The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the burnout syndrome among NCAA division I, II, and III head softball coaches. The differences between the burnout subscales scores of personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization of softball coaches at the different NCAA divisions were examined. / Subjects for the study were head softball coaches who were employed at NCAA member institutions. The subjects completed a demographic questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the instrument utilized to measure scores in the burnout subscales of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment. The demographic variables surveyed included gender, age, educational degree, marital status, NCAA classification, position status, other responsibilities, years coaching, salary level, direct contact hours, tenure at present position, number of students at university, winning percentage, and budget. / A trend toward the existence of burnout was indicated by the softball coaches. While low levels of depersonalization were reported, approximately half the coaches revealed medium to high levels of burnout in the subscales of emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment. / An analysis of variance with post-hoc analysis for depersonalization, emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment with regard to selected independent variables revealed statistical significance. Statistically significant differences in burnout subscale mean scores were found in gender with regard to depersonalization and emotional exhaustion in status of position with regard to emotional exhaustion, in direct contact hours with regard to emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment, in NCAA division with regard to personal accomplishment, and in years coaching with regard to emotional exhaustion. / The study has implications for the head softball coach as well as those supervising coaches. Once the factors which affect burnout are identified, strategies for prevention can be developed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: A, page: 2290. / Major Professor: Robert Alan Rider. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

Feedback has been a widely used procedure in many Performance Management interventions. Despite the popularity of feedback as an intervention, few systematic analyses of the functions and effects of feedback used alone have been conducted. The present study was designed to investigate the potential for feedback to function as an Establishing Operation with regard to tips. Three experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 evaluated the feasibility and impact of providing feedback about tips-per-customer. Experiments 2 and 3 evaluated the impact of feedback about tips-per-customer on sales and service. During Experiment 3 the feedback mechanism was refined in order to better isolate the effects of feedback alone. / The results were mixed. Graphic feedback about tips-per-customer appeared to have an impact on tips-per-customer but not on sales-per-customer. Ancillary measures (customer satisfaction, direct observation of server behaviors, sales of extra items) provided mixed results, thus the relationship between tips earned and these measures remains undetermined. The implications of these findings were discussed, the findings support research that suggest that the use of feedback alone typically results in weak effects. The function of feedback as an Establishing Operation was not ruled out, however further research is needed. Recommendations for further research include the development of more sensitive measures for capturing behavior change as a function of feedback, evaluation of the use of feedback as a training mechanism, and investigation of the use of feedback for facilitating maintenance of behavior change when formal programs are faded out. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-01, Section: B, page: 0554. / Major Professor: Jon S. Bailey. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Carolyn M. Shields. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-192) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> This study investigated whether pet-friendly workplace policies, specifically dog-friendly policies, serve as a buffer against stress, as well as impact perceived organizational support (POS). Using a mediational questionnaire design, this study examined whether the availability of a pet-friendly policy was significantly related to employee occupational stress levels and employee POS, with POS mediating the relationship between a pet-friendly policy and stress. One-hundred eighty-eight full-time employees recruited via crowdsourced and snowball sampling methods completed an online survey, including several measures of workplace attitudes. Results supported all hypotheses, revealing that the presence of a pet-friendly policy was significantly related to lower stress, and POS fully mediated this relationship. Significant interactions were also found, indicating that this effect was stronger for dog owners than for employees without dogs. Ultimately, these findings provide support for the affordance of a pet-friendly policy in organizations, when appropriate. </p>

<p> The relationship between income and happiness is often found to be positive, though modest. Materialistic (or extrinsic) values are associated with decreased happiness for many people. Researchers have not clearly identified how these values impact happiness or other measures of well-being. Further, materialistic and extrinsic values have been found to decrease with age. However, researchers have not explored how these values change over time. In the U.S., the primary pathway for meeting financial and extrinsic goals is through paid employment. Therefore, the response to unemployment may reveal ways that extrinsic values impact happiness, as well as how extrinsic values may shift through life experiences. Using in-depth interviews, this research examined how an adult age population in a diverse, metropolitan area experience unemployment and whether participants' reported shifts in values and goals during a period of unemployment. Participants were currently unemployed, had been unemployed at least 6 months, had been in the workforce at least 5 years, continuously worked during the 5 years before layoff, and were planning to return to work. Interviews included questions about values and goals included in the brief Aspiration Index. The interviews were processed using a multiple case study approach, where thematic analysis was used to identify major themes as well as themes that are less common but reveal further information about values and development. Participants ranged in age from 28 to 64 years old. Time unemployed ranged from 10 months to 5 years of unemployment. Participants each had completed some college courses, and three had master's degrees. Participants did identify changes in values measured by the Aspiration Index. There were 72 possible instances of change, and participants stated their values had changed in 33 instances. Participants believed those values may change back in only 8 instances, indicating that participants experienced shifts in values, which they perceived likely to be permanent changes. The change process involved shifting behaviors due to situational constraints, and identifying advantages to the new behaviors. Previous goal attainment reduced some participants' interest in extrinsic goals.</p>

