Thomas A. O’Neill

Prediction of cyberslacking when employees are working away from the office

Abstract The landscape of counterproductive workplace behavior is changing with the rapid integration of advanced communication technologies in the modern workforce. Specifically, employers are increasingly allowing employees to spend some work time at home, and to stay connected with the office through communication technologies. These telework arrangements bring about a new form of counterproductive workplace behaviors, namely, cyberslacking. Cyberslacking involves using the Internet for non-work related purposes while on company time. Engaging in cyberslacking might be particularly relevant when working at home because it would be easier to avoid being caught by supervisors and co-workers. The current study examines personality, satisfaction, and perceived performance as antecedents of cyberslacking while working away from the office. Findings from a field study indicate that cyberslacking is positively related to Procrastination, and negatively related to Honesty, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Cyberlacking was also found to be negatively related to both satisfaction and perceived performance while working remotely. The study suggests that personality might be used as an avenue for screening those who may be selected for remote work, or to help develop structures that reduce cyberslacking opportunities for those with personalities that are predisposed to cyberslacking (e.g., closer managerial monitoring of the employee’s daily output).

Team Meeting Attitudes Conceptualization and Investigation of a New Construct

Although most work teams use meetings as a tool for accomplishing their objectives, there is little research examining meeting-related variables in teams. In this article, we propose a new construct, team meeting attitudes (TMA), that involves individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and evaluations of team meetings. We constructed a scale that measures individuals’ TMA, and we report on the scale’s psychometric properties, including test-retest reliabilities, over four measurement occasions. Using a sample of engineering project design teams, intraclass correlations of repeated measurements suggested that TMA appeared to emerge over time. Moreover, our TMA scale, aggregated to the team level using the mean, had direct effects on time spent in team meetings, perceptions of team meeting effectiveness, and team potency. Mean TMA were also indirectly related to team task performance through team potency. These findings were interpreted as supportive of activity regulation and action theories because teams with high means on TMA may have members who view team meetings as conducive to goal accomplishment and not as interruptive.

The Use of Random Coefficient Modeling for Understanding and Predicting Job Performance Ratings: An Application With Field Data

Earlier research using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggests that most variance in job performance ratings is not attributable to ratee main effects. In this article, the authors point out several issues associated with CFA methodology and argue that random coefficient modeling (RCM) can be a useful alternative for estimating variances associated with ratee main effects, rater main effects, and the upper bound of Rater × Ratee interaction effects. Using an application of RCM on field data, the authors found that rater main effects variance was nearly two times as large as ratee main effects variance. They report meaningful contingencies of these findings by modeling rater familiarity with the ratee and the number of ratees rated by a rater. Finally, interactions revealed that Conscientiousness-related variables were positively related to job performance only when rater familiarity with the ratee was high or the number of ratees rated was high. The authors discuss how the RCM methodology can be used to assess the construct validity of job performance ratings and to test substantive hypotheses involving variance components, main effects, and interactions within nonindependent observations.

The Structure and Function of Team Conflict State Profiles

Team conflict types include task conflict, relationship conflict, and process conflict. Whereas differences in views about the task (task conflict) are often argued to be beneficial, incompatibilities involving personal issues (relationship conflict) and execution issues (process conflict) are often argued to be harmful. However, previous empirical research has tended to treat team conflict types as independent from each other despite their natural coexistence in teams. In two separate studies and one replication study, we identified latent patterns of team conflict, in the form of conflict profiles, that were defined by distinct levels of task conflict, relationship conflict, and process conflict. In Study 1, we investigated whether the conflict profiles had implications for team conflict management and team potency. In Study 2, we examined the generalizability of the conflict profiles to teams with longer life cycles, and we investigated the implications of conflict profiles for team performance. Findings indicated that teams can be reliably assigned to particular profiles of team conflict and that these profiles replicate well. The results also indicate that the implications of a particular type of conflict depend on the pattern of the team’s conflict profile as a whole. Drawing from information processing theory, we found that teams with high task conflict and low relationship and process conflict tend to have more effective interactions and achieve superior outcomes. This “team-centric” approach appears to provide promising new avenues for advancing current theories of conflict in organizational work teams.

The Trajectory of Emergence of Shared Group-Level Constructs

By examining 20 years of research conducted on groups (and teams), in field, academic, and laboratory settings, we used statistical aggregation indices to evaluate arguments that in newly formed groups, (a) evidence of the emergence of group-level shared constructs should be minimal and (b) evidence of the emergence of such constructs should increase over time/interaction. Puzzlingly, we found relatively little evidence supporting these arguments. Instead, emergence of group-level shared constructs seems evident very soon after group formation and, to the extent that this was possible to evaluate, emergence trajectories seemed to vary little across time. This pattern of findings is discussed with respect to both methodological and substantive issues, and we propose mechanisms that might explain what appears to be the surprisingly early emergence of group-level shared constructs.

