Alan R. Bass

Prediction of Long-Term Success in Doctoral Work in Psychology

THIS study examines the degree to which measures of aptitude and undergraduate preparation obtained before the beginning of doctoral study are predictive of the &dquo;success&dquo; of psychology graduate students. Criterion measures were taken at two points in time. At the end of the first year of graduate study, the general progress and potential of each student was rated, and first-year course grades were obtained. Judgments of the overall success of each student were made six years after the beginning of graduate work, when all students in the research either had completed a Ph.D. or

Employee drug use, demographic characteristics, work reactions, and absenteeism

Employees in a large work organization participated in an investigation of relationships between drug use and absenteeism and tardiness. Specifically, the study investigated the extent to which both self-reported and urine-screened drug use accounted for variance in several types of absenteeism, as well as tardiness, above and beyond that accounted for by demographic and work reaction variables. The results showed that employee drug use accounted for additional statistically significant variance in overall absenteeism and in absenteeism due to injuries and suspensions, as well as days tardy. Implications of these findings for organizational drug testing are discussed.

Integrity Testing and Deviance: Construct Validity Issues and the Role of Situational Factors

Two studies were conducted to investigate relationships among several types of preemployment integrity tests and situational factors which could play a role in employee deviance. In one study, three integrity measures were administered to subjects who were told to assume the role of job applicant for a position in either a large, small, or unspecified organization. Moral development stage, social desirability, and demographic data were collected. While there was some construct consistency across the different integrity measures, the expected relation between honesty and moral development was not found. There was also no difference in integrity test scores as a function of the organizational size manipulation. In a second laboratory study in which subjects were asked to play the role of job incumbents, both size and perceived equity of organizational climate were experimentally manipulated. The dependent measure was a scale of likelihood of engaging in organizationally proscribed behaviors. While again no effect was found for organizational size, those individuals who perceived themselves as employed in an organization in which employees are mistreated tended to report greater likelihood of engaging in organizational deviance. Implications for integrity testing in personnel selection are discussed.

A Direct Study of Halo Effect

ABSTRACT Five individuals were evaluated on a 7-point scale from strongly dislike (1) to strongly like (7). A week later the same people were rated on 16 relatively distinct traits, such as carefulness, sense of humor, fairness, and sociability. For three of the rated individuals, there were no extreme ratings on the general impression (liking) scale by raters, and the correlations between those scores and mean trait ratings were .26, .32, and .36. For the other two, there were sharp and extreme ratings on the general liking scale, and correlations between those scores and mean trait ratings were .60 and .76. This method provides a more appropriate and more meaningful index of halo effect than other methods because it is based more directly on Thorndikes (1920) original concept.

The prediction of complex organizational behavior: A comparison of decision theory with more traditional techniques

Abstract Recently there has appeared in the literature a number of empirical studies using models similar to decision theory to predict behavior. While these models have in general proved successful, little if any research has directly compared the results of this approach with more traditional techniques. In this study, 48 electrical appliance repairmen were interviewed concerning the consequences of bidding or not bidding on the “next highest level job.” They then evaluated the desirability or undesirability of these consequences on a 7-point scale. Expectations of the probability of occurrence of these consequences were indicated by their ratings on a scale of likelihood of occurrence. In addition, each individual responded to two semantic differential scales and the need achievement scale of the Edwards Personal Preference Profile. Results of correlational analyses indicated that the decision theory technique was superior to the SD and need achievement scales in predicting bidding behavior. Problems and implications of the findings for further research were discussed.

Some Potential Moderator Variables in Attitude Research

Research evidence, however, has indicated relatively little if any relationship between the affective and cognitive components of attitudes, on the one hand, and behaviors or behavioral intentions, on the other hand (Cf., Festinger, 1964; Fishbein, 1966). Studies of the relationship between publicly expressed attitudes toward an object and behavior toward that object have indicated little relationship between these variables (e.g., LaPiere, 1934). There are a number of possible explanations for this general lack of relationship between attitudes and behavior. Katz (1960; Katz and Stotland, 1959) for example, has suggested that behavior will not be related to an attitude unless the behavior serves some func-

Effort expenditure and job performance of line and staff personnel

Abstract Recent theoretical models of job performance have included effort expenditure as a basic component of performance without explicitly considering the moderating effects of different types of work roles. A study was conducted among line and staff supervisors to examine the importance of effort expenditure in the attainment of salary increase rewards, and the relationship of effort expenditure to overall performance. Questionnaires were completed by 92 line and 30 staff supervisors and their superiors. Results confirmed the general importance of effort as a determinant of job performance. However, the data also showed that effort was generally a more important aspect of job performance for line supervisors than it was for staff supervisors. Specifically, results indicated that effort expenditure was considered a more important determinant of salary increases by the superiors of line supervisors than by the superiors of staff supervisors, and that effort expenditure and overall performance were more highly related for line than for staff supervisors. The findings were discussed in terms of differences in job duties and responsibilities of line and staff supervisory roles.