Thirty years later: Attitudes toward the employment of older workers.

Replicated W. K. Kirchner and M. D. Dunnette's (see record 1955-03161-001) study on attitudes toward older workers with 71 male and 5 female hourly employees (aged 18–61 yrs) and 22 male supervisors (aged 27–63 yrs) of a nonunion manufacturing plant. Ss completed a questionnaire that was nearly identical to the one administered in the Kirchner and Dunnette study. Results are similar to those obtained in the earlier study: Hourly workers held more positive attitudes toward older employees than did supervisors, and attitude score correlated strongly with the age of hourly workers but not with the age of supervisors. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When supervisors feel supported: Relationships with subordinates' perceived supervisor support, perceived organizational support, and performance.

The authors surveyed full-time retail employees and their supervisors to investigate relationships of supervisors' perceived organizational support (POS) with subordinates' perceptions of support from their supervisors (perceived supervisor support [PSS]), POS, and in-role and extra-role performance. The authors found that supervisors' POS was positively related to their subordinates' perceptions of supervisor support. Subordinates' PSS, in turn, was positively associated with their POS, in-role performance, and extra-role performance. Beyond these bivariate relationships, subordinates' perceptions of support from the supervisor mediated positive relationships of the supervisors' POS with the subordinates' POS and performance. These findings suggest that supervisors who feel supported by the organization reciprocate with more supportive treatment for subordinates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing organizational goal congruence: A solution to organizational politics.

Results of moderated multiple regression analyses on data collected from 979 workers in 5 organizations confirmed the hypothesis that supervisor–subordinate goal congruence would moderate the relationship between organizational politics and organizational commitment. Similar analyses on data collected from 366 workers in 2 of those organizations provided partial support for the second hypothesis that goal congruence would also moderate the relationship between organizational politics and job performance. Perceptions of politics were more strongly related to expressions of commitment and supervisor-rated performance among individuals who did not share the priorities of their supervisors than among those whose goal priorities were consistent with those of their supervisors. Results suggest that supervisors and managers can help their employees cope with politics by making efforts to ensure that they share their goal priorities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Escalation bias in performance appraisals: An unintended consequence of supervisor participation in hiring decisions.

The tendency of supervisors to escalate their commitment of a previously expressed opinion by biasing performance ratings was examined in the context of a "real" organization. The hypotheses of the study were (a) that supervisors who participate in a hiring or promotion decision and agree with the eventual decision would positively bias subsequent performance appraisal ratings for that employee, and (b) that supervisors who participate in the original decision but disagree with the decision would bias subsequent performance appraisal ratings in a negative direction. Cases in which the supervisor had not participated in the hiring or promotion decision were used as a control condition. The study was conducted in a large public-sector organization with a sample of 354 clerical employees. Data provide strong support for both hypotheses, demonstrating both positive and negative escalation biases. The implications of these findings for research on escalation and for organizational policy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation of the supervisory training and span of control to EAP referrals.

Surveyed 114 supervisors from a large company regarding their referrals of employees to employee assistance programs (EAPs). Based on G. A. Bayer and L. H. Gerstein's (see record 1988-31304-001) model of EAP helping behavior, it was predicted that supervisors who participated in training would refer a greater proportion of their employees than those who did not participate in training and that supervisors with a small span of control to refer would refer a greater proportion of their subordinates than those with a large span of control. There was the predicted main effect for span of control but no effect for training nor an interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of rater race on conclusions regarding differential prediction in cognitive ability tests.

The possibility of predictive bias by race in employment tests is commonly examined by across-group comparisons of the slopes and intercepts of regression lines using test scores to predict performance measures. This research assumed that the criteria, primarily supervisory ratings, were unbiased. However, a concern is that the apparent lack of differential prediction in cognitive ability tests may be an artifact of the predominant use of performance ratings provided by supervisors who are members of the majority group; a criterion that is potentially biased against members of the minority group. We posited that ratings by a supervisor of the same race as the employee being rated would be less open to claims of bias. We compared ability-performance relationships in samples of Black and White employees that allowed for between-subjects and within-subjects comparisons under 2 conditions: when all employees were rated by a White supervisor and when each employee was rated by a supervisor of the same race. Neither analysis found evidence of predictive bias against Black employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interaction of job autonomy and conflict with supervisor in China and the United States: A qualitative and quantitative comparison.

We examined employees' conflict with their supervisors in cross-cultural work settings. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 332 and 302 university employees in the United States and China, respectively. First, the qualitative data revealed that 54% versus 42% of supervisor conflicts were attributable to low job control in the United States and China, respectively. The quantitative data indicated that job autonomy was negatively related to supervisor conflict in the United States but not in China. Second, both quantitative and qualitative data showed that Chinese employees had more supervisor conflict than their U.S. counterparts. Third, both type of data suggested that supervisor conflict was more strongly related to job strains in China than in the United States. Finally, job autonomy played different roles in these two countries. It buffered supervisor conflict—job strain relations in the United States but exaggerated such relations in China. Therefore, our study provided a possible explanation to the inconsistent findings regarding the buffering effect of job autonomy on job stressors. Employees' cultural background may complicate the process. The qualitative data largely supported the quantitative findings and provided detailed information on employees' job stress experience in the cross-cultural context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of supervisor and supervisee degree level and gender on the supervisory relationship.

