Good mercenaries: Performing organizational citizenship behavior in a foreign land

IntroductionResearch on expatriates has typically left underexplored the critical antecedents of expatriates’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).ObjectivesThis study aims to fill this research gap by studying the effects of constructs specific and nonspecific to the expatriate context of expatriates’ OCB performance.MethodsUsing online surveys, data were collected from 200 expatriates and 280 of their coworkers working in 62 host countries. The hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling analysis.ResultsFirst, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, job satisfaction, work adjustment and interaction adjustment all had unique contributions in predicting expatriates’ OCB. Second, there was initial support for the indirect effect of the host country coworkers’ OCB performance targeted at expatriates on expatriates’ OCB-I performance. Finally, the results did not provide support for the indirect effect of personality factors on expatriates’ OCB performance.ConclusionCompared to job satisfaction, expatriates’ personality traits (i.e., Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) may have a stronger effect on expatriates’ OCB performance.     

Self-serving bias effects on job analysis ratings

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether worker-oriented job analysis importance ratings were influenced by subject matter experts' (SME) standing (as measured by self-rated performance) on a competency. This type of relationship (whereby SMEs indicate that the traits they have are important for successful job performance) is an example of the self-serving bias (which is widely described in the social cognition literature and rarely described in the industrial/organizational psychology literature). An archival dataset covering 57 clerical and technical occupations with 26,682 participants was used. Support was found for the relationship between self-rated performance and importance ratings. Significant relationships (typically in the .30s) were observed for all 31 competencies that were studied. Controls were taken to account for common method bias and differences in the competencies required for each of the 57 occupations. Past research has demonstrated the effects of the self-serving bias on personality-based job analysis ratings. This study was the first to extend these findings to traditional job analysis, which covers other competencies in addition to personality. In addition, this study is the first to use operational field data instead of laboratory data.     

Lean on me: The importance of one's own and partner's intercultural personality for expatriate's and expatriate spouse's successful adjustment abroad

This research explores the role of three intercultural personality traits—emotional stability, social initiative, and open-mindedness—as coping resources for expatriate couples’ adjustment. First, we examined the direct relationships of expatriates’ and expatriate spouses’ personality trait levels with psychological and sociocultural adjustment. Psychological adjustment refers to internal psychological outcomes such as mental health and personal satisfaction, whereas sociocultural adjustment refers to more externally oriented psychological outcomes that link the individual to the new environment. Second, we examined the association of expatriates’ personality trait levels with professional adjustment, which was defined in terms of job performance and organizational commitment. Cross-sectional analyses among 196 expatriates and expatriate spouses (i.e., 98 expatriate couples) revealed that the three dimensions are each associated with specific facets of adjustment. A longitudinal analysis among a subsample (45 couples) partially confirmed these findings. Furthermore, we obtained evidence for a resource compensation effect, that is, the compensatory process whereby one partner's lack of sufficiently high levels of a certain personality trait is compensated for by the other partner's high(er) levels of this traits. Through this resource compensation effect, the negative consequences of a lack of sufficient levels of a personality trait on adjustment can be diminished. Apparently, in the absence of sufficiently high trait levels, individuals can benefit from personality resources in their partners.     

Genetic Counseling Supervisors’ Self-Efficacy for Select Clinical Supervision Competencies

Supervision is a primary instructional vehicle for genetic counseling student clinical training. Approximately two-thirds of genetic counselors report teaching and education roles, which include supervisory roles. Recently, Eubanks Higgins and colleagues published the first comprehensive list of empirically-derived genetic counseling supervisor competencies. Studies have yet to evaluate whether supervisors possess these competencies and whether their competencies differ as a function of experience. This study investigated three research questions: (1) What are genetic counselor supervisors’ perceptions of their capabilities (self-efficacy) for a select group of supervisor competencies?, (2) Are there differences in self-efficacy as a function of their supervision experience or their genetic counseling experience, and 3) What training methods do they use and prefer to develop supervision skills? One-hundred thirty-one genetic counselor supervisors completed an anonymous online survey assessing demographics, self-efficacy (self-perceived capability) for 12 goal setting and 16 feedback competencies (Scale: 0–100), competencies that are personally challenging, and supervision training experiences and preferences (open-ended). A MANOVA revealed significant positive effects of supervision experience but not genetic counseling experience on participants’ self-efficacy. Although mean self-efficacy ratings were high (>83.7), participant comments revealed several challenging competencies (e.g., incorporating student’s report of feedback from previous supervisors into goal setting, and providing feedback about student behavior rather than personal traits). Commonly preferred supervision training methods included consultation with colleagues, peer discussion, and workshops/seminars.     

