Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons^™

Investigating The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program's Impact On Public Service Employees, Karli Guice, Skylar Oney, Malissa Clark

River Cities Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program has garnered attention in the media in recent months, primarily in reaction to recent program reforms. Public service employees have struggled to navigate the PSLF program since its formation in 2007, which is complex, tedious, and time consuming. While some relief has been granted, many more face uncertainty as to whether or when their loans will be forgiven. Coupled with the fact that many individuals feel shame and stigma for having loans in the first place and for seeking loan forgiveness, the PSLF process can take a negative toll on individuals and in …

Perceived Engagement In Flexible Work Arrangements, Emma Vosika

River Cities Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference

Early in the pandemic, employees transitioned to remote work to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Though social distancing and other coronavirus related mandates have begun to subside, some employers are continuing to allow their employees flexibility in their work arrangements. This continued flexibility appears to be the “new normal” of how we work (Weideman & Hofmeyr, 2020). As a result, the question arises as to whether flexible workers feel engaged and connected to their organizations. To illustrate perceived engagement in flexible work arrangements, a sample of 258 participants was recruited through social media and student participation system SONA. Examples of …

Does Safety Make A Difference? The Impact Of Safety Observations On Injury Likelihoods, Rylie Sant, Shawn Bergman, Timothy Ludwig, Yalcin Acikgoz, Tanner Landolt, Sunny Barboj, Jacob Leslie, Nick Granowsky

River Cities Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference

According to Liberty Mutual’s 2021 Workplace Safety Index, it was estimated that employers paid more than $1 billion per week in direct workers’ compensation costs for disabling, non-fatal workplace injuries in 2018 (2021 workplace, 2021). Accordingly, organizations frequently engage in safety practices in the hopes of reducing these financial and human costs. The aim of this study was to examine whether performing safety observations reduced the likelihood of adverse outcomes. A safety observation refers to a checklist of behaviors deemed “safe” that should be conducted to help decrease or completely eliminate a safety incident. A safety incident is an event …

Promoting Workplace Well-Being, Emma Vosika

River Cities Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference

Hire Ventures, Inc. is an HR consulting firm founded in Atlanta, GA. Their mission is to “enable clients to find and keep talent by implementing streamlined processes, leveraging the right technology, and delivering on-demand, scalable hourly HR consulting and hourly recruiting consulting services” (Hire Ventures, 2022). My internship at Hire Ventures, Inc. followed a short 8-week timeline that focused on the development of a workplace wellness campaign series. Role responsibilities included conducting an internal needs analysis to create the base framework for the wellness series, developing topics for a 10-week wellness blog series that targets the employees and employers of …

Creating Competency Based Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales Using An Online Sample, Isabelle Couvillion, Lilah Donnelly, Jonah Richardson, Faith A. Shannon, Kyle Benbow

River Cities Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference

The current project takes action on Kell et al.’s (2017) call for research on non-traditional methods for developing behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS). Typically, BARS are used when conducting structured interviews to ensure high predictive validity and reliability while minimizing biases. The traditional method of constructing BARS requires time and resources which may deter organizations from adopting such scales. Our proposed methodology will assuage these deterrents. We have designed a survey to collect critical incidents from subject matter experts (SMEs) online using ProLific, a crowdsourcing software. For the purpose of this study, participants will be filtered based on their age, …

The Relationship Between Business Students' Valor And Psychological Capital, Kyle Luthans, Brett C. Luthans, T. Daniel Chaffin

Mountain Plains Business Conference

No abstract provided.

Work-Family Conflict, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is work-family conflict?

Work-family conflict is defined as “a form of interrole conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect” (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985, p. 77). Work-family conflict is often contrasted with work-family enrichment, which represents the positive spillover that can occur between the work and family domains. The idea of work-family conflict is grounded in resource drain theory, which suggests that individuals have limited physical, psychological, and social resources to draw on while performing in different roles. When individuals devote large quantities of their resources to one domain …

Work-Family Enrichment, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is work-family enrichment?

