Silvia Bonaccio

Nonverbal Behavior and Communication in the Workplace A Review and an Agenda for Research

Nonverbal behavior is a hot topic in the popular management press. However, management scholars have lagged behind in understanding this important form of communication. Although some theories discuss limited aspects of nonverbal behavior, there has yet to be a comprehensive review of nonverbal behavior geared toward organizational scholars. Furthermore, the extant literature is scattered across several areas of inquiry, making the field appear disjointed and challenging to access. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on nonverbal behavior with an eye towards applying it to organizational phenomena. We begin by defining nonverbal behavior and its components. We review and discuss several areas in the organizational sciences that are ripe for further explorations of nonverbal behavior. Throughout the paper, we offer ideas for future research as well as information on methods to study nonverbal behavior in lab and field contexts. We hope our review will encourage organizational scholars to develop a deeper understanding of how nonverbal behavior influences the social world of organizations.

The Experience of Emotions During the Job Search and Choice Process Among Novice Job Seekers

The authors investigate the role of emotions in the job search and choice process of novice job seekers. Results of qualitative analyses of the first-person accounts of 41 job seekers indicate that participants whose recollections of their job search contained emotional language were more likely to display a haphazard job search strategy than those whose recollections did not. They were also more likely to engage in choice strategies that were not driven by concrete criteria. In comparison, participants whose recollections were not emotion-laden reported more criteria-driven choice strategies, and did not display the tendency to revise or lower their standards or to settle for a less desirable job than they had been seeking. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the role of emotions in job search and choice research as well as in terms of job search counseling for novice job seekers.

Measurement Reliability, the Spearman–Jensen Effect and the Revised Thorndike Model of Test Bias

The Thorndike model of test fairness has recently been revised and used to argue that cognitive ability tests are biased against certain groups of test-takers because ability tests show larger mean differences across racial groups than do job performance measures. We discuss two critical factors that confound this new version of Thorndikes model, making it susceptible to false indications of test bias. Those factors are (a) measurement error (i.e., reliability) in both the predictor and criterion and (b) the Spearman-Jensen effect (i.e., the well-documented effect that group differences in observed g-saturated measures are directly proportional to the degree the manifest indicator reflects g). Finally, because the Spearman-Jensen effect is not well known within the applied literature, we present a brief simulation to better elucidate the implications of the Spearman-Jensen effect for personnel selection in general, and claims of bias in cognitive ability testing in particular.

Ideating Mobile Health Behavioral Support for Compliance to Therapy for Patients with Chronic Disease: A Case Study of Atrial Fibrillation Management

Poor patient compliance to therapy results in a worsening condition that often increases healthcare costs. In the MobiGuide project, we developed an evidence-based clinical decision-support system that delivered personalized reminders and recommendations to patients, helping to achieve higher therapy compliance. Yet compliance could still be improved and therefore building on the MobiGuide project experience, we designed a new component called the Motivational Patient Assistant (MPA) that is integrated within the MobiGuide architecture to further improve compliance. This component draws from psychological theories to provide behavioral support to improve patient engagement and thereby increasing patients’ compliance. Behavior modification interventions are delivered via mobile technology at patients’ home environments. Our approach was inspired by the IDEAS (Integrate, Design, Assess, and Share) framework for developing effective digital interventions to change health behavior; it goes beyond this approach by extending the Ideation phase’ concepts into concrete backend architectural components and graphical user-interface designs that implement behavioral interventions. We describe in detail our ideation approach and how it was applied to design the user interface of MPA for anticoagulation therapy for the atrial fibrillation patients. We report results of a preliminary evaluation involving patients and care providers that shows the potential usefulness of the MPA for improving compliance to anticoagulation therapy.