Joseph G. Rosse

The impact of response distortion on preemployment personality testing and hiring decisions

Response distortion (RD), or faking, among job applicants completing personality inventories has been a concern for selection specialists. In a field study using the NEO Personality Inventory, Revised, the authors show that RD is significantly greater among job applicants than among job incumbents, that there are significant individual differences in RD, and that RD among job applicants can have a significant effect on who is hired. These results are discussed in the context of recent studies suggesting that RD has little effect on the predictive validity of personality inventories. The authors conclude that future research, rather than focusing on predictive validity, should focus instead on the effect of RD on construct validity and hiring decisions. Personality assessment as a preemployment screening procedure is receiving renewed interest from researchers and practitioners. A number of quantitative reviews have demonstrated that personality inventories can be useful predictors of job performance, particularly if specific, job-relevant personality constructs are used to predict specific criteria (Barrick & Mount, 1991; Hough, Eaton, Dunnette, Kamp, & McCloy, 1990; Ones, Viswesvaran, & Schmidt, 1993; Tett, Jackson, & Rothstein, 1991). These findings have led to a resurgence of interest in personality testing as an employee-selection tool. Yet this trend is not without controversy. One major debate concerns the effect of response distortion on personality inventory scores. What is clear from the existing research is that people completing personality inventories

Adaptation to work: an analysis of employee health, withdrawal and change.

J. Rosse and H. Miller (1984, in P. Goodman, R. Atkin et al., Absenteeism: New Approaches to understanding, measuring, and managing employee absence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass) have proposed a model of employee adaptation that hypothesizes multiple withdrawal behaviors and attempts to change working conditions as alternative forms of adaptation to a dissatisfying work environment. Negative health outcomes are also hypothesized consequences of dissatisfaction with work. In this longitudinal study of 42 new hospital employees, intention to quit, turnover, absence, attempts to change the job, and heatlh disorders were negatively correlated with job satisfaction; lateness and self-report avoidance scale were not. Use of adaptive behaviors was also found to have remedial effects for employee health. Implications for a general model of adaptation are discussed.

Relations among Lateness, Absence, and Turnover: Is There a Progression of Withdrawal?

The progression of withdrawal hypothesis predicts a hierarchy among withdrawal behaviors, with lateness being followed by absence, which in turn results in quitting. This paper presents longitudinal attendance data from a sample of 63 hospital employees. Analyses of conditional probabilities revealed progressions from lateness to absence, from multiple (but not single) absences to quitting, and tentative evidence of a lateness-quitting progression. Initial lateness was also found to result in increased subsequent lateness, and likewise for absence.

Combining personality and cognitive ability predictors for hiring service-oriented employees

Recent developments in personality theory and assessment have led to calls for inclusion of personality measures in personnel selection. A measure of service-oriented personality was used in conjunction with cognitive and perceptual ability tests in a concurrent validation study of 202 medical clerical positions. The ability tests explained 5% of criterion variance; an additional 5–8% was accounted for by the personality measures. The results were interpreted as tentative support for broadening use of personality measurement in personnel selection, although a need for greater attention to construct validation was also emphasized.

Reducing the Threat of Rater Nonparticipation in 360-Degree Feedback Systems An Exploratory Examination of Antecedents to Participation in Upward Ratings

An advantage of 360-degree feedback systems is the removal of idiosyncratic single-source bias inherent in traditional top-down performance appraisal systems. Three-hundred-and-sixty-degree feedback systems assume the existence of representative participation to achieve this end. However, as most 360-degree feedback systems recommend the anonymity of raters, rater participation frequently becomes an issue of choice. To examine if there exist systematic differences in perceptions between raters who choose to participate and raters who choose not to participate in 360-degree feedback systems, data were collected from a 360-degree feedback source particularly vulnerable to the rater choice of nonparticipation-upward appraisals. Results indicated that raters who chose to participate felt more confident regarding the format of the appraisal, felt less pressure to bias their ratings, felt more confident that their ratings were accurate, were more secure in the role of rating superiors, and were more likely to perceive potential outcomes resulting from the process. Implications for managers are discussed.

A critical review of the assumptions underlying drug testing

Current drug screening programs are based on a set of assumptions: That drug use adversely affects productivity, that available tests are accurate and cost-effective means of detecting and reducing drug use, and that drug testing is legal. When analyzed in the light of available evidence, little support was found for these assumptions. Used properly, drug testing may play a role in the overall management of employee performance; used improperly, it represents a profound threat to individual rights. Recommendations for additional research and for employers planning to use drug screening are offered.

Can admissions interviews predict performance in residency

ObjectiveThe authors aim to determine whether admission interviews predict performance in residency.MethodsThe authors determined whether interview and other admission data were correlated with performance during postgraduate years 2–4 and with remaining in the residency in 544 residents enrolled in a single psychiatry residency program between 1963 and 2004.ResultsConsidered together, admissions data predicted 13% of the variance in performance ratings in postgraduate year 2 (PGY-2) and 5% in PGY-4. Interview scores were moderately correlated with performance ratings in PGY-2, modestly correlated with performance in PGY-3, and not correlated with performance ratings in PGY-4. Letters of reference were moderately correlated with performance ratings in PGY-2 and modestly correlated with performance in PGY-3 and PGY-4. In PGY-2, interview scores differentiated between the top quartile of performance and the other three quartiles, while letters of reference differentiated performance in the top and bottom quartiles from the middle quartiles. Numerical differences among groups were not great enough to be practically useful, and no variables predicted which residents would leave the program before completing it.ConclusionAs they are currently conducted, application interviews do not have sufficient power to predict performance during residency. Letters of reference may be useful to the extent that they reflect personal experience with the applicant, but differences in ratings of these letters are not great enough to base admission decisions on them. As it is currently performed, the interview process may be more useful as a means of interesting applicants in the program than of evaluating their potential for success in the residency.

A taxonomic approach to studying high-technology firms: Deciphering the tower of babel

Abstract This paper presents a typology of high-technology firms based on growth stage and production technology. It identifies four major types of high-technology firms: the embryonic, startup, growth, and mature multiline firm. Utilizing the del technique and trend analysis, the results also indicate that a study of 276 U.S. high-technology firms supports the validity of the typology. Embryonic and startup firms are managed by an owner or founder and employ a task group organization and an equity-based incentive system. In addition, growth and mature multiline firms are managed by a team of technical or managerial experts, produce a broad range of products, and invest in process R&D.

Understanding Reactions to Workplace Injustice Through Process Theories of Motivation: a Teaching Module and Simulation

Management and organizational behavior students are often overwhelmed by the plethora of motivation theories they must master at the undergraduate level. This article o fers a teaching module geared toward helping students understand how two major process theories of motivation, equity and expectancy theories and theories of organizational justice, are related and can be used to manage behavior in the work setting. This integrated approach is suggested to provide a superior learning experience by enabling students to view and utilize extant theories in work motivation as a coherent body of knowledge rather than a distinct and somewhat disparate set of individual theories. Lecture notes and instructional examples covering relevant theories are provided, followed by an experiential exercise and suggestions for guiding class discussion of the exercise and theoretical material.

The deterrent value of drug and integrity testing

Numerous studies have shown that job applicants may react negatively to drug, integrity, and personality testing and that these negative reactions can affect their attitudes and job search behavior. However, it is not clear if these negative reactions are equally strong among users and non-users of drugs. Using a sample of 509 subjects responding to a hypothetical employer, results showed that drug users had more negative reactions than non-users to urinalysis, overt integrity tests and personality inventories. Drug users responded equally negatively to all forms of testing, while non-users were especially negative towards personality tests.