Comparing different approach and avoidance models of learning and personality in the prediction of work, university, and leadership outcomes

Jackson (2005) developed a hybrid model of personality and learning, known as the learning styles profiler (LSP) which was designed to span biological, socio-cognitive, and experiential research foci of personality and learning research. The hybrid model argues that functional and dysfunctional learning outcomes can be best understood in terms of how cognitions and experiences control, discipline, and re-express the biologically based scale of sensation-seeking. In two studies with part-time workers undertaking tertiary education (N=137 and 58), established models of approach and avoidance from each of the three different research foci were compared with Jackson's hybrid model in their predictiveness of leadership, work, and university outcomes using self-report and supervisor ratings. Results showed that the hybrid model was generally optimal and, as hypothesized, that goal orientation was a mediator of sensation-seeking on outcomes (work performance, university performance, leader behaviours, and counterproductive work behaviour). Our studies suggest that the hybrid model has considerable promise as a predictor of work and educational outcomes as well as dysfunctional outcomes.

'Taking a sickie':Job satisfaction and job involvement as interactive predictors of absenteeism in a public organization

Correlations between absenteeism and work attitudes such as job satisfaction have often been found to be disappointingly weak. As prior work reveals, this might be due to ignoring interactive effects of attitudes with different attitude targets (e.g. job involvement and organizational commitment). Drawing on basic principles in personality research and insights about the situational variability of job satisfaction judgments, we proposed that similar interactions should be present also for attitudes with the same target. More specifically, it was predicted that job involvement affects absenteeism more if job satisfaction is low as this indicates a situation with weak constraints. Both attitudes were assessed in a sample of 436 employees working in a large civil service organization, and two indexes of absence data (frequency and time lost) were drawn from personnel records covering a 12-month period following the survey. Whereas simple correlations were not significant, a moderated regression documented that the hypothesized interaction was significant for both indicators of absence behaviour. As a range of controls (e.g. age, gender, job level) were accounted for, these findings lend strong support to the importance of this new, specific form of attitude interaction. Thus, we encourage researchers not only to consider interactions of attitudes with a different focus (e.g. job vs. organization) but also interactions between job involvement and job satisfaction as this will yield new insights into the complex function of attitudes in influencing absenteeism. © 2007 The British Psychological Society.

Getting diversity at work to work:what we know and what we still don’t know

Diversity has the potential to significantly benefit organizations by leading to positive work outcomes when diversity ‘works’. Unfortunately, not only is our knowledge limited as to the necessary conditions and the mechanisms by which diversity affects individual, work performance and organizational outcomes, but we still know very little about which diversity management practices are most effective in promoting positive outcomes. We analyse the literature on diversity and its management, and describe how the seven papers included in this section advance our understanding of what organizations can do to get diversity at work to work. Our discussion points to the need for more research on how diversity at multiple levels affects work and organizational outcomes; the development of integrative theory which takes into account that diversity might not only engender separation and variety but also disparity; as well as to the need for more empirical attention to the climates or cultures that facilitate the positive effects of diversity on work and organizational outcomes. We suggest that future research should also identify those people management practices that are most powerful in the creation of a positive diversity climate, and the factors that moderate and underlie its effects on work and organizational outcomes. We conclude with proposals about how this might be achieved. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Surface- and deep-level dissimilarity effects on social integration and individual effectiveness related outcomes in work groups:a meta-analytic integration

Prior research linking demographic (e.g., age, ethnicity/race, gender, and tenure) and underlying psychological (e.g., personality, attitudes, and values) dissimilarity variables to individual group member's work-related outcomes produced mixed and contradictory results. To account for these findings, this study develops a contingency framework and tests it using meta-analytic and structural equation modelling techniques. In line with this framework, results showed different effects of surface-level (i.e., demographic) dissimilarity and deep-level (i.e., underlying psychological) dissimilarity on social integration, and ultimately on individual effectiveness related outcomes (i.e., turnover, task, and contextual performance). Specifically, surface-level dissimilarity had a negative effect on social integration under low but not under high team interdependence. In return, social integration fully mediated the negative relationship between surface-level dissimilarity and individual effectiveness related outcomes under low interdependence. In contrast, deep-level dissimilarity had a negative effect on social integration, which was stronger under high and weaker under low team interdependence. Contrary to our predictions, social integration did not mediate the negative relationship between deep-level dissimilarity and individual effectiveness related outcomes but suppressed positive direct effects of deep-level dissimilarity on individual effectiveness related outcomes. Possible explanations for these counterintuitive findings are discussed. © 2011 The British Psychological Society.

A survey of UK selection practices across different organization sizes and industry sectors

This paper presents results of a study examining the methods used to select employees in 579 UK organizations representing a range of different organization sizes and industry sectors. Overall, a smaller proportion of organizations in this sample reported using formalized methods (e.g., assessment centres) than informal methods (e.g., unstructured interviews). The curriculum vitae (CVs) was the most commonly used selection method, followed by the traditional triad of application form, interviews, and references. Findings also indicated that the use of different selection methods was similar in both large organizations and small-to-medium-sized enterprises. Differences were found across industry sector with public and voluntary sectors being more likely to use formalized techniques (e.g., application forms rather than CVs and structured rather than unstructured interviews). The results are discussed in relation to their implications, both in terms of practice and future research.

