Neil D. Christiansen

Antecedents and Consequences of Employees’ Adjustment to Overseas Assignment: A Meta‐analytic Review

La recherche sur les antecedents et les consequences de l’ajustement des expatries a ete revue de facon qualitative et avec la methode quantitative de meta-analyse. Les predicteurs individuels, environnementaux, relies au travail et relies a la famille, de l’ajustement general, interactionnel et au travail ont ete analyses. L’efficacite personnelle, la frequence des interactions dans le pays hote, et le soutien familial ont predit les trois types d’ajustement. De plus, des competences elevees en relations interpersonnelles ont ete associees a un meilleur ajustement a l’environnement en general. Les resultats ont egalement demontre que la variable “conflit de role”etait correlee negativement avec l’ajustement au travail alors que l’ambiguite du role et la discretion ont ete associes avec l’ajustement au travail. Un modele d’equations structurelles a ete developpe avec les correlations agregees pour illustrer les relations causales possibles impliquant un facteur general d’ajustement et les resultats des tensions au travail, la satisfaction au travail, l’engagement organisationnel, l’intention de quitter, ainsi que la performance au travail. L’hypothese etait que l’ajustement influencerait les tensions et la satisfaction au travail et que ces deux dernieres variables auraient un effet sur l’engagement organisationnel, la performance et l’intention de quitter. Le modele a bien correspondu aux donnees. Research on the antecedents and consequences of expatriate adjustment was reviewed using meta-analytic methods. The antecedents and outcomes of three facets of adjustment were examined. Self-efficacy, frequency of interaction with host nationals, and family support consistently predicted all three types of adjustment. In addition, better interpersonal skills were associated with greater adjustment to general environment. Greater cultural novelty was associated with less interactional adjustment. Role conflict, ambiguity, and discretion were also strong predictors of work adjustment. A structural equations model that illustrated causal relationships involving expatriate adjustment and outcomes of job strain, job satisfaction, organisational citizenship, intent to turnover, and job performance generated a good fit with the data.

The Relationship between Work-Team Personality Composition and the Job Performance of Teams

In this study, the authors investigated the relationship between work team effectiveness and two distinct aspects of the personality composition of teams: (a) the average level of a given trait within a team, referred to as team personality elevation (TPE); and (b) the variability or differences in personality traits found within a team, or team personality diversity (TPD). Retail assistants (N = 328) working in 82 teams were assessed on a broad range of traits organized around the framework of the Big Five personality factors. Across the set of Big Five traits, TPE and TPD predicted unique variance in ratings of team job performance. For each specific trait of the Big Five, either TPE or TPD predicted team performance. For the traits of conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience, TPE was positively related to team performance; TPD of extraversion and emotional stability was positively related to team performance.

Adjustment and Strain among Domestic and International Student Sojourners A Longitudinal Study

Every year, a growing number of students leave their home environments and relocate to study at universities abroad. Relocation, however, can be a challenging and stressful experience. This longitudinal study surveyed 294 international and domestic student sojourners to examine and compare their adjustment and distress or strain responses during the first six months of their entry into a medium-sized, mid-western US state university. The findings revealed that international student sojourners, compared to domestic sojourners, had greater difficulty in adjusting during their initial transition into the university. Although sojourners experienced increasing adjustment over time, the pattern of strain was curvilinear, peaking three months after the start of the semester. Self-efficacy, social support and cultural novelty predicted adjustment and strain at different times during the transition period.

Political influence compatibility: fitting the person to the climate

Summary This study investigated a person-climate fit model in order to explain the effect of organizational politics on work attitudes. A unique index of compatibility was developed based on the congruence between preferences for political influence processes and those processes perceived to be prevalent in the employment context. A survey of 138 non academic employees of a large public university, representing a variety of jobs, demonstrated that political influence compatibility was clearly related to a wide range of work attitudes (e.g. satisfaction with co-workers, trust in management, evaluation of self). Directions for future research investigating PIC and potential applications of political influence compatibility in human resource management are discussed. (C 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Large-Scale Investigation of the Role of Trait Activation Theory for Understanding Assessment Center Convergent and Discriminant Validity

This study used trait activation theory as a theoretical framework to conduct a large-scale test of the interactionist explanation of the convergent and discriminant validity findings obtained in assessment centers. Trait activation theory specifies the conditions in which cross-situationally consistent and inconsistent candidate performances are likely to occur. Results obtained by aggregating correlations across 30 multitrait-multimethod matrices supported the propositions of trait activation theory, shedding a more positive light on the construct validity puzzle in assessment centers. Overall, convergence among assessment center ratings was better between exercises that provided an opportunity to observe behavior related to the same trait, and discrimination among ratings within exercises was generally better for dimensions that were not expressions of the same underlying traits. Implications for assessment center research and practice are discussed.