Assessing the Structure of Self-concept: Evidence for Self-defensive Processes by Using a Sentence Priming Task

It was assumed that the definition of traits that are central to the individual self-concept is adapted to individual competencies (self-concept immunization), i.e., skills that individuals believe themselves to be good at are conceived as diagnostic whereas skills that individuals do not possess are considered as less diagnostic. The mental representation of traits was investigated by semantic priming. Targets were self-relevant traits whereas the primes described observable skills that were either semantically related to the target or not. Corresponding to the hypothesis, priming effects were observed for skills that participants believed themselves to possess and that were related to traits central to the self-concept. The pattern was reversed for participants with low self-esteem, thereby underscoring a coping-theoretical interpretation.     

Study of the adjustment of Western expatriates in Taiwan ROC with the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire

The present paper examined the validity of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). As criteria of validity three levels of adjustment were used. The study took place among a sample of expatriates ( N = 102) during their assignment in Taiwan. The MPQ has scales for cultural empathy, open-mindedness, social initiative, emotional stability and flexibility. The MPQ scales appeared to be predictive of expatriates' personal, professional and social adjustment. In all three domains, emotional stability appeared most consistently as a predictor of adjustment. Social initiative was an additional strong predictor of psychological well-being, as was cultural empathy of satisfaction with life and of the amount of social support in the host country. Flexibility was a predictor of job satisfaction and social support. The study also examined the effects of marital status on adjustment. Married expatriates showed higher levels of adjustment than expatriates who were single or separated.     

Cognitive adjustment and psychological capital influences on expatriate workers’ job performance: An Ethiopian study

This study examined the relationship between cognitive adjustment and expatriates’ performance in the foreign host-country, and the moderating role of psychological capital in this relationship. The expatriates (N?=?1 229; female?=?32%; mean international tenure?=?2.99, SD?=?4.44) completed measures of cognitive adjustments (work and non-work related), psychological capital, job-performance, and organisational culture. Results from the data analysis, using the product least square method, indicate expatriates’ cognitive adjustments (work and non-work related) and psychological capital to singularly predict job performance. Psychological capital partly moderated the relationship between cognitive adjustment (work related) and expatriates’ performance.     

ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WORKPLACE STRAIN DURING EXPATRIATION: A CROSS-SECTIONAL AND LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION

In this study, we examined nonlinear/interaction effects associated with the antecedents and consequences of psychological workplace strain, using cross-sectional ( N = 165) and longitudinal ( N = 133) data collected from Western expatriates in China. The results of this study indicate that family characteristics interact to affect the level of psychological workplace strain experienced by expatriates. In addition, we find an inverse u-curve relationship between psychological workplace strain and supervisory rated job performance for both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Finally, the empirical results lend support to the hypothesized positive relationship between work adjustment measured at Time 1 and job performance measured at Time 2. Implications for expatriate adjustment research and practice are discussed.     

Perceptions of women: Effects of employment status and marital status

Eighty-four female and 84 male college students evaluated a briefly described female stimulus person on 20 seven-point bipolar scales which described personality traits and professional competencies. Each subject rated 1 of 12 women who were described as either never married, divorced, widowed, or married and as either employed full-time, employed part-time, or unemployed. As hypothesized, the personal traits and professional competencies of employed women were evaluated more favorably than those of unemployed women, and the personality traits of married women were perceived more positively than those of unmarried women. Contrary to predictions, unmarried and married women were perceived as equally competent.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August 1982.     

