The purpose of the study was to develop a revision of the logical reasoning section of the California Test of Mental Maturity which increases its discriminative ability while maintaining an acceptable measure of reliability. Subjects were 102 students of general psychology classes at North Texas State University. All were administered the Logical Reasoning section of the California Test of Mental Maturity in its original form and an experimental revision of it (LRTR). The Wesman Personnel Classification Test was administered at the same time to demonstrate the tests' construct validity. Pearson product-moment correlations, item and homogeneity analyses were run. Results indicated that the revised test correlated significantly with the original test and the WPCT. Internal validity of the revised test was satisfactory, showing an improvement over the original test in terms of clarity, reliability and homogeneity.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the job satisfaction and motivating potential of nursing jobs would be higher for nurses using Patient Focused Care (PFC) compared with nurses not using PFC. Nurses from a large metropolitan hospital served as subjects. Data were collected using three instruments designed to measure job satisfaction and motivating potential. Those instruments were the Job Diagnostic Survey, the Job Descriptive Inventory, and the McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale. It was hypothesized that nurses working on PFC nursing units would demonstrate greater job satisfaction and motivating potential than nurses working on non-PFC nursing units. The hypotheses were not supported. Results were explained by, among other things, accounting for the nature of the instruments used. The two instruments which gave data counter to the hypothesized direction were not nursing-oriented.

This study explored the relationship of Type A/B personality and leadership style to absenteeism. Absenteeism data were gathered for 243 male fire fighters and fire engineers. Each subject was administered the Jenkins Activity Scale to measure his Type A characteristics and the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire to measure his perception of his supervisor's leadership style. The results, though non-significant, revealed that: a) Type A's had less absenteeism than type B's; b) Subjects who perceived their supervisors as being low on consideration had less absenteeism than those who perceived their supervisors as being high on this dimension; c) Type A's absenteeism was low and Type B's was high when working under a leader perceived as low on structure. Finally, a weak but significant three-way interaction effect revealed that the highest amount of absenteeism occurred when Type B' s worked under supervisors who were high in consideration and low in structure. The least amount of absenteeism occurred when Type A's worked under supervisors who were high in structure and low in consideration.

This study investigated the relationship between turnover and personality measures through the application of discriminant analysis in a split sample cross validation design. Four personality tests measuring 34 dimensions of personality were administered to 300 Caucasian male job applicants. The tests were the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior, the Vocational Preference Inventory, a shortened version of the DF-Opinion Survey, and the Guilford Zimmerman Temperament Survey. Ten of the dimensions were initially found to be significantly related to turnover. The shrinkage of the coefficient after cross validation was enough for the loss of statistical significance. It is suggested that personality measures are moderately associated with turnover and that investigations examining methods to reduce turnover should focus on other variables.

Subjects, 432 convenience store cashiers, were divided into long-tenure and short-tenure groups. Chi-square analysis of application blank information for a weighting sample drawn from both groups revealed two items which significantly (p < .05) differentiated between the long tenure and short-tenure groups: number of previous jobs and full-time/part-time preference. Response weights were computed for these two items and used to calculate composite scores for the remaining holdout sample. A significant reduction in turnover would have occurred at the highest composite score level, if used as a hiring cut off. Results were tempered by several considerations, including a high percentage of false negatives and an insignificant linear relationship between composite scores and tenure.

The correlation between employee theft and various employee attitudes is investigated with 489 subjects from a large discount store chain located in the southeastern United States. Subjects completed two tests: Personnel Decisions, Inc. 's Employment Inventory/Customer Service Inventory which measures employee reliability and orientation toward providing customer service; and the Organization Responsiveness Questionnaire which measures satisfaction and perceived store security. Individual scores on the tests were correlated with a performance rating form completed by the subject's supervisor. Scores were computed for each store and correlated with inventory shrinkage rates. Results revealed relatively weak correlations for some variables. The multiple regression analysis was unable to significantly predict any of the criterion variables.