Work-family enrichment is used to describe the positive benefits derived from spillover between work and family. Specifically, work-family enrichment is formally defined as “the extent to which experiences in one role improve the quality of life in the other role” (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006, p. 73). This is often contrasted with the concept of work-family conflict, which represents the negative spillover between the work and family domains. Work-family enrichment is often distinguished by the direction of its effect; benefits from work that are applied to the family domain are termed work-to-family enrichment (WFE), and benefits from …

Like Attracts Like? The Effects Of Anxiety, Implicit Bias, And Perception Of Diversity Culture On Team Attraction, Donna Yao, Melody M. Chao, Elizabeth George, Pritviraj Chattopadhyay

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

Past relational demography research has demonstrated the influence of demographic dissimilarity among employees on their work engagement and attrition. Little is known about how demographic dissimilarity affects individuals’ attraction to a team in the first place. The present research focused on the attraction component of the attraction-selection-attrition model to investigate factors that contribute to team attraction and their associated underlying processes. Specifically, we identified anxiety towards potential teammates as an affective response to cultural dissimilarity, which in turn influenced performance expectations and team attraction. We also examined implicit and explicit cognitions that might shape the impact of anxiety. To this …

An Examination Of Emotional Resilience Among Athletic Trainers Working In The Secondary School Setting, Shaine Henert, William Pitney, Bethany Wood, Nicholas E. Grahovec, Tyler A. Wood

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Athletic training is a demanding profession that is a stressor for many practitioners. Emotional resilience allows Athletic Trainers (ATs) to persist in their roles and benefit from long and successful careers. The purpose of this study was to explore the level of emotional resilience of ATs working in secondary school settings and identify factors perceived to contribute to or mitigate one's emotional resilience. Method: A sequential explanatory mixed-method design using a cross-sectional online survey followed by in-depth interviews was used to gather information from 160 (16% response rate) secondary school NATA members - 97 (60.6%) female; 63 (39.4%) male …

Employee Engagement, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is employee engagement?

Consensus on the exact definition of employee engagement is still evolving, but commonalities involve attitudes and behaviors related to high personal investment in one’s work. One definition is “a relatively enduring state of mind referring to the simultaneous investment of personal energies in the experience or performance of work” (Christian, Garza, & Slaughter, 2011, p. 95). The most commonly used measure of engagement, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, assesses engagement through three factors: vigor (high energy levels and persistence), dedication (enthusiasm and inspiration), and absorption (high concentration and engrossment) (Schaufeli, Salanova, Gonzalez-Roma, & Bakker, 2002; Schaufeli, …

The Bright And Dark Sides Of Upward Social Comparison: Knowledge Sharing And Knowledge Hiding Directed At High Performers, Soohyun (Ashley) Lee

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present research investigated when and why employees might share or hide their work information from coworkers who perform better than themselves. Drawing from social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) and social exchange theory (Blau, 1964), I predicted that upward social comparison would lead to both pleasant reactions (inspiration, perceived gain of work resources) and unpleasant reactions (envy, perceived loss of work resources), which in turn would differentially affect knowledge sharing/hiding behaviors targeting high-performing coworkers. I further predicted that individual differences in directing behaviors toward goals (goal orientation) and task structures requiring reliance on coworkers (task interdependence) would moderate the relationships …

Three Lenses Of Contrapower Sexual Harassment, Michael L. Ekema

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Contrapower sexual harassment refers to sexual harassment incidents where the perpetrator has less formal power within the organization than the person being victimized. Although the potential for inverse power dynamics were already identified in the early stages of sexual harassment research, the prevalence and antecedents of contrapower sexual harassment have rarely been examined. In addition, prior sexual harassment research has overwhelmingly prioritized gender as the focal variable of interest. This dissertation seeks to contribute to the literature on workplace incivility, organizational deviance, and counterproductive work behaviors by looking at contrapower harassment through three different lenses: The perspective of harassment targets, …

Intelligence Testing In The New (Langu)Age: Effects Of Item-Type And Assessment Medium Features On Fluid Intelligence Test Linguistic Group Score Differences, Paige R. Alenick

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As fluid intelligence tests are an integral part of modern employee selection protocols, assessment designers are tasked to ensure the construct is measured accurately for all test-takers regardless of their demographic traits. Disparities in bilingual and monolingual working memory capabilities, which are critical for successful fluid intelligence test performance, might make it challenging for test designers to accomplish this goal. Best design practice in such cases is to identify assessment conditions that allow for equitable expression of the test construct. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine whether the content of items present on a fluid intelligence test …

