Organizations benefit from the use of training and performance assessments. Self-assessment is a way for trainees to monitor their progress throughout training and on the job. The literature indicates that ambiguity and skill level are factors that impact the accuracy of self-assessments. Previously, the effect of the interaction of ambiguity and skill level on self-assessment accuracy had not been investigated. The present study assessed the effect of skill level and item ambiguity on the accuracy of self-assessments made by Lieutenants and Captains in the U. S. Army. The results indicated that increased skill level resulted in increased accuracy of self-assessments while ambiguity had no effect. Counter to the hypothesis, as items became more ambiguous, both Captains and Lieutenants self-assessed more accurately. Implications and limitations are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.

This field study examined relationships of income and life satisfaction among retirees, their perceptions of whether their decisions to retire were voluntary or involuntary, and their stated reasons for retiring: “push” (to exit unsustainable work situations) or “pull” (to pursue more attractive options). Based on prior research, hypotheses predicted that voluntary / involuntary choice would moderate the relationship of income and life satisfaction, and that the relationship would vary as a function of "push" vs. "pull" reasons for retiring. A screened, national sample of 1,043 U.S. retirees completed an online survey that assessed satisfaction with multiple life domains, reason for retiring, demographic characteristics, family income, and perceived financial control. Results showed that voluntary retirees had, on average, higher income, life satisfaction, and perceived financial control than those who saw their retirements as involuntary. Type of reason for retirement did moderate the relationship between income and life satisfaction, but in an unexpected way. Based on decades of research on the relationship of control and stress, the hypothesis predicted the correlation between income and life satisfaction would be weakest in voluntary "pull" retirees, and strongest in the involuntary group. Instead, the relationship was strongest among voluntary "push" retirees (r=+.35). These surprising results highlight the importance of further research on perceived control over retirement on common predictors of life satisfaction in retirement.

Thesis (Psy.D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Organizational Psychology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-185).

With over 200 definitions of leadership, the question has evolved from ‘what is leadership?’ to ‘what is good leadership?” This paper analyzes the importance of personal ethics in leadership and how ethics produce effective leaders. The importance of understanding ethics, motivation to act as a role model and developing a plan of action for an organization are discussed because of their importance regarding development of good leadership. These key aspects suggest personal ethics positively affect leadership and when made a priority for leaders will produce ethical and effective leadership.

Hierarchies are a ubiquitous form of human social organization. I hypothesized that one reason for hierarchies’ prevalence might be that core motivational needs for order and control make hierarchies psychologically appealing—because of the structure they offer—relative to other, less structured forms of social organization. This hypothesis is rooted in compensatory control theory (Kay et al., 2008), which posits that individuals have a basic need to perceive the world as orderly and structured. Therefore, personal and external sources of control are substitutable, inasmuch as they both serve the superordinate goal of believing that the world operates in an orderly fashion. An initial study confirmed that hierarchies are perceived as more structured and orderly relative to egalitarian arrangements. In five subsequent experiments, I threatened participants’ sense of personal control to increase their need to rely on external structure. Participants who lacked control perceived more hierarchy occurring in ambiguous social situations (Study 2) and preferred hierarchy more strongly in business contexts (Studies 3-4). Two studies tested my account that hierarchies are appealing because of their structure. Preference for hierarchy was higher among individuals high in Personal Need for Structure (PNS), and control threat increased preference for hierarchy even among low-PNS participants (Study 4). Importantly, framing a hierarchy as unstructured reversed the previous effects, so that participants who lacked control now found hierarchy unappealing (Study 5). A final study found that hierarchy-enhancing careers were more appealing after control threat, even when those jobs were low-status (Study 6). I discuss how the compensatory control account for the allure of hierarchies complements and extends other influential theories of hierarchy maintenance, such as Social Dominance Theory and System Justification Theory.