86 graduate counseling students and 92 supervisors rated their relationships 3 times during a semester. At the semester's end, supervisees decribed the perceived frequency of performance of supervisor behaviors. Supervisors and supervisees differed in their perceptions of the relationship and how it developed. Supervisees, in contrast to supervisors, saw improvement in their relationships over time. Male supervisees and supervisors both rated their relationships as better than females. Gender matching affected supervisees' perceptions of their relationships but not supervisors' perceptions. Semester-end ratings showed that supervisees discriminated between the quality of the relationship, which was affected by gender matching, supervisor gender, and supervisor behavior, and supervisor competence, which was affected only by supervisor behavior. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When the presence of creative coworkers is related to creativity: Role of supervisor close monitoring, developmental feedback, and creative personality.

Study 1 was conducted to examine the contribution of the joint condition of supervisor close monitoring and the presence of creative coworkers to employees' creativity. In addition to replicating Study 1's results, Study 2 examined (a) the joint condition of supervisor developmental feedback and presence of creative coworkers and (b) whether creative personality moderated the contributions of the 2 joint conditions. Converging results from the 2 field studies demonstrated that when creative coworkers were present, the less supervisors engaged in close monitoring, the more employees exhibited creativity. Study 2 also found that the contribution of this joint condition was stronger for employees with less creative personalities and that when creative coworkers were present, the more supervisors provided developmental feedback, the more employees exhibited creativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of supervisor and supervisee theoretical orientation and supervisor-supervisee matching on interns' perceptions of supervision.

Effects of supervisor and supervisee theoretical orientation on supervisees' perceptions of supervisors' models, roles, and foci were studied, as were variables influencing quality of supervision and supervisee autonomy. 84 interns from 32 nationwide training sites were surveyed. Cognitive-behavioral supervisors were perceived to be in a consultant role and to focus on skills and strategies more than were humanistic, psychodynamic, and existential supervisors, who were perceived more as using the relationship model, playing the therapist role, and focusing on conceptualization. Supervisors were not perceived to differ in their use of growth and skill development models, teacher role, and focus on the supervisee. Women were perceived as more effective supervisors than were men. Perceived effectiveness was predicted by theoretical match and similarity. Supervisee autonomy was predicted by theoretical similarity, low supervisor adherence to theory, and unmatched gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A work values approach to corporate culture: A field test of the value congruence process and its relationship to individual outcomes.

The purported advantage of a strong corporate culture presumes that positive outcomes result when peoples' values are congruent with those of others. This was tested by using a design that controlled for artifacts in prior studies. Participants, 191 production workers, their supervisors (N?=?17), and 13 managers at a large industrial products plant, completed questionnaires containing measures of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work values. Responses were later matched with the attendance and performance records of the production workers in the sample. Results showed that workers were more satisfied and committed when their values were congruent with the values of their supervisor. Value congruence between workers and their supervisors was not significantly correlated with workers' tenure; however, its effect on organizational commitment was more pronounced for longer tenured employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational leadership and employee safety performance: A within-person, between-jobs design.

We investigated the extent to which the safety performance (i.e., self-reported safety compliance and safety participation) of employees with 2 jobs was predicted by their respective supervisors' transformational leadership behaviors. We compared 2 within-person models: a context-specific model (i.e., transformational leadership experienced by employees in 1 context related to those same employees' safety performance only in that context) and a context-spillover model (i.e., transformational leadership experienced by employees in 1 context related to those same employees' safety performance in the same and other contexts). Our sample comprised 159 “moonlighters” (73 men, 86 women): employees who simultaneously hold 2 different jobs, each with a different supervisor, providing within-person data on the influence of different supervisors on employee safety performance across 2 job contexts. Having controlled for individual differences (negative affectivity and conscientiousness) and work characteristics (e.g., hours worked and length of relationship with supervisor), the context-specific model provided the best fit to the data among alternative nested models. Implications for the role of transformational leadership in promoting workplace safety are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of discipline in an organization: A field study.

