Perceived causality for success in occupations

A representative group of occupations was examined within an attributional framework, utilizing the concept of perceived causality for success. Specifically, it was hypothesized that (1) success in different types of occupations would be attributed to different causes, (2) the causal attributions of incumbents would differ from those of nonincumbents, (3) standard occupational categories could be derived on the basis of perceived causality for success, and (4) perceived causality for success could be used as a basis for generating a circular ordering of occupations.Holland's (1973) occupational classification was used as a basis for categorization. College students, as well as six types of occupational incumbents, were administered a questionnaire in which they attributed causality for success in 35 occupations. The results supported the first three hypotheses and also revealed some systematic relationships between causes and between perceived causality for success and occupational prestige.     

The predictive validity of cognitive ability tests: A UK meta‐analysis

A meta‐analysis on the validity of tests of general mental ability (GMA) and specific cognitive abilities for predicting job performance and training success in the UK was conducted. An extensive literature search resulted in a database of 283 independent samples with job performance as the criterion (N=13,262), and 223 with training success as the criterion (N=75,311). Primary studies were also coded by occupational group, resulting in seven main groups (clerical, engineer, professional, driver, operator, manager, and sales), and by type of specific ability test (verbal, numerical, perceptual, and spatial). Results indicate that GMA and specific ability tests are valid predictors of both job performance and training success, with operational validities in the magnitude of .5–.6. Minor differences between these UK findings and previous US meta‐analyses are reported. As expected, operational validities were moderated by occupational group, with occupational families possessing greater job complexity demonstrating higher operational validities between cognitive tests and job performance and training success. Implications for the practical use of tests of GMA and specific cognitive abilities in the context of UK selection practices are discussed in conclusion.     

An Attributional Model Applied to Health Behaviour Change

Weiner's (1986) attributional model was adapted to a study of health behaviour change among hospital workers (N=102). It was predicted that, following success or failure, attributions would influence affective reactions and efficacy expectation, which in turn would influence intention, which in turn would influence subsequent performance. In year 1 and year 2, subjects rated their current performance, efficacy expectation, and intention to perform each of ten behaviours. In year 2, they indicated whether they had succeeded or failed in relation to each year 1 intention. They selected their greatest success and their greatest failure, and for both of these completed measures of attributions and affective reactions. In regression analyses, attributional dimensions did predict affective reactions, efficacy (in the failure condition), and intention (in the success condition). However, many of the specific associations were not what Weiner's model would hypothesize. The personal controllability dimension was particularly prominent as a predictor. Also of note were the interactive effects of attributional dimensions, always involving the stability dimension.     

Task performance influences general self-efficacy,even without increases in the skills required to achieve success

ABSTRACT

The current article tests whether task performance influences general self-efficacy without increases in the skills required to achieve success. To do so, an experimental design is applied in which participants predict a random future event, and the relationship between prediction task performance and self-efficacy is observed. This article also tests whether this specific performance/self-efficacy relationship is moderated by (a) perceived illegitimacy of predicting the future and (b) self-assessed ability to predict the future. The results show that prediction task performance indeed influences general self-efficacy, and neither of these two moderators has a significant effect on this relationship. Therefore, performance on a low-stakes task does influence general self-efficacy—at least temporarily. More importantly, task performance is shown to influence self-efficacy even without increases in the skills required to achieve success.     

A meta-analytic study of general mental ability validity for different occupations in the European community

A comprehensive meta-analysis of the validity of general mental ability (GMA) measures across 12 occupational categories in the European Community (EC) is presented. GMA measures showed that there is validity generalization and large operational validities for job performance and training success in 11 occupational groups. Results also showed that job complexity moderated the magnitude of the operational validity of GMA tests across three levels of job complexity: low, medium, and high. In general, results were similar to those found in the United States, although the European findings showed a slightly larger magnitude of operational validity in some cases. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for personnel selection are discussed. ((c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relative importance of psychological acceptance and emotional intelligence to workplace well-being

Psychological acceptance (acceptance) and emotional intelligence (EI) are two relatively new individual characteristics that are hypothesised to affect well-being and performance at work. This study compares both of them, in terms of their ability to predict various well-being outcomes (i.e. general mental health, physical well-being, and job satisfaction). In making this comparison, the effects of job control are accounted for; this is a work organisation variable that is consistently associated with occupational health and performance. Results from 290 United Kingdom workers showed that EI did not significantly predict any of the well-being outcomes, after accounting for acceptance and job control. Acceptance predicted general mental health and physical well-being but not job satisfaction, and job control was associated with job satisfaction only. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and applied implications of these findings. These include support for the suggestion that not controlling one's thoughts and feelings (as advocated by acceptance) may have greater benefits for mental well-being than attempting consciously to regulate them (as EI suggests).     