On the usefulness of measures of normal personality for clinical assessment: evidence of the incremental validity of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory.

As a means of examining the incremental validity of a normal personality measure in the prediction of selected Axis I and II diagnoses, 1,342 inpatient substance abusers completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2 (MMPI-2) and were assessed with structured clinical interviews to determine diagnostic status. Results demonstrated that scores from the NEO-PI-R (a) were substantially related to the majority of diagnoses, accounting for between 8% and 26% of the variance in the diagnostic criteria; (b) explained an additional 3% to 8% of the variability beyond 28 selected MMPI-2 scale scores; (c) increased diagnostic classification an additional 7% to 23% beyond MMPI-2 scale scores; and (d) were significantly more useful when examined at the facet trait level than at the domain trait level. Implications for incorporating measures of normal personality into clinical assessment batteries are discussed.

The Good Judge Revisited: Individual Differences in the Accuracy of Personality Judgments

This study examined individual differences in the accuracy of personality judgments. Participants (N = 122) reviewed videotaped segments of 3 individuals responding to employment interview questions, judged the personality of the interviewees, and rated acquaintances who later completed self-report personality inventories. Participants also completed measures of general mental ability, personality, and dispositional intelligence (knowledge of how personality is related to behavior). Results indicated that dispositional intelligence was related to general mental ability(r = .43) and Openness to Experience (r = .33) and emerged as the best predictor of interview accuracy (r = .41), acquaintance accuracy (r = .42), and an accuracy composite (r = .52). In addition, the relationship between dispositional intelligence and acquaintance accuracy was moderated by Conscientiousness and Agreeableness with a stronger association being observed when elevation on these traits was high. Implications for occupational success and future research on individual differences related to inferential accuracy are discussed.

Methods of Measuring Faking Behavior

This article reviews different methods of measuring the extent that faking has distorted responses to a personality test. Based on the idea that faking causes shifts in the means and construct relationships, a three-factor framework is proposed for classifying such measures based on the data required for computation and the effect of faking that the measure is intended to gauge. Advantages and disadvantages for each method are discussed along with recommendations for measuring faking in research and practice.

Emotional Intelligence in Selection Contexts: Measurement Method, Criterion-Related Validity, and Vulnerability to Response Distortion

Two studies examined aspects of the validity of self-report and performance-based measures of emotional intelligence (EI) relevant to their use in personnel selection. In Study 1, structural equation modeling indicated that a two-factor model with separate factors for the two types of EI measures fit better than a one-factor solution. The performance-based EI factor was more related to cognitive ability (R=.38) than personality (R=.26), whereas the self-report EI factor was more related to personality (R=.85) than cognitive ability (R=.09). Although the performance-based EI factor correlated more strongly with job performance (ρ=.24) than did that of the self-report (ρ=.05), it provided little incremental validity beyond cognitive ability and conscientiousness. In Study 2, participants were asked to complete the measures as if applying for a job, and mean scores were then compared with those of Study 1. Results indicated that self-report EI measures were more vulnerable to distortion than were the performance-based measures. Implications for the assessment of EI in personnel selection contexts are discussed.

Self‐Efficacy in the Workplace: Linking Personality to Domain‐Specific Efficacy Beliefs

Based on a social cognitive approach to personality, the role of domain‐specific efficacy beliefs were examined in two studies. Study 1 developed a measure of expectations about success in 10 different domains of common work activities with domain‐specific expectancy ratings obtained for 157 individuals along with self‐ and peer ratings of personality. Results showed that predictable relationships emerged, with the traits of the five‐factor model being important determinants of construct‐relevant efficacy beliefs. Study 2 focused on expectations about activities related to conscientiousness as a link between personality and performance across jobs. Results (N = 97) confirmed the proposed relationships and found that efficacy beliefs about trait‐relevant tasks functioned as a mediator linking conscientious and supervisor ratings of performance.