Successful implementation of organizational redesign depends on the support of employees at all levels of the organization. This study looked at some of the factors that are related to employee support for organizational redesign. Subjects (82 support staff members of a small manufacturing plant undergoing organizational change) were administered a survey which measured employee perceptions about the change management process and the disruption the change caused to their daily routine. Eleven variables were assessed as independent variables in terms of their relationship to the dependent variable which was employee support of the organizational change. All eleven variables were significantly related to the dependent variable. The implications of these results and issues for further research was discussed.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the teams that received interpersonal training would function more effectively as a team than the teams that did not receive training. Individuals from a large division of a major defense contractor in the southern part of the United States served as subjects. Data were collected using the Team Effectiveness Profile designed to measure team effectiveness. This survey measures the overall score as well as five sub-scores. It was hypothesized that the teams that received training would function more effectively than the teams that did not receive training. The hypotheses were not supported. Results were explained, among other things, by the internal and external changes that hampered the transition towards self-managed work teams.

The study employed 206 entry-level, retail sales associates working for a large telecommunications company across 70 store sites. The purpose of the study was to discriminate successful performers from those with little sales potential via a valid, fair, and practical selection procedure. The experimental test set consisted of the General Ability Battery, Sales Attitude Checklist, Wonderlic Personnel Test, SRA Verbal Form, School and College Ability Test Verbal, SPA Arithmetic Index, and SRA Reading Index. Supervisory ratings and percent revenue data were used as measures of sales performance. Based on the multiple regression results, the SPA Reading Index and SRA Verbal Form were chosen to compose the final selection system for the retail sales position.

Derived from sociotechnical systems theory, autonomous or self-managed work groups are a form of work design in which employees are multi-skilled, take responsibility for the group's tasks, and have discretion over the decisions which impact group performance. Previously collected survey data from 602 employees of a southwestern manufacturing firm were examined via factor analyses and multivariate analysis of variance. Significant differences were found for self-managed work group members versus traditional job holders regarding enhanced organizational involvement and enhanced work responsibility. However, there was no evidence of an age effect nor interaction regarding age. This study provides evidence to other action researchers and organizational decision makers that an "older" work force should not be considered a barrier to implementing this type of work design

This study examined the relationship between the sub-components of Holland's Self-Directed Search and independent, objective measures of ability using a comprehensive battery of well-validated tests of primary abilities corresponding to each of Holland's six vocational interest types. The sample consisted of 149 female undergraduate students, ages 18-25. Correlation of the ability measure test scores with the four Self-Directed Search subcomponents revealed that the subtests were not related to corresponding measures of ability in a consistent fashion. Implications for the use of the Self-Directed Search in assessing abilities are discussed along with suggestions for future research investigating the relationhip between interest in ventories and the measurement of primary abilities.

Service orientation has been suggested to be a work-related behavioral trait that contributes toward overall job performance in certain occupations. Therefore, the Batrus Hollweg Service Questionnaire (SQ), a personality inventory, was hypothesized to predict performance in a sample (N=55) of fast-food restaurant workers whose jobs were primarily composed of service-related elements. A performance evaluation form was created for use as the criterion measure. An alternative scoring system for the SQ was developed, and showed it to be significantly correlated with the criterion. The potential for use of the alternative scoring procedure is discussed.

This study was a concurrent validation of a paper and pencil test battery used at a national trucking company. Forty-eight driver managers were rated by their immediate supervisors with the performance appraisal covering 12 dimensions of job behavior that was developed by the experimenter. The driver managers were also administered the Wesman Personnel Classification Test, the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, and the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). A biographical information blank was also developed and validated. Most validity correlations were nonsignificant, with the exception of the Dominance scale r = .25 (p < .05), the Self-control scale r = -.25 (p < .05), the Communanlity scale r = .29 (p < .05), and the Flexibility scale r = -.39 (p < .05), with overall performance.

The present study empirically examined working behaviors of men and women within a self-managed working environment. Three models of women and work were studied. Results indicated women exhibited higher levels of job meaning and continuance commitment. The more self-managed production team exhibited higher levels of growth need strength, support from co-workers, continuance commitment, task significance and lower levels of role conflicts. Support teams exhibited higher levels of autonomy and satisfaction with pay. Path analysis, testing a model based on Astin's sociopsychological model indicated direct effects from expectancy to general satisfaction, from gender to expectancy, and task significance to gender. An alternative model showed direct effects between general satisfaction and expectancy, satisfaction with pay, task significance and expectancies, and between satisfaction with pay and teams.

