Beyond Sexual Harassment: The Importance of Considering Workplace Aggression (IO Psychology)

Topic: Employee Satisfaction, Sexual Harassment
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (SEP 2010)
Article: Comparing Victim Attributions and Outcomes for Workplace Aggression and Sexual Harassment
Authors: Hershcovis, M. S., & Barling, J.
Reviewed By: Thaddeus Rada

Sexual harassment is a common, negative component of organizational life that has received a good deal of research attention in IO psychology in recent years. However, while understanding this phenomenon is undoubtedly important, there remain other forms of organizational misconduct that can also have a substantial negative impact on organizations and their employees. One of these forms of misconduct is workplace aggression, defined by the authors of the current articles as “nonviolent negative acts perpetrated against organizational members, which organizational members are motivated to avoid” (p. 875). There are several characteristics that sexual harassment and workplace aggression share, but workplace aggression is unique in that it is likely to be experienced, by both men and women, as an attack based not on a particular group affiliation (i.e. gender, race, religion, etc.), but rather, on them personally as an individual.

Hershcovis and Barling conducted two studies that evaluated how reactions to sexual harassment and workplace aggression differ. First, the authors conducted a lab experiment, which revealed that participants made stronger internal attributions (among other attributions) after reading a hypothetical scenario in which they were the target of workplace aggression, relative to participants who read a scenario in which they were the target of sexual harassment. Second, the authors conducted a meta-analysis assessing the role that workplace aggression and sexual harassment each have on a number of organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Here, the authors found that workplace aggression was more strongly correlated than sexual harassment with a number of outcomes, suggesting that workplace aggression may play a stronger role in influencing these outcomes than sexual harassment does.

As the authors of the article point out, a lab experiment with a relatively small sample size was utilized in the first study; as such, the current findings should be treated as tentative, and studies should be conducted in the field to see if similar results are obtained in a more natural environment. However, the results obtained by Hershcovis and Barling hold promise for improving our understanding of the impact that workplace aggression can have on employees. Although sexual harassment has received more legislative and legal attention to this point, it may be the case that workplace aggression is just as damaging, and therefore worthy of additional attention from organizational stakeholders.

Hershcovis, M. S., & Barling, J. (2010). Comparing victim attributions and outcomes for workplace aggression and sexual harassment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 874-888.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

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You have an IQ of 120. Think that makes you smart? (IO Psychology)

Topic: Selection
Publication: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2011)
Article: Role of test motivation in intelligence testing
Authors: Angela L. Duckworth, Patrick D. Quinn, Donald R. Lynam, Rolf Loeber, and Magda Stouthamer-Loeber
Reviewed By: Scott Charles Sitrin

Will a person’s IQ vary with his or her level of motivation? In other words, does level of motivation affect performance on intelligence tests? In investigating this question, a recent study had two main findings. First, IQ varies with the amount of incentives offered to the IQ-test takers.

For instance, subject A had a higher IQ when she was paid $100 to take the IQ test than when she was paid $50. Secondly, IQ scores reflect both level of intelligence and level of motivation, and that both predict academic performance and life outcomes. In other words, an individual’s IQ score of 100 is three parts intelligence and on part motivation.

In applying the results to business setting, employers may want to de-emphasize the result of IQ and other intelligence tests as the results of these measures measure more than intelligence and include confounds, such as levels of motivation and interest.

Duckworth, A. L., Quinn, P. D., Lynam, D. R., Loeber, R., & Stouthamer- Loeber, M. (2011). Role of test motivation in intelligence testing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Early Edition, 1-5.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

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That Seems Fair: The Impact of Changing Justice Perceptions over Time (IO Psychology)

Topic: Fairness
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (JUL 2011)
Article: Justice as a Dynamic Construct: Effects of Individual Trajectories on Distal Work Outcomes
Authors: Hausknecht, J. P., Sturman, M. C., & Roberson, Q. M.
Reviewed By: Thaddeus Rada

Organizational justice continues to play a prominent role in the science and practice of IO psychology. Many readers are probably familiar with some of the basic types of organizational justice, such as procedural, interactional, and distributive justice. However, although much research on justice (and injustice) in organizations has been conducted, the interactive effect of time and justice perceptions on important employee outcomes has not been addressed. In a recent paper, John Hausknecht and colleagues begin to address this gap in the literature.