Variance Components of Job Performance Ratings

Previous literature suggests that performance ratings are saturated with rater-related idiosyncratic variance. Given that modern psychometric theories relegate this source of variance to measurement error, it has not been the subject of much previous research. Of importance, identifying and estimating the variance components underlying idiosyncratic rater variance will inform our understanding of the nature of this variance. In a sample of managerial performance ratings we report on components of variance and find that the idiosyncratic rater variance component is about one third rater main effects variance, one third Rater × Ratee interaction effects variance, and one third upper-bound Rater × Ratee × Dimension interaction effects variance. Further, results indicate that variance components are moderated by the acquaintanceship time between the rater and the ratee.

Neuroticism and self-evaluation measures are related to the ability to form cognitive maps critical for spatial orientation.

Trait neuroticism is suggested to be related to measures of volume and function of the hippocampus, a brain structure located in the medial temporal lobe that is critical for human navigation and orientation. In this study, we assessed whether measures of trait neuroticism and self-concept are correlated with the human ability to orient by means of cognitive maps (i.e. mental representations of an environment that include landmarks and their spatial relationships). After controlling for gender differences, which are well-known in spatial orientation abilities, we found that measures of neuroticism (i.e. negative affect, emotional stability) and self-concept (i.e. self-esteem) were correlated with individual differences in the rate at which cognitive maps were formed; the same measures were generally unrelated to the ability to make use of cognitive maps, as well as the ability to orient using visual path integration. The relationships (and lack thereof) between personality traits and the spatial orientation skills, as reported in the present study, are consistent with specific neural correlates underlying these factors, and may have important implications for treatment of disorders related to them.

Extensions of Auxiliary Variable Approaches for the Investigation of Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Effects in Mixture Models

Person-centered analyses and mixture models, such as latent profile analyses (LPA), are becoming increasingly common in the organizational literature. However, common usage of LPA rarely extends to the estimation of moderation, conditional effects, and mediation within a single model. This can affect the accuracy of parameter estimates, and it interferes with development and investigation of complex theories. The current study provides an overview of systematic approaches that allows researchers to investigate models involving moderation, conditional effects on outcomes, and mediation. Using Mplus, we offer an accessible method of testing complex statistical models that are auxiliary to the focal mixture model. We provide syntax for typical moderation, conditional effects, and mediation hypotheses, and we provide a detailed explanation of the procedures. We demonstrate these procedures with applications involving the five-factor model (FFM) of personality and several additional variables that comprise complex auxiliary statistical models. The pedagogical approach offered by this research will facilitate future theoretical developments and empirical advancements in the use of person-centered analyses.

To Fake or Not to Fake: Antecedents to Interview Faking, Warning Instructions, and Its Impact on Applicant Reactions

In the present study, we examined the antecedents and processes that impact job interviewees’ decisions to engage in deceptive impression management (i.e., interview faking). Willingness and capacity to engage in faking were found to be the processes underlying the decision to use deceptive impression management in the interview. We also examined a personality antecedent to this behavior, Honesty-Humility, which was negatively related to the use of deceptive impression management through increased willingness to engage in these behaviors. We also tested a possible intervention to reduce IM. In particular, we found that warnings against faking – specifically, an identification warning - reduced both the perceived capacity to engage in interview faking, and subsequent use of several faking behaviors. Moreover, this warning reduced faking without adversely impacting applicant reactions.

The multilevel nomological net of team conflict profiles

Purpose This paper aims to offer an integrative conceptual theory of conflict and reports on the nomological net of team conflict profiles. Specifically, it integrates social self-preservation theory with information-processing theory to better understand the occurrence of team profiles involving task conflict, relationship conflict and process conflict. Design/methodology/approach The study collected data from 178 teams performing and engineering design tasks. The multilevel nomological net that was examined consisted of constructive controversy, psychological safety and team-task performance (team level), as well as perceptions of learning, burnout and peer ratings of performance (individual level). Findings Findings indicated mixed support for the associations between conflict profiles and the hypothesized nomological net. Research limitations/implications Future research should consider teams’ profiles of team conflict types rather than examining task, relationship and process conflict in isolation. Practical implications Teams can be classified into profiles of team conflict types with implications for team functioning and effectiveness. As a result, assessment and team launch should consider team conflict profiles. Originality/value The complexity perspective advanced here will allow research on conflict types to move forward beyond the extensive research examining conflict types in isolation rather than their interplay.