Sex differences in attribution for occupational success

A study was conducted to both test and extend Deaux's (Sex: A perspective on the attribution process. In J. H. Harvey, W. J. Ickes, & R. F. Kidd, (Eds.), New directions in attribution research, Volume 1. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1976) expectancy model of sex-linked differences in attribution for success. Specifically, it was hypothesized that female occupational subjects would attribute success more to the unstable causes of effort and luck, as well as the stable internal cause of interpersonal skill, while male occupational subjects would make higher attributions to the stable causes of ability and task ease. This hypothesis was supported for the causes of effort, luck, and task ease. Additionally, a comparison between sex differences in attribution occurring within a nonpersonal vs. personal frame of reference showed three of the expected sex differences in attribution to be stronger in the latter condition. Moreover, it was shown that this difference was largely accounted for by changes in females' rather than males' attributions. A final hypothesis, namely, that males would perceive themselves as more successful in their occupations than females, was not confirmed.     

Factors affecting choice,satisfaction, and success in the female self-employed

The purpose of this study was to determine variables which predict occupational choice, satisfaction, and success in the self-employment of women. In order to investigate this question, a group of female owners was compared to groups of female managers and secretaries on six variables under consideration: achievement motivation, locus of control, sex-role “masculinity,” and availability of models for ownership—father, mother, and other. There were 47 women in each group.It was found that the six variables, considered simultaneously, discriminated among the three occupational groups. The owners were higher than secretaries in achievement motivation, locus of control internality, and sex-role “masculinity.” However, there were no significant differences between owners and managers on these variables. Owners had more parental models (both fathers and mothers) for ownership than either managers or secretaries. Owners, managers, and secretaries did not differ significantly in the number of nonparental models for ownership. Neither job satisfaction nor success in business ownership were found to be related to the six variables considered simultaneously.     

Success,social comparison,and self-assessment: Parents' midlife evaluations of sons,daughters, and self

The literatures on sex-role socialization and social comparison theory were used to predict how parents would evaluate the life success of adult sons and daughters and how parents' assessments of themselves would be influenced by comparisons with these children. Although parents (N=215) did not report different levels of life success for 291 adult sons versus 251 adult daughters, parental well-being was more closely tied to assessments of sons' success. In addition, although parents' reported that both sons and daughters had exceeded their own life success, theparent-child comparison with daughters was the better predictor of parents' well-being. Findings are discussed in terms of parents' individual development, family processes at midlife, and cohort differences between parents and their children.     

Subjective career success: A study of managers and support personnel

Despite popular belief that managers are successful by virtue of their positions, few studies have examined the position-success relationship. In this research, it was predicted that subjective career success is a multi-dimensional construct whose facets can be measured by several factors. Moreover, the phenomenon of career success was tested to see if it would relate to an employee's perception of occupational self-concept and job features. The notion that these dimensions would predict some aspects of career success more accurately for either managers or support personnel was also investigated. The confirming results obtained in this study and their implications for future research as well as practitioners are discussed.An earlier version of this article was presented at the 93rd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, California, 1985.     

Clarifying achievement goals and their impact

The study of achievement goals has illuminated basic motivational processes, though controversy surrounds their nature and impact. In 5 studies, including a longitudinal study in a difficult premed course, the authors show that the impact of learning and performance goals depends on how they are operationalized. Active learning goals predicted active coping, sustained motivation, and higher achievement in the face of challenge. Among performance goals, ability-linked goals predicted withdrawal and poorer performance in the face of challenge (but provided a "boost" to performance when students met with success); normative goals did not predict decrements in motivation or performance; and outcome goals (wanting a good grade) were in fact equally related to learning goals and ability goals. Ways in which the findings address discrepancies in the literature are discussed.     

Parents' Explanations of Their Child's Performance in Mathematics and Reading: A Replication and Extension of Yee and Eccles

This study was conducted to examine whether Finnish parents would endorse the the classic gender-related attribution pattern and explain their son's mathematical performance in terms of talent and their daughter's in terms of effort. In addition, we examined whether the pattern of attributions would be the opposite in regard to parental explanations of their child's reading performance. A group of parents (N = 486), both mothers and fathers, were requested to assess the level of competence of their 1st grader in mathematics and reading. The parents were also asked to recall events from their child's 1st school year in which the child succeeded and failed in mathematics and reading; they were then asked to evaluate the importance of talent, effort, and task to the child's outcomes. The parents of boys assessed their child's mathematical competence to be higher than did the parents of girls. Furthermore, the parents of boys rated talent as a more important reason for their child's mathematical success than did the parents of girls. In contrast, the parents of girls rated effort as a more important reason for their child's mathematical success. Although the girls were perceived to surpass boys in reading, the girls' positive outcomes in reading were explained by effort more than the boys' outcomes, and at the highest level of assessed competence, the boys' verbal talent was rated as a more significant cause of success in reading than the girls' verbal talent. In sum, our results suggested that in both mathematics and reading, girls were not entitled to ability-based attribution to the same extent as were boys.     

THE PREDICTION OF OCCUPATIONAL SUCCESS AND PROFICIENCY

Neither standardized test data nor grades made in required courses in high school contribute significantly to the prediction of occupational success or proficiency. The General Aptitude Test Battery makes practically no contribution to the prediction of success although the instrument is widely used to predict trainability. Intelligence test scores are of little value in predicting success in the labor market. It may be that efforts to predict occupational success and proficiency are in reality exercises in futility since workers tend to be successful regardless of test results. Apparently workers find places where they are considered successful. Possibly new research designs will be required before success can be predicted. Success should not be considered an entity, however, because it does not lend itself to exact measurement.     