The importance of understanding the interaction of justice perceptions with time can be understood with an example used by the authors of the current article. If an organization is interested in understanding the relationship between justice perceptions and some outcome, such as turnover intentions, measuring justice perceptions at only one point in time misses out on crucial information that measurement at multiple time points can give us. Two employees may report identical justice perceptions at the present time, but if one employee’s perceptions were very high six months ago, while the other employee’s were very low, the implications of this difference are obviously important. Despite their equivalent levels of current justice perceptions, the first employee may be substantially more likely to leave the organization, since their perceptions have decreased a great deal, which the other employee’s perceptions have increased.

Utilizing a sample of over 500 employees, the authors found support for all three of their hypotheses: namely, that employees who reported a positive justice trend were more satisfied, more committed to the organization, and likely to have lower turnover intentions, relative to employees that reported a negative justice trend over time. This research highlights the important role that time can play in our measurement and assessment of justice perceptions (and other constructs more generally). Practitioners might take findings such as these into account when conducting assessments in organizations, by obtaining measurements at multiple time periods in order to gain an understanding of how trends and changes in the levels of variables impacts important organizational outcomes.

Hausknecht, J. P., Sturman, M. C., & Roberson, Q. M. (2011). Justice as a dynamic construct: Effects of individual trajectories on distal work outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 872-880.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

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Tips for Getting Tips (IO Psychology)

Topic: Job Performance, Personality, Training
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (NOV 2011)
Article: Want a Tip? Service Performance as a Function of Emotion Regulation
and Extraversion
Authors: N. Chi, A.A. Grandey, J.A. Diamond, K.R. Krimmel
Reviewed By: Ben Sher

Your restaurant server is quite the professional! He manages a genuine, warm smile despite his impending apartment eviction, recurring car-transmission problems, and the fact that his favorite football team just lost in the playoffs. But to pull that off, your server had to perform something called emotional labor, a crucial topic of interest to IO Psychologists. New research by Chi, Grandey, Diamond, and Krimmel (2011) has found that certain emotional labor strategies are more useful than others, and that sometimes it depends on the type of person using these strategies.

The authors discuss two major strategies for performing emotional labor. The first is called surface acting. This is when employees fake the desired emotions even when those emotions don’t accurately reflect how they feel inside. The other strategy is called deep acting. This is when employees actually change their inner feelings to the desired state by focusing on past experiences. For example, an employee who is in a bad mood might try thinking hard about a time when he was in a happy mood, causing him to project a display of authentic happiness to his customers.

But the two strategies do not always lead to similar results. The researchers found that deep acting by restaurant servers will lead to them receiving more tips and exceeding customer expectations. In a separate study involving simulated call-center employees, the researchers found that deep acting leads to an overall better emotional performance, meaning it is more convincing to the customers. They also discovered that deep acting also leads employees to perform extra-role behaviors, meaning tasks that are not strictly part of someone’s job description but are nevertheless important. The authors explain that deep acting puts employees in a good mood, which makes them more likely to do extra work.

But what about surface acting? The researchers found that surface acting leads to receiving more tips, but only when used by extraverted, outgoing employees. When introverted employees tried surface acting, their overall emotional performance became worse, and was not as convincing to the customers. Specifically, this was true when the introverted employees performed extra-role behaviors. The authors explain that “faking it” strategies like surface acting are particularly exhaustive to introverts, and while introverts may be able to “fake it” while performing their typical duties, their emotional resources may become depleted when asked to perform extra-role behaviors.

