Perceptions of organizational politics as a moderator of the relationship between consciousness and job performance.

Meta-analytic studies of the relationships between the five-factor model of personality constructs and job performance indicate that conscientiousness has been the most consistent predictor. Recent research has sought to identify situational factors that may explain additional variance beyond what has been reported by simple bivariate relationships. The authors hypothesized that perceptions of organizational politics would moderate the relationship between conscientiousness and job performance. Data collected from 234 male and 579 female workers in 4 organizations indicated that conscientiousness was related to job performance among workers perceiving average to high levels of organizational politics but unrelated to performance among workers perceiving low levels of organizational politics. Moreover, perceptions of organizational politics were negatively related to job performance only among workers of average to low levels of conscientiousness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social skill as moderator of the conscientiousness-performance relationship: Convergent results across four studies.

The authors conducted 4 studies to test the hypothesis that the relationship between Conscientiousness and job performance reflecting interpersonal effectiveness is more strongly positive among workers who are higher rather than lower in social skill. Results of hierarchical moderated regression analyses supported the hypothesis in all 4 studies. Among workers high in social skill. Conscientiousness was positively related to performance. Among workers low in social skill, the relationship between Conscientiousness and performance was essentially irrelevant in Study 2 but was negative in the other 3 studies. Potential implications of these results are discussed as are directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interaction of social skill and organizational support on job performance.

The present study examined the moderating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on the relationship between social skill and supervisor-rated job performance. On the basis of regulatory and activation models of behavior, the authors argue that low-POS environments activate social skill because they reflect situations in which interpersonal acuity is required to demonstrate effective job performance. Accordingly, the authors hypothesize that social skill is more strongly related to performance among workers reporting low rather than high levels of organizational support. Results of hierarchical moderated multiple regression analyses on data gathered from 2 samples support the hypothesis. These results suggest that the relevance of social skill to job performance may be dependent on contextual cues. Implications for substantive research, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theories of job stress and the role of traditional values: A longitudinal study in China.

This study examines how traditionality influences the relationships between job stressors and health. A sample of 496 Chinese employees provided longitudinal questionnaire data, and their health was assessed by collecting blood samples and monitoring blood pressure. The results indicated that the positive relationship between job control and health was stronger among the less traditional workers, whereas the positive relationship between distributive justice and health was stronger among the more traditional workers. Furthermore, traditionality moderated the interactive effects of job demands and perceived control/justice on health. Perceiving higher control mitigated the effects of job demands on upper respiratory infections among low traditionalists, but it exacerbated the effects among the high traditionalists. Perceptions of higher justice mitigated the effects of job demands on emotional exhaustion and immunoglobulin A for high traditionalists but not for low traditionalists. These results suggest that, in the relationship between job demands and psychological and physiological health, concern for equity is an important moderator for individuals with more traditional values, whereas perceived personal control is salutary for health primarily among people with less traditional values. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

General Mental Ability in the World of Work: Occupational Attainment and Job Performance.

The psychological construct of general mental ability (GMA), introduced by C. Spearman (1904) nearly 100 years ago, has enjoyed a resurgence of interest and attention in recent decades. This article presents the research evidence that GMA predicts both occupational level attained and performance within one's chosen occupation and does so better than any other ability, trait, or disposition and better than job experience. The sizes of these relationships with GMA are also larger than most found in psychological research. Evidence is presented that weighted combinations of specific aptitudes tailored to individual jobs do not predict job performance better than GMA alone, disconfirming specific aptitude theory. A theory of job performance is described that explicates the central role of GMA in the world of work. These findings support Spearman's proposition that GMA is of critical importance in human affairs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A linear model of job satisfaction.

Data relevant to 5 separate areas of a worker's job satisfaction (satisfaction with: work, pay, promotion opportunities, co-workers, and supervision) and 6 independent variables (age, tenure on the job, tenure with the company, job level, salary, and salary desired minus salary received) were gathered from a sample of 185 male workers and 75 female workers employed in 2 plants of an electronics manufacturing firm in New England. Multiple-regression analyses were done on these data to determine the validity of two hypotheses of Herzberg that age and tenure bear U-shaped relationships to job satisfaction. No support was found for these hypotheses. For the male workers a linear model of job satisfaction predicted work and pay satisfaction. None of the other dependent variables for the male or female workers could be predicted significantly and consistently. An explanation based on discrepancies between expectations and environmental return is offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance in relation to job skill importance: A consideration of rater source.