Establishing construct validity for Openness-to-Experience in middle childhood: Contributions from personality and temperament

Controversy exists over the validity of child Openness-to-Experience (OE). To establish construct validity for child OE, data were collected for 346 children (51% girls) aged 9-to-10-years (M = 9.92, SD = 0.83). Parents completed questionnaires about their children’s personality, temperament, and behavioral problems and competencies. Factor analyses of relevant personality and temperament facets revealed a robust OE factor made up of three facets: Intellect, Imagination, and Sensitivity. Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity was established via associations with other personality traits, and behavioral problems and competencies. Results underscore the importance of drawing from both temperament and personality literatures in attempts to establish construct validity for child trait domains as well as examining facet-level associations between OE and child behavior.     

Master's Level Training in Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Does It Meet the SIOP Guidelines?

In order to assess the extent to which terminal master's level I/O programs were consistent with Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) guidelines, recent graduates of master's level I/O and related programs were surveyed. The survey focused on the competency areas emphasized in the SIOP (1994) guidelines: data collection and analysis competencies, core I/O competencies, and additional I/O competencies. Participants in the survey provided their perceptions of the coverage of the various competencies in graduate school as well as the importance of these competencies in their current jobs. The results of the survey show that current master's level programs are generally consistent with the guidelines. Both data collection/data analysis competencies and core I/O competencies were perceived as having been well covered. Further, these same competencies were for the most part seen as important in the participants' current jobs.     

Quality of college students' same-sex friendships as a function of personality and interpersonal competence

The aim of the current study was to investigate personality traits and interpersonal competencies as predictors of the quality of same-sex friendships in young adulthood. Undergraduate students (N = 176), who attended a mid-Atlantic U.S., medium-sized university, completed self-report surveys on their personality, interpersonal competence, and friendship quality. Sex, class status, extraversion, agreeableness, and interpersonal competencies were associated with higher friendship quality, but only the interpersonal competence of self-disclosure significantly predicted friendship quality after controlling for sex, class status, and the five personality factors.     

EXPATRIATES' PSYCHOLOGICAL WITHDRAWAL FROM INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS: WORK, NONWORK, AND FAMILY INFLUENCES

Integrating the expatriate adjustment and employee turnover literatures, we develop a model of expatriates' decisions to quit their assignments. This model explicitly considers the role of adjustment, the project-based nature of international assignments, and the importance of several nonwork and family context factors in this withdrawal process. We test this model with a sample of 452 expatriates and a matched subsample (providing multiple sources of data) of 224 expatriates and spouses, living in 45 countries. Consistent with domestic turnover research, multiple regression analyses indicated that the work-related factors of job satisfaction and organizational commitment were significant predictors of expatriate withdrawal cognitions. We also found support for the direct, indirect, and moderating influence of nonwork satisfaction and several family context variables (i.e., family responsibility, spouse adjustment, spouse overall satisfaction, and living conditions) on decisions of expatriates to quit their assignments. Implications for both organizational withdrawal and international HRM researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Impact of spousal work restrictions on expatriates' work life and overall life satisfaction

Our understanding of the challenges and the broader role of spouses of expatriates is extremely limited. This study examined the impact of spousal work restrictions on expatriates' work life and overall life satisfaction using qualitative and quantitative analyses based on data from a sample of 409 Indian Information Technology professionals working in USA. Furthermore, hypothesised conditional process model (tested with PROCESS analysis tool) was supported, showing that spousal work restrictions created complications in personal lives of expatriates, which interfered with work lives resulting in lower overall life satisfaction. We identified six core classes of challenges faced by spouses of expatriates: wasted skills, financial issues, boredom, social isolation, quality time and domestic tension. Our mixed method approach also helps to provide a more comprehensive picture of these complications. This study may help organisational leaders and policy makers to more fully consider the implications of visa-related policy changes on expatriate families.     

