Effects of selection risk on sex discrimination in hiring were investigated. Ninety-six male and female educational administration graduate students rated ficticious resumes on suitability for hiring for the female-oriented position of secondary school teacher. Sex and selection risk level were varied, with sex of rater as an assigned factor. Analysis of variance yielded significant main effects for sex (p < .01) and selection risk level (p < .05). All ratings were lower in high selection-risk situations, with males preferred over females across both levels of risk. Results suggested that ratings were based on a stereotype of female inferiority in work efficiency, overriding job sex-orientation as a decision factor.

Traditional personality research on accident behavior has produced conflicting opinions as to the traits that describe the "accident-prone" personality type. Other research has shown that psychosocial life stress, while partially determining the temporal onset of a variety of illnesses, may also be a factor contributing to increased accident liability. This study examined the role of temporary and stress-producing life changes in groups of accident-free and accident-involved industrial employees. The accident sample was found to have significantly higher stress over baseline during the period of accident involvement, but generally lower pre-accident levels than the non-accident sample. A cause-effect analysis of the data from within the accident-involved sample proved inconclusive. Several implications for future research and managerial actions to alleviate stress were also discussed.

Subjects were 38 computer programers employed in a national food-retailing corporation. A job analysis provided a basis for criteria development and served to guide the selection of predictors. Ratings of each programmer's job performance by his immediate supervisor, and scores on such tests as the Computer Programer Aptitude Battery (CPAB), clerical tests, and supervisory judgment test were obtained. Relationships between tests and criteria were examined to find the best test combination for predicting programming performance. Statistical treatment of data included a principal components analysis of the criteria and a multiple linear regression analysis. A weighted combination of the CPAB Reasoning, a test of clerical ability, and supervisory judgment test was found to be highly correlated with performance (R = .60).

A pre- and postexperimental design with a control group was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a management development program. Subjects were 48 first line staff supervisors employed by a major manufacturing company. The training group subjects (n = 24) attended the company's 1-week training program. Subjects in the control group (n= 24) were similar with respect to plant location, job assignment, etc. A 42-item employee-opinion questionnaire was constructed to measure supervisory style and work.-group climate. The subjects' subordinates (n = 313) completed the questionnaire before and after training. Eleven items identified by content analysis as most relevant to the training content comprised the measure of training effectiveness. An analysis of covariance was performed using the pretest as the covariate. Results indicated no significant training effects.

It was hypothesized that field dependence and attention measures would differentiate accident-loaded and accident-free employees of a petroleum services company. Analysis of variance revealed main effects and a three-way interaction for the Rod-and-Frame Test. Main effects occurred for the Attention-Diagnostic Method and Embedded- Figures Test. No differences occurred for the Closure Test. Regression analysis produced an R (76) = .41, p < .01, with the Attention-Diagnostic Method contributing more to prediction. Equality-symmetry violations occurred in the data. Cautious interpretation was advised because of the assumption violations. The accident-loaded subjects produced consistently greater performance variances, which suggested general performance characteristics in several respects. Future research should be longitudinal-predictive, oriented from Kerr 's complementary safety theories.

The purpose of this study was to develop a weighted application blank (WAB) which would aid in the selection of employees who would be more likely to remain on the job for 3 months or more. The 31 biographical items for long- and short-tenure employees were compared to see which items differentiated. A somewhat improvised approach which compared trends of both groups (weighting group N = 169, holdout group N 89), produced five items which were significant at the .05 level and resulted in a 70% improvement over the previous method of selection. The long-tenure employee could be described as a slightly older (20 years or more) married person who lives close to the job, less educated (8th grade or less), and who can list three references.

An "in-basket" test (representative sample of work usually found in the incoming mail basket of a person in a specific desk job) was designed to be used under limitations imposed by Civil Service Statute 1269m concerning merit examinations for the position of police sergeant. This test was used in conjunction with the traditional cognitive skills. test and performance evaluations. Subjects were 20 white male police officers. Peer and supervisory evaluations and predictions of who would make the best sergeant were correlated with total scores on the three-part test. Results indicate that the in-basket test contributes a unique and viable dimension to the traditional merit examination, and aids in the selection of those considered most qualified. Use of the in-basket test under Code 1269m was subsequently approved by the Civil Service Commission.

Twenty factors identified through a factor analysis of a 102-item biographical inventory were used as predictors in a multiple regression equation to predict on-the-job performance (supervisory ratings) of oil field employees. This yielded a multiple R of .41. A total of 295 subjects participated in the study. Cross-validation yielded a correlation coefficient of .06. The t-test analyses of the factor means of equipment operators and field mechanics proved that two factors could discriminate between the groups, Mechanical Experience (p<.01) and Social Orientation (p<.05). The results of this study indicate that conducting a factor analysis of unvalidated biographical items and attempting to predict performance would be less appropriate than factor analyzing predictive items to gain an understanding of their underlying dimensions.

The hypothesis was investigated that school training was more effective than on-the-job training. Of a sample of 349 male subjects, 217 received on-the-job training and 132 received school training. Data were collected and analyzed on tenure, performance, promotions, salary increases, and accidents. Training type had a significant positive correlation with tenure and accident occurrence at the .01 and .05 level, respectively, and a significant correlation with salary increase at the .05 level. A regression model using accident occurrence and salary increase yielded a prediction of training type significant at the .05 level. No difference was found between the two types of training, as measured by the study variables.

The purpose of this study was to assess content and concurrent validity of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). The subjects were thirty-four art majors at North Texas State University between the ages of nineteen and thirty-nine. Content validity for the TTCT, as assessed by seven judges (art professors), was very high; concurrent validity was very low. Only one judge's ranking of the criterion was significantly intercorrelated with that of the other judges (p<.05). There were no significant rho correlations between the TTCT and the criterion (p<.05). The t-ratio differences between the males and females, for all tasks of the TTCT, were non-significant (p<.05). It was concluded that the TTCT were not appropriate for use with adult art majors.

One technique being used to reduce employee turnover is the Weighted Application Blank. Data obtained from application blanks are analyzed and weights are assigned to each item. Utilizing these weights, predicted scores are derived and compared to each person's actual tenure to determine the effectiveness of the model. The present study analyzed application blank data from the files of 93 currently employed and 69 terminated female clerical workers. Twelve items were analyzed by means of a stepwise multiple linear regression procedure, with months of tenure being the dependent variable. The five most significant items yielded a multiple correlation of .54. The total sample also was divided randomly into two groups, and cross-group analyses resulted in simple correlations of .56 and .29.

A job satisfaction questionnaire measuring satisfaction with various job aspects was administered to 458 male equipment operators in 30 district offices of a North Texas based petroleum services company to determine whether mean district scores on any of nine sub-scales developed through factor analysis or on the composite overall satisfaction scale were predictive of subsequent district turnover rate. Eight of the nine sub-scales were correlated with district turnover rate at the .05 level or better. Overall satisfaction was also significantly related to district turnover rate (r = .57, p < .001). It was concluded that the instrument is a valid indicator of subsequent employee turnover rate in the population studied. However, a cross-validation was suggested to determine whether the relationships can be generalized to other populations.