<p> The Matrix Predictive Uniform Law Enforcement Inventory (M-PULSE &trade;) is a self-report, actuarial instrument used to predict job performance and liability risk, as well as assist law enforcement agencies in selecting qualified candidates. This study examined whether there is a statistically significant difference between two clusters of candidates' Empirical Scales scores as they relate to applicants' mean scale score differences on the M-Pulse&trade; liability scales. This study was conducted in an effort to confirm predictive and ecological validity and used archived data from a proprietary database retained by MHS, Inc. This data consisted of 1,000 randomly selected individuals from a normalized database of 5,000 individuals who had previously completed the M-PULSE &trade; and were subsequently hired by a law enforcement agency. A series of independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare each of the M-Pulse &trade; liability scales scores of law enforcement applicants in each cluster. Post hoc Bonferroni correction resulted in &agr; &le; .003. Statistically significant differences were found in Potential for Resignation when comparing scores for Cluster 1 (<i>M</i> = 49.49, <i> SD</i> = 9.85) and Cluster 2 (<i>M</i> = 51.85, <i>SD </i> = 10.97); <i>t</i>(998) = -3.545, <i>p</i> &lt; .003; <i>d</i> = .226 and in Potential for Termination: Cluster 1 (<i>M</i> = 49.05, <i>SD</i> = 9.48) and Cluster 2 (<i> M</i> = 52.14, <i>SD</i> = 10.57); t(998) = -4.833, <i> p</i> &lt; .003; <i>d</i> = .308. This study suggests the M-PULSE &trade; can tease out candidates who show a propensity to prematurely resign or be terminated. Predicting foreseeable liability risks helps law enforcement agencies manage ecological issues that affect officers.</p>

<p> How an organization responds to victims is central to crisis communication management and protecting organizational reputation. While there is significant literature about best practices for crisis response, one area which has not been explored is the relationship of empathic communication and corporate reputation during times of conflict. This study examined this relationship through a study of the British Petroleum Gulf Oil crisis of 2010. The qualitative study used focus groups with working professionals and personal interviews with communication experts. The research is grounded in Coombs' (1998) Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), and Benoit's (1977) image restoration theory, which is used to describe how organizations respond to accusations to maintain a favorable reputation. The study found that empathy during a crisis has a positive influence on corporate reputation. This study supplements the existing literature on best practices for crisis response strategies. The application of this research is valuable to organizations because it will help them handle crises, protect its stakeholders, improve the conditions of its victims, and preserve their reputation. Further research is necessary to determine if the use of empathy during non-crisis situations also has an impact on organizational reputation, and to explore the relationship between the role of empathy and corporate financial performance.</p>

The widespread prevalence in the utilization of groups across different aspects of our society including social settings, workplaces, and educational settings has long piqued researchers' interests in understanding the psychological processes involved in groups. One particularly interesting psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group setting is the formation of perceptions of group diversity and the impacts that these perceptions have on the attitudes and behaviors of group members. Despite the theoretical rationale for the importance of perceptions of diversity that is provided by intergroup contact theory and individuation research, work group diversity research has been limited in empirically examining the impacts that perceived diversity on group functioning and performance. This study takes the first step in this direction by conceptually and empirically defining perceived diversity and examining the effects of actual diversity and perceived diversity on group functioning and performance. Findings of this research provide empirical evidence to support the inclusion of perceived diversity in work group diversity research as a distinct construct that has impacts on group functioning and performance.

Error management training is an intervention that capitalizes on the cognitive benefits of making errors for transfer of training, while minimizing the negative effects of errors on motivation. This study examined the effects of the structural and instructional components of error management training within a resource allocation framework, and investigated the role of distal predictors (cognitive ability and learning goal orientation) and proximal predictors (self-regulatory processes: emotion control, metacognitive activity, and self-efficacy) on training outcomes. Participants (N = 161, mean age = 39.7) were recruited from the community and were trained on computer database software in one of three conditions: high structure + error encouragement instructions, high structure + no instructions, or low structure + error encouragement instructions. Training effectiveness was assessed on multiple indices of learning (task performance, knowledge structures, and self-efficacy), measured immediately following training and after a 1-week retention interval. Key findings include an age x cognitive ability x effect of instruction interaction for training performance, indicating that individual differences should be considered when designing training to optimize transfer. Low structure training was found to enhance immediate task performance for all learners, but this effect did not persist over time. In addition, emotion control fully mediated the relationship between learning goal orientation and self-efficacy for knowledge retention in the error encouragement training conditions, as well as interacting with the effect of instruction to predict task performance.

The current research examines the construct validity of Implicit Association Tests designed to measure two of the Big Five factor traits, Extraversion (EIAT) and Conscientiousness (CIAT), and whether or not these IATs predict performance for retail Sales Representatives. In Study 1 and 2, undergraduate students completed self-report measures of personality and the EIAT and CIAT. Results provide evidence of the construct validity for both the EIAT and CIAT. In Study 3, a concurrent validity study was conducted with a sample of cell phone retail sales employees. Results of Study 3 provide evidence of criterion-related validity for the EIAT and CIAT. The combined results of the three studies suggest the EIAT and CIAT may be useful personality measures in a selection context.