Journal of Applied Psychology

White, Sam E.; Mitchell, Terence R.

doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.64.1.1pmid: N/A

41 part-time student employees were randomly assigned in a 2–2 factorial design (2 types of social cues and 2 levels of job enrichment) to investigate the effects of the independent variables on perceptions of job enrichment, job ambiguity, job satisfaction, and productivity. All Ss worked in a simulated organizational setting involving a routine clerical task. Results show that both the cues given by co-workers as well as the physical properties of the task had an effect on employee perceptions of job enrichment and job ambiguity. In addition, Ss receiving positive social cues from co-workers were more satisfied and more productive than Ss receiving negative social cues from co-workers. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance for current theories of job motivation. (22 ref)

Mobley, William H.; Hand, Herbert H.; Baker, Robert L.; Meglino, Bruce M.

doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.64.1.10pmid: N/A

A role choice model, which included attraction, expectancy, and intention indexes for both civilian and military roles, was used to analyze the recruit training turnover behavior of 1,521 male Marine Corps recruits. Demographic, expected leadership, and expected job content were also measured at the beginning of recruit training. It was found that on the way into recruit training, subsequent graduates and dropouts differed significantly on 20 of 29 variables, including intention to complete their enlistments, expectancy of completing their enlistments, attraction to the Marine role, and a number of other expected organizational and demographic variables. When the variables were subjected to stepwise multiple regression, a multiple R of .30 was observed for 11-wk recruit training attrition, with expectancy of completing, education, Marine role outcome expectancies, expectancy of finding an acceptable civilian role, and intention to complete being the 1st 5 variables to enter the equation. Results support the usefulness of moving beyond demographic prediction of attrition, including perception and evaluation of alternative roles, and exploring more closely the organizational entry process. (28 ref)

Lord, Robert G.; Hohenfeld, Jeffrey A.

doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.64.1.19pmid: N/A

A time-series analysis was used to test predictions based on equity theory in a naturally occurring experiment involving 23 major league baseball players who began the 1976 season without contracts. It was posited that due to historical changes in the reserve system, these players would perceive themselves as undercompensated relative to salient others, and due to substantial reductions in salary as compared to their 1975 compensation, they would also perceive themselves as undercompensated relative to self-referents from the previous year. Such perceptions should produce lower performance. This hypothesis was supported for performance as measured by batting average, home runs, and runs batted in but not for runs scored. (16 ref)

Tucker, David H.; Rowe, Patricia M.

doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.64.1.27pmid: N/A

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of early expectancies onan interviewer's causal interpretations of an applicant's past performance outcomes.A total of 72 students each read a series of 10 transcripts which theybelieved had been taken from an actual interview. Each transcript dealt witha single educational or work-related outcome, with five of the transcriptsdealing with success situations and five'with failure situations. Prior to readingthe transcripts, each subject received a letter of reference, thus creating anexpectancy: 24 subjects received a favorable letter of reference, 24 receivedan unfavorable letter, and 24 received a neutral letter. The results suggestthat an interviewer with an unfavorable expectancy is likely to give theapplicant less credit for past successes and to hold the applicant more personallyresponsible for past failures. The results also indicate that the finaldecision to accept or reject an applicant is closely related to these causalinterpretations of past outcomes.

Ash, Ronald A.; Levine, Edward L.; Edgell, Steven L.

doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.64.1.35pmid: N/A

A matching procedure for selection of clerical personnel, based on task and working condition preferences of applicants, was studied for the impact of ethnicity and stability over time. The impact of ethnicity was examined among 200 White, 200 Black, and 200 Hispanic applicants by comparing task/condition preferences with ethnicity. Although a number of significant relationships between task/condition preferences and ethnicity were observed, the magnitude of effect of ethnicity on preferences for singular job conditions and tasks seemed to be near zero in most cases. The data tentatively suggest that the matching procedure might produce little adverse impact in operational use. In the stability study, 71 applicants for state clerical jobs completed a Clerical Job Condition and Task Preference Schedule at 2 different times. The preference schedule was more stable for applicants with previous clerical work experience and tended to be more stable for White than for Black or Hispanic applicants. (5 ref)

