Dragos Iliescu

The mediating role of psychological needs in the relation between qualitative job insecurity and counterproductive work behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to add to the understanding of the qualitative job insecurity, i.e. the insecurity about the continuity of valued job aspects in future. Specifically, the paper examines whether qualitative job insecurity is related to counterproductive work behavior (CWB), both directed to the organization (i.e. CWB-O) and other individuals at work (i.e. CWB-I), and whether frustration of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, belongingness and competence, as defined in self-determination theory, may account for these relationships. Design/methodology/approach – The hypothesis were examined using structural equation modeling in heterogeneous sample of Romanian employees. Findings – Results support the hypotheses showing that feeling insecure about ones valued job aspects associates with high levels of need frustration and, therefore, also with both CWB-O and CWB-I. While each of the accounted for the associations of qualitative insecurity and CWB-O, only frustration of the need...

Perceived employability and performance: moderation by felt job insecurity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship perceived employability (the employees perception about available job opportunities in the external labour market) and performance, accounting for felt job insecurity. Performance is conceptualized broadly in terms of optimal functioning (i.e. in-role performance and helping behaviour) and malfunctioning (i.e. organizational and interpersonal counterproductive work behaviour). Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected among 433 Romanian workers. Findings – The authors hypothesize and demonstrate that perceived employability relates positively to optimal functioning, but less so when workers feel insecure: highly employable workers may be high achievers, but withdraw from the organization when they feel insecure. Furthermore, the authors hypothesize that perceived employability relates positively to malfunctioning, the more so when workers feel insecure. Highly employable workers may care less about organizational norms,...

The relationship of dangerous driving with traffic offenses: A study on an adapted measure of dangerous driving

Using data from three different samples and more than 1000 participants, the current study examines differences in dangerous driving in terms of age, gender, professional driving, as well as the relationship of dangerous driving with behavioral indicators (mileage) and criteria (traffic offenses). The study uses an adapted (Romanian) version of the Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI, Dula and Ballard, 2003) and also reports data on the psychometric characteristics of this measure. Findings suggest that the Romanian version of the DDDI has sound psychometric properties. Dangerous driving is higher in males and occasional drivers, is not correlated with mileage and is significantly related with speeding as a traffic offense, both self-reported and objectively measured. The utility of predictive models including dangerous driving is not very large: logistic regression models have a significant fit to the data, but their misclassification rate (especially in terms of sensitivity) is unacceptable high.

Vocational fit and counterproductive work behaviors: : A self-regulation perspective

This article focuses on establishing a link between vocational fit and 1 domain of job performance: counterproductive work behaviors (CWB). The authors offer a model explaining from a self-regulation perspective how the lack of vocational fit generates CWB and test this model in 2 studies and 3 multisource samples. The 1st study offers support for the mediation model linking vocational lack of fit to CWB through frustration. The 2nd study shows across 2 samples, using both self- and supervisor ratings of CWB, that vocational fit has incremental validity for the prediction of CWB over established predictors, such as broad and narrow personality traits and affect.

Fairness Reactions to Selection Methods: A Romanian study

This study examined fairness reactions to 10 selection methods in a sample of 240 Romanian employees. The results showed that Romanian employees rated work samples, interviews, written ability tests, and resumes as favorable, but graphology, ethnicity, and personal contacts as unfavorable. Perceived predictive validity was identified as the strongest predictor of process favorability ratings. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Tests in Europe: Where We Are and Where We Should Go

Psychometric practice does not always converge with the advances of psychometric theory. In order to investigate this gap, the authors focus on the 10 most used psychological tests in Europe, as identified by recent surveys. The article analyzes test manuals published in 6 different European countries for these 10 most used tests. A total of 32 test manuals (11 for cognitive ability tests, 7 for personality measures, and 14 for clinical measures) are analyzed in terms of their congruence with the latest precepts of the Joint Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing and the Guidelines of the International Test Commission. These two documents are seen as reflecting the latest accomplishments in psychometric theory and as sound recommendations of best psychometric practice. Issues related to reliability; measurement error; consistency as related to a measurement model, validity, validation procedure, scales, norms, and score comparison; and test adaptation are analyzed for each test manual. The data show a gap between psychometric practice and psychometric theory. The authors try to explain the reasons for this gap and suggest ways of closing this gap in the future.

Examining the Criterion Related Validity of the General Ability Measure for Adults: A Two Sample Investigation

Across two employee samples (N=262 and 265) the authors examined the criterion-related validity of the General Ability Measure for Adults (GAMA), a brief nonverbal measure of cognitive ability. Results suggested that GAMA predicted job performance in both samples (uncorrected rs ranged from .27 to .50). No evidence was found for differential prediction across gender and age. These results highlight the usefulness of nonverbal cognitive ability tests in selection contexts.

Exploring the Cross-Cultural Generalizability of the Five-Factor Model of Personality The Romanian NEO PI-R

In this study, the authors examine the generalizability of the Five-Factor Model of personality to the Romanian population by describing the translation and validation of the Romanian version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R). Using data from five samples and multiple sources (self-reports, other-reports, and school records) and over two thousand participants, they examined the internal consistency, test−retest reliability, factor structure, self−other agreement, and correlations with age, gender, education, and academic performance. Construct-related validity evidence was obtained by examining the correlations of the NEO PI-R with the Big Five Questionnaire and Big Five Adjectives. The results suggest that the Five-Factor Model generalizes to the Romanian cultural context and that the Romanian NEO PI-R has sound psychometric properties comparable with normative samples in America and elsewhere.

The structure of vocational interests in Romania.

Using data provided by the Self-Directed Search (SDS) on a sample of 1,519 participants comprising 3 subsamples containing high school students, university students, and working adults, the authors examine the structure of vocational interests in Romania. Three competing structural models of vocational interests (Hollands circumplex model and Gatis and Rounds and Traceys hierarchical models) are analyzed with 3 different approaches: (a) frequency analysis of 2-letter codes, (b) randomization test of hypothesized order relations, and (c) structural equation modeling. The stability of the structure of vocational interests across age is also analyzed. The findings suggest mixed evidence for the 3 models, with Hollands model receiving more support from structural equation modeling, and Gatis and Rounds and Traceys models receiving more support from the frequency analysis of 2-letter codes. The data conclusively show that the structure of vocational interests becomes clearer with age.

A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Personality Structure Through the Lens of the HEXACO Model.

ABSTRACT Across 5 different samples, totaling more than 1,600 participants from India, Indonesia, Oman, Romania, and Thailand, the authors address the question of cross-cultural replicability of a personality structure, while exploring the utility of exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) as a data analysis technique in cross-cultural personality research. Personality was measured with an alternative, non–Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality framework, provided by the HEXACO–PI (Lee & Ashton, 2004). The results show that the HEXACO framework was replicated in some of the investigated cultures. The ESEM data analysis technique proved to be especially useful in investigating the between-group measurement equivalence of broad personality measures across different cultures.