Organizational cohesion is a multifaceted construct that has been defined and assessed in a multitude of ways. For the purpose of this study, the researcher has defined organizational cohesion as the extent to which employees within an organization feel a sense of unity with one another. Practitioners are often faced with uncertainty regarding the necessary assessment materials when trying to evaluate organizational cohesion. An easily accessible and valid scale had yet to be created to measure organizational cohesion. The Organizational Cohesion Scale (OCS) is an eight-item assessment of an employee’s perception of the cohesion they have experienced with their peers within an organizational setting. The present research attempted to provide construct validity for the OCS. Assessments of the convergent and discriminant validity of the OCS were conducted; although the results did not provide strong evidence for construct validity of the OCS, the confirmatory factor analysis and criterion validity provided support for additional research to be conducted.

Employee engagement has taken over the corporate world. Whether it is the media, consulting firms, business leaders or human resources, everyone is talking about it. Despite the buzz in the corporate world and millions of dollars pumped into the industry, employee engagement has remained relatively unchanged and our comprehension of it is hazy. Examining the concept of employee engagement from conceptualization to present day helps provide a solid understanding of its foundation and where major evolutionary failings occurred. Prompted by Gallup’s takeover of the concept – from packaging, selling, measuring and intervening – the essence of employee engagement has been lost in overdrive and is now focused on statistics rather than people. The purpose of this paper is to identify the major flaws in the current state of employee engagement using its past as a basis of restoring viability to the concept.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 7, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-10, Section: A, page: 3817. Adviser: Robert Toutkoushian.

Gender differences in salaries are prominent in most fields. Several laws exist to decrease the amount of pay discrimination and provide remedies for discriminatory organizational behaviors, yet these laws have proven insufficient to eradicate pay inequities. One source for such discrimination in pay stems from the evaluation of employee performance. Performance appraisal systems can be biased in very small ways that yield larger negative effects on later employment-related decisions, such as compensation. The goal of this study was to examine decision-making processes and conclusions raters make during the evaluation of employees. It was expected that the type of presentation and the content of the ratings of performance sub-dimensions would affect gender differences in composite ratings, salary increases, and merit bonuses. Specifically, women were expected to be rated lower when employee performance information was presented sequentially, where it would be harder to directly compare one employee with another and thus not mitigate sex bias. Comparatively, when employee performance information was presented in aggregate form, where comparisons among employees would be easier, no sex bias was expected. It was also hypothesized that in the sequential condition, participants would provide casuistry-based reasoning for their decisions such that explanations for men's better performance would be justified by their performance on the sub-dimension on which the male candidate was rated highly. No effect was found for target gender on any of the outcomes. There was a significant difference for participant gender in the amount of salary increases and merit bonuses assigned. Male participants assigned significantly higher raises and bonuses than female participants to employees. There was also a strong main effect for task-related skills across all outcomes. Employees who were higher in the task dimension were rated higher, awarded higher pay, and given larger bonuses. There were no gender differences in the task ratings. Qualitative data analyses support these conclusions. Although participants provided lengthy reasons for their decisions, none showed or explained a gender difference. Limitations and recommendations for future studies are discussed.

The present dissertation consists of two studies that combine personnel selection, safety performance, and job performance literatures to answer an important question: are safe workers better workers? Study 1 tested a predictive model of safety performance to examine personality characteristics (conscientiousness and agreeableness), and two novel behavioral constructs (safety orientation and safety judgment) as predictors of safety performance in a sample of forklift loaders/operators (N = 307). Analyses centered on investigating safety orientation as a proximal predictor and determinant of safety performance. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and explored the relationship between safety performance and job performance by testing an integrative model in a sample of machine operators and construction crewmembers (N = 323). Both Study 1 and Study 2 found conscientiousness, agreeableness, and safety orientation to be good predictors of safety performance. While both personality and safety orientation were positively related to safety performance, safety orientation proved to be a more proximal determinant of safety performance. Across studies, results surrounding safety judgment as a predictor of safety performance were inconclusive, suggesting possible issues with measurement of the construct. Study 2 found a strong relationship between safety performance and job performance. In addition, safety performance served as a mediator between predictors (conscientiousness, agreeableness and safety orientation) and job performance. Together these findings suggest that safe workers are indeed better workers, challenging previous viewpoints to the contrary. Further, results implicate the viability of personnel selection as means of promoting safety in organizations.