The implications of these findings are important for training in any industry that requires contact with customers. Clearly, deep acting is a useful approach to dealing with the demands of emotional labor, and should be the preferred method endorsed during employee training. Surface acting may be an alternative method that works when deep acting is not possible or inconvenient, but only for naturally extraverted employees.

Chi, N., Grandey, A.A., Diamond, J.A., & Krimmel K.R. (2011). Want a Tip? Service Performance as a Function of Emotion Regulation and Extraversion. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(6), 1237-1346.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

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The effectiveness of computer-based simulation games (IO Psychology)

Topic: Training
Publication: Personnel Psychology (SUMMER 2011)
Article: A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games
Author: Sitzmann, T.
Reviewed by: Alexandra Rechlin

Computer-based simulation games are increasingly being used in training, but how does their effectiveness compare to that of traditional training methods? And what are the most important features of simulation games? Sitzmann (2011) sought to answer these questions in her recent meta-analysis.

Sitzmann found that, relative to a comparison group (which varied across studies), trainees who learned from a simulation game had higher levels of post-training self-efficacy, declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and retention of the training material. They also learned more when simulation games were entertaining and engaging, when there was unlimited access to the simulation games, and when the simulations were included along with other types of training.

Although the development of computer-based simulation games can be expensive, it appears that they can be very effective. However, when either developing or deciding whether or not to implement a simulation game, certain characteristics must be considered. The game must be entertaining, engaging, and provided as a supplement to other types of training. Finally, trainees should be able to access the training program as many times as they would like. A training program using simulation games that does not include these characteristics may not be as effective as other training methods, and therefore it may not be worth the cost.

Sitzmann, T. (2011). A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology, 64, 489-528. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.2011.01190.x

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

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Do You Test? Factors Impacting the Use of Specific Selection Methods in Hiring Procedures (IO Psychology)

Topic: Selection
Publication: International Journal of Selection and Assessment (DEC 2011)
Article: Selection Practices in Canadian Firms: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Mann, S. L., & Chowhan, J.
Reviewed By: Thaddeus Rada

A persistent paradox in IO psychology is the frequent use, by organizations, of selection methods that research has not shown to be effective for successfully hiring employees (e.g. unstructured interviews), in conjunction with the frequent underuse of methods that research has shown to be effective (e.g. various paper-and-pencil tests). Although this trend is well-established, relatively little is known about the factors that contribute to this science-practice gap. However, a new study by Sara Mann and James Chowhan takes some steps towards increasing our understanding in this area.

Using data from a large number of employees in a wide array of Canadian organizations, the authors investigated the predictive role that a number of organizational and situational characteristics might have in determining which selection methods were used (a personality test, a job-related knowledge test, or an interview). Among their findings, the authors found that having an in-house HR department was a significant predictor for all three selection methods. The authors also found that nonprofit organizations were more likely to use an interview (while for-profit organizations were more likely to use a personality test), and that the application process for permanent (as opposed to temporary) positions was more likely to contain an interview. On the other hand, the number of employees that an organization had did not predict use of any of the three selection methods.

While the results of this study were generated using only Canadian employees, the employees came from a wide range of occupations and organizational settings; as such, it is likely that the authors’ findings should generalize to other country’s organizations and employees quite well. Practitioners might use the results of this study to better understand the organizations that would be particularly likely to incorporate tests into their selection practice, such as those organizations with an in-house HR department and those with unionized employees.

Mann, S. L., & Chowhan, J. (2011). Selection practices in Canadian firms: An empirical investigation. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 19, 435-437.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

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Quantitative Evidence that the Emotional Labor in Jobs is Easier with Emotional Intelligence (IO Psychology)

Topic: Emotional Intelligence
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (SEP 2011)
Article: The Primacy of Perceiving: Emotion Recognition Buffers Negative Effects of Emotional Labor
Authors: Myriam N. Bechtold, Sonja Rohrmann, Irene E. De Pater, and Bianca Beersma
Reviewed by: Mary Alice Crowe-Taylor, Ph.D.

