THE PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF A WORK SAMPLE: A LABORATORY STUDY

Concurrent and predictive test validity data and test-retest reliability data were obtained for a work sample performance measure and two paper and pencil tests in a laboratory setting. The work sample predicted performance on the criterion comparably with the two traditional paper and pencil tests for both concurrent and predictive validity conditions. The results of this study coupled with the inherent advantages of work samples for personnel selection offer a favorable prognosis for future research and application of work samples. The findings are interpreted in light of a behavioral consistency model and the practical utility of work samples as a personnel selection technique.     

LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF PROCRASTINATION, PERFORMANCE, STRESS, AND HEALTH:

Abstract— Procrastination is variously described as harmful, innocuous, or even benefical. Two longitudinal studies examined procrastination among students. Procrastinators reported lower stress and less illness than nonprocrastinators early in the semester, but they reported higher stress and more illness late in the term, and overall they were sicker. Procrastination thus appears to be a self-defeating behavior pattern marked by short-term benefits and long-term costs.     

ASSESSMENT CENTERS AND SUBORDINATE APPRAISALS OF MANAGERS: A SEVEN-YEAR EXAMINATION OF PREDICTIVE VALIDITY

Assessment center ratings of 52 state law enforcement agency managers predicted both a contaminated promotions criterion and two uncontaminated ratings criteria, but they did significantly better in predicting the former. Criteria data were gathered two, four, and seven years after the assessment center, and a modest upward trend in validity coefficients was observed. Ratings by subordinates demonstrated promise as a near term predictor, outperforming the assessment center on uncontaminated criteria in the two- and four-year time frames. Last, regression analyses using Year 7 criteria revealed unique predictive power for both ratings by subordinates and assessment centers above and beyond that provided by supervisor ratings.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Academy of Management meeting, Anaheim, California, August 7-10, 1988.     

PERSONALITY AND JOB PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE OF INCREMENTAL VALIDITY

It is suggested that personality variables are significant predictors of job performance when carefully matched with the appropriate occupation and organization. The present study investigates the relationship between specific personality variables and job performance in a sample ( N = 43) of accountants. The results indicate that even with the effects of cognitive ability taken into account, three personality scales (orientation towards work; degree of ascendancy; and degree and quality of interpersonal orientation) are significantly related to important aspects of job performance. It is suggested that the overall validity of selection strategies might be improved with the addition of measures of relevant personality dimensions when appropriately matched to an occupation and organization.     

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF IN-BASKET PERFORMANCE MEASURES

The in-basket test is a frequently used assessment tool for predicting job performance and, to a lesser extent, as a technique for research and development in various human resource applications. While the in-basket test has obvious attractive features for application in the business setting, there is a great degree of uniqueness in each application and relatively little research focusing on critical issues involved in construction or evaluation. In this paper, the literature focusing on the psychometric properties of in-basket measures of performance are reviewed and evaluated. The compiled evidence provides only modest support of the usefulness of the in-basket test as a measurement tool.     

A LONGITUDINAL EXAMINATION OF RATER AND RATEE EFFECTS IN PERFORMANCE RATINGS

The consistency and loci of leniency, halo, and range restriction effects in performance ratings were investigated in a longitudinal study. Ratings were provided by approximately 90 supervisors in a metropolitan police department, who rated approximately 350 police-rank subordinates on five occasions over a three and one-half year period. Rating effects were computed separately as rater-and ratee-based statistics, and intercorrelated among the five rating periods. The nature of the data set made it possible to hold either raters or ratees constant for each analysis, thus permitting inferences regarding the sources of reliable variance in effects as due to raters or ratees. It was concluded that reliable variance in mean ratings is partly attributable to ratees, but mainly introduced by raters. Reliable halo variance is attributable to raters, and range restriction is a product of stable group performance variability within intact ratee groups. Implications of these results for future rating process research are discussed.     

THE CONCEPT OF DYNAMIC CRITERIA: A CRITICAL REANALYSIS

Discussions of "the criterion problem" stress the assumedly frequent incidence of dynamic criteria. However, different concepts of dynamic criteria have not been distinguished. Three views of dynamic criteria are clarified in this paper. These are dynamic criteria conceptualized as (a) changes in group average performance over time, (b) changes in validity over time, and (c) changes in the rank-ordering of scores on the criterion over time. The evidence cited for each concept of dynamic criteria is critically analyzed and submitted to significance tests. The results of analyses of 735 r 's and 532 paired r 's across time from studies pertinent to dynamic criteria are reported. It is concluded that dynamic criteria are rare phenomena, with the significant changes found in key studies explainable by methodological artifacts. Though many sources suggest that dynamic criteria have dire consequences for the overall selection process, we argue that the phenomena have been over-emphasized in the literature, and that practitioners' concern should focus instead on removing sources of criterion unreliability.     

