Adam B. Butler

The Impact of Job Characteristics on Work-to-Family Facilitation: Testing a Theory and Distinguishing a Construct

This study used objective measures of job characteristics appended to the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), self-reported job characteristics, and an individual resource characteristic (orientation toward personal growth) to test a theory of work-family facilitation. Results indicated that resource-rich jobs enable work-to-family facilitation. A higher level of work-to-family facilitation was reported by individuals in jobs with more autonomy and variety and whose jobs required greater substantive complexity and social skill. There was no support for the hypotheses that these effects would be more pronounced for individuals with higher levels of personal growth. The authors found significant differences in the strength of the associations of job characteristics with work-to-family facilitation and work-tofamily conflict, suggesting they are different constructs with distinct antecedents.

What is acceptable for women may not be for men: The effect of family conflicts with work on job‐performance ratings

We conducted a laboratory study examining the effect of a family conflict with work on performance appraisal ratings given to men and women. Overall, the experience of a family conflict was associated with lower performance ratings, and ratee sex moderated this relationship. Men who experienced a family conflict received lower overall performance ratings and lower reward recommendations than men who did not, whereas ratings of women were unaffected by the experience of a family conflict. The sex bias was not evident when performance was evaluated on the more specific dimension of planning. Neither rater gender nor work-family role attitudes moderated the sex bias. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Job Characteristics and College Performance and Attitudes: A Model of Work-School Conflict and Facilitation.

The processes linking job characteristics to school performance and satisfaction in a sample of 253 full-time college students were examined from 2 role theory perspectives, 1 of which emphasized resource scarcity and the other resource expansion. Model tests using structural equation modeling showed that 2 resource-enriching job characteristics, job-school congruence and job control, were positively related to work-school facilitation (WSF). Two resource-depleting job characteristics, job demands and work hours, were positively related to work-school conflict (WSC), and job control was negatively related to WSC. In turn, WSF was positively related to school performance and satisfaction, and WSC was negatively related to school performance. Both WSF and WSC mediated the relationship between the job characteristics and school outcomes. There was no evidence of interactive effects between enriching and depleting job characteristics on interrole processes.

Active Learning within a Lecture: Assessing the Impact of Short, In-Class Writing Exercises

Students in 2 large sections of an introduction to psychology course responded in writing during class to questions regarding material recently presented in lecture. After writing, they shared and discussed their responses with others. The exercises motivated attendance, and students generally reacted positively to the technique. There was some evidence that completing the exercises facilitated learning, although the exercises did not appear to stimulate intellectual activity outside of class. The technique is an easy and effective way to enhance a lecture and stimulate active learning during class.

A Social-Cognitive Perspective on Using Family-Friendly Benefits.

Abstract To help employees better manage competing life demands, many organizations offer family-friendly benefits to their workers, including flexible scheduling, day care assistance, and leave of absence. Although there is growing evidence of positive effects associated with these benefits, little is known about factors related to their use. Using survey responses from 188 parents employed in a variety of occupations, we examined the use of a broad array of family-friendly benefits from a social-cognitive perspective. More positive work outcome expectancies related to higher rates of benefit use, and more positive family outcome expectancies and higher work–family self-efficacy related to stronger intentions to use the benefits. In addition, gender moderated the relationship between work outcome expectancies and benefit use intentions, such that more positive work outcome expectancies were associated with stronger use intentions for women, but work outcome expectancies were not related to men’s use intentions.

College student employment and drinking: a daily study of work stressors, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol consumption.

We examined the within-person relationships between daily work stressors and alcohol consumption over 14 consecutive days in a sample of 106 employed college students. Using a tension reduction theoretical framework, we predicted that exposure to work stressors would increase alcohol consumption by employed college students, particularly for men and those with stronger daily expectancies about the tension reducing properties of alcohol. After controlling for day of the week, we found that hours worked were positively related to number of drinks consumed. Workload was unrelated to alcohol consumption, and work-school conflict was negatively related to consumption, particularly when students expressed strong beliefs in the tension reducing properties of alcohol. There was no evidence that the effects of work stressors were moderated by sex. The results illustrate that employment during the academic year plays a significant role in college student drinking and suggest that the employment context may be an appropriate intervention site to address the problem of student drinking.

Workplace flexibility, self-reported health, and health care utilization

Abstract Flexible work arrangements, or organizational practises that permit employees to adjust their work schedule or location to better manage demands outside of work, are a popular family-friendly benefit. There is relatively little research examining the health outcomes associated with flexibility and no published studies examining associations with health care utilization. We analyzed responses to self-administered Health Risk Appraisals (HRAs) completed by employees of a large multinational pharmaceutical company in the USA (N = 2976). The HRA included measures of perceived flexibility and self-appraised health. Health care utilization records from the year following completion of the HRA were merged with the self-reported data. Greater levels of flexibility were associated with better health: that is, with less self-reported stress and strain, and better physical health. Flexibility was not related to either acute visits to a health care provider or number of prescriptions. However, after controlling for self-reported health, those participants with greater flexibility had marginally more health care visits. The results suggest that, despite their other benefits, workplace flexibility programmes are unlikely to reduce organizational health care costs in the short term.

Effects of Solution Elicitation Aids and Need for Cognition on the Generation of Solutions to Ill-Structured Problems

Numerous techniques have been proposed to assist problem solvers in the solution generation process. We empirically examined the effectiveness of a solution elicitation technique based on the presentation of problem objectives and also examined whether the technique was effective across individual differences in need for cognition (NC). We found that when two conflicting objectives were presented successively, more solutions, more categories of solutions, and more effective solutions were generated than when the same two objectives were presented simultaneously or not at all. However, the results indicated that effective solutions may be more efficiently generated by considering objectives simultaneously. Need for cognition was positively related to measures of divergent thinking, and the presentation of objectives was particularly effective as a solution elicitation aid for individuals with low NC. Implications for creative problem-solving research and practice are discussed.

Deciding to sell: The effect of prior inaction and offer source

Abstract Recent research has shown that decision makers are less likely to accept an opportunity after failing to act on a previous offer, an effect labeled inaction inertia. We extended the original research by examining the phenomenon in the domain of losses as well as in the domain of gains. A pattern consistent with the inaction inertia effect was found for gains but not for losses. We also manipulated the source of the second offer and found that evaluations of gains decreased after inaction regardless of source, but evaluations of losses increased when the second offer came from a different source. Evaluations of the offer were highly correlated with ratings of anticipated regret, suggesting that the avoidance of negative emotions may be partially responsible for the effect.

The Effects of Participation in Goal Setting and Goal Rationales on Goal Commitment: An Exploration of Justice Mediators

The interactive effect of participation in goal setting and goal rationales on goal commitment was examined in the present study. Two justice mediation models that might explain these effects were also hypothesized. The results of a laboratory study demonstrated that goal rationales were especially important for increasing goal commitment when goals were assigned rather than participatively set. Support was also found for the role of interactional justice in mediating the effect of goal rationales on goal commitment; however, the hypothesis that procedural justice would mediate the effect of goal participation on goal commitment was not supported.