The purpose of the present study was to examine the equivalence of mental models of job performance between rater groups among US Army Special Forces Soldiers. Performance appraisals are often completed in organizations by individual raters, whose ratings are then compared to one another in order to make inferences of the ratee?s performance on the job. Disagreements in ratings can lead to erroneous conclusions unless it is first established that comparisons between the rater groups are appropriate. Ratings of soldiers by two supervisory rater groups (N = 1052 and N = 910) on an appraisal instrument designed specifically for the Special Forces were examined. An exploratory factor analysis of the ratings indicated a four-factor model, which was then subsequently used to test for measurement invariance between the rater groups using multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory. Fit indices indicated reasonable fit of the model, and ratings were concluded to be invariant at the rater group level of analysis, indicating that the rater groups refer to similar mental models of performance when rating individual soldiers.

Research on trust has increased in recent years as has research on implicit leadership theory (ILT). However, there is a paucity of research on the relationship between ILT and trust in leadership. The purpose of this research was to investigate three antecedents of trust in leadership; ability, benevolence, and integrity. In addition, I explored how a) leader-follower ILT congruence and b) congruence between follower ILT and their perceptions of leadersâ ILT relevant behaviors relate to ability, benevolence, and integrity. Results are based on a sample of 308 temporary summer camp employees who completed the study questionnaires at two time points. Results indicated that ability, benevolence, and integrity were all related to trust in leadership. Leader-follower ILT congruence was related to ability and benevolence, but not integrity. Congruence between follower ILT and leadersâ ILT relevant behaviors was related to ability and integrity, but not benevolence. This study extended the previous work on trust and ILTs. Implications of the results and future research directions are discussed

The purpose of this research has been to test a measure of socialization content and perceived organizational support. The survey used for the data collection combined the Chao, O'Leary-Kelly, Wolf, Klein, and Gardner (1994) survey of socialization content with the Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, and Sowa (1986) survey of perceived organizational support. Data were collected via company intranet at one location of a large, multinational corporation (N = 304). The instruments did not factor as expected and further analysis could not be performed, but these results may be due to extreme environmental circumstances in the company during the data collection period and suggest that replication of the study is warranted.

The goal of the current study was to examine how parents? reported beliefs about children?s emotions and parents? reactions to children?s expression of negative emotions relate to children?s implicit theories about relationships and sibling jealousy experience. Participants were 102 sixth-grade children from two local middle schools and one of their parents (n = 82). Children were interviewed about their implicit theories about relationships, the causes of and frequency, duration, and intensity of their jealousy toward a sibling, and their coping strategies in response to a recalled sibling jealousy event. Parents completed questionnaires regarding their beliefs about children?s emotions, their reactions to their own children?s negative emotion expression, and their demographics. Parents? beliefs that negative emotions are good and parents? problem-focused and encouraging expression reactions were positively related to children?s implicit theories about parents, and to the duration and intensity of sibling jealousy. Parents? encouraging reactions were negatively related to children?s passive/avoidant coping with jealousy. Also, children?s implicit theories about parents were positively related to children?s duration and intensity of jealousy, behavioral action coping, and negatively related to children?s passive/avoidant coping. Findings suggest that parent socialization is important in the development of children?s implicit theories, as well as children?s jealousy experiences and coping strategies.

The present study examined a theoretical model representing the relationship between multisource feedback and performance change. The model tested was a variation of the model proposed by Smither et al. (2005), with a focus on the goal-setting mechanisms. In addition, the personality constructs of Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, learning goal orientation, and self-efficacy were examined as predictors of performance change. The results of the path analysis provided limited support for the model proposed in this study. However, significant direct relationships were observed between feedback characteristics and performance change and goal quality and performance change. More research with the proposed model is needed to determine the role of personality and its impact on performance change.

This research examines some design features that may increase noticeability, readership and recall of warnings within the text of product ownerâs manuals. Variables manipulated were warning saliency (e.g., low or high saliency), the physical placement of warnings in text (e.g., embedded versus separate), and text-directed cueing (e.g., low versus high salient cueing) in a fractional factorial design. Warnings were made salient by adding signal word panel color, alert symbol icons, bulleted text and black borders. Low salient warnings lacked those features and the warning was given in paragraph prose-style text. Two conditions, a non-eye tracked and an eye-tracked, underwent similar procedures to assess reading and recall of the warning information. Six groups comprised the non-eye tracked sample: each group viewed a unique condition with a unique combination of warning features. The eye-tracked sample viewed 2 opposing conditions with warning feature combinations that comprised a low and high salient condition. While there were no significant group differences in warning information recall accuracy in the non-eye tracked samples, the low salient conditions in the eye-tracked samples had higher recall accuracy than the high salient conditions. Also, the high salient conditions with high salient cues, significantly shifted visual attention to cued warnings more often than the low salient conditions with low salient cues. However, the eye-tracked sample failed to show significance differences for noticing and reading between low and high salient conditions. In addition, the assessment of the first three fixations indicated that participants may initially scan page contents before reading onset at the top left corner of the page, however fixation locations were not influenced by warning locations. Future research directions and study implications are addressed.

The purpose of this research was to understand the relational communication patterns that characterize school-based prereferral intervention teams (PITs). Prior research has suggested that although many states either require or recommend PITs, little is known about what occurs during PIT meetings (Truscott, Cohen, Sams, Sanborn, & Frank, 2005). A relational communication perspective emphasizes that within interpersonal interactions (such as those that occur in group-based situations), speakers are constantly redefining their roles, positions, and relationship through conversations (Erchul, Grissom, & Getty, 2008). A popular way of studying relational communication in dyadic or group situations is through coding systems such as the Family Relational Communication Control Coding System (FRCCCS; Heatherington & Friedlander, 1989). In this study, 15 PIT meetings were used as the basis of analyses and each meeting was audiotaped, transcribed, and coded using the FRCCCS. Additionally, each coder completed the PIT Meeting Evaluation Coding Sheet that assessed participantsâ adherence to a traditional problem-solving framework. Important results included: (a) relatively consistent domineeringness (i.e., attempted influence) scores, with the exception of the referring teacher; (b) overall relatively consistent dominance (i.e., successful influence) scores; (b) significantly greater (p < .05) domineeringness by the school psychologist when compared to the referring teacher; and (c) no significant differences in dominance scores between the school psychologist and teacher. In sum, the current study represents an important first step in understanding communication patterns in school-based groups, which will continue to be important as schools transition to using response-to-intervention (RTI) models of service delivery.

The present study investigated the attitudes of U.S. Army soldiers assigned to a Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations command and a combat division with regard to gender using the Attitudes Toward Women and Modern Sexism scales; and egalitarianism using the Social Dominance Orientation scale. Soldiers (N=335) responded to a 78-item questionnaire that assessed their endorsement of group equality ideals, and collected specific information about individual characteristics, military training and military experience. Multivariate regression analyses found gender and months of deployment to significantly predict gender attitudes, and gender and ethnicity significantly related to egalitarianism. At the bivariate level the study also found associations between age and service component on both measures. Gender attitudes and egalitarianism were also found to be significantly correlated. Exploratory analyses further revealed rank as a possible moderator of the relationship between gender attitudes and egalitarianism, and found gender identity to be a significant predictor of both as well. Limitations of the study as well as implications and direction for future research are discussed.

Computer-mediated communication, such as e-mail, facilitates cross-cultural interactions by enabling convenient communication. However, the absence of contextual or situational information in e-mails may cause recipients to over rely on dispositional explanations for behavior. An experiment was conducted on 435 students examining how technical language violations (i.e., spelling and grammatical errors) and etiquette deviations from language norms (i.e., short messages lacking a conversational tone) affect a recipientâs perceptions of an e-mail senderâs conscientiousness, intelligence, agreeableness, extraversion, affective trustworthiness, and cognitive trustworthiness. This study also investigated whether the effects of technical and etiquette language violations depend on the availability of information indicating the e-mail sender is from a foreign culture. Participantsâ causal uncertainty levels were examined as a potential moderator of the influence the provision of this additional contextual information had on the dependent variables. Results reveal that participants formed negative perceptions of the sender of an e-mail containing technical language violations. Specifically, perceptions of the senderâs conscientiousness and intelligence were affected by technical language violations. However, these negative perceptions were reduced when the participants had additional information indicating that the e-mail sender was from a different culture. Meanwhile, negative attributions stemming from etiquette violations were not significantly mitigated by knowledge that the e-mail sender was from a foreign culture. Causal uncertainty had no significant effects. Implications for work organizations are discussed. Overall, it is argued that a greater understanding of cross-cultural communication via e-mail can aid in the development of appropriate training and tools to increase the success of communication within and between organizations.

The purpose of this dissertation study was to evaluate a child abuse prevention program for families considered at-risk for abuse. Specifically, this study sought to gain a better understanding of how program participation was associated with parenting behavior and child maltreatment risk, and if this relation was partially mediated by social support and parental empowerment. The sample consisted of 187 parents and grandparents who attended Circle of Parents groups throughout a southeastern state. It was hypothesized that (a) higher program participation would predict improvements in parenting behavior, lower levels of maltreatment risk, higher levels of social support within and outside the group, and higher feelings of parental empowerment; (b) higher levels of social support within and outside the group, as well as higher levels of parental empowerment, would predict improvements in parenting behavior and lower child maltreatment risk; (c) the relation between program participation and parenting behavior, as well as child maltreatment risk would be mediated by social support and parental empowerment. Results revealed that program participation significantly predicted improvements in parent behavior and social support within the group. In addition, social support within the group significantly predicted improvements in parent behavior. Social support outside the group also significantly predicted levels of lower child maltreatment risk. There was no support for mediation effects. Considerations for interpreting results, limitations, directions for future research, and implications for practice are discussed.