Prediction of sales success from factorially determined dimensions of personal background data.

A concurrent validity study was made of the scores of 210 salesmen and 16 district managers on 15 personal background dimensions, identified previously by factor analysis. Differences between factor-score means for the manager and sales groups and for the upper- and lower-rated sales groups were significant for the factors Financial Responsibility (001, 001), Early Family Responsibility (01, 01), and Stability (001, 05). Multiple-regression analyses of the factor scores against each of 5 criterion measures of on-the-job behavior yielded correlations of 42, 50 and 36 for the 3 major criteria of overall performance, and mean and maximum sales volume rank. The criteria route difficulty and tenure gave correlations of 27 and 30. Interpretation of the highest-weighted factors in these analyses indicates the logical, dynamic relationships between personal background and job behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting success in supervisory training programs by the use of psychological tests.

How valid are the Wonderlic, How Supervise?, and the F scale in predicting success in supervisory training programs? S were students in a supervisory training course in a night school. The criterion was the grade received in the course. "It can be concluded that in this preselected homogeneous group the use of the How Supervise? Scale and the F Scale predicts with a high degree of accuracy those who are able to successfully complete a supervisory training course." Early in the course, the Wonderlic had predictive value but not later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting ratings of sales success with objective performance information.

What information about salesmen best predicts success in sales work as indicated by sales managers' appraisals of sales performance? To find out, 40 salesmen were studied for 6 months. "In all, 21 objective variables were intercorrelated with 19 appraisal variables… . the best predictors of appraisal factors: Spot Orders, Spot Orders vs. Par, Shop Orders/Shop Calls, New Business Orders, and New Business Orders vs. Par." The procedures were considered very promising for trial by others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on "Predicting success in elementary accounting."

Hendrix (see 28: 1479) is quoted as concluding that "If a single test is to be utilized in predicting grades in elementary accounting, ACE Psychological Examination and OSU Psychological Test are preferable to the AIA Orientation Test." The author presents six additional comparisons between the ACE Exam and the AIA Test. The correlations between course grades and the ACE ranged from .15 to .28, while the correlations between grades and the AIA ranged from .23 to .43, in each comparison the correlation with the AIA being the greater. "The data… indicate that results do differ from one group to another, and they suggest further that the general trend… tends to favor the Orientation Test… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of success in a competitive reaction time situation.

The major problem of this experiment was to determine the effect of a win or loss in a competitive reaction time (RT) task on the prediction of success on the following trial. Each of the 15 experimental pairs of college students was matched with a pair of control Ss who also engaged in a competitive RT task but predicted a sequence of events identical to the sequence of wins and losses generated by the experimental pair. During the last 70 trials the event on a given trial had a substantial effect on the prediction on the subsequent trial, an effect which was different for the 2 groups. For the experimental group the effect of a win was considerably greater than that of a loss, and the degree of asymmetry was positively related to the proportion of win events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors in sales success.

For the job of combination agent, an objective measure of job performance was correlated with each of 17 other variables in a sample of 346 agents, on whom were also obtained scores on a test of life insurance knowledge and data on life insurance ownership. "The data presented are consistent with the conclusion that the salesman's belief in his product (as measured by his own buying behavior) and his motivation are more important in determining how well he does his job than is product knowledge. Length of service shows no significant relation to job performance." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The predictive efficiency of temperament characteristics and personal history variables in determining success of life insurance agents.

How can you tell who will make a good life insurance salesman? A standardized personality inventory and a locally constructed questionnaire were used in a study of 522 financed male agents employed full time in selling life insurance 3 years after hire. Those who saw themselves as being passive and submissive were likely to fail. Some personality history measures are valid predictors. Combining both measures was found to work best. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting success in college: A longitudinal study of achievement goals and ability measures as predictors of interest and performance from freshman year through graduation.

The authors examined the role of achievement goals, ability, and high school performance in predicting academic success over students' college careers. First, the authors examined which variables predicted students' interest and performance in an introductory psychology course taken their first semester in college. Then, the authors followed students until they graduated to examine continued interest in psychology and performance in subsequent classes. Achievement goals, ability measures, and prior high school performance each contributed unique variance in predicting initial and long-term outcomes, but these predictors were linked to different educational outcomes. Mastery goals predicted continued interest, whereas performance-approach goals predicted performance. Ability measures and prior high school performance predicted academic performance but not interest. The findings support a multiple goals perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social status and success strivings.

It was hypothesized that, due to differences in parental demands for success, achievement striving would be a more central motivational factor in middle class children than in working class children and that their responses to situations containing success-failure cues would be relatively consistent, despite variations in rewards offered for success. "High school students from both social classes were given a series of tasks under 2 reward conditions. In one, reward was limited to personal satisfaction derived from attaining a norm; in the other, a material reward was added to the satisfaction. Following failure experiences to induce deprivation, Ss were given McClelland's projective test for achievement motivation." The results confirmed the hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential prediction of academic success at Brigham Young University.

The validity coefficients (Criterion=Curriculum Grade-Point Average) for a prediction battery for each of four curricula are reported. The curricula were: commerce, elementary education, physical science, and social science. The predictors were high-school grade-point average, ACE, and Coop General Culture Test. The best single predictor was HSGPA. The composition of the best predictor batteries is listed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of success from examination of performance during the training period.