Robertson, Ivan; Downs, Sylvia

doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.64.1.42pmid: N/A

This article distinguishes between the work-sample approach to personnel selection and a trainability-testing approach. Trainability tests are characterized by the inclusion of a structured and controlled period of learning and are used to select personnel for training rather than to choose people who are already competent. Work conducted on trainability tests over the past decade shows that such tests can be successfully used for semiskilled manual tasks, including areas in which existing written, psychometric tests are poor at predicting trainability. Illustrative examples of parts of tests are provided, and design and validation procedures are discussed. This approach to selection is linked with theoretical ideas advocating point-to-point correspondence between predictor and criterion, in which the relevant aspects of training content, method, and environment are incorporated into the test to ensure correspondence between the training criterion and the selection test. (18 ref)

McCormick, Ernest J.; DeNisi, Angelo S.; Shaw, James B.

doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.64.1.51pmid: N/A

This study dealt with the use of quantitative measures of job components asthe basis for estimation of the mean level of each of five aptitude constructsthat were characteristics of incumbents in various types of jobs. The measuresof the job components were job dimension scores, based on the PositionAnalysis Questionnaire, and the criterion for each construct for each job wasthe mean test score of job incumbents on various tests considered to measurethe same constructs, converted to a common metric. The possible relevance ofsuch estimates to validity generalization—or what might 'be called job componentvalidity—is discussed

Schmidt, F. L.; Hunter, J. E.

doi: 10.1037/h0078043pmid: N/A

Reports an error in the article "Development of a General Solution to the Problem of Validity Generalization" by F. L. Schmidt and J. E. Hunter (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1977[Oct], Vol. 62[5], 529-540). The first formula in Appendix C on page 540 is corrected. Personnel psychologists have traditionally believed that employment test validities are situation specific. This study presents a Bayesian statistical model that is based on the alternate hypothesis that variation in validity outcomes from study to study for similar jobs and tests is artifactual in nature. Certain outcomes using this model permit validity generalization to new settings without carrying out a validation study of any kind. Where such generalization is not justified, the procedure is considered to provide an improved method of data analysis and decision making for the necessary situational validity study. Application to 4 distributions of empirical validity coefficients is presented to demonstrate the power of the model.

Burke, Ronald J.; Weir, Tamara; DuWors, Richard E.

doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.64.1.57pmid: N/A

Self-reported Type A behavior (measured by a 44-item scale developed by S. M. Sales, 1969) of 85 top level administrators of correctional institutions was correlated to their spouses' reported marital satisfaction, emotional well-being, and health-related behaviors. In general, higher levels of Type A behavior of job incumbents was associated with less marital satisfaction and poorer well-being of spouses. This effect was most pronounced on dependent variables related to the husband–wife relationship and to home and family functioning. Several explanations for these findings are considered. (30 ref)

Schmidt, F. L.; Hunter, J. E.; Urry, V. W.

doi: 10.1037/h0078044pmid: N/A

Reports an error in the article "Statistical Power in Criterion-Related Validation Studies" by F. L. Schmidt, J. E. Hunter, and V. W. Urry (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1976[Aug], Vol. 61[4], 473-485). Rhe first, unnumbered formula in the left column of page 475 is corrected. The calculation at the bottom of the right column of page 476 is corrected as well. Examined systematically the sample sizes necessary to provide adequate power in validation studies under various conditions of range restriction and criterion unreliability. For purposes of brevity, the examination was restricted to the validity parameter values (i.e., true validities) of .35 and .50. Results demonstrate that sample sizes required to produce adequate power in empirical validation studies are substantially larger than has typically been assumed. This finding leads to the conclusion that, from the viewpoint of sample-size requirements, criterion-related validity studies are "technically feasible" much less frequently than is commonly assumed. It is also shown that the "situational specificity" of employment test validities may be in large part a consequence of excessive faith in small-sample analyses, that is, belief in "the law of small numbers."