Andrea F. Snell

Item Parceling Strategies in SEM: Investigating the Subtle Effects of Unmodeled Secondary Constructs

For theoretical and empirical reasons, researchers may combine item-level responses into aggregate item parcels to use as indicators in a structural equation modeling context. Yet the effects of specific parceling strategies on parameter estimation and model fit are not known. In Study 1, different parceling combinations meaningfully affected parameter estimates and fit indicators in two organizational data sets. Based on the concept of external consistency, the authors proposed that combining items that shared an unmodeled secondary influence into the same parcel (shared uniqueness strategy) would enhance the accuracy of parameter estimates. This proposal was supported in Study 2, using simulated data generated from a known model. When the unmodeled secondary influence was related to indicators of only one latent construct, the shared uniqueness parceling strategy resulted in more accurate parameter estimates. When indicators of both target latent constructs were contaminated, bias was present but appropriately signaled by worsened fit statistics.

The Feedback Environment Scale: Construct Definition, Measurement, and Validation.

Managers are increasingly being held accountable for providing resources that support employee development, particularly in the form of feedback and coaching. To support managers as trainers and coaches, organizations must provide managers with the tools they need to succeed in this area. This article presents a new tool to assist in the diagnosis and training of managers in the area of feedback and coaching: the Feedback Environment Scale. This article also discusses the theoretically based definition of this new construct and the development and validation evidence for the scale that measures this construct. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the a priori measurement model, and assessment of relationships proposed in a preliminary nomological network provide initial support for the construct validity of the scale. Results also show evidence for the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and discriminant validity of the facet scores of the Feedback Environment Scale.

Towards a Theory of Applicant Faking: Integrating Studies of Deception

Abstract Research on applicant faking has generally employed group comparison designs in order to investigate the prevalence and effects of intentional response distortion on noncognitive selection tests. Unfortunately, these studies do not tell us which applicants are most likely to successfully fake their responses or the situational conditions which are most likely to induce excessive faking. In an effort to understand individual differences in intentional response distortion, an interactional model of applicant faking is proposed. Because successful faking requires both a motivation to fake the test and the ability to fake, the situational and dispositional factors influencing these facets are described. Where possible, research from the faking literature is used to verify the model. Studies of academic cheating, employee theft, deception and antisocial behavior are also presented in order to provide empirical support for the proposed model.

MORE ON THE STRUCTURE OF MALE ROLE NORMS

This study assessed the structure of a widely used measure of masculinity ideology, the Male Role Norms Scale (Thompson & Pleck, 1986), using data from four samples of male college students (total N= 656) at two large, public universities (one Midwestern, one Eastern-Central). Exploratory factor analysis suggested a four-factor model best fit the data in the exploratory sample (sample 1; N = 210). The four factors were Status/Rationality, Antifemininity, Tough Image, and Violent Toughness. A series of confirmatory factor analyses on a validation sample (samples 2, 3, and 4; N = 446), tested four models based on theory (i.e., Brannon, 1976) and previous research (i.e., Thompson & Pleck, 1986). Results from Study 1, our exploratory analysis, indicated that the four-factor model derived from the exploratory sample in Study 1 provided the best fit for the validation sample data of all models tested and also provided a good fit in absolute terms, according to several model–data fit indices. Implications for the assessment of masculinity ideology and suggestions for future research are discussed.

BIODATA VALIDITY DECAY AND SCORE INFLATION WITH FAKING: DO ITEM ATTRIBUTES EXPLAIN VARIANCE ACROSS ITEMS?

Rating scales were developed to assess the biodata dimensions offered by Mael (1991). Biodata items assessing conscientiousness were administered under honest-responding and faking-good conditions. Item attributes were examined to determine their value in predicting item validity for honest respondents and item validity for faking respondents. Analyses were also conducted to determine whether the degree of item faking was related to item attributes. Item attributes associated with item validity for honest respondents are not the same as the item attributes indicative of item validity for the faking respondents. We suggest that this makes it very difficult to develop a biodata questionnaire which will be equally valid for both honest and faking respondents.

Balancing Multicultural Competence With Social Justice Feminist Beliefs and Optimal Psychological Functioning

To identify a multivariate configuration of feminist beliefs best associated with optimal psychological functioning, 215 mostly White college women completed an online survey measuring their feminist beliefs (Feminist Perspectives Scale, Attitudes toward Feminism and the Women’s Movement, sense of common fate, and Feminist Identity Composite) and 13 measures of well-being with liberation, encompassing individual (e.g., well-being), interpersonal (e.g., egalitarianism), and societal (e.g., collective esteem) levels of analysis. A canonical correlation analysis revealed a significant multivariate association and yielded three distinct functions: established feminism (the strongest, most positive predictor) and its opposite (antifeminism), awakening feminism (negatively linked to individual well-being), and nonfeminist but woman-identified traditionalism (with some compromised well-being). The configuration of feminist beliefs that a woman holds, does not hold, and rejects makes a difference for her psychological functioning as well as for the roles counseling psychologists adopt to achieve multicultural competence along with social justice.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Related Risk-Taking Behaviors in Women Attending Inner-City Prenatal Clinics in the Mid-West

OBJECTIVE:Federal guidelines recommend the provision of human immunodeficiency virus education to all attendees of prenatal clinics. The current study was conducted to assess risk-taking behaviors among urban women voluntarily pursuing prenatal care.DESIGN AND SETTING:African American women attending urban prenatal clinics in Cleveland, Ohio were subjected to an extensive interview before receiving an experimental AIDS education curriculum. The interview sought detailed information regarding demographics, lifetime and recent sexual activity, condom use, and lifetime and recent illicit drug use.RESULTS:A total of 1017 women were interviewed; of these women, ∼73% were single. The majority had a monthly income of less than

An examination of individual differences in the relation of subjective goal difficulty to performance in a goal‐setting model

500. A total of 66% had only one partner in the past year, and almost 90% had ≤1 partner in the past 6 months. A total of 98% identified a main partner. Nearly all subjects were at least fairly certain that this partner did not use intravenous drugs, and 71% were at least fairly certain that he was monogamous. Only 19% used condoms most or all the time. Intravenous drug use among study subjects was very infrequent.CONCLUSION: These data indicate that inner-city Cleveland women seeking prenatal care are largely monogamous around the time of their gestation, and that a history of intravenous drug use is infrequent. They suggest that prenatal counseling in urban clinics will need to address women who largely are engaged in single-partner relationships at the time of the intervention.

Career Influences in Bridge Employment Among Retired Police Officers.

A laboratory study investigated individual differences in the role of subjective goal difficulty as a mediating variable in a goal‐setting framework. A moderate or difficult anagram goal was assigned to participants based on individual task ability level. For individuals receiving a difficult goal 3 mediating relations and 1 moderator were found. For individuals receiving only moderately difficult goals, only 1 mediating relation was supported. Results are discussed with respect to goal‐setting theory.

A Job Club for Older Job Seekers: Change in Attitude and Perceived Utility During Training

The careful examination of factors influencing bridge employment among retired police officers is largely absent in the literature. Two hundred and eleven retired police officers participated in a survey exploring factors that contributed to the participation in bridge employment or employment upon retiring from primary careers in law enforcement. The results indicate that retired officers who held part-time positions while fully employed as police officers were more likely to participate in bridge employment when compared with individuals who did not hold additional part-time employment while fully employed as police officers. Opportunities for training and interventions exist to help retired police officers navigate the working transition at this later-life juncture.