526 hourly employees working in a refinery were surveyed about their perceptions of their immediate supervisor's disciplinary behavior as well as the kinds of factors supervisors take into account when applying discipline. Factor analytic and correlational procedures were explored to (a) determine the kinds of disciplinary factors that are perceived as operating in the organization; (b) determine the relationships between these disciplinary factors and other employee variables such as satisfaction with supervisor, disciplinary history, and grievances; and (c) determine the attributions that supervisors are perceived as forming within the disciplinary process and determine the relationships between these types of attributions and selected employee variables. Several reliable supervisory disciplinary factors are identified that showed high relationships with supervisory satisfaction and the evaluation of the organizational disciplinary program but low correlations with more distant and objective variables of disciplinary history, grievances, and absenteeism. Several attributional dimensions that Ss perceived their supervisor to be using when applying discipline were identified. However, these dimensions are not consistent with the kinds of attributional elements identified in previous literature. Both reward- and punishment-oriented supervisor behavior were independently and incrementally related to satisfaction with supervision, but reward-oriented behavior was more important. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pygmalion effects among outreach supervisors and tutors: Extending sex generalizability.

Students who supervised other students who tutored grade-school pupils in a university-based outreach program were randomly assigned to Pygmalion and control conditions. Experimental supervisors were told that their tutors were ideally qualified for their tutoring role; control supervisors were told nothing about their tutors' qualifications. A manipulation check revealed that the experimental supervisors expected more of their tutors. Analysis of variance of tutorial success measures confirmed the Pygmalion effect among supervisors of both sexes. No main effect or interaction involving either supervisor sex or tutor sex was significant. As predicted, the experimental supervisors also provided better leadership and the experimental tutors increased their self-efficacy. This was the first demonstration of the Pygmalion effect among women leading men. Pygmalion effects may be produced without regard for sex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of leadership powers in industry.

In a follow-up to a previous study of naval supervisors by D. Kipnis, W. P. Lane, and L. Frankfort, the range and factors influencing the use of corrective powers available to 131 industrial supervisors when correcting subordinates' behavior were investigated. Both situational and personal factors (number of employees supervised, years of experience as a supervisor, and the nature of the problem presented by the subordinate) influenced the supervisor's choice of corrective power. 146 military supervisors relied more on extra instruction, direct punishments, and changes in the task environment of subordinates. Industrial supervisors relied more on their persuasive powers. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job performance and turnover.

The literature on job performance and turnover generally indicates that employees who leave their organization are better performers. This hypothesized relationship was tested for 162 female registered nurses who were evaluated by their supervisors using the Slater Nursing Competence Rating Scale. Nurses who left their jobs did not perform significantly better than those who stayed. Four issues related to performance–withdrawal research are discussed: (a) The combined use of objective measures and rater methods would improve performance measurement validity. (b) More than just professional employees in service organizations must be studied. (c) Different types of people who leave must be investigated. (d) Withdrawal research must move beyond studying its determinants to studying its impact on a wide range of organizational properties. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Workplace emotions: The role of supervision and leadership.

In this experience sampling study, the authors examined the role of organizational leaders in employees' emotional experiences. Data were collected from health care workers 4 times a day for 2 weeks. Results indicate supervisors were associated with employee emotions in 3 ways: (a) Employees experienced fewer positive emotions when interacting with their supervisors as compared with interactions with coworkers and customers; (b) employees with supervisors high on transformational leadership experienced more positive emotions throughout the workday, including interactions with coworkers and customers; and (c) employees who regulated their emotions experienced decreased job satisfaction and increased stress, but those with supervisors high on transformational leadership were less likely to experience decreased job satisfaction. The results also suggest that the effects of emotional regulation on stress are long lasting (up to 2 hr) and not easily reduced by leadership behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived supervisor support: Contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention.

Three studies investigated the relationships among employees' perception of supervisor support (PSS), perceived organizational support (POS), and employee turnover. Study 1 found, with 314 employees drawn from a variety of organizations, that PSS was positively related to temporal change in POS, suggesting that PSS leads to POS. Study 2 established, with 300 retail sales employees, that the PSS-POS relationship increased with perceived supervisor status in the organization. Study 3 found, with 493 retail sales employees, evidence consistent with the view that POS completely mediated a negative relationship between PSS and employee turnover. These studies suggest that supervisors, to the extent that they are identified with the organization, contribute to POS and, ultimately, to job retention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supervisor countertransference: A qualitative investigation into its identification and description.

Interviews were conducted with 11 psychotherapy supervisors about an experience of supervisor countertransference with a predoctoral intern. On the basis of a qualitative analysis, results revealed that supervisor countertransference manifestations consisted of affective (e.g., emotional distress), cognitive (e.g., questioning one's own competence), and behavioral (e.g., disengagement) components. Sources of supervisor countertransference always included both the intern's interpersonal style and the supervisor's unresolved personal issues and at times pertained to intern–supervision environment interactions, problematic client–intern interactions, intern–supervisor interactions, and supervisor–supervision environment interactions. Supervisors typically believed their supervisor countertransference initially weakened but eventually strengthened the supervisory relationship. Most supervisors managed their supervisor countertransference reaction by talking with colleagues, and most acknowledged they had received little or no training in addressing supervisor countertransference issues with trainees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)