A meta-analytic review of predictors of job performance for salespeople.

This meta-analysis evaluated predictors of both objective and subjective sales performance. Biodata measures and sales ability inventories were good predictors of the ratings criterion, with corrected rs of .52 and .45, respectively. Potency (a subdimension of the Big 5 personality dimension Extraversion) predicted supervisor ratings of performance (r?=?.28) and objective measures of sales (r?=?.26). Achievement (a component of the Conscientiousness dimension) predicted ratings (r?=?.25) and objective sales (r?=?.41). General cognitive ability showed a correlation of .40 with ratings but only .04 with objective sales. Similarly, age predicted ratings (r?=?.26) but not objective sales (r?=?-.06). On the basis of a small number of studies, interest appears to be a promising predictor of sales success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and ability factors in sales performance.

A variety of personality and ability tests were utilized in a study devised to isolate effective predictors of sales success and to study the various factors in sales performance. The Ss were 65 dealer salesmen employed by a mojr petroleum company. Objective criterion measures were developed using sales figures covering a 4-year period. After cross-validation 2 tests emerged as reliable predictors. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Arithmetic subtest yielded correlations with criterion measures in the low .30s. The Tomkins-Horn Picture Arrangement Test yielded correlations in the high .50s. On the latter test measures of dependence, sociophilia, self-confidence, and happiness were found in association with successful sales performances; measures of low aggression, sociophobia, and strong superego were found in association with poor performance. From Psyc Abstracts 36:05:5LD06M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Susceptibility to hypnosis and susceptibility to social influence.

Measures of susceptibility to social influence were obtained from 80 male Ss through a persuasibility test (Janis), an influencibility test (Schachter), and an autokinetic test (Sherif). A test of hypnotic susceptibility followed; scores from personality inventories were also available. Factor analysis shows the hypnotic subscales to represent one factor ("primary suggestibility"), orthogonal to a bipolar factor represented largely by scores on the self-report inventories. Among the tests of social influence only the influencibility test showed a slight positive relationship to hypnosis. Birth-order relationships failed to confirm predictions based on Schachter's findings. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affiliation and aggression as related to gender in domestic chicks (Gallus gallus).

Social discrimination in male and female domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) was investigated by using (1) latencies of approach response, (2) simultaneous free choice, and (3) intersubject aggressive-pecking tests. In approach-response tests, females showed shorter latencies when tested with cagemates than when tested with strangers, whereas males showed shorter latencies when tested with strangers than when tested with cagemates. In simultaneous-choice tests, females spent more time near a cagemate, whereas males spent more time near a strange chick. In aggressive-pecking tests, both sexes pecked more at strangers than at cagemates; aggressive pecking at strangers, however, was higher in males than in females. It is argued that gender effects in social discrimination can be accounted for in terms of stronger social attachment in females and aggressive responses in males. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Arousal hypothesis" and the effects of music on purchasing behavior.

Replicates, in a naturalistic setting, a prior finding which supported that portion of the "arousal hypothesis" which predicts that a certain degree of noise will actually increase activity. Music was varied from loud to soft in 8 counterbalanced experimental sessions in 2 large supermarkets (N = 1100). The "arousal hypothesis" seems to account for the results: significantly less time was spent in the markets during the loud session, although there was no significant difference in sales, nor in the customers' reported satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal stability of personality by questionnaire.

The lack of a summary table or normative reliabilities for self-report inventories prompted the present compendium of test–retest reliabilities of several questionnaires that encompass a range of ages and instruments and differ in construction method and number of items/scale. The tests studied were the SVIB, EPPS, High School Personality Questionnaire, 16 PF, California Psychological Inventory, and MMPI. Samples varied in size, sex, and occupation. Findings indicate that tests of general personality had a similar pattern of decline in reliability over time and that homogeneous scales provided greater stability/item. When measured by occupational interest items, similar constructs had greater stability. In general, group profiles remained the same even over long periods, despite considerable reordering of individuals on any trait over time. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The growth in acceptance of the MMPI.

Personality questionnaires and inventories were in serious disrepute at the time that the MMPI was developed and published. A series of devastating research studies had been carried out on the sources of error in the available tests, and highly critical reviews damning all questionnaires had been published. Projective instruments were gaining favor. The test authors, S. R. Hathaway and J. C. McKinley, were going against a strong tide in the field of personality assessment in their efforts to have the new instrument accepted. Efforts by their colleagues and former students from Minnesota were finally able to engender a different perception of the MMPI and to foster its present wide acceptance here and abroad. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A field study of job applicants' reactions to personality and cognitive ability testing.

Eighty job applicants were screened through 1 of 3 job-selection conditions depending on the job for which they were applying: interviews only; interviews plus a personality inventory (the NEO Personality Inventory); or interviews, personality inventory, and cognitive ability testing. Applicants' reactions were generally favorable in all conditions but were significantly less positive in the interview plus personality test condition. The condition of a battery of both personality and ability tests (in addition to the interview) was perceived as positively as the no-test control condition. These results suggest that personality inventories can be included in employee-selection procedures without creating adverse reactions among job applicants as long as they are used in conjunction with ability tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning what's taught: Sex differences in instruction.

