Applicants' reactions to the fairness of selection procedures: The effects of positive rule violations and time of measurement.

This study examined several unexplored issues in research on applicants' perceptions of fairness. First, the study explored possible differences between procedural violations that advantage individuals vs. those that are disadvantageous. Second, the study examined the complex relationship between process and outcome fairness across the stages of the selection process. A longitudinal, simulated selection process was used; procedural justice was manipulated by varying the consistency of test administration, and distributive justice was manipulated by varying perceptions of equity. Results indicate that favorable rule violations are perceived similar to rule satisfaction and that a complex and dynamic relationship exists between process and outcome fairness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explanations for side effect aversion in preventive medical treatment decisions.

Objective: Many laypeople demonstrate excessive sensitivity to negative side effects of medical treatments, which may lead them to refuse beneficial therapies. This Internet-based experiment investigated three possible explanations for such “side effect aversion.” One was derived from mental accounting, one examined the mere presence of a side effect, and one focused on computational difficulties. Design: Participants (N = 5,379) were presented with a hypothetical cancer preventive treatment situation that was or was not accompanied by one or two small side effects. The side effects were either beneficial or harmful. In all conditions, the net absolute risk reduction associated with the treatment was 15%. Main Outcome Measures: Participants indicated their willingness to accept treatment and their perceptions of the treatment's effects on their overall cancer risk. Results: Data were consistent only with the “mere presence” explanation of side effect aversion, the idea that side effects act as a strong negative cue that directly affects treatment appraisal. The number of negative side effects did not influence treatment willingness. Conclusion: Side effect aversion is a challenge to informed decision making. Specific mechanisms that produce side effect aversion should be identified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Procedural justice explanations and employee reactions to economic hardship: A field experiment.

In a randomized field experiment involving 173 salaried employees, treatment Ss received an explanation for an ongoing pay freeze. This explained the fairness of the decision process leading to the freeze and the fairness of the implementation of the freeze. The explanation mitigated the effect of the resultant economic hardship on employee attitudes, turnover intentions, and perceptions of procedural justice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Survivor reactions to reorganization: Antecedents and consequences of procedural, interpersonal, and informational justice.

This study tested a model of survivor reactions to reorganization, which incorporated multiple predictors and consequences of procedural, interpersonal, and informational justice. The 3 justice types had different correlates: all 4 antecedents (employee input, victim support, implementation, and communication quality) predicted interpersonal fairness, implementation and communication quality were associated with informational fairness, and employee input was the sole predictor of procedural justice. Procedural justice was strongly related to all 4 outcome variables, and interpersonal and informational justice added unique variance to the prediction of trust in management. The reorganization effort was still predictive of employee outcomes, although primarily through procedural justice approximately 1 year after its completion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An integrative framework for explaining reactions to decisions: Interactive effects of outcomes and procedures.

The authors suggest that procedural and distributive factors interactively combine to influence individuals' reactions to their encounters with other people, groups, and organizations. Results from 45 independent samples (reviewed herein) show that (1) level of procedural justice is more positively related to individuals' reactions when outcome fairness or valence is relatively low and (2) level of outcome fairness or valence is more positively related to individuals' reactions when procedural justice is relatively low. They present various explanations of the interaction effect. Theoretical progress may be achieved through future efforts to delineate the conditions under which each of the explanations is more versus less likely to account for the interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Designing pareto-optimal selection systems: Formalizing the decisions required for selection system development.

The article presents an analytic method for designing Pareto-optimal selection systems where the applicants belong to a mixture of candidate populations. The method is useful in both applied and research settings. In an applied context, the present method is the first to assist the selection practitioner when deciding on 6 major selection design issues: (1) the predictor subset, (2) the selection rule, (3) the selection staging, (4) the predictor sequencing, (5) the predictor weighting, and (6) the stage retention decision issue. From a research perspective, the method offers a unique opportunity for studying the impact and relative importance of different strategies for reducing adverse impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational Justice and Black Applicants' Reactions to Affirmative Action.