Exploring mental-state reasoning as a social-cognitive mechanism for social loafing in children

The authors explored mental-state reasoning ability among 72 preschoolers (ages 3-5 years) as a possible developmental mechanism for the well-known social loafing effect: diminished individual effort in a collaborative task. The authors expected that older children would outperform young children on standard mental-state reasoning tests and that they would display greater social loafing than younger children. In addition, we hypothesized that the ability to infer the mental states of others would be predictive of social loafing, but that the ability to reason about one's own knowledge would not. The authors gave children three standard false-belief tasks and participated in a within-subjects balloon inflation task that they performed both individually and as part of a group. Results indicated that 3-year-olds performed significantly below older preschoolers on mental-state reasoning tasks. Only 4- and 5-year-olds displayed diminished individual effort. Multiple regression analysis indicated that only the ability to reason about others' false beliefs accounted for a significant amount of variance in social loafing; age (in months) and own false-belief reasoning did not. The authors discussed theoretical and pedagogical implications.     

Differences Between Adolescents Who Seek Counseling and Those Who Do Not

It was hypothesized that students who seek counseling for occupational and educational planning would differ from those who do not seek counseling in terms of socioeconomic background, certain personality variables, vocational development, and relations with parents. A battery of tests and a questionnaire were given to 245 male students from McDowell County, West Virginia. Of this group, 93 had received counseling (designated as group C) and 152 had not received counseling (designated as group NC). Group C showed a higher socioeconomic background, more n Achievement, and more certainty in vocational planning. The two groups did not differ significantly in occupational aspiration, perception of occupational prestige, self-esteem, fear of failure, relations with parents, and certainty in educational planning.     

Meta-Analyzing the Relation between Grades and Salary

Academicians and business people have disagreed about whether grades predict occupational outcomes such as training success, job performance, and salary. Recent meta-analyses have suggested that grades are useful predictors of training success and job performance. Unfortunately, the results of meta-analyses examining the grades–salary relation were limited by methodological problems. These problems included confusing income and salary as the same dependent variable, not conducting moderator analyses, using unorthodox schemes of weighting correlations, and not correcting for research artifacts. The current meta-analysis focused only on studies that reported salary as the dependent variable and found uncorrected correlations of .13 for grades and starting salary, .18 for grades and current salary, and .05 for grades and salary growth. The correlations for grades and starting salary rose to approximately .20 when corrected for relevant artifacts and the corrected grades–current salary correlations rose to the mid- to high .20s. Moderator analyses are also reported.     

An Analysis of the Effects of Occupational Variables on Child bearing Intentions

Recent studies have indicated that the relationship between family size and occupational variables (e.g., work status, occupation, total number of years worked, career decisions) may be influenced by a number of different variables. The present study uses Fishbein's Theory of Reasoned Action to analyze the effects of different occupational variables on the beliefs, attitudes, and subjective norms that underlie intentions to have a child (within the next 3 years). Consistent with the theory, occupational variables were significantly related to childbearing intentions only if they were related to attitudes toward having a child and subjective norms. Furthermore, these latter relationships were themselves dependent upon relations between the occupational variables and underlying beliefs, evaluations, and motivations to comply. As expected, different occupational variables influenced intentions in different ways. Thus, Fishbein's theory allows a means for identifying the loci of effects of occupational variables on childbearing intentions. Finally, the two components of the model were sufficient to predict childbearing intentions; in general, occupational variables did not contribute to prediction of childbearing intentions over and above childbearing attitudes and subjective norms.     

Performance bias: Why judgments of learning are not affected by learning

Past research has shown a performance bias: People expect their future performance level on a task to match their current performance level, even when there are good reasons to expect future performance to differ from current performance. One explanation of this bias is that judgments are controlled by what learners can observe, and while current performance is usually observable, changes in performance (i.e., learning or forgetting) are not. This explanation makes a prediction that we tested here: If learning becomes observable, it should begin to affect judgments. In three experiments, after practicing a skill, participants estimated how they performed in the past and how they expected to perform in the future. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants knew they had been improving, as shown by their responses, yet they did not predict that they would improve in the future. This finding was particularly striking because (a) they did improve in the future and (b) as Experiment 3 showed, they did hold the conscious belief that past improvement predicted future improvement. In short, when learning and performance are both observable, judgments of learning seem to be guided by performance and not learning.     

Sex differences in children's attributions for success and failure on math and spelling tests

Sex differences in children's attributions for success and failure were tested on a group of 165 fifth and sixth graders taking a regularly scheduled math and spelling test in their classroom. Pretest questionnaires measured students' self-perceptions of competence in the subject and their performance expectations on the test. Questionnaires, given after the corrected tests were returned, assessed students' actual performance, subjective ratings of success, attributions for the cause of their success or failure, and performance expectations for future tests. Results indicated that sex differences existed in math but not in spelling: compared to girls, boys perceived themselves to be more competent and did better on the math test. Boys were also less likely to attribute failure on the math test to lack of ability and more likely to attribute success to ability than were girls.