Deidra J. Schleicher

Self-monitoring personality at work: a meta-analytic investigation of construct validity.

The validity of self-monitoring personality in organizational settings was examined. Meta-analyses were conducted (136 samples; total N = 23,191) investigating the relationship between self-monitoring personality and work-related variables, as well as the reliability of various self-monitoring measures. Results suggest that self-monitoring has relevance for understanding many organizational concerns, including job performance and leadership emergence. Sample-weighted mean differences favoring male respondents were also noted, suggesting that the sex-related effects for self-monitoring may partially explain noted disparities between men and women at higher organizational levels (i.e., the glass ceiling). Theory building and additional research are needed to better understand the construct-related inferences about self-monitoring personality, especially in terms of the performance, leadership, and attitudes of those at top organizational levels.

Reexamining the job satisfaction-performance relationship: the complexity of attitudes.

The present article argues that organizational researchers tend to adopt an overly simplistic conceptualization and operationalization of job satisfaction (and job attitudes in general). Specifically, past research has failed to examine the affective-cognitive consistency (ACC) of job attitudes and the implications this has for the strength of the attitude and its relationship with behavior (e.g., job performance). Results from Study 1 suggest ACC is a significant moderator of the job satisfaction-job performance relationship, with those employees higher in ACC showing a significantly larger correlation between job satisfaction and performance than those lower in ACC. Study 2 replicated these findings. Implications for the study of job attitudes, limitations of the current studies, and multiple avenues for future research are discussed.

A new frame for frame-of-reference training: enhancing the construct validity of assessment centers.

The authors undertook a comprehensive examination of the construct validity of an assessment center in this study by (a) gathering many different types of evidence to evaluate the strength of the inference between predictor measures and constructs (e.g., reliability, accuracy, convergent and discriminant relationships), (b) introducing a theoretically relevant intervention (frame-of-reference [FOR] training) aimed at improving construct validity, and (c) examining the effect of this intervention on criterion-related validity (something heretofore unexamined in the assessment center literature). Results from 58 assessees and 122 assessors suggested that FOR training was effective at improving the reliability, accuracy, convergent and discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity of assessment center ratings. Findings are discussed in terms of implications and future directions for both FOR training and assessment center practice.

Cross-Cultural Social Intelligence: An Assessment for Employees Working in Cross-National Contexts

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to discuss the concept of cross‐cultural social intelligence (CCSI), its relevance for both selecting and developing expatriates and other employees working in cross‐cultural contexts, the development of a situational judgment test to assess CCSI, and practical “lessons learned” in each of these areas.Design/methodology/approach – The four phases of the development and validation of the CCSI measure (using a total of 184 cross‐cultural SMEs) were developing the scenarios and the response alternatives, the content analysis, and establishing construct validity.Findings – The results from the content analysis and construct validation provide support for the use of the CCSI in cross‐cultural situations.Research limitations/implications – The CCSI has not yet been validated in a criterion‐related way (i.e. based on relations to job performance). This should be done before using for selection.Practical implications – Possible uses for the CCSI in organisations include selection...

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again: understanding race, age, and gender differences in retesting score improvement.

This article explores the intersection of 2 critical and timely concerns in personnel selection-applicant retesting and subgroup differences-by exploring demographic differences in retest effects across multiple assessments. Results from large samples of applicants taking 3 written tests (N = 7,031) and 5 performance tests (N = 2,060) revealed that Whites showed larger retest score improvements than Blacks or Hispanics on several of the assessments. However, the differential improvement of Whites was greater on the written tests than on the performance tests. In addition, women and applicants under 40 years of age showed larger improvements with retesting than did men and applicants over 40. We offer some preliminary theoretical explanations for these demographic differences in retesting gains, including differences in ability, testing attitudes and motivation, and receptivity to feedback. In terms of practical implications, the results suggest that allowing applicants to retake selection tests may, in some cases, exacerbate levels of adverse impact, which can have distinct implications for retesting policy and practices in organizations.

Can I retake it? Exploring subgroup differences and criterion-related validity in promotion retesting.