Using organizational justice as a guiding framework, the authors studied perceptions of affirmative action programs by presumed beneficiaries. Three conceptual issues were addressed: (a) the content of different affirmative action plans; (b) the 3-way interaction among distributive, procedural, and interactional justice; and (c) the distinction between outcome favorability and distributive justice. These ideas were tested with a sample of Black engineering students who responded to 1 of 6 plans. Participants distinguished among the various plans, with some policies being viewed as more fair than others. In addition, a 3-way interaction among the 3 types of organizational justice was observed. Specifically, the 2-way interaction between distributive and interactional fairness was only significant when procedural justice was low. Implications for organizational justice and for the design of affirmative action programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using revealed mate preferences to evaluate market force and differential preference explanations for mate selection.

In this article the authors illustrate how revealed preferences (i.e., preferences inferred through an individual’s differential attraction to multiple targets) can be used to investigate the nature of mate preferences. The authors describe how revealed preferences can be estimated and how the reliability of these estimates can be established. Revealed preference estimates were used to explore the level of consensus in judgments of who is and is not attractive and whether revealed preferences are systematically related to self-reported mate preferences and personality traits. Revealed preference estimates were created for over 4,000 participants by examining their attraction to 98 photographs. Participants of both genders showed substantial consensus in judgments of whom they found attractive and unattractive, although men showed higher consensus than women. Revealed preference estimates also showed relationships with corresponding self-rated preferences and with other dispositional characteristics such as personality traits and age. Although the findings demonstrate the existence of meaningful individual differences in preferences, they also indicate an important role for consensual preferences in mate selection processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal analysis of organizational fairness: An examination of reactions to tenure and promotion decisions.

Most organizational justice research takes a cross-sectional approach to examining the relationship between perceived fairness and individuals' attitudes. This study examines the effect of procedural and distributive justice over time. It is suggested that individuals acquire more information and experience with procedures and outcomes over time. These changes in information and experience affect the influence of procedural and distributive justice on organizational attitudes. Faculty perceptions of tenure and promotion decisions were assessed 3 times (preallocation, short-term postallocation, long-term postallocation) over a 2-year period. Results generally supported the hypotheses. Procedural justice was most influential prior to and soon after outcome decisions were made. Distributive justice was most influential 1 year later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of applicant's dress on interviewer's selection decisions.

Investigated the effect of female applicants' dress on interviewers' selection decisions for management positions by having 77 personnel administrators view videotaped interviews of 4 applicants in different costumes and make hiring recommendations for each applicant. Three-way ANOVA was used to determine the effect of costume on hiring decisions independent of the effects of person, sequence of showing, and costume?×?person interaction. Results confirm that masculinity of the female applicant's dress had a significant effect on interviewers' selection decisions. There was a positive relationship between masculinity of the applicant's costume and favorability of hiring recommendations received by the applicants. The influence of person on selection decisions also was significant. It is concluded that female applicants' clothing is an avenue for influencing the selection decision for management positions. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor affective reactions to termination: Impact of counselor loss history and perceived client sensitivity to loss.

Licensed-to-practice psychologists (61 men and 56 women) participated in a study of affective reactions to termination as a function of counselor loss history and perceived client sensitivity to loss. Counselor loss history (age at time of most significant loss, past grief reactions, and present grief reactions) was a significant predictor of counselor anxiety and depression during termination. Perceived client sensitivity to loss (sensitivity to loss and experiencing of other losses at time of termination) was a significant predictor of counselor anxiety during termination when the effect of counselor loss history was partialed out. Neither counselor loss history nor perceived client sensitivity to loss was predictive of counselor task satisfaction during termination. Results support the view that the termination process is affected by both counselor and client variables related to loss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of procedural and distributive justice on reactions to a selection system.

Procedural and distributive justice were examined in an employee selection situation. Along procedural justice dimensions, job relatedness of and explanation offered for the selection procedures were manipulated. Distributive justice was examined through manipulation of a selection decision and collection of a priori hiring expectations. Dependent measures included fairness reactions, recommendation intentions, self-efficacy, and actual work performance. Undergraduates (n?=?260) were selected/rejected for paid employment. Job relatedness influenced performance and interacted with selection decision on perceptions of distributive fairness and self-efficacy. Explanations influenced recommendations of rejected applicants. Interactions between hiring expectations and selection decision were observed on perceived fairness and recommendation intentions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preference-consistent evaluation of information in the hidden profile paradigm: Beyond group-level explanations for the dominance of shared information in group decisions.