Value systems of self and of Australian expatriates as perceived by indigenous students in Papua New Guinea

The Rokeach Value Survey was administered to 112 students at Goroka Teachers' College in Papua New Guinea. About half of the respondents ranked the values for self and the remainder ranked for Australian expatriates working in Papua New Guinea. There were several differences in the relative importance assigned to the terminal and instrumental values when the two types of ranking were compared. The students assigned more importance to general social and orthodox religious values, to some moral values, and to values involving rules of conduct related to status and authority when rankings were for self than when they were for expatriates. They ranked stimulus-seeking and materialistic values and values concerned with striving and competence higher in importance when rankings were for expatriates rather than for self. The average value systems (medians) for self and for expatriates were also compared for similarity with those obtained from groups previously tested in Papua New Guinea and in Australia. Similarity coefficients involving average rankings for self were much higher when comparisons were made within each nation than between the two nations. It was doubtful that the students were judging expatriate value systems accurately because similarity coefficients were close to zero (terminal values) and low positive (instrumental values) when average value systems for expatriates were compared with corresponding average rankings for self of Australians actually tested in Australia. Results were discussed in relation to the consequences of discrepancies in value systems between the indigenous population and expatriates and more generally as illustrating the importance of developing an ecology of values within and across nations.     

Standards for Counseling Supervisors

The Standards for Counseling Supervisors consist of 11 core areas of knowledge, competencies, and personal traits that characterize effective supervisors.     

The Great Eight competencies: a criterion-centric approach to validation

The author presents results of a meta-analysis of 29 validation studies (N=4,861) that uses the Great Eight competency factors (Kurz & Bartram, 2002) as the criterion measurement framework. Predictors of the Great Eight competencies based only on personality scales show moderate to good correlations with line-manager ratings for all 8 of the competencies. On their own, ability tests correlate with 4 of the 8 competencies, and together ability and personality data yield operational validities ranging from 0.20 to 0.44 for the 8 competencies. Operational validities for aggregated predictors with aggregated criteria were estimated to be 0.53. The value of differentiating the criterion space and of relating predictor variables to criterion variables in a one-to-one fashion is discussed.     

Recruitment Consultant Revenue: Relationships with IQ,personality, and emotional intelligence

The objective of this paper is to address the predictive validity of the workplace Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test. The first aim of this research project was to identify whether financial revenue earned by consultants in an Australian professional recruitment company were related to their levels of emotional intelligence (EI). The second aim was to assess whether EI competencies were more strongly related to revenue performance than measures of IQ and personality. The study consisted of 100 recruitment consultants from a large Australian‐based company who had their IQ assessed and completed a questionnaire battery consisting of measures of personality and EI. Revenue accrued by the recruitment consultants was also collected and related to the psychometric measures. Results showed that emotional competencies and personality traits are valuable predictors of job performance as measured by the revenue accrued by recruitment consultants. Further to this, the EI competencies were observed to be more strongly related to this measure of performance, and were able to predict a significant proportion of variance in performance in comparison to IQ and personality.     

Markov Decision Process Measurement Model

Within-task actions can provide additional information on student competencies but are challenging to model. This paper explores the potential of using a cognitive model for decision making, the Markov decision process, to provide a mapping between within-task actions and latent traits of interest. Psychometric properties of the model are explored, and simulation studies report on parameter recovery within the context of a simple strategy game. The model is then applied to empirical data from an educational game. Estimates from the model are found to correlate more strongly with posttest results than a partial-credit IRT model based on outcome data alone.     

Identifying Competencies with Behavioral-Event Interviews

Coding competencies from behavioral-event interviews according to the principles of a new approach to assessment (McClelland, 1973) produces assessments that are reliable and validly associated with success as an executive. These assessments are not influenced by length of protocol or by performance in the preceding year. Bias is not a problem if both the interviewer and the coder are blind to executive success. In contrast to a traditional psychometric approach based on regression analysis, an algorithm based on competency scores predicted managerial success and improved performance across a number of samples. This algorithm identified potential outstanding performers as individuals whose scores reached designated tipping points within clusters of substitutable competencies. Experts' judgments of competencies needed or shown by executives in various positions agreed only moderately with competencies shown to be important by the data from behavioral-event interviews.