Production during early weeks of the learning period was correlated with average production after completing learning for a group of power sewing machine operators. In accordance with initial hypotheses, correlations are low during the first few weeks, rising steadily as the learning period progresses, but remaining lower than those obtained in studies using learning performance criteria rather than ultimate level of proficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative pilot aptitude and success in primary pilot training.

"Based on a sample of 216 aviation cadets… the analysis revealed that a cadet has a better chance of success if he is grouped with cadets of relatively lower aptitude than himself rather than with cadets of relatively higher aptitude. Thus, instructors in this study tended to have a relative frame of reference. To the extent that this phenomenon operates in other training situations, the nation is denied the services of the most highly qualified trained personnel, and the true validity of aptitude tests is underestimated. Methods of minimizing these dangers are discussed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leadership opinions as forecasts of supervisory success.

"The Leadership Opinion Questionnaire was administered to supervisors of a firm noted for its emphasis on progressive personnel relations and interest in the welfare of the individual employee. A correlation of .29 was found between the extent to which a supervisor believed he ought to be considerate of his subordinates and the extent to which he was rated a successful supervisor by his superiors two years later. No consistent relation was found between favoring Initiation of Structure and rated success." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The scales of success: Constructions of life-career success of eminent men and women lawyers.

Reviews the book, The scales of success: Constructions of life-career success of eminent men and women lawyers by Sheelagh O'Donovan-Polten (see record 2001-06977-000). Many writers have posed the question, "What constitutes a successful life?" Sheelagh O'Donovan-Polten has asked a group of professionals who are themselves seen as successful, to describe what it means to them. Her central research question was "How does a professionally successful, middle-aged Canadian lawyer construct life-career success?" An additional important question was "To what degree do such constructions differ by gender?" The author uses the term "life-career" to indicate that the scope of her inquiry is broader than simply career. This book has something to offer to professionals in developmental psychology, vocational psychology, career development, human resource development, and adult education. It would be of particular interest to those interested in adult cognitive development or gender differences. Although there is some explanation of the work of Regan, Gilligan, and others, knowledge of these theories would enhance the reader's understanding of some of the author's interpretations. The vocabulary and style of writing is consistent with postmodern academic research, which may not be familiar to some professionals in the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Level of aspiration, or probability of success.

Level of aspiration (LA) may be valid index of S's feelings of success or failure in a situation where he is free to change his goal from one trial to the next; but if the goal he is trying to achieve is established and maintained by agencies over which he has no control, his estimate of the probability of success (Ps) is the prefered criterion of his feelings of success or failure. In the latter situation LA may rise continuously (usually taken to indicate feelings of success) but with a low rate of improvement or a rapidly approaching deadline Ps may decline. ? the Ss (24) in the experiment were told that the experimental task was a preliminary screening test to determine their fitness for a special science training program (high motivated—HM). The other 24 (low motivated—LM) were told only that the Es were interested in the task. All Ss volunteered in response to 1 of these announcements, all attempted to achieve the same level of performance within 10 trials, and were given controlled information about their "performance curves," which increased. HM Ss set higher overall LAs and lower Ps than did LM Ss. For both HM and LM conditions, the trends of LA and Ps were in opposite directions over the 10 trials: while LA increased, Ps declined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors affecting employee selection in two cultures.

4 samples—100 Illinois and 100 Greek students, 32 Illinois and 20 Greek personnel directors (PDs)—were asked to respond to a structured questionnaire which permitted the computation of the relative weights that would be given to various characteristics (competence, age, sex, race, religion, sociability, and wealth) by these people, if they were hiring employees for various levels of jobs in the accounting and finance department of a company. The responses of the 4 samples were similar. However, the American PDs gave more weight to race and the Greek PDs more weight to age than did the other samples. The students differed significantly from the PDs; in both cultures, the students gave larger weights to competence than did the personnel directors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interaction of achievement motivation and ability in problem-solving success.

The hypotheses were that Armed Forces Qualifications Test scores would be related to problem-solving performance among Ss with high achievement motivation, that motivation would be related to performance with time constant, and that this relation would be greater below the median of the motivation distribution than above it. 96 Ss were used with a switch-light pattern apparatus. The first 2 hypotheses were supported, while the third was not. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The measurement of executive success.

The definitions and criteria of executive success which have been used in the past show little consistency across studies. The central problem of this investigation was the empirical determination of the relationship between different measures of executive success. 3 measures of success based on absolute salary, salary increase, and levels promoted were developed. The data gathered from a sample of 50 executives indicated that had one of these measures been used rather than the others, quite different conclusions would have been drawn from the data. A rigorous analysis of the various criteria of executive success is suggested as a solution to the problem of "What is executive success?" (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem and differential responsiveness to success and failure.

This investigation was based on the contention that high self-esteem persons are generally more responsive to success experience than to failure, while lows show the opposite effects. College students were divided into 4 groups, consisting of high or low self-esteem Ss, receiving success or failure treatments. The hypothesized interaction effect of self-esteem levels and treatments upon a measure of responsiveness, i.e., the degree to which the S attended to some aspects of the experimental condition, was demonstrated beyond the .05 level of significance and was considered supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal history data as a predictor of success in service station management.

For a sample of 29 dealers, ratings on 15 aspects of service station management were reduced to a single over-all rating that was used as a criterion against which a personal history blank was item analyzed using a variant of double cross validation. The scoring key was then cross-validated on a new sample of 23 dealers. It was concluded that the unitary criterion was adequate to describe performance, and that 14 of the 39 items in the blank discriminated more successful dealers from less successful, retaining validity on cross-validation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)