facilitated by existing and new software and technology that allowed workers to remain connected and working. This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences and perceptions of knowledge workers who experienced this transition to a full-time remote work environment. The study also examined how knowledge workers perceived work performance relative to their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were …

The Great Resignation: Narratives Of Mid-Career Teacher Burnout And Attrition, Nicole Burton

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the issues of teacher attrition. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, from January to November 2021, there was a 40% increase in the quit levels of teachers within the state and local education agencies (John, 2022). While prior research has examined early-career teachers leaving the profession, mid-career teachers have largely been left out of the conversation. This narrative inquiry investigates the reasons that mid-career teachers are leaving the profession. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four mid-career teachers hailing from the Midwest region. Interviews focused on understanding how teachers have experienced stress and …

Empowering Voices: Exploring The Career Trajectories Of Women Of Color Hr Professionals Amid Disruptive Change, Brandi R. Muñoz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated strategies to enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives in organizational leadership, focusing on supporting women of color in the workplace. The specific problem addressed was the underrepresentation and barriers faced by women of color in leadership positions despite their potential contributions to organizational success. The study employed a qualitative approach, combining qualitative interviews with socioeconomic data analysis. Data collection methods included semistructured interviews with women of color and a survey to gather demographic and employment information. The sample consisted of 16 women of color human resource professionals working in various industries and organizational settings across the …

The Interpersonal Effects Of Emotional Expressions With Both And Single Valences On Work-Related Satisfaction: An Examination Of Emotions And Perceived Openness As Mediators, Ming-Hong Tsai

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Work-related satisfaction has critical benefits. To predict work-related satisfaction, we investigated how a counterpart’s expressions of emotional complexity (both positive and negative emotions), positive emotions, and negative emotions influenced a perceiver’s work-related satisfaction during discussions over different work-relevant ideas. We conducted a three-wave coworker survey (N = 529) and an experiment with a confederate as a task partner (N = 378). The results consistently showed significant positive impacts of a counterpart’s emotional complexity and positive emotion expressions on a perceiver’s work-related satisfaction by enhancing the perceiver’s positive emotions and evaluation of the counterpart’s openness. Conversely, a counterpart’s negative emotion expression …

Barriers To Mental Health Seeking Among Army Aviation Personnel: A Preliminary Report, Aric J. Raus

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

This research explores barriers to mental health seeking, self-reported symptoms, and perspectives on self-help mental-wellness options among U.S. Army Aviation Personnel. Safe aviation operations require constant focus and mental clarity. These requirements expand when considering the implications and added stress of military operations, especially in combat scenarios. Yet, recent studies demonstrate that aviation personnel avoid seeking healthcare due to fears of losing their medical certification. This report provides preliminary results from the first known study on barriers to mental health seeking among U.S. Army aviation personnel. Utilizing an anonymous survey instrument, facilitated primarily through Social Media recruiting of current and …

A Candidate Needs Approach To Job Advertisements, Yuliya M. Cheban-Gore

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Organizations currently lack research-based best practice guidance on what information is most helpful for job seekers when deciding which jobs and organizations to apply to. This lack of guidance is a detriment because, typically, recruitment strategies are designed from the perspective of the organization’s needs –which is effective when the job market is organization, rather than candidate-driven. When the market is candidate-driven, it would benefit organizations to view the recruitment process through the lens of job seekers. The current studies focus on understanding one of the beginning stages of recruitment through the lens of job seekers: job advertisements. Through a …

In-Work Recovery Among Hybrid Employees: Examining The Relationships Between Stressors, Recovery Experiences, And Strains, Stefanie Larsen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There has been a drastic increase in the number of hybrid employees (i.e., employees who work remotely for part of a workweek) since the COVID-19 pandemic. While previous research has highlighted some of the benefits and costs of remote work, research on hybrid work is still in its early stages. One area that remains unclear is how hybrid work relates to stressor experiences and in-work recovery from work. The present study examined how levels of specific stressors (i.e., workload, availability pressure) vary depending on whether employees work remotely or in the office, and how the variations of these stressors across …

Developing An Instrument To Measure Group Dynamics Awareness: A Mixed Methods Study, John Weng

Dissertations

In a world that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, adaptive leaders are needed more than ever. Based on group relations programs developed by the Tavistock Institute, a pedagogy known as case-in-point has recently been brought to prominence and incorporated into leadership development programs. These methods claim to develop systems thinking and individuals’ leadership capacity with little prior empirical research.

