<p>Retention is increasingly important in today?s workforce as millennials and future generations are entering the workplace (Kantrowitz, 2014; Lyons, Schweitzer, & Ng, 2015). A recently identified personality characteristic, grit, may be a good predictor of retention (Robertson-Kraft and Duckworth, 2014). The current study explored the importance of grit on the hiring decisions, predicted task and contextual performance for a hypothetical candidate for a sales position. The level of participant grit was also explored to examine potential similar-to-me effects. Participants viewed a job description, resume, and assessment results (grit and cognitive ability scores) of a hypothetical job applicant and were asked to complete hiring decision, predicted task and contextual performance and grit measures. The results of the current study indicated that a candidate?s cognitive ability and grit level were viewed as significant factors in the hiring decision. Participant grit level also had a significant positive effect on predicted task and contextual performance. Candidates with a higher grit score were given a higher hiring decision score and were rated higher for predicted task and contextual performance. Candidates with a higher cognitive ability were given a higher hiring decision score when compared to those with a lower cognitive ability score. Implications from the current study apply to selection decision makers, job applicants and researchers.

<p> This research aims to provide evidence that will serve to better the quality of treatment in residential care settings for the at-risk adolescent population. Because of the various factors associated with iatrogenic effects in residential care settings and because of the impact that the developmental stage of adolescence has on later adulthood, attempts to increase this treatment quality type becomes salient. Contemporarily, dialectical behavioral therapy is utilized in residential care settings with the at-risk adolescent population and has research supporting its&rsquo; efficacy. Although dialectical behavioral therapy is utilized in this context and has demonstrated effective, it is often only provided in therapy and not in the milieu. Because of the quantity of time clients in residential care settings spend in the milieu with milieu staff, these experiences likely influence their overall therapy progress. Therefore, this research hypothesizes that dialectical behavioral therapy&rsquo;s use in the milieu in addition to therapy will increase overall therapy progress for the client population than if treatment as usual were to proceed. This research was conducted in a residential care setting for at-risk adolescents and collected data during a treatment as usual assessment period; provided the intervention of training milieu staff in dialectical behavioral therapy theory, strategies, and adolescent adaptations; and collected data during a dialectical behavioral therapy treatment assessment period. Concluding is a statistical analysis of the measurable changes between assessment periods, an interpretation of the results, a discussion regarding generalization of the findings, limitations, and future considerations.</p>

<p> Contrary to the dominant view that generally equates feelings with poor thinking, converging evidence indicates that decisions &ndash; including those involving risk &ndash; are influenced by affective experiences. Research, however, is limited to studies on undifferentiated, global positive versus negative mood states; less is known about the influence of discrete emotions. The purpose of this research was to extend the affect-cognition literature by (a) examining the effects of discrete emotions varying along the dimensions of valence and arousal, and (b) identifying the systematic ways that discrete emotions underlie risky decision making. We used a set of emotion-laden IAPS images to elicit and compare the impact of incidental emotions on risky decision making. One hundred and twenty-two undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of the four affective conditions: excitement, contentment, fear, and sadness. Following the emotion induction procedure, participants completed the Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire (CDQ) to assess their risk-taking propensity. Results indicated an interaction effect between valence and arousal for positive emotions, such that excited participants were significantly more risky in their decision making compared to contented participants. The discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical health implications of these findings. We recommend that future research capitalize on the insights gained from emotion research and use it favorably to improve decision making under risk. </p>

<p> This study contributes to the sports psychology literature by examining an existing paucity in the application of Emotional Intelligence (EI) theory and models to the athletic domain. Four branches of the ability model of EI (perceiving emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions, and managing emotions) were examined in relation to team cohesiveness (task, social, and overall) and team performance disaggregated by gender. The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) was used to assess the EI level of participants. Team cohesiveness was measured using the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ). The findings indicted that EI only had a significant effect on team cohesiveness social when moderated by gender, while the other relationships were not found to be statistically significant when moderated by gender. No significant relationship was discovered between EI and team cohesiveness in female athletes. No significant difference existed between males and females on a model containing four branches of emotional intelligence. A significant difference between gender and team cohesiveness was found. The final analysis of emotional intelligence, team cohesiveness, and team performance indicated that a significant relationship did exist. Team cohesiveness task made the strongest contribution to team performance. Managing emotions made a significant negative contribution to team performance.</p>

<p> While there is a great deal of research on attorneys and law firms, the majority of it has focused solely on the attorney &ndash; very little exists regarding legal secretaries and other support staff, or the relationship between attorneys with legal secretaries and other support staff. The current research aimed to address this gap in the literature by examining the antecedents of high-quality attorney-secretary relationships through the framework of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX). Relationship quality was evaluated against values, cognitive styles, and self-identity. Legal assistants were asked to provide ratings for themselves and ratings for how they believed their attorneys would respond and similarity between the attorney and secretary ratings was calculated. Then, the moderating effects of core self-evaluations and emotional intelligence were analyzed. Although the results of this study did not support any of the hypotheses, there are several considerations which might have prevented significant relationships from emerging. Exploratory analyses were also conducted and benevolence was found to be a significant moderator. Implications and future research directions are discussed.</p>

Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy in Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation (MOVES))--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Rudolph Darken. Includes bibliographical references (p. 301-313). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-206). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003. / Dissertation supervisor: Michael Zyda. Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-192). Also available online.

<p>The petrochemical field is an industry seeking to increase efficiency, improve safety of workers, and lessen environmental impacts (U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board, 2007). One way to improve the performance of operators is to investigate their situation awareness (SA). Research has shown that SA is a predictor of performance (Durso et al., 1999). However, there is little consensus on how to measure SA. This study investigated two prominent techniques for measuring SA: the Situation Present Assessment Method (SPAM; Durso & Dattel, 2004) and the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT; Endsley, 1995b). These two techniques were examined for their psychometric properties in assessing SA among operators. The results of this investigation showed that probe-type SA techniques can be used to assess SA in this field. This especially applies to the SPAM technique, which was shown to predict performance, not intrude, and was preferred by a majority of operators.

<p> This qualitative study uses phenomenology as its method of inquiry to examine increased intuitive capabilities experienced by firefighters during emergency incidents. Firefighters provide immediate crisis intervention and are often faced with exposure to traumatic incidents that demand rapid and spontaneous decisions. The emphasis of this investigation is placed on the phenomenological implications of unconscious motivations that target spontaneous tactical and strategic split-second decisions. Intuition is the basis from which implicit decision-making practices emerge during emergency-scene management. Increased intuitive awareness simultaneously arises from, and is a reaction to, the activation of rapid decision making when exposed to crisis situations. Through the oral documentation of the lived experiences of on-scene firefighter managers (battalion chiefs and captains), this investigation expands the literature concerning the activation of intuition.</p><p> Attempts to define intuition during critical incidents can often lead to a generalization that overlooks the importance of cultural implications of the diverse firefighter population. The findings in this study recognize commonly held interpersonal, group organizational, and sociocultural personality identities of the 21st-century American firefighter. Thematic constructs of firefighter personality formulations expand the multiple dimensions of explicit and implicit characteristics of firefighters&rsquo; occupational subjective and collective personality preferences that correlate with specific inherent tendencies toward intuitive decisions.</p>