James C. McElroy

The influence of personality on Facebook usage, wall postings, and regret

The Five Factor Model of personality has been used extensively in the management and psychology fields to predict attitudes and behaviors. Only recently have researchers begun to examine the role of psychological factors in influencing an individuals use of technology platforms, such as Facebook. This study uses both a survey of Facebook users and actual Facebook data to uncover why some individuals are more involved in Facebook than others. 219 undergraduate students participated in a survey that assessed their personality and their reported usage of Facebook. Of these, 143 voluntarily befriended the investigator, which gave her access to their actual Facebook sites and objective data on their number of friends, photos, and wall postings. Results showed personality to explain significant amounts of variance over and above gender and Facebook experience in terms of actual number of Facebook friends, the nature of their wall postings and on their level of regret for inappropriate Facebook content.

Work Commitment and Job Satisfaction over Three Career Stages.

Abstract Four measures of work commitment (job involvement, organizational commitment, work ethic endorsement, and intention to remain), five job satisfaction facets, and six personal characteristics were examined under three career stage operationalizations: age, organizational tenure, and positional tenure. Results from a sample of 2200 public agency employees indicated that the selection of a career stage operationalization influences findings related to organizational commitment and intention to remain while job involvement, work ethic endorsement, job satisfaction, and personal characteristics are relatively unaffected by the operationalization chosen. Age was observed to explain more variation in the variables studied, when compared to the tenure measures. However, the overall levels of explained variation are low. Additional research designed to validate the concept of career stage is advocated.

Turnover and organizational performance: A comparative analysis of the effects of voluntary, involuntary, and reduction-in-force turnover

Data were collected from 31 regional subunits of a national financial services company to examine differential effects of 3 types of turnover (voluntary, involuntary, and reduction-in-force) on measures of organizational subunit performance. Although each form of turnover exhibited adverse effects on subunit performance when examined separately, partial correlation results revealed greater and more pervasive adverse effects for reduction-in-force turnover (i.e., downsizing) in comparison with the effects of voluntary and involuntary turnover. The results confirm the negative effects of downsizing, suggesting the need to move beyond the traditional voluntary-involuntary classification scheme used in turnover research.

ATTITUDINAL AND BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF COMPUTER ANXIETY

108 male and 65 female undergraduate students participated in a survey designed to examine 10 potential correlates of computer anxiety. Analysis indicated that self-reported behavioral correlates, particularly those directly associated with computer use, accounted for more of the variance in computer anxiety than personality or attitudinally-based correlates.

The Effects of Physical Attractiveness and Other Demographic Characteristics on Promotion Decisions

Candidate physical attractiveness, sex, and age, along with rater age and sex, are assessed in terms of their ability to affect recommendations for promotions. Forty personnel professionals evaluated eight candidates for a regional manager position using simulated assessment center data in a 2x2x2 repeated measures design. Results indicated a small, favorable bias in favor of attractive candidates, consistent with prior research. Applicant sex, applicant age, and rater sex were unrelated to recommendations, but rater age explained 14% to 21% of the variance in three recommendation ratings. Younger raters were observed to be more lenient. In addition, some small interactions effects were detected. Continued research on physical attractiveness and rater characteristics is advocated on grounds that even small effects may be substantively significant when the number of qualified applicants exceeds positions available.

Computer Anxiety and Computer-Based Training: A Laboratory Experiment:

Seventy-four undergraduate students voluntarily participated in a laboratory experiment involving the learning of WordStar, a personal computer word processing software package. The experiment constituted a 2X2X2 factorial design; two levels of computer anxiety (based on a pre-experimental questionnaire), two types of training (lecture/demonstration versus self-paced tutorial) and a matching/nonmatching of personal preference for a particular leaning mode. Results indicated that pre-experimental computer anxiety directly affected post-experimental computer anxiety, number of questions asked during training and future intentions to avoid using WordStar. Type of training affected the number of questions asked and marginally influenced the number of errors. Preferred choice of training demonstrated no main effects but did interact with the other independent variables.

Efficiency as a mediator in turnover—organizational performance relations

This study adds to scientific understanding of how employee turnover affects organizational performance in a multi-unit commercial bank setting operating in the United States. Theoretically, expected relationships among turnover, efficiency and performance are outlined. Empirically, two indicators of organizational efficiency are examined and one, cost-per-loan efficiency, is found to fully mediate relations between voluntary employee turnover and two organizational performance outcomes, profitability and customer satisfaction, in both synchronous and longitudinal analyses These results replicate recent findings in disparate industries, suggesting that efficiency may explain why higher levels of turnover are typically associated with lower levels of organizational performance. The need to distinguish among conceptualizations of efficiency is discussed, along with the need to consider temporal effects associated with turnover and efficiency.

Interior office design and visitor response: A constructive replication.

Apparatus to artificially simulate arteries of a limb for training medical personnel to puncture arteries and veins. The device comprises a hollow arm shaped member constructed of a resilient material having two grooves formed on the exterior thereof in the area of the elbow and wrist simulating the brachial artery and radial artery area. A resilient artery is formed of tubing which is positioned through the hollow bore of the arm and through the grooves in the elbow and wrist area. A latex skin is positioned over the arm to cover the tubing and grooves to simulate the skin. The tubing is attached to a liquid container above the arm to simulate blood and cause a arterial or venous pressure for a lifelike back flow of liquid into the syringe.

Employee reactions to office redesign: A naturally occurring quasi-field experiment in a multi-generational setting

Outcomes associated with an office redesign aimed at decreasing workspace while enhancing perceptions of organizational culture and work-related attitudes are examined within a financial services organization. Findings show that employees assigned to the redesigned office environment report less workspace and more distractions than those who remained in a cubicle environment, but that this finding was moderated by age generation. Employees moved to the newly redesigned space reported more favorable perceptions of culture and work-related attitudes, with no age moderating effects. Taken together, results provide support for the theory that office redesign is an effective strategy for implementing organizational change.

External organizational commitment.

Abstract Building on the organizational commitment literature and recent management practices like relationship marketing and total quality management, a new focus of work commitment is proposed: external organizational commitment (EOC). It is envisioned as a global construct and defined as an employees identification and involvement with another organization. A model of EOC specifying its antecedents, consequences, and moderating factors is offered and 28 propositions emanating from the model are articulated. Implications for human resource practitioners are discussed.