Are jobs that require emotional labor seemingly everywhere? Well, since the service industry continues to be a growing sector of all western economies, and jobs in the service industry often do, the answer is a resounding “Yes!” Employees in these jobs must manage their own feelings in order to display correct emotions for job performance. For example, to be effective, nurses need to display a range of positive emotions, and not many negative ones. This emotion regulation constitutes emotional labor and can be quite stressful.

Previous research has shown that this job-related stress can result in low work
engagement (an indicator of job-related motivation and well-being) which in turn can result in absenteeism, low organizational commitment, low job satisfaction, fewer organizational citizenship behaviors, even lower performance.

On the other end of the continuum, highly engaged employees experience greater motivation and well-being at work. They are perceived as authentic, empathetic, and dedicated to delivering a high quality performance for customers.

Therefore, EMPLOYERS need to find ways to reduce the negative effects of emotional labor and therefore increase work engagement in their employees.
In this study of service providers (specifically hospice nurses and police officers), these researchers found that those with higher levels of emotion recognition (the ability to read others’ emotions) experienced less stress from the emotional labor inherent to their jobs. Four weeks later, they also reported greater work engagement than those with lower levels of emotion recognition.

So what are the takeaways from this study? Stated succinctly, if you want to decrease the stress your employees experience from the emotional labor required by their jobs, train them in emotional intelligence. Ensure that emotion recognition is part of this training. Other options? Hire employees who are already high in emotional intelligence, specifically emotion recognition.

Some organizations claim that it is enough to instruct their employees on which
emotions they should display to customers. However, multifaceted or recurring
customer interactions require more than general emotion display policies. These
interactions require employees to be sensitive to customers’ changing or ambivalent mood states. That is, emotion recognition is often required in order for customer interactions to be less stressful and more satisfactory for both employees and customers.

Bechtold, M. N., Rohrmann, S., De Pater, I. E., & Beersma, B. (2011). The primacy of perceiving: Emotion recognition buffers negative effects of emotional labor. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(5), 1087-1094.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

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Does Your Brain Get Tired? (IO Psychology)

Topic: Burnout
Publication: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (MAY 2008)
Article: Making Choices Impairs Subsequent Self-Control: A Limited-Resource Account of Decision Making, Self-Regulation, and Active Initiative
Authors: Kathleen D. Vohs, Roy F. Baumeister, Brandon J. Schmeichel, Jean M. Twenge, Noelle M. Nelson, and Dianne M. Tice
Reviewed By: Scott Charles Sitrin

Does decision-making impair subsequent self-discipline? In other words, after you decide if you want to read this review or not, will you no longer be able to resist the glazed donut in the office kitchen? Though some previous research has shown that making decisions can be exhausting, little research had explained why.

In their study, the investigators found that the more choices people made, the less self-discipline they had. Specifically, as the number of decisions increased, the ability to pursue goal-directed action, perform tasks such as math problems, and persevere decreased. In explaining the results, the investigators said that, similar to physical energy, individuals have a limited amount of mental energy. As mental energy gets depleted by decision-making, there is less energy to perform other mental tasks such as self-discipline.

These results suggest that in order to prevent burnout, the limits of mental energy and capacity should be recognized. Just as a coach does not want to over train an athlete, a boss should not over train an employee.