Investigated relationships between the performance levels of incumbents on job skills and the importance attributed to those job skills. Supervisors and job incumbents rated both the performance of skill dimensions and the importance of those skills for respective incumbents' positions. Results indicate that the ratings of performance and importance on matched skill areas correlated positively, although relationships were somewhat stronger for incumbent data as compared with data provided by supervisors. Supervisors and incumbents agreed moderately on which skill areas were important for various positions, but the interrater agreement was much lower for performance ratings of the skill areas. For some skill areas, incumbent-rated importance and supervisor-rated performance, as well as incumbent-rated performance and supervisor-rated importance, were significantly correlated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shared learning for community based maternity care

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of the job demands-control model on arterial blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, and smoking in male daytime and rotating-shift workers in Japan. METHODS: The survey was conducted for all employees of an electrical factory in Japan using a mailed questionnaire concerning three job stressors, i.e., job overload, work-pace control, and work-site social support. A blood sample was taken at the same time. Data on 1703 male daytime workers and 1 173 male rotating-shift workers were analyzed. Multiple logistic regression or analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were employed to determine the effects of the job stressors on systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, and smoking with control for other covariates. RESULTS: Among daytime workers, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were highest in the "high-strain" (i.e., higher job overload + lower work-pace control) group; ANCOVA indicated that a two-way interaction between job overload and work-pace control was significant (P < 0.01). This tendency was not observed among rotating-shift workers. The number of cigarettes smoked per day was greater in groups with lower work-pace control and lower work-site social support among daytime workers (two-way interaction between these two job stressors, P < 0.05); it was greater in groups with lower work-site social support among rotating-shift workers (main effect of work-site social support, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggest that job strain as defined in the job demands-control model is associated with increased systolic and diastolic blood pressures in male daytime workers in Japan. Smoking might be affected by lower work-site social support.     

The interactive effects of conscientiousness and agreeableness on job performance.

The authors hypothesized that the relationship between conscientiousness and job performance would be stronger for persons high in agreeableness than for those low in agreeableness. Results of hierarchical moderated regression analyses for 7 independent samples of employees across diverse occupations provided support for the hypothesis in 5 of the samples. In samples supporting the hypothesis, among the highly conscientious workers, those low in agreeableness were found to receive lower ratings of job performance than workers high in agreeableness. One explanation for lack of an interaction between conscientiousness and agreeableness in the other 2 samples is that those jobs were not characterized by frequent, cooperative interactions with others. Overall, the results show that highly conscientious workers who lack interpersonal sensitivity may be ineffective, particularly in jobs requiring cooperative interchange with others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job expectations and valences of job rewards for culturally disadvantaged and advantaged clerical employees.

Compared the job expectancies of 76 culturally advantaged and 74 disadvantaged female civil service clerical workers concerning whether effective job performance would lead to certain job rewards and the relative importance or valences of these rewards to the 2 groups. The disadvantaged group saw for themselves, as opposed to the advantaged group, less likelihood that effectiveness in their jobs would lead to advancement or to the use of one's own judgment. The disadvantaged group also indicated that a high salary was more important to them than to the advantaged group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relating member ability and personality to work-team processes and team effectiveness.

Six hundred fifty-two employees composing 51 work teams participated in a study examining relationships among team composition (ability and personality), team process (social cohesion), and team outcomes (team viability and team performance). Mean, variance, minimum, and maximum were 4 scoring methods used to operationalize the team composition variables to capture the team members' characteristics. With respect to composition variables, teams higher in general mental ability (GMA), conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability received higher supervisor ratings for team performance. Teams higher in GMA, extraversion, and emotional stability received higher supervisor ratings for team viability. Results also show that extraversion and emotional stability were associated with team viability through social cohesion. Implications and future research needs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recovery, Health, and Job Performance: Effects of Weekend Experiences.

This study extended research on respites by examining the extent to which experiences during the weekend contribute to health and job performance after the weekend. Longitudinal data including 3 measurement occasions from 87 emergency service workers indicated that nonwork hassles, absence of positive work reflection, and low social activity during the weekend predicted burnout and poor general well-being after the weekend. Weekend experiences also predicted different aspects of job performance after the weekend. The results reveal practical implications for individual and organizational optimization of recovery processes. Suggestions for future research on specific recovery processes and their effects on individual health and performance are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and work: How do SOC strategies contribute to job performance across adulthood?