This mixed methods exploratory study explored individual awareness of group dynamics, a key outcome in case-in-point programs, and adaptive leadership theory. The goal was to create an instrument to measure awareness of group dynamics: the Group Dynamics Awareness Questionnaire …

An Exploratory Approach To College Student Counterproductivity, Reagan L. Marsh, Justin Travis

University of South Carolina Upstate Student Research Journal

Although counterproductivity (e.g., shirking responsibilities or lying to supervisors) is a focal topic for many industrial/organizational psychologists, the broader social psychology literature has historically focused on more serious and uncommon forms of individual-level deviance, often in terms of its relation to criminal activity or psychopathology. Additionally, sociologists study intentional harmful behaviors that individuals engage in but use the term deviance in lieu of counterproductivity. Regarding students, there has been some work that addresses the more common phenomenon of counterproductivity at school, such as lying to teachers and cheating on tests. Nevertheless, each of these domains, in criminal justice, social psychology, …

Effects Of Advertising Employee Resource Groups (Ergs) On Female Applicants’ Intentions To Pursue Employment Through Perceived Organizational Support, Jamie Crites

Industrial-Organizational Psychology Dissertations

Employee resource groups (ERGs) have existed since the 1960’s to provide additional support for a group of employees within an organization that share a common identity (e.g., gender, race, sexual orientation, veteran status). Gaining in popularity over the past 25 years, they are utilized to drive change and foster diversity management (Welbourne et al., 2017). Organizations have also realized the potential for demonstrating a commitment to diversity to external stakeholders, future applicants, and current employees (Biscoe & Safford, 2010; Friedman & Holtom, 2002). ERGs are unique, thus are difficult to quantify and study empirically. However, given the prevalence of ERGs, …

Calculator Provision As An Accommodation For The Canadian Forces Aptitude Test (Cfat), Joseph W. Berry

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

The impact of calculator provision on the reliability and validity of a version of the Canadian Forces Aptitude Test—Problem Solving subtest was investigated in order to inform testing accommodation policy. Two hundred and fifty-four Canadian Armed Forces recruits undergoing basic training participated in the experimental research design, which consisted of a calculator and a no-calculator condition. Results supported that the convergent validity of the test was maintained in the calculator condition, as indicated by similar validity coefficients with other measures of cognitive ability in the two conditions; however, several items showed increased correct responding, and there was mixed support for …

Does Background Type And Blurring Affect Performance Ratings In Video Interviews?, Christina Scott, Nicolas Roulin

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

Asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) have become increasingly popular as alternatives (or complements) to more traditional face-to-face interviews. Yet, AVI research has been largely focused on applicant reactions or behaviors, and we still know very little about what influences how applicants are rated. Importantly, because AVIs afford applicants the flexibility to record their responses from their homes, the background they choose could influence raters’ judgments. This study examines whether raters’ (N=276 Prolific respondents with prior hiring experience) initial impressions and final ratings differ if applicants record their AVIs from a home-office, a bedroom, or use background blurring settings, as …

Enhancing Consistency Of Maximal Responding In Behavior Description Interviews: An Exploration Of Priming And Response Length, Allen I. Huffcutt, Satoris S. Howes, Dianne D. Murphy, Sara A. Murphy

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

In a Behavior Description Interview (BDI), candidates are asked to describe past experiences that demonstrate skills and abilities important for the position (Janz, 1982). A recent study by Huffcutt et al. (2020) found that only around half of participants (48.1 percent) describe an experience reflecting maximal performance capability. Random mixing of maximal capability with day-to-day typical performance tendencies is problematic psychometrically because candidates are not all providing comparable information and top candidates could be overlooked. Given notable methodological concerns with Huffcutt et al.’s approach, our first purpose was to provide empirical confirmation that maximal responding in BDIs is, in fact, …

Competency-Based Personnel Selection Oklahoma - Site Intervention Logic Model, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development (Qic-Wd)

Intervention Summaries

Each QIC-WD site developed a logic model to serve as a visual representation of their selected intervention. All logic models included four main components: inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes. Collectively, these demonstrate the resources and actions required to implement the program, as well as the associated result or changes anticipated through implementation of the program. The hypothesized relationships are represented by the pathways connecting the listed activities and anticipated outcomes. For more information see Site Overview.

Competency-Based Personnel Selection Oklahoma - Evaluation Overview, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development (Qic-Wd)

Intervention Summaries

The QIC-WD evaluation was conducted with the support of the Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) to determine if a Competency-based Personnel Selection process was effective in improving workforce and child welfare outcomes.

Research Questions

The primary research questions concerned the ability of the structured hiring tools to predict job performance, tenure, and turnover. It was hypothesized that the use of the standardized hiring process would result in the selection of candidates who performed better and had lower rates of turnover and longer tenure than candidates hired using existing selection processes, see Logic Model. Intermediate outcomes examined included employee feelings of …