Leadership and management research in Africa:a synthesis and suggestions for future research

Although we are aware of some positive cases of leadership and management emerging on the African continent, very little empirical or theoretical work has addressed leadership and management in Africa. This raises a challenge for African nations in that ultimately a country's economic performance is contingent on the effectiveness of its leadership and management practices that serve to unlock the potential of its workforce to effectively implement the strategic goals of organizations. Against the backdrop of an increasingly knowledge-dependent global marketplace, the centrality of leadership and effective management systems as drivers of individual and organization performance has never been more critical. This special section brings together a compendium of papers that advances the science of leadership and management within the African context. Our principle goal was to examine what is unique, what generalizes, and what does not generalize from the West and East to Africa, as well as within different regions of Africa and then offer ideas to guide future research and practice. The papers in this section provide a broad and indeed innovative approach to studying leadership and management in Africa by including historical, philosophical, economic, and socio-political perspectives, as part of the analyses of leadership and management in the African context. Our editorial provides an integration of this work and a launching point for some audacious goals for future leadership and management science and practice in Africa and beyond. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Getting the most out of multidisciplinary teams: a multi-sample study of team innovation in health care

Driven by the assumption that multidisciplinarity contributes positively to team outcomes teams are often deliberately staffed such that they comprise multiple disciplines. However, the diversity literature suggests that multidisciplinarity may not always benefit a team. This study departs from the notion of a linear, positive effect of multidisciplinarity and tests its contingency on the quality of team processes. It was assumed that multidisciplinarity only contributes to team outcomes if the quality of team processes is high. This hypothesis was tested in two independent samples of health care workers (N = 66 and N = 95 teams), using team innovation as the outcome variable. Results support the hypothesis for the quality of innovation, rather than the number of innovations introduced by the teams.

Understanding learning strategies in the workplace:a factor analytic investigation

The aim of this study was to validate a scale of learning strategies, as derived from the educational literature, in an organizational context. Participants were 628 call centre employees. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested that a six-factor structure most accurately represented the learning strategies examined. Specifically, three cognitive (extrinsic work reflection, intrinsic work reflection, reproduction) and three behavioural strategies (interpersonal help seeking, help seeking from written material, practical application) were found.

Indwelling catheters and medical implants with FXIIIa inhibitors:a novel approach to the treatment of catheter and medical device-related infections

Central venous catheters (CVCs) are being utilized with increasing frequency in intensive care and general medical wards. In spite of the extensive experience gained in their application, CVCs are related to the long-term risks of catheter sheath formation, infection, and thrombosis (of the catheter or vessel itself) during catheterization. Such CVC-related-complications are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, duration of hospitalization, and medical care cost [1]. The present study incorporates a novel group of Factor XIIIa (FXIIIa, plasma transglutaminase) inhibitors into a lubricious silicone elastomer in order to generate an optimized drug delivery system whereby a secondary sustained drug release profile occurs following an initial burst release for catheters and other medical devices. We propose that the incorporation of FXIIIa inhibitors into catheters, stents, and other medical implant devices would reduce the incidence of catheter sheath formation, thrombotic occlusion, and associated staphylococcal infection. This technique could be used as a local delivery system for extended release with an immediate onset of action for other poorly aqueous soluble compounds. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effects of prior moves on job relocation stress

This study examines the relationship between the number of prior moves, time living in an area and psychological reactions of employees undergoing job relocation. Relocating employees from a single organization completed questionnaires on average six weeks before and 10 weeks after their move. Results show that the greater the number of prior moves the lower was the reported stress following the move. However, the relationship between number of prior moves and well-being also followed a quadratic trend such that those with few and those with many prior moves reported the greatest stress. Furthermore, the longer the relocator had lived in the area prior to moving, the greater was the general stress and the job-related anxiety and depression following the move.

Health of entrepreneurs versus employees in a national representative sample

Prior research has found entrepreneurs to experience significantly higher job control and job demands compared with employees. This suggests that entrepreneurs have so-called active jobs and thus may benefit from positive health consequences. The present research compared entrepreneurs' health with employees' health in a national representative sample with regard to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision (ICD-10) diagnoses of somatic diseases, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) diagnoses of mental disorders, blood pressure, well-being (life-satisfaction) as well as behavioural health indicators (sick days, physician visits). Entrepreneurs showed significantly lower overall somatic and mental morbidity, lower blood pressure, lower prevalence rates of hypertension, and somatoform disorders, as well as higher well-being and more favourable behavioural health indicators. The results are discussed with regard to the active job hypothesis and recommendations for future research are provided.

Implicating trust in the innovation process

In this paper, we describe the development of two new measures of innovation trust, ‘trust that heard’ and ‘trust that benefit’. We report the findings from their use in a survey of design engineers in two large aerospace companies. We test a range of hypotheses covering different plausible roles for trust and confirm a ‘main effects’ model, whereby the variables predict the number of ideas suggested and the number of ideas implemented. In addition, we replicate earlier findings by Axtel et al. (2000), namely that personal and job variables predict idea suggestion, whereas organizational variables predict implementation.