Philip L. Roth

How important are job attitudes? Meta-analytic comparisons of integrative behavioral outcomes and time sequences

Drawing on the compatibility principle in attitude theory, we propose that overall job attitude (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) provides increasingly powerful prediction of more integrative behavioral criteria (focal performance, contextual performance, lateness, absence, and turnover combined). The principle was sustained by a combination of meta-analysis and structural equations showing better fit of unified versus diversified models of meta-analytic correlations between those criteria. Overall job attitude strongly predicted a higher-order behavioral construct, defined as desirable contributions made to one’s work role (r .59). Time-lagged data also supported this unified, attitude-engagement model.

Risk propensity differences between entrepreneurs and managers: a meta-analytic review.

Research examining the relative risk-taking propensities of entrepreneurs and managers has produced conflicting findings and no consensus, posing an impediment to theory development. To overcome the limitations of narrative reviews, the authors used psychometric meta-analysis to mathematically cumulate the literature concerning risk propensity differences between entrepreneurs and managers. Results indicate that the risk propensity of entrepreneurs is greater than that of managers. Moreover, there are larger differences between entrepreneurs whose primary goal is venture growth versus those whose focus is on producing family income. Results also underscore the importance of precise construct definitions and rigorous measurement.

A Meta-Analytic Review of Predictors of Job Performance for Salespeople

This meta-analysis evaluated predictors of both objective and subjective sales performance. Biodata measures and sales ability inventories were good predictors of the ratings criterion, with corrected rs of .52 and .45, respectively. Potency (a subdimension of the Big 5 personality dimension Extraversion) predicted supervisor ratings of performance (r = .28) and objective measures of sales (r = .26). Achievement (a component of the Conscientiousness dimension) predicted ratings (r = .25) and objective sales (r = .41). General cognitive ability showed a correlation of.40 with ratings but only .04 with objective sales. Similarly, age predicted ratings (r = .26) but not objective sales (r = -.06). On the basis of a small number of studies, interest appears to be a promising predictor of sales success.

Identification and meta-analytic assessment of psychological constructs measured in employment interviews.

There has been a growing interest in understanding what constructs are assessed in the employment interview and the properties of those assessments. To address these issues, the authors developed a comprehensive taxonomy of 7 types of constructs that the interview could assess. Analysis of 338 ratings from 47 actual interview studies indicated that basic personality and applied social skills were the most frequently rated constructs in this taxonomy, followed by mental capability and job knowledge and skills. Further analysis suggested that high- and low-structure interviews tend to focus on different constructs. Taking both frequency and validity results into consideration, the findings suggest that at least part of the reason why structured interviews tend to have higher validity is because they focus more on constructs that have a stronger relationship with job performance. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Missing Data in Multiple Item Scales: A Monte Carlo Analysis of Missing Data Techniques:

Researchers in many fields use multiple item scales to measure important variables such as attitudes and personality traits, but find that some respondents failed to complete certain items. Past missing data research focuses on missing entire instruments, and is of limited help because there are few variables to help impute missing scores and the variables are often not highly related to each other. Multiple item scales offer the unique opportunity to impute missing values from other correlated items designed to measure the same construct. A Monte Carlo analysis was conducted to compare several missing data techniques. The techniques included listwise deletion, regression imputation, hot-deck imputation, and two forms of mean substitution. Results suggest that regression imputation and substituting the mean response of a person to other items on a scale are very promising approaches. Furthermore, the imputation techniques often outperformed listwise deletion.

Response Rates in HRM/OB Survey Research: Norms and Correlates, 1990-1994

Literature from marketing, sociology, and public opinion measurement reveals several variables associated with high response rates. The literature suggests that advance notice, follow-up reminders, monetary incentives, and issue salience are associated with higher response rates in consumer populations. Further, the literature suggests that length of questionnaire decreases response rates. An analysis of articles from the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Human Relations, Group & Organization Management, Journal of Business and Psychology, and Public Personnel Management was conducted for the years 1990 to 1994 to determine if these trends generalized to industrial samples. Multiple regression analyses found that four variables were significantly associated with response rates. These variables were advance notice, identification numbers, follow-up reminders, and salience. The associations of figllow-up reminders and salience to higher response rates were only found in mailed surveys. Fu...

