David C. Gilmore

The Effects of Applicant Impression Management Tactics on Interviewer Judgments

Applicants in employment interviews use a variety of impression management techniques such as emphasizing positive traits, conforming to the opinions of the interviewer, and claiming responsibility for positive events. A field experiment was conducted on 62 employment interviewers who viewed videotaped interview segments in which either high or low levels of impression management techniques were depicted. Applicant credentials were also manipulated. Results indicated that interviewers were influenced by impression management techniques regardless of applicant credentials. The implications of these results are discussed with respect to theory, research and practice of the employment interview.

Reactions of Diverse Groups to Politics in the Workplace

The central research question examined in this study focused on whether diverse groups react differently. to politics in the workplace as a function of understanding. Understanding moderated the relationships between dimensions of politics perceptions and employee reactions for white males but not for racial/ethnic minorities, as hypothesized. The results for white females were mixed with significant moderating effects of understanding found for the Coworker Political Behavior-Outcomes relationships, and for the Political Organization Policies and Practices-Outcomes relationship. Implications of these results for theory and research are discussed.

Organizational Politics and Employee Attendance

Organizational politics has been conceptualized as a source of stress and conflict in the work environment, with the potential for dysfunctional outcomes at both the individual and organizational level. One possible consequence of politics is the exercise by employees of withdrawal behaviors, particularly absenteeism. Further, the likelihood of negative outcomes may be substantially enhanced by the lack of understanding. The present study investigated the extent to which such understanding, measured as tenure working for supervisor, moderated the erceptions of politics-employee attendance relationship. Moderated regression results (after controlling for quality of supervisor-subordinate relationship) provided support for the hypothesis, demonstrating that under conditions of lower tenure working for supervisor, increases in perceptions of politics were associated with lower attendance, whereas no relationship was found between politics and attendance under conditions of higher tenure working for supervisor. Implications of the results are discussed.

Followership Styles and Employee Attachment to the Organization

Successful followership is an important but understudied characteristic of employees. Following Kelleys (1992) followership conceptualization, we propose that there are two dimensions of followership: independent critical thinking and active engagement. Additionally, we argue that these two dimensions of followership interact and are associated with important work outcomes, particularly job satisfaction and organizational commitment. We surveyed 331 university employees. Results indicate that there are two followership behavior dimensions from Kelleys model that align with critical thinking and active engagement constructs. Active engagement is positively associated with job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Independent critical thinking is negatively associated with organizational commitment and extrinsic job satisfaction. Interaction effects between these constructs are also discussed.

Job diagnostic survey dimensions: Moderating effect of growth needs and correspondence with dimensions of job rating form

Abstract This research, using data from two groups of middle managers, was concerned with three issues: (1) the factor structure of the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS); (2) comparison of the factor structure of the JDS with the factor structure of its companion instrument for supervisors, the Job Rating Form (JRF); and (3) the moderating effect of Growth Need Strength (GNS) on the relationships between job characteristic indices and job satisfaction measures. Factor analysis of the JDS items produced a five-factor solution. Three of the five factors resembled three of the a priori dimensions of the JDS. Also, the comparison of the factor structures of the JDS and JRF showed strong similarities for three of the five factors for each instrument. Inconsistent results were obtained in the attempt to establish the moderating role of GNS. The need for additional research was discussed.

Effects of Class Size and College Major on Student Ratings of Psychology Courses

Further empirical evidence is presented to show that student ratings reflect variables other than teacher ability.

Improving Executive Recruitment and Retention

To improve executive retention, Stybel (2010) suggested using information about the desired strategic direction of the organization in addition to the standard job description. Assessing candidates on their perceived ability to drive the strategy (which is unknown by the candidates) raises a number of issues. Alternatives to the hidden strategic direction such as better selection processes, realistic job previews, and more comprehensive onboarding support are offered to improve the retention of executives.

Personality and political skill as distal and proximal predictors of leadership evaluations

Purpose – Although individual difference variables are important in the prediction of leadership effectiveness, comparatively little empirical research has examined distal and proximal traits/characteristics that help managers lead effectively in organizations. The aim of this paper is to extend previous research by examining whether and how specific distal, narrow personality traits and the more proximal characteristic of political skill are related to decisiveness, a specific competency of leadership effectiveness, as rated from direct reports and peers. Design/methodology/approach – Self-report data on political skill and personality traits (i.e. perceptiveness and affability) from 225 practicing managers from the US, together with other-report (i.e. peer and subordinate) ratings of their leadership effectiveness (i.e. decisiveness) were used to test the mediating effects of political skill. Findings – Results show that political skill (i.e. the social astuteness dimension) mediated the relationships b...

Personality and Ability Predictors of Training Performance for Flight Attendants

The present study examined the selection-utility implications of employing personality and ability predictors versus an employment interview in the selection of candidates for a flight attendant training program for a large domestic airline. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis identified four predictors, which included mental ability, social skill, imagination, and flexibility, that significantly contributed to the proportion of variance explained in training performance. Furthermore, the results of the utility analysis demonstrated a per selectee cost savings of over

Effects of Perceptions of Presence of Audience and Achievement Instructions on Performance of a Simple Task

100 based upon the incremental gain in validity.