Vohs, K. D., Baumeister, R. F., Schmeichel, B. J., Twenge, J. M., Nelson, N. M., & Tice, D. M. (2008). Making choices impairs subsequent self-control: A limited-resource account of decision making, self-regulation, and active initiative. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(5), 883-898.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

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The Makings of Morality: The Factors Behind Ethical Behavior (IO Psychology)

Topic: Ethics
Publication: Academy of Management Review
Article: Moral maturation and moral conation: A capacity approach to explaining moral thought and action
Authors: Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., & May, D. R.
Reviewer: Neil Morelli

When it comes to identifying unethical behavior in politics, business, and sport, all it takes is a casual flip through your Sunday paper. With a greater spotlight being placed on understanding and promoting ethical practices in the workplace, Hannah, Avolio, and May’s goal was to help determine what it means to have “moral capacity” in the workplace and how that capacity affects ethical behavior.

Hannah et al. specifically focused on moral challenges, or knowing the correct thing to do but having conflicting values. The reaction to a moral dilemma is usually made of two parts a cognition process and a conation process. In other words, how you think about the dilemma and what you do about the dilemma. The authors’ offered a theoretical model that describes the factors underlying the moral cognition and conation (action) processes.

To summarize the model, the moral cognition process includes having the moral
sensitivity to identify the dilemma and the judgment to choose the best option for handling it. The conation, or action, process includes having the motivation to commit to a particular course of action and the persistence to overcome fatigue or obstacles that get in the way. The factors underlying the moral cognition process are grouped into a category called moral maturation capacities, or the ability to attend to and retain morally relevant information. The factors underlying the moral conation process are similarly named moral conation capacities, or the ability to take responsibility for a moral dilemma and take action in the face of adversity.

A closer inspection of the individual components of both moral maturation and moral conation is highly recommended for both researchers and practitioners who are interested in the psychological processes of ethical behavior in the workplace, but what immediate impact can this model have for practice? The authors note that these capacities are both malleable and measureable, meaning that these capacities could be targeted in selection processes and training and development initiatives. The ultimate goal is to decrease the amount of unethical behavior by increasing moral capacity.

Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., & May, D. R. (2011). Moral maturation and moral conation: A capacity approach to explaining moral thought and action. Academy of Management Review, 36(4), 663-685.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

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Goals for Groups (IO Psychology)

Topic: Goals, Teams, Job Performance
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (NOV 2011)
Article: The Effect of Goal Setting on Group Performance: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: A. Kleingeld, H. van Mierlo, L. Arends
Reviewed By: Ben Sher

He shoots, he scores! No, not those kind of goals. We’re talking about workplace goals—the kind that are used to help improve performance. And while past research has shown that goals do improve performance for individuals, a new meta-analysis by Kleingeld, van Mierlo, and Arends (2011) confirms that goals can help groups as well.

Once upon a time, Locke and Latham (1990) found that goals can help individual performance if the goals meet two criteria. They said that goals ideally need to be specific and difficult to reach. This became the basis of the popular Goal Setting Theory promoted by Locke and Latham over the past two decades.

But many studies also investigated the effects of goal-setting on groups. They wanted
to know if goal setting improved group performance the same way it improves individual
performance. According to the new meta-analysis, group goals are not only useful,
but also subject to the same criteria as individual goals: they work best when they are
specific and difficult to reach. Under these circumstances, group goals will best lead to
higher group performance.

Additionally, the meta-analysis looked at two types of goals that people might set
while working within groups: egocentric goals or “groupcentric” goals. Egocentric
goals try to maximize performance of the individual, while “groupcentric” goals aim
to improve the performance of the entire group. If group members depend on each
other to get work done, setting egocentric goals leads to lower group performance,
while setting “groupcentric” goals leads to higher group performance. This is because
egocentric goals put too much emphasis on individual performance and discourage
collaboration, while “groupcentric” goals encourage team members to cooperate.

This study provides a clear path for team success: Set goals that are specific and
difficult to attain. Additionally, team members should set goals which specifically relate to overall group performance, and not goals which focus on individual performance. Following this recipe will allow teams to maximize their performance potential.

Kleingeld, A., van Mierlo, H., & Arends, L. (2011). The Effect of Goal Setting on Group Performance: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(6), 1289-1304.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

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