Avatar: The New Employee? Creating Online Employment Personas May Benefit Stigmatized Employees, Esenaman Batirov, Larry R. Martinez

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although we appreciate and agree with the conclusions that (Wilcox et al., 2022) come to in their review of the literature related to cybervetting, our intention in this response is to discuss the potential utility of cybervetting in a post-COVID world in which fully remote employment is much more prevalent. Specifically, we draw parallels to other contexts in which individuals interact completely remotely successfully and highlight how such arrangements can actually be beneficial —rather than detrimental—to employees with stigmatized identities or characteristics.

Contextualizing The Organizational Mindset, Joseph A. Carpini, Burak Oc

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Although Schneider and Pulakos (2022, p. 2) call for scholars to adopt an “organizational mindset,” which includes “an increased organizational frame of reference on variables of interest,” the authors have overlooked the importance of contextualizing such a mindset. Contextualizing “entails linking observations to a set of relevant facts, events, or points of view that make possible research and theory that form part of a larger whole” (Rousseau & Fried, 2001, p. 1). Contextualizing is essential because it provides a common vernacular that facilitates the valid and reliable extension of the industrial-organizational (I-O) mindset to the study of organizational differences and …

Employee Fit, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is employee fit?

Broadly defined, fit is said to be the “compatibility between individuals and organizations” (Kristof, 1996, p. 3). Early theories of fit proposed that alignment between individuals’ personalities and their environment would lead to greater personal success and happiness; for example, those with social personalities would find the greatest fulfillment in work roles involving helping people, such as a social worker or nurse (Holland, 1985). Since then, the idea of fit has been expanded to include not just alignment of personality, but also attitudes, values, preferences, needs, goals, knowledge, skills, and abilities (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). Fit …

Relationship Building In E-Negotiation: Dyadic Effects On Subjective Negotiation Outcomes, Mounica Reddy

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

E-negotiation is a critical activity that is becoming a new reality (Sokolova et al., 2006), however, the e-negotiation environment lends itself to fewer informative cues than the face-to-face environment. The ability to maintain relationships with parties and negotiate with them in the future increases the negotiator’s bargaining power and could be important beyond economic outcomes (Curhan & Brown, 2011). This study investigates the link between relationship-building and subjective values in negotiation, and how the negotiation medium may change this relationship. Subjective values of rapport, trustworthiness, and interest in future interaction were predicted to both differ by e-negotiation and face-to-face negotiation …

How Relevant Is The Apa Ethics Code To Industrial-Organizational Psychology? Applicability, Deficiencies, And Recommendations, Logan L. Watts, Joel Lefkowitz, Manuel F. Gonzalez, Sampoorna Nandi

Cambridge University Press Open Access Agreement Publications-Archive

Opinions have been divided regarding the relevance of the APA Ethics Code to non-mental health specialties and even whether the code should attempt to encompass all psychology specializations. However, these opinions have crystallized without the benefit of any appreciable empirical data, until now. This study investigates the applicability of the ethical principles and standards of the code to 398 first-person narratives of ethical incidents reported by industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists. On average, 2.8 (of the 5) principles enumerated in the code were deemed applicable to each incident, and each principle was applicable to more than half the incidents provided. Of the …

Applying Visual Methods To Document The History Of Psychological Testing: A Qualitative Approach, Analay Perez, Janet F. Carlson, Buros Center For Testing At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

Buros Center: Professional Staff Publications

The history of psychological testing is critical to many areas of applied psychology. Assessment forms a mainstay of clinical practice, second only to psychotherapy (Meyer et al., 2001). In industrial/organizational psychological practice, employee selection depends on testing to assess applicant qualifications. In educational contexts, testing is central to the evaluation of academic performance and college readiness, in addition to determining eligibility for various types of special educational services.

The history of testing is deeply rooted in myriad psychological specialties (Carlson & Geisinger, 2021). This fact prompted a qualitative examination and integration of three distinct historical threads identified by the proposal …