The authors examined the impacts of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) strategies—elective selection, loss-based selection, optimization, and compensation—on job performance across adulthood. A cross-sectional survey (Study 1, N = 355) and a 5-day experience sampling study (Study 2, N = 87) were conducted to assess Chinese insurance sales workers’ global and momentary employment of SOC strategies at work and compare the effectiveness of these strategies in predicting their job performance. Study 1 revealed that the use of compensation predicted higher performance maintenance among older workers, whereas the use of elective selection contributed positively to sales productivity for both age groups, with stronger association for younger workers. Study 2 demonstrated that the positive impact of SOC strategies on global and momentary measures of job performance differed across tasks with various difficulty levels. When the task was perceived as highly difficult, older workers’ greater use of elective selection predicted higher self-rated task performance; however, the positive association was weaker among younger workers. Older workers’ greater use of the 4 SOC strategies was positively associated with sales increases when the task was not difficult or moderately difficult, yet the relationship was negative when the task was highly difficult. A reverse pattern was observed among younger workers. This article contributes to the understanding of working adults’ psychological adaptation to the process of aging and reveals the moderating role of task difficulty on the association between SOC strategies and performance outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings.

This article summarizes the practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research in personnel selection. On the basis of meta-analytic findings, this article presents the validity of 19 selection procedures for predicting job performance and training performance and the validity of paired combinations of general mental ability (GMA) and the 18 other selection procedures. Overall, the 3 combinations with the highest multivariate validity and utility for job performance were GMA plus a work sample test (mean validity of .63), GMA plus an integrity test (mean validity of .65), and GMA plus a structured interview (mean validity of .63). A further advantage of the latter 2 combinations is that they can be used for both entry level selection and selection of experienced employees. The practical utility implications of these summary findings are substantial. The implications of these research findings for the development of theories of job performance are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job involvement and organizational commitment as longitudinal predictors of job performance: A study of scientists and engineers.

A study of 532 scientists and engineers from 4 industrial research and development organizations showed that as hypothesized, the scientist–engineer distinction had a moderating effect on the relationships between job involvement and 1-year-later job-performance ratings and on counts of patents and publications. Scientists had stronger relationships between job involvement and each of the performance measures taken 1 year later than did engineers. No moderating effect was found for the scientist–engineer distinction on the relationships between organizational commitment and the performance measures. Moreover, no moderating effect was shown for an interaction term of job involvement and organizational commitment on the performance measures. Implications are discussed for theory building of the construct of job involvement and for the differential management of scientists versus engineers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a fair and realistic research salary scale in government.

The problem of devising and maintaining an appropriate salary structure for research workers in government agencies exists. Four "… generally accepted notions in personnel philosophy… " are cited briefly and rejected as inapplicable to the classification of research positions. Comparisons between GS grades and university research positions are indicated. The author proposes that "… the evaluation of the research job can, administratively, be only a matter for decision by personnel authorities who depend professionally upon a scientific panel… ." The problem of "… establishing and maintaining effective research salary schedules… " can be grasped and solved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Importance of Job Autonomy, Cognitive Ability, and Job-Related Skill for Predicting Role Breadth and Job Performance.

Role theory suggests and empirical research has found that there is considerable variation in how broadly individuals define their jobs. We investigated the theoretically meaningful yet infrequently studied relationships between incumbent job autonomy, cognitive ability, job-related skill, role breadth, and job performance. Using multiple data sources and multiple measurement occasions in a field setting, we found that job autonomy, cognitive ability, and job-related skill were positively related to role breadth, accounting for 23% of the variance in role breadth. In addition, role breadth was positively related to job performance and was found to mediate the relationship between job autonomy, cognitive ability, job-related skill, and job performance. These results add to our understanding of the factors that predict role breadth, as well as having implications for how job aspects and individual characteristics are translated into performance outcomes and the treatment of variability in incumbent reports of job tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Information processing, social skill, and gender in schizophrenia

The relationships among information processing, social skill, and gender in individuals with chronic schizophrenia were investigated. Although there were no gender differences in information processing, social skill, or negative symptoms, performance on information-processing tasks was related to various indices of social skill (e.g., paralinguistic skill) for female, but not male, inpatients. This pattern of results remained after statistical controls were applied for age, illness chronicity, and positive symptoms.     

The Role of Age in the Perceptions of Politics--Job Performance Relationship: A Three-Study Constructive Replication.

This research examined the interaction of organizational politics perceptions and employee age on job performance in 3 studies. On the basis of conservation of resources theory, the authors predicted that perceptions of politics would demonstrate their most detrimental effects on job performance for older workers. Results across the 3 studies provided strong support for the hypothesis that increases in politics perceptions are associated with decreases in job performance for older employees and that perceptions of politics do not affect younger employees' performance. Implications of these results, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)