Salary growth as a criterion of career progress.

As a possible improvement on absolute salary as a criterion, the authors computed the annual percentage growth of the salaries of 143 engineering graduates employed in industry. Although 1st-year salaries increased markedly from 1950 to 1955, and 1957 salaries varied with years of service, the growth rates were homogeneous. The rates for different professional groups were different 1st-year salary and salary growth were unrelated. Growth was related to academic grades, but absolute salary unexpectedly had a stronger relationship. Salary growth has some useful properties, but it is not uniformly applicable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Fair" allocations of salaries and taxes.

Undergraduate judges were asked to "fairly" allocate salaries to hypothetical faculty members on the basis of their merit ratings. Individual merit ratings, total budgets to be distributed, and distributions of merit ratings for the entire group were manipulated. In another set of studies, undergraduate judges were asked to "fairly" assign income taxes to hypothetical persons given their salaries, and individual salaries, amounts of revenue to generate, and distributions of salaries for the group were varied. Overall results are explained by a theory of relative equity that suggests that an equitable state is one in which the relative position of a stimulus (e.g., merit or salary) in the distribution of stimuli matches the relative position of the response (e.g., salary or tax) in the distribution of responses. The relative position of a stimulus or response is defined as its range-frequency value based on the range-frequency compromise. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sizes and salary schedules of agency clinical psychology programs.

Reports results from 240 questionnaires requesting information on staff size and salary schedules of agency clinical psychology programs in the United States. The median number of staff members in these clinical psychology departments was found to be 15. Of these, 6 was the median number at the PhD level. Bachelor-level technicians were found to be more extensively utilized in the South and Midwest than in the East or West. The median beginning annual salary for a PhD clinical psychologist was $13,437, and for a PhD with 10 or more yr. of experience, the median was $20,500. The median salary for interns was $7,055, and the beginning salary for employees at the master level was $8,582. The median PhD-to-patient ratio was 1:189, and the median psychology staff-to-patient ratio was 1:73. The American Psychological Association (APA)-approved departments were found to have more advantageous staff-to-patient ratios. A great increase in salaries for psychology personnel over the past years was noted. Possible reasons for the finding that salaries tended to be higher in the agencies which did not have APA-approved clinical internship programs were also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dynamics of assessment center validity: Results of a 7-year study.

The authors investigated temporal trends in the validity of an assessment center consisting of a group discussion and an analysis–presentation exercise for predicting career advancement as measured by average salary growth over a 7-year period in a sample of 679 academic graduates. The validity of the overall assessment rating for persons with tenure of 7 years, corrected for initial differences in starting salaries and restriction in range, was .39. There was a considerable time variation in the validity of both the overall assessment rating and the assessment center dimensions. In accordance with findings from research in managerial effectiveness and development, the interpersonal effectiveness dimension became valid only after a number of years, whereas the firmness dimension was predictive in the whole period and increased with time. For comparison, validity trends for 2 types of interviews and a mental test were also studied. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theoretical partialing requires a defensible theory.

Argues that S. D. McLaughlin's (1980) comment on M. H. Birnbaum's (1979) article on sex bias in salaries of psychologists is not a definitive evaluation of either atheoretical or theoretical partialing. McLaughlin fails to support use of the partial correlation between sex and salary, with a measure of merit held constant, as the criterion of sex discrimination. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Labor market adjustments in psychology.

Presents a relatively simple economic model of the market for psychologists as an attempt to answer questions relating to (a) changes in the labor market for psychologists and other scientists, (b) variance over time in the number of college students choosing psychology, and (c) rate of salary increase. The model is based on supply, demand, and their interaction. The economic analysis of professional markets is based on response to salaries by students and experienced specialists, adjustment of salaries to changes in market conditions, and response of employers to salaries. Depending on time patterns of response, analysis generated cobweb, incomplete, and simultaneous adjustment mechanisms. The increasing role of the federal government in professional markets is seen as an important determinant of supply and demand. The economic model is discussed in relation to issues relating to (a) long-term changes in the supply of psychologists, (b) post-World War II changes in supply and salary, (c) the reallocation of specialists among industrial sectors and subfields, and (d) the future state of the market. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic salaries in psychology.

Summarizes academic salary changes in psychology for varied professorial ranks over a 3-yr period. Data were obtained from questionnaires sent annually to psychology departments with graduate programs, which were returned at an annual rate of 150-200. Median salaries and yearly increases were rated for associate, assistant, and full professors. Results indicate a substantial decline in salary increments in 1971-1972 compared with earlier years, at all ranks, and in most parts of the country. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and salary.

Presents salary medians for doctorate psychologists in 11 employment settings. Results reveal females are found in greater numbers where their salaries approach parity with male salaries, and that females achieve 90% parity with males only in the public sector, where salary administration is standardized. (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)     

Ethnic group differences in relationships among criteria of job performance.

Investigated racial discrimination and differential bias in criterion measures for 75 black and 359 white tellers in a large bank. 6 supervisory ratings and 4 objective criteria (adjusted salary increase, percent of time worked, and number of shortages and averages) were obtained. Results indicate that mean differences between black and white employees on the criterion measures were generally small, and most statistically significant differences were reduced to nonsignificance when the effects of age and job tenure were removed. However, further analyses showed that the white supervisors based their evaluations of subordinates on objective data for black employees considerably more than they did for white employees. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of perceived inequity on salary allocation decisions.

Conducted a study of 65 evening undergraduates to examine how salary allocation decisions at one organizational level affect those at other levels. Ss who experienced different degrees of inequity in regard to their own salaries allocated salary to their subordinates. Results indicate that the total amount allocated among all subordinates as well as the relative amount allocated among subordinates differed as a result of the degree of inequity experienced by the allocator. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preliminary report of the 1970 National Register.