儿童2～4岁行为抑制的稳定性

采用实验室观察法研究了儿童行为抑制性发展的稳定性特征。被试为追踪样本,随机选取北京市124名儿童,经家长同意参加本项追踪项目。2岁时,有124名儿童参加本实验,在不同的陌生情景下对儿童行为进行录像观察,每次一对儿童和母亲。4岁时,有103名儿童参加实验室观察,21名儿童由于搬迁、失约或中途退出而没有数据;在观察室,每次邀请四名过完四岁生日不久的同龄、同性别、但父母评价害羞程度不同的、彼此陌生的儿童同时来到实验室作观察。结果表明：就整体而言,儿童在2岁时的行为抑制性特征与其4岁时的行为抑制性特征相关显著,但稳定性程度较低(0．294);通过对极端组和非极端组儿童的行为抑制性的稳定程度的比较发现,极端组儿童,无论是极端非抑制儿童还是极端抑制儿童,其行为特征的保持程度要好于非极端组;对儿童4岁时行为抑制性的性别差异检验虽然没有达到显著性水平(t＝-1．776,p＝0．079),但男孩总体上有非抑制性倾向(抑制性的平均分数为-0．2420),女孩有抑制性倾向(女孩的平均抑制性分数为0．2035)。     

A LONGITUDINAL MODEL OF SPONSORSHIP AND CAREER SUCCESS: A STUDY OF INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS

Drawing from research on the sociology of science, we hypothesized a model of academic career success in an effort to extend research on particularistic and universalistic influences on career success. Results, based on a sample of 154 members of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, provided support for the hypothesized model. Specifically, doctoral program prestige and publications as a PhD student influenced prestige of the first job. Furthermore, these 2 variables—along with chair publications—influenced career publications, prestige of the first job and career publications influenced extrinsic success (a composite variable comprised of rank, salary, longitudinal citation rates, prestige of current job, fellowships, and presence on editorial boards), and extrinsic success influenced intrinsic career success (career satisfaction). The results further suggest that individual performance has a stronger influence on the career success of industrial-organizational psychologists than do social networks.     

WHEN PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IS THE GOAL: A NEW SET OF CRITERIA FOR CRITERIA

Weitz (1961), aware of the lure of tradition and expedience, urged the identification of evaluation standards for dependent variables, which he referred to as criteria for criteria. In this article, five criteria are proposed using the mnemonic SURF & C: the directness of sampling (S); the responsiveness of the target (i.e., making sure the dependent variable is under (U) the worker's control); the reliability (R) of observers; the frequent (F) assessment of the target during the intervention period; and the critical (C) nature of the target. Together the criteria provide guidelines for what and how targets should be assessed. Their necessity is illustrated in two year-long experiments designed to improve the preventive maintenance of heavy equipment in the U.S. Marine Corps. Although the criteria are limited to evaluating dependent variables in field experiments, they are recommended as the foundation for successful performance efforts in any applied setting.     

ANOTHER VIEW OF DYNAMIC CRITERIA: A CRITICAL REANALYSIS OF BARRETT, CALDWELL, AND ALEXANDER

We argue a divergent perspective from that taken by Barrett, Caldwell, and Alexander (1985) in a critical reanalysis of the evidence for dynamic criteria. Those authors distinguished three definitions of the dynamic criterion phenomenon and concluded, on the basis of secondary analyses of several sets of published data, that dynamic criteria do not exist. Moreover, they concluded that most of the temporal changes in criteria reported in those data sets could be explained by methodological artifacts. In several cases these artifacts were listed in summary form, without a complete consideration of the implications of invoking these artifacts as post hoc explanations. The purpose of this comment is to clarify the debate on dynamic criteria by critiquing the Barrett et al. study. We suggest that a fruitful solution to the problem may lie in trying to understand criteria per se rather than searching for artifacts.     

A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF UPWARD FEEDBACK

This study followed 92 managers during four administrations of an upward feedback program over 2.5 years. Managers' whose initial level of performance (defined as the average rating from subordinates) was low improved between Administrations 1 and 2, and sustained this improvement 2 years later. Most of the performance improvement occurred between the first and second administrations of the program. The observed performance improvement could not be attributed solely to regression to the mean and was unrelated to the number of times, or when, the managers received feedback. Our results suggest that the continued administration of an upward feedback program can result in sustained change over a fairly long period of time and that actually receiving feedback may be less important than the exposure to the valued behaviors. We use control theory and goal setting theory as frameworks for explaining the results and suggesting directions for future research.     

A COMPARISON OF VALIDATION CRITERIA: OBJECTIVE VERSUS SUBJECTIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND SELF- VERSUS SUPERVISOR RATINGS

This study compared four criteