Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Patrick A. Knight / As organizations continue to decentralize, leaders will have to rely upon other forms of communication (e.g., telephone, video conferencing, email) to perform tasks normally done in face-to-face settings. Email is emerging as the most popular form of communication as a replacement for face-to-face communication. However, email is not entirely capable of conveying the same message as face-to-face interaction. Email is considered a lean form of communication due to the loss of non-verbal cues, the distance between the individuals, and time between messages. While email is a satisfactory replacement for some messages, research has yet to investigate its usefulness in providing performance feedback. As leaders begin to use email as a means of providing feedback, it is necessary to investigate the impact this form of communication has on the goals individuals set, self-efficacy, and affect. The study sampled 94 undergraduate students. The participants were randomly assigned to either receive positive or negative feedback via email or face-to-face interaction. Upon completion of the task, participants created goals to help them improve in the task and completed all other measures. Results indicate that it does not matter whether participants receive face-to-face or email feedback in respect to differences in their reported affect, efficacy, or the goals they set.

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Clive J. A. Fullagar / The present study focused on empirically assessing the differences between the two flow models (FSS-II; Jackson & Eklund, 2002; WOLF, Bakker, 2005) and then their similarity or difference with the Schaufeli (2002) model of engagement. Using a 2nd order factor analysis it was found that FSS-II and WOLF measured different conceptualizations of flow while engagement as measured by the UWES did not differentiate from the flow experience. Implications and directions for future research were discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Patrick A. Knight / The current study uses structural equation modeling to simultaneously test the relationships between cultural knowledge, rapport building, and counterpart receptiveness in a cross-cultural setting using military-advisors. Five-hundred-eighty-three Army soldiers and Marines deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan as advisors to host-national soldiers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their job-tasks. Results indicate that advisors who use cultural knowledge are more effective building relationships, and as a result have counterparts who are more receptive to their advice. Limitations and implications of the model are discussed, as well as potential directions for future research.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Patrick A. Knight / Corporations spend tens of millions of dollars each year to conduct organizational surveys and report the results. It is imperative that survey results provide clear, actionable results to organizational leaders for an employee survey program to be effective. To the extent that survey results are impacted by response style biases, organizations cannot be certain their actions address real issues. The following research examines the impact of managers' national culture on the response styles of their employees. Power distance is a construct that reflects how different cultures address inequality. In this study, power distance scores for managers are hypothesized to be predictive of employee response style behavior such that power distance is positively associated with greater extreme responding and lower acquiescence. Additionally, individualism/collectivism scores for managers are hypothesized to be predictive of employee response style behavior such that individualism is positively associated with greater extreme responding and negatively associated with acquiescence. Overall, results did not support the key hypotheses of the study. While employees from high power distance countries did display higher levels of extreme responding than employees from low power distance countries (Hypothesis 1), none of the other three hypotheses were supported. Despite this lack of significant results, this single result supports Johnson, et al.'s (2005) results from a sample of over eighteen-thousand employees in nineteen countries suggesting it is a consistent, real difference between high and low power distance countries. There were several limitations to be considered in evaluating this research. First, the study was based on archival data limiting the flexibility of the design and analysis. Another key limitation that should be addressed in future research is the use of abstracted cultural trait scores. Despite the lack of significant results and the limitations of this study, the fact remains that differences in response behaviors do exist across different cultures and geographic locations. Further research is needed to more clearly understand the influence that geographic culture, organizational culture and individual level demographics may have on employee response styles to help facilitate how organizations understand survey results.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Clive J. A. Fullagar / Research on occupational well-being, commonly conceptualized as job satisfaction or the opposite of burnout, is criticized for its lack of theoretical basis. Danna and Griffin (1999) point out the need to refine this construct as well as develop measures to assess well-being in the workplace. This study proposed a scale of occupational well-being based on the work of Ryff (1989). Ryff's (1989) model of psychological well-being was designed to address similar concerns plaguing research on general well-being. The scales derived from Ryff's (1989) research are theoretically based on a variety of converging theories of optimal well-being that had previously been ignored. Unfortunately, the support for the psychometric properties of the psychological well-being scale is mixed. Researchers have either been able to produce longer, more reliable scales with a poor factor structure or shorter, less reliable scales with strong factorial validity. The results of this study are consistent with general research on well-being. Of the multiple first order models (with six independent factors) produced, the only acceptable fit was from a scale with 4 item sub-scales. Though acceptable by some, the reliability of these subscales was not as strong as it was for longer versions. The fit of the first order model was then compared to that of a second order model (where the 6 dimensions loaded onto occupational well-being). While both models had an acceptable fit to the data, preference was given to the second order model. While they had similar REMSA values, the PGFI was higher for the second order model; researchers have suggested that PGFI be used to help interpret the REMSA value. In addition, the second order model was cross validated, producing results similar to the original findings. This model was then used to assess the relationship between occupational well-being and the context of work; previously, this has been ignored. Partial support was found for a mediated relationship between psychological climate and occupational well-being. Composite psychological climate scores influenced job satisfaction; this in turn, affected occupational wellbeing. The limitations, contributions, and meaning of the study are then discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Ronald G. Downey / Job engagement is an emerging psychological construct that purports to measure individuals' level of psychological presence at work. The concept has received attention in both the academic literature and in industry. In the academic literature three measures of engagement exist that were examined in this research (Schaufeli, Britt, & Shirom). However, engagement has undergone little critical examination beyond factor analyses. This research sought to critically examine the concept of engagement as well as provide empirical evidence regarding its place in the nomological network of job attitudes. Both theoretically and empirically, engagement has been linked to personality and leadership variables; however, no research to date has attempted to examine all three concepts together. This research additionally sought to link engagement, personality, and leadership in a theoretically based model. Participants (N=382) at mid-sized financial institution completed a survey comprised of demographic items, attitude measures, a leadership measure, and a personality measure. Results indicated that the Schaufeli and Britt measures of engagement substantially overlap with job satisfaction and affective commitment; however, the Shirom measure (called vigor) is not redundant with job satisfaction or affective commitment. Hypothetical models of engagement, personality, and leadership were not good fits with the data; however, two modified models (one with Schaufeli's engagement and one with Shirom's vigor) had marginally acceptable fits. Further, hierarchical regressions indicated a strong connection between engagement and leadership and between engagement and personality. It seems that every so often a "new" concept comes along that offers organizations prosperity with little cost. Engagement is a popular and positive concept that is appealing to both practitioners and academics. Engagement, as a construct, is not a silver bullet for organizations. However, engagement or vigor may be a useful concept for organizations as both a selection instrument and as a way to assess the relative states of fulfillment of employees, groups, and organizations. Future directions for research and recommendations are discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Clive J. A. Fullagar / Student engagement has become an important way of assessing student outcomes for college and is used to provide information to accreditation agencies, for internal accountability as well as to assess impact of college on students. However, current measures of student engagement do not assess the core process underlying student engagement, instead focusing on antecedents and consequences of engagement. The current research addressed this gap by first developing a new measure of student engagement called SAENS (Student Academic ENgagement Scale), which is strongly grounded in theory derived from the work engagement literature. Two dimensions of engagement were found: enjoyment and effort. A second study validated this measure by forming a nomological net of relationships with other variables and testing these antecedents and consequences of engagement. Results indicated that engagement effort is strongly related to student grades for their classes and the dimension of enjoyment is related to the teaching style of collaborative learning. However, engagement was not related to students’ levels of critical thinking.

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Satoris S. Culbertson / Prior research has suggested there are negative consequences for missing work for both the individual and the organization. These consequences, such as lower ratings of performance, may exist regardless of the reason for the absence, and may be influenced to some extent by stereotypes held by others, such as supervisors and coworkers. The purpose of this study was to determine if absence from work for a stereotypically male or female task would affect supervisor and coworker ratings of performance, organizational commitment, and likelihood of performing organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). It was expected that workers who violated a gender role stereotype (males missing work for a stereotypically feminine task or females missing work for a stereotypically masculine task) would be sanctioned by supervisors and coworkers through lower ratings of performance, lower ratings of perceived organizational commitment, and lower ratings of the likelihood of performing OCBs than those who did not miss work or who missed work without violating a gender role stereotype. One hundred and seventy-four undergraduate psychology students at a large Midwestern university read descriptions of employee performance and attendance and then rated the employee’s performance and perceived organizational commitment and likelihood of performing both altruism and generalized compliance OCBs. Results revealed that an absence from work resulted in lower ratings of all four criteria, but that the interaction between the employee’s gender and reason for absence (i.e., whether they violated a gender role stereotype) had no effect. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Ronald G. Downey / The harmful workplace behavior field, although relatively new, is fragmented. Despite a few collaborative efforts (Fox & Spector, 2005; Keashly & Jagatic, 2003; etc.) there is no agreement on the correct terminology to employ. The current paper corrects this by developing a new scale that is a combination of similar, but previously distinct, variables and concepts. This new scale is comprehensive and based off of an intensive review of the literature.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Ronald G. Downey / Work engagement has received increased attention by both practitioners and academicians. Researchers and practitioners have focused on the antecedents of employee engagement and the positive outcomes of an employee being engaged. This study served to expand the literature on antecedents and outcomes of work engagement to include human resources practices, such as Realistic Job Previews (RJP) and selection tests, as antecedents. A sample of 161 Information Technology help desk support representatives, who were grouped by receiving or not receiving an RJP and a selection test, were assessed on the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli, Salanova, Gonzalez-Roma, and Bakker, 2002). Significant differences were found for individuals who recalled receiving an RJP on work engagement. Significant differences were not found for the selection test group on work engagement. Additional analyses were conducted to determine the predictability of engagement on individual (e.g., personal health and job satisfaction) and organizational outcomes (e.g., turnover intentions and performance). Overall, results suggest that human resources practices should be included in the work engagement model. Additional research directions and organizational implications were discussed.