Research indicates that boys perform better on mathematics tests and girls perform better on reading tests. An investigation of why boys' and girls' performance differs was made by coding 33 teacher interactions with 2nd grade students during reading and mathematics instruction. Teachers made more academic contacts with girls in reading and with boys in math; teachers spent relatively more cognitive time with girls in reading and boys in math; teachers made consistently more managerial contacts with boys than girls; and, although there were no differences in initial abilities, sex differences were found in end-of-year achievement in reading. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Homogeneity and variation in measuring personality.

"The measurement of personality variables is in a highly unsatisfactory state at the present time." Models for measuring personality traits, kinds of variance in test response data, difficulties in personality measurement, and some courses of action for meeting these problems are discussed. "The cumulative homogeneity model should be given a more intensive trial. It is appropriate not only for standard inventories but also for the perceptual and cognitive tests." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social Preferences of Developing Guinea Pigs (Cavia porcellus) From the Preweaning to the Periadolescent Periods.

Preference tests in a novel environment (Experiment 1) and unobtrusive observations in a specialized living environment (Experiment 2) examined the attractiveness of various classes of conspecifics for maturing guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus). It was found that (a) the young continued to remain near the mother well beyond weaning; (b) there was increased time spent with unrelated adult females, but not males, after weaning; (c) male and female offspring behaved similarly; and (d) littermates spent considerable time with each other. These results provide no evidence that guinea pigs approaching sexual maturity begin to associate preferentially with novel animals or potential breeding partners. Choices were largely predictable from earlier findings of the ability of various classes of conspecifics to reduce hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity of the young. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative validities of forced-choice and single-stimulus tests.

The generalization that forced-choice personality inventories are more valid than single-stimulus forms of the same tests is not supported by critical consideration of relevant evidence. Only 1 study that claimed superior validity of the forced-choice format appeared to have used identical items in the 2 forms. Other studies either did not employ single-stimulus forms for comparison, or did not hold item content constant between the 2 forms, or else yielded nonconfirming results. The most tenable conclusion at present is that test validity does not depend on this characteristic of item format under the circumstances in which these self-report inventories are typically administered. This was also the conclusion from the writer's investigation of 3 tests: the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule, the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values, and Scott's value scales. (45 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some discrepancies in research on activities of clinical psychologists.

Comments on T. C. Wade and T. B. Baker's (see record 1978-20152-001) survey of clinical psychologists' opinions and use of psychological tests. The relatively small sample size in the study is criticized as being nonrepresentative of the population studied, and the time spent on testing activities needs clarification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in the strategies used by rats to solve a navigation task.

Rats were trained in a triangular-shaped pool to find a hidden platform, whose location was defined in terms of two sources of information, a landmark outside the pool and a particular corner of the pool. Subsequent test trials without the platform pitted these two sources of information against one another. This test revealed a clear sex difference. Females spent more time in an area of the pool that corresponded to the landmark, whereas males spent more time in the distinctive corner of the pool even though further tests revealed that both sexes had learned about the two sources of information by presenting cues individually. The results agree with the claim that males and females use different types of information in spatial navigation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Within-group norming and other forms of score adjustment in preemployment testing.

Various forms of score adjustment have been suggested and used when mean differences by gender, race, or ethnicity are found using preemployment tests. This article examines the rationales for score adjustment and describes and compares different forms of score adjustment, including within-group norming, bonus points, separate cutoffs, and banding. It reviews the legal environment for personnel selection and the circumstances leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. It examines score adjustment in the use of cognitive ability tests, personality inventories, interest inventories, scored biographical data, and physical ability tests and outlines the implications for testing practice of various interpretations of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of psychological test usage in Hong Kong in 1993.

The authors surveyed test usage among 50 clinical and educational psychologists in Hong Kong and compared results with those of previous surveys in Hong Kong, China, and the United States. Although testing trends in Hong Kong have remained relatively unchanged, especially regarding the use of intellectual tests and simple projective measures, the use of specific self-administered psychiatric rating scales appeared to rise above that of the time-consuming multiscale personality inventories. Neuropsychological batteries and vocational inventories remained infrequently used. The constraints posed by translation and renorming and the need for test development with the collaboration among psychologists in different Chinese societies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Readability of adult psychopathology inventories.

Although most manuals for psychopathology inventories suggest a minimal level of reading ability necessary for valid administration, supporting data are not always provided. To establish guidelines for clinical use of commonly used psychopathology inventories, this study examined the text and vocabulary complexity of 4 tests: MMPI-2, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II), Basic Personality Inventory, and Personality Inventory Assessment. Analysis of the complexity of complete item sets showed that the inventories had overall reading levels at the 5th grade or lower, but measures of the difficulty of individual scales and vocabulary difficulty of the entire inventories showed that the 6th-grade level is a better estimate. Guidelines are given for testing Ss of various levels of education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

驻外销售分公司计算机远程管理系统的开发与应用

介绍了安钢计算机远程销售业务管理的开发应用情况。该系统采用普通电话线的分布式数据传输模式,实现了总部对驻外销售分公司的帐目、库存结构、价位、销量等运营情况的计算机实时跟踪管理,杜绝了滚动结算、无款发货、少款多发等人工操作造成的违规现象,提高了销售管理效率。     

Some thoughts on the "culture-fairness" of personality inventories.

Issues attending the use of personality inventories in cultures other than the one in which it was sired were discussed. To demonstrate some of these points data were presented that indicated differential understandability of certain trait names between two cultures as similar as Canada and the U.S. The need for a research-based program prior to the adoption of non-Canadian tests into Canadian settings was stressed. The documented American-Canadian differences were also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)