Common explanations for the failure of groups to solve so-called hidden profiles focus on group processes, namely insufficient discussion of unshared information and premature consensus on a suboptimal alternative. As 2 experiments show, even in the absence of such group processes, hidden profiles are hardly ever solved. In Experiment 1, participants first received individual information about a personnel selection task and then read a group discussion protocol containing full information exchange. If the individual information was misleading (hidden profile), most participants failed to detect the correct alternative. In Experiment 2, it was determined that this effect is due to preference-consistent evaluation of information that constitutes an individual-level process mediating the failure of group members to solve hidden profiles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interviewers' perceptions of person–organization fit and organizational selection decisions.

Amodel of person–organization fit and organizational hiring decisions is developed and tested, using data from 38 interviewers making hiring decisions about 93 applicants. Results suggest that interviewers can assess applicant–organization values congruence with significant levels of accuracy and that interviewers compare their perceptions of applicants' values with their organizations' values to assess person–organization fit. Results also suggested that interviewers' subjective person–organization fit assessments have large effects on their hiring recommendations relative to competing applicant characteristics, and that interviewers' hiring recommendations directly affect organizations' hiring decisions (e.g., job offers). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of agency and communion to well-being: Evidence and potential explanations.

There are pervasive sex differences in psychological and physical well-being, many of which can be linked to the differential socialization of men and women. Numerous studies have linked psychological masculinity and femininity to well-being. In the present article, this literature is explained by focusing on the specific personality traits captured by conventional measures of masculinity and femininity: agency (focus on self and forming separations) and communion (focus on others and forming connections), respectively. Both agency and communion are required for optimal well-being (D. Bakan, 1966); when one exists in the absence of the other (unmitigated communion or unmitigated agency), however, negative health outcomes occur. Research that is consistent with this idea is presented, and the processes by which unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion affect well-being are explored. These processes involve control, social support, and health behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prison inmates' explanations for interpersonal violence: Accounts and attributions.

Explanations given by 44 22–51 yr old male violent offenders for 226 incidents of violence were coded for locus of attribution (e.g., self, other, situation) and for excuse vs justification and were examined for their relationship to certain situational variables (e.g., sex of victim, presence of 3rd parties). Results indicate significant associations that were consistent with predictions from attribution theory. Ss' explanations for their violent behavior were more external than internal, and explanations for violent episodes were more often justifications than excuses. Explanations in the form of excuses were given more frequently when the victim died. Attributions of single perpetrators were less external than those of Ss who acted with accomplices. There was more victim attribution and less situation attribution when the victim was an intimate or familiar. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fairness reactions to personnel selection techniques in France and the United States.

The authors examined the bases for fairness reactions to different selection practices and considered cross-cultural differences in these reactions by comparing respondents from 2 cultures. College students (N?=?259) from France and the United States rated the favorability of 10 selection procedures and then indicated the bases for these reactions on 7 procedural dimensions. Selection decisions based on interviews, work-sample tests, and resumes were perceived favorably in both cultures. Graphology was perceived more favorably in France than in the United States, but even French reactions toward graphology were somewhat negative. The perceived face validity of the selection procedure was the strongest correlate of favorability reactions among both samples. Beyond comparing the results from each culture, the discussion addresses implications for multinational companies establishing selection systems in foreign countries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The amnesic syndrome: Descriptions and explanations.

Reviews and analyzes major trends in the study of human amnesia and catalogs similarities and differences among amnesias. Six symptoms of different forms of amnesia overlap, and these 6 points of intersection constitute the amnesic syndrome. Various theories that have been proposed to account for the amnesic syndrome are evaluated, and an alternative based on the distinction between effortful and automatic encoding is developed. It is argued that encoding that occurs automatically in normal persons requires effort in amnesics. Consequently an amnesic must either expend more effort than normal persons to encode new information or fail to encode this information with the same richness as nonamnesics. In either case, memory will suffer. (4 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's failure to communicate: An assessment of comparison and egocentrism explanations.

Studied 2 possible explanations of why many young children communicate poorly on tasks that require them to discriminate referents from nonreferents: (a) poor communicators do not compare the associative strength of potential messages to the referent and nonreferent or (b) poor communicators engage in an egocentric form of comparison activity such that their messages have private but not public meaning. The latter implies that children who communicate poorly to another person could make effective use of their own messages. To examine these explanations, 64 good and poor communicators from grades 3 and 5 were asked to identify referents from their own messages. Ss who communicated poorly were also less effective than good communicators on the self-communication task. Data suggest that poor communicators do not engage in comparison activity even for their own private understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)