Despite recent interest in the practice of allowing job applicants to retest, surprisingly little is known about how retesting affects 2 of the most critical factors on which staffing procedures are evaluated: subgroup differences and criterion-related validity. We examined these important issues in a sample of internal candidates who completed a job-knowledge test for a within-job promotion. This was a useful context for these questions because we had job-performance data on all candidates (N = 403), regardless of whether they passed or failed the promotion test (i.e., there was no direct range restriction). We found that retest effects varied by subgroup, such that females and younger candidates improved more upon retesting than did males and older candidates. There also was some evidence that Black candidates did not improve as much as did candidates from other racial groups. In addition, among candidates who retested, their retest scores were somewhat better predictors of subsequent job performance than were their initial test scores (rs = .38 vs. .27). The overall results suggest that retesting does not negatively affect criterion-related validity and may even enhance it. Furthermore, retesting may reduce the likelihood of adverse impact against some subgroups (e.g., female candidates) but increase the likelihood of adverse impact against other subgroups (e.g., older candidates).

On Selecting Psychology Graduate Students: Validity Evidence for a Test of Tacit Knowledge

This study provides initial evidence for the criterion-related validity of tacit knowledge (TK) as an alternative measure for selecting psychology graduate students and adds insight to the construct of TK by evaluating.its factor structure, assessing convergent relationships with other variables, and exploring alternative reasons for why TK predicts performance. TK provided incremental validity beyond GRE scores, undergraduate GPA, and 7 personality dimensions in predicting graduate school performance. Moreover, TK scores computed from experts at different universities yielded nearly identical criterion-related validity coefficients, thus strengthening the generalizability of the predictor. Although the results of the present study demonstrate convergent relationships between TK and conceptually related variables, factor analyses conducted on the TK measure did not support the subdimensions proposed by the authors of the scale. Limitations of the present study, issues involving revision of the TK measure, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

It's all in the attitude: The role of job attitude strength in job attitude-outcome relationships.

Integrating attitude theory with the job attitudes literature, we position job attitude strength (JAS) as a missing yet important theoretical concept in the study of job attitudes. We examine JAS as a moderator of the relationship between job satisfaction and several criteria of interest to organizational scholars (job performance, organizational citizenship behavior, withdrawal). We also examine multiple relevant indicators of JAS (i.e., attitude certainty, attitude extremity, latitude of rejection, and structural consistency), both to shed light on its conceptual nature and to provide meaningful practical direction to researchers interested in incorporating JAS into job attitude research. Data were collected in five field samples (total N = 816). Results support our hypotheses: JAS moderates the relationships between job satisfaction and performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover intentions; in each case, these relationships are significantly stronger for employees with stronger job satisfaction attitudes. However, as expected, not all JAS indicators are equally effective as moderators. We discuss our findings in terms of their theoretical, empirical, and practical implications for the future study of job attitudes.

The relative importance of psychological versus pecuniary approaches to establishing an ownership culture

This study used dominance analysis to examine the relative importance of psychological versus pecuniary approaches to the development of employee ownership attitudes and behaviors. In a sample of 409 non-unionized employees from a commercial real estate firm, we found that perceptions of information and control (i.e., psychological ownership) had a much stronger impact on ownership-related outcomes than did voluntary investment in company stock (i.e., pecuniary ownership), as hypothesized. These findings are consistent with the predictions of the employee ownership literature, suggesting that ownership culture initiatives should be directed at increasing employees’ perceptions of information and control.

Putting the System Into Performance Management Systems: A Review and Agenda for Performance Management Research

It has been 13 years since the last comprehensive review of the performance management (PM) literature, and a lot has changed in both research and practice in that time. The current review updates (identifying new research directions post 2004) and extends this previous work by creating a systems-based taxonomy and conceptual model of PM. We then use this model to interpret and integrate the extensive work in this area and to identify fruitful and systems-based directions for future PM work. As input to our conclusions, we reviewed the last 36-plus years of PM research (1980–2017) and conducted a comprehensive coding of all empirical PM articles. We offer several specific directions for future PM research, with the ultimate goal of improving PM in practice.