Meta-analyzing the relationship between grades and job performance.

Employers and academics have differing views on the value of grades for predicting job performance. Employers often believe grades are useful predictors, and they make hiring decisions that are based on them. Many academics believe that grades have little predictive validity. Past meta-analyses of the grades-performance relationship have suffered either from small sample sizes or the inability to correct observed correlations for research artifacts. This study demonstrated the observed correlation between grades and job performance was.16. Correction for research artifacts increased the correlation to the.30s. Several factors were found to moderate the relationship. The most powerful factors were the year of research publication and the time between graduation and performance measurement.

A Meta‐Analysis of Achievement Motivation Differences between Entrepreneurs and Managers

As a result of conflicting conclusions in primary studies, most narrative reviews have questioned the role of personality in explaining entrepreneurial behavior. We examine one stream of this research by conducting a meta‐analysis of studies that contrast the achievement motivation of entrepreneurs and managers. The results indicate that entrepreneurs exhibit higher achievement motivation than managers and that these differences are influenced by the entrepreneurs venture goals, by the use of U.S. or foreign samples, and, to a less clear extent, by projective or objective instrumentation. Moreover, when the analysis is restricted to venture founders, the difference between entrepreneurs and managers on achievement motivation is substantially larger and the credibility intervals do not include zero.

A meta-analytic investigation of cognitive ability in employment interview evaluations: Moderating characteristics and implications for incremental validity.

The purpose of this investigation was to explore the extent to which employment interview evaluations reflect cognitive ability. A meta-analysis of 49 studies found a corrected mean correlation of .40 between interview ratings and ability test scores, suggesting that on average about 16% of the variance in interview constructs represents cognitive ability. Analysis of several design characteristics that could moderate the relationship between interview scores and ability suggested that (a) the correlation with ability tends to decrease as the level of structure increases; (b) the type of questions asked can have considerable influence on the magnitude of the correlation with ability; (c) the reflection of ability in the ratings tends to increase when ability test scores are made available to interviewers; and (d) the correlation with ability generally is higher for low-complexity jobs. Moreover, results suggest that interview ratings that correlate higher with cognitive ability tend to be better predictors of job performance. Implications for incremental validity are discussed, and recommendations for selection strategies are outlined. Understanding of the validity of the employment interview has increased considerably in recent years. In particular, a series of meta-analyses has affirmed that the interview is generally a much better predictor of performance than previously thought and is comparable with many other selection techniques (Huffcutt & Arthur, 1994; Marchese & Muchinsky, 1993; McDaniel, Whetzel, Schmidt, & Maurer, 1994; Wiesner & Cronshaw, 1988; Wright, Lichtenfels, & Pursell, 1989). Moreover, these studies have identified several key design characteristics that can improve substantially the validity of the interview (e.g., structure).

Ethnic Group Differences in Measures of Job Performance: A New Meta-Analysis

The authors conducted a new meta-analysis of ethnic group differences in job performance. Given a substantially increased set of data as compared with earlier analyses, the authors were able to conduct analyses of Black-White differences within more homogeneous categories of job performance and to reexamine findings on objective versus subjective measurement. Contrary to one perspective sometimes adopted in the field, objective measures are associated with very similar, if not somewhat larger, standardized ethnic group differences (ds) than subjective measures across a variety of indicators. This trend was consistent across quality, quantity, and absenteeism measures. Further, work samples and job knowledge tests are associated with larger ds than performance ratings or measures of absenteeism. Analysis of Hispanic-White standardized differences shows that they are generally lower than Black-White differences in several categories.