Examined the salary information in the National Register. The American Psychological Association (APA) compared a 10% sample of the employed respondents to the 1970 Register with population information from the Register. Sample median salaries were also compared with salaries from the 1968 Register. Salaries of psychologists have generally kept pace with inflation. However, many psychologists expected to supplement their salaries with other sources of professional income. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Salaries and satisfactions of medical school psychologists.

Used data from a 1977 survey to investigate the relationship of salary to professional activities and to vocational satisfactions of 642 medical school psychologists. Results show the following: (1) current and potential salaries correlated with items involving seniority and rank, and with beliefs of appropriate skill utilization and advantages accruing in the setting. (2) Salaries are negatively related to time spent in diagnostic and therapeutic work. (3) Only salary expectations are significantly related to personal satisfactions and comparative occupational freedoms. (4) Vocational interests and career commitments are not closely tied to salaries. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interview decisions as determined by competency and attitude similarity.

Asked 51 college students to assume that they worked for a large company and that the president had asked them to evaluate a candidate for a position as a vice president. The target's dossier and information concerning 10 of his attitudes were given to Ss as stimuli for the evaluation. 3 levels of the target's competency and 2 levels of attitude similarity between the S and the target were varied in a 3 * 2 design to examine their effects on subsequent job recommendations and suggested salaries. Similarity tended to influence the recommendation and significantly influenced salary. Competency significantly influenced both the recommendation and salary. Implications for industry are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Generalizability of MBA degree and socioeconomic effects on business school graduates' salaries.

Tested the generalizability of findings reported by J. Pfeffer (see record 1978-26287-001) by examining the determinants of starting and current salaries for 314 graduates (mean age 29 yrs) from the business schools of 3 large state universities. Results support Pfeffer's conclusion that a master's in business administration (MBA) is particularly useful for persons not coming from the highest socioeconomic backgrounds. A variety of factors identified by Pfeffer were controlled for, and the possession of the MBA degree was positively related to starting salary irrespective of socioeconomic origin but was positively related to current salary only for those not coming from upper-middle and upper-class backgrounds. Current salary sex differences only were observed for Ss from upper-class socioeconomic backgrounds. This was attributable to a salary advantage possessed by upper middle- and upper-class males. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction of social skill and general mental ability on job performance and salary.

Job and organizational changes have promoted the importance of social skill at work, yet research in this area has been limited. The authors investigated the interaction between social skill and general mental ability (GMA) in the explanation of job performance and salary, controlling for personality and demographic characteristics. The results indicated that the relationships between social skill and job performance were stronger among workers high than low in GMA. In a similar manner, the relationships between GMA and job performance were stronger among workers high than low in social skill. The interaction on salary indicated that increases in social skill (or GMA) for high-GMA (or social skill) individuals were associated with higher salary levels. It is interesting, however, that increases in social skill (or GMA) for those low in GMA (or social skill) contributed to lower salaries. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between job difficulty, employee's attitude toward his job, and supervisory ratings of the employee effectiveness.

Using correlational techniques, an investigation was made of the relationships between job difficulty (estimated by job evaluation factors), employee attitudes toward his job, and job environment, and supervisory ratings of employee performance. As job difficulty increased, employee attitudes were significantly more positive toward the job, management, and communication, and opportunity for advancement. Partial correlations showed that the relationship between job satisfaction and job difficulty increased when the effects of general morale were eliminated. Supervisory ratings of employee effectiveness were significantly rated (negatively) to employee salary and job tenure. Correlations between employee's attitude dimensions indicate increasing complexity of job content and increased content with people as a part of the job, are positively related to an employee's attitude toward his job. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task difficulty as a moderator of long-range prediction.

Used longitudinal studies of career progress in terms of salary or position attainment to test J. Weitz's (see 40:11) hypothesis that personality variables should predict early in time for high-aptitude Ss and late in time for low-aptitude Ss. Results for 396 maintenance technician trainees followed-up over a 9-yr period and 103 sales trainees followed up over an 11-yr period supported the hypothesis. The Ascendancy scale of the Gordon Personal Profile was found to predict the progress criterion at least 3 yr. earlier for those high, compared to those low on initial training performance. The predictability for low-aptitude Ss appeared to be more complex suggesting that the task, "getting ahead" contained additional personality correlated elements for the latter group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in the acquisition of salary negotiation skills: The role of goals, self-efficacy, and perceived control.

Examined the effectiveness of different training programs in men's and women's acquisition of salary negotiation skills. MBA students received a 2-stage training program that provided initial content instruction in negotiation tactics, followed by supplemental training in either goal setting or self-management. After both training sessions, participants conducted salary negotiations with trained confederates who used standardized guides to award salary increases. Results indicated that, although women negotiated lower salaries than men following the initial training, controlling for goals eliminated this difference. Analysis of salary improvements following supplemental training revealed that gender differences were reduced for self-management participants only. Changes in perceived control over the negotiation appeared to mediate this effect. Implications of these findings for understanding training effectiveness are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A contradiction resolved: Children's processing of syntactic cues.

Using 6-9 yr old children, an attempt was made to replicate D. McNeill's (1970) investigation, which suggested that although semantic cues aided processing of sentences by 5-8 yr olds, syntactic cues did not. In agreement with other more recent studies, results show that children's ability to process syntactically well-formed sentences increased over the early school years. The difference between McNeill's data and later data sets probably stems from (a) unreliability owing to small samples (5 children) at each age level and (b) unreliability due to the high difficulty of sentences used for the criterion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)