Realistic Job Previews have been shown to impact newcomers to jobs through ircreased self-selection, reduced turnover, eased adjustment, improved performance and increased job satisfaction. To address a turnover problem, Realistic Job Previews were implemented in hiring for two entry level positions in half of 539 branch offices of a large financial services organization. Subjects consisted of 122 Service Representatives and 98 Financial Representatives. Eight months after implementation, turnover rates were compared for control and experimental groups. There was no significant difference between turnover among Service Representatives. Financial Representatives in the experimental group had lower turnover rates (p < .10), with the difference increasing over time. Comparing the turnover rates between three and six months tenure resulted in a statistically significant difference (p < .05).

Empowerment, which has been described as both a means of effecting higher and more efficient quality work outputs and a means of facilitating greater freedom in the workplace combines elements of philosophy, psychology, and management theory. The perceptions of the present empowerment level of 3500 employees of a division of a major corporation were analyzed using data from an empowerment survey. The results were examined using correlational and factorial measures to test the structure of the survey. ANOVA and pair-wise comparisons were used to examine group differences on five subscales of the survey based on employee level in the organization. Significant differences were found in almost all categories. Rank order for the three levels differed from previous findings, perhaps due to empowerment thrusts.

The purpose of this study was to document and assess the consequences of implementing employee involvement in a manufacturing setting. Using a quasi-experimental design, the study utilized information from various sources of data including archives, interview, and questionnaire data for a three to four year period. Time series comparisons were used. The results indicated that production increased initially, but then dropped back to original level. Quality of products increased and continued to improve gradually. The highest rate of improvement was observed in safety. An attempt was made to measure current level of commitment at the plant but was unsuccessful due to a low return rate of questionnaires. Overall, data collected partially support the hypotheses. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.

A situational interview was developed for use in the selection of convenience store cashiers. One hundred two newly hired cashiers were interviewed using the situational interview. Ninety days later, a performance appraisal was completed for all subjects who were still employed. There was no significant difference in interview scores between those still working 90 days after hire and those who were not (t = 1.14, df = 100, n.s.). Correlations between the total interview scores and the total performance appraisal scores were generally very low or negative. Potential explanations for the failure of the interview to predict turnover or job performance are discussed

This study identified and defined leader behaviors with two levels of leadership in a self-managed team organization. Job analysis methodology was used. A comparison of task importance values was made within groups and between hierarchical levels in the organization. Identified leader behaviors were compared with effective, traditional leader performance. Qualitative data collected throughout the investigation clarified an integrative model for effective organizations developed from the literature. The model included leader characteristics and team member behaviors when using self-managed teams.

The study investigated the predictive validity of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) as a tool for sales selection. Two analyses were conducted. Study 1 consisted of 20 male home improvement representatives. The average net and gross closing ratios for a six month period were used as the criteria. The results indicted that none of the CPI scales differentiated between poor and good performers when correlated with the secondary criterion of gross closing ratios. These findings were contrary to a previous concurrent validity study. Study 2 investigated month to month retention/separation for 61 home improvement representatives, to determine if the CPI differentiated between short and long term success. Phi coefficients showed no statistical significance between retention/separation and the CPI profile score over time.

Data were collected by an external company for a healthcare service firm interested in learning the job-related attitudes of their employees. Thus, archival data from 1,287 employees were collected for a different purpose. The survey consisted of 117 questions covering a broad range of constructs. Consequently, the items were used to derive effective measures of employee engagement and behavioral outcomes, as well as the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical dimensions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis procedures were used to create scales reflecting these four factors. Interestingly, six scales emerged, logically linking to and further specifying the initial dimensions. These were Organizational Linkage, Manager Relationship, Job Fit, Job Clarity, Work Pressure, and Meaningful Work. To test the hypotheses, six separate regression equations were calculated, which statistically supported modification by each of the dimensions. However, statistical significance of the interactions resulted from having a large sample, given the actual association was too small to be meaningful (e.g., a contribution of 0.6% of the variance). As each of the dimensions had a main effect on the behavioral measure during hypothesis testing, exploratory regression equations were calculated to further understand the interrelationships. Of most interest was finding that in the presence of Engagement, the …

The purpose of this study was to empirically examine two empirically examine two main areas of concern in selecting criteria for validation studies: the development of the criterion and the multiple criteria versus composite criterion debate. Evidence was found for the ability of the various weighting schemes used to generate composites that were statistically and conceptually different from one another. Knowledge of the nature of each composite, along with the multiple criteria approach, proved essential to understanding the composite criterion to the validation process. Selection and treatment of the criterion apparently consist of judgment and individual estimations.