Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Make Personality Tests More Relevant – Put Them In Context

Tom Goddard — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:24:29 -0400

Personality tests are valid – to a point. It’s almost undisputed that the major personality tests generally tell us something useful about a person. But how much they tell us is usually pretty small – they make us only slightly smarter about the person taking the test.

So, how do you change the tests so they make us more than just slightly smarter? Context, context, context! One name used for context is “frame of reference.” So, instead of a context-free item like “I pay attention to details,” you go with an item like “I pay attention to details at work.”

Lievens and his colleagues challenged the conventional wisdom about why context works. It has been widely argued that contexts reduces the variability among test-takers, making it less likely that some of the test takers will answer a question across all contexts and others will self-select a context in which they interpret the test questions.

"Team Role Knowledge" -- A New Tool for Predicting An Individual's Performance Within a Team

Tom Goddard — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:08:10 -0400

Sports fans have heard commentators talk about certain players "understanding the team concept." But what does that mean in the organizational world? Is there such an understanding, and can you measure it in job applicants (and thereby select employees based on it) and does it predict job performance once hired into a team?

Mumford and his colleagues have come up with a measure of this very thing, and have provided evidence that it is a valid measure. They call the aspect of this understanding of teams that they focused on "team role knowledge." They define it as "the knowedge an individual possesses about the nature of team roles and the situational contingencies govening their use." They go on to explain that the term "encompasses the declarative and procedural knowledge of role types and contingencies that is needed to effectively perform team roles."

A Tactical View of Anger During Conflict: When Does It Work?

Tom Goddard — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:42:04 -0400

All of us have either seen anger used, or have used it ourselves, in a workplace conflict. It’s safe to say that sometimes it is effective in getting the result the angry person seeks, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes it backfires and makes matters worse, generating stubbornness in the person who is the object of the anger.

Van Kleef and Cote have looked at the question of whether there is a pattern to when anger works and when it does not, and have concluded that it has something to do with the appropriateness of the expression of anger and the relative power of the two involved in the conflict.

Whistling While We Work: Why Good Moods Improve Job Performance

Tom Goddard — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:28:23 -0500

As even Snow White knew, good moods in the workplace are to be encouraged. It is not news, either to Walt Disney or to organizational psychologists, that positive moods not only feel good, but also improve task performance. What is not fully understood is why that is so. Why is it that positive mood generally improves performance? Tsai, Chen, and Lieu think that it is a combination factors both intrapersonal (motivational) and interpersonal (giving help to and receiving help from co-workers) that provide the key link.

"Charisma is a Fire"

Tom Goddard — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:11:57 -0500

If we see Barack Obama in the midst of an excited crowd of admirers, are we more likely to see him as charismatic?

According to Pastor and his colleagues, we are. But don’t get excited, you uncharismatic leaders out there. Simply persuading your supporters to get excited won’t substitute for your own charisma – you’ve got to have that, first. Only then, with your own charisma established, will the sight of your excited supporters increase observers’ belief that you are charismatic.

Telecommuting: "It's Mainly a Good Thing"

Tom Goddard — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:01:57 -0500

In a meta-analysis of 46 studies of telecommuting, involving over 12,000 employees, Gajedran and Harrison of Pennsylvania State University concluded that existing research generally supports the well-publicized claims that telecommuting is good for employers and employees alike. However, “telecommuting intensity”, or the extent of scheduled time that employees spend doing tasks away from a central work location, can play a role in the impact of telecommuting.

Give Employees More Complex Work and Control Over Work Time to Increase Work-Family Satisfaction

Tom Goddard — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:37:57 -0500

In recent years, employers have paid increasing attention to their employees’ struggle to balance work and family responsibilities. Often, this effort has taken the form of providing more family-friendly benefits and policies. However, it now seems that work redesign may be one tool available to employers. Valcour’s study of service employees and their work-family satisfaction concluded that, while the more hours a person works, the less likely that person is to be satisfied with the work-family balance, job complexity and control over work hours is much more important.

Interpersonal Punishments and Rewards Tell Pregnant Women: Shop, Don’t Work

Tom Goddard — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:09:54 -0500

Pregnant women have a special status, but “special” is not necessarily good, particularly when it comes to the workplace. In a fascinating exploration of the Theory of Ambivalent Sexism, Hebl and her colleagues examined how pregnant women are treated differentially from non-pregnant women in two kinds of settings: one consistent with a sexist view of the “proper”, or more traditional role for women (e.g. shopping), and one inconsistent with that view (e.g. employment in a traditionally masculine job). The short answer to their questions is this: through a series of subtle manifestations of sexism, pregnant women are more likely than non-pregnant women to be treated rudely and evaluated harshly as job applicants, and are more likely to be treated in an overly benevolent, even patronizing way than nonpregnant women when shopping.

Note to Entrepreneurs: Planning, Not Just Brains and Guts, Holds a Key to Your Organization’s Success

Tom Goddard — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:20:18 -0500

There is a widely held belief, among both entrepreneurs and researchers, that the world of entrepreneurship is best navigated by instinct, not careful, elaborate planning. However, Frese and his colleagues at Justus-Liebig-University, in Giessen, Germany, would disagree. As it turns out, “elaborate and proactive planning” is significantly related to entrepreneurial success.

Sex (Masculine v. Feminine)

Tom Goddard — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:14:44 -0500

These posts reference research addressing the role of sex-based types (or stereotypes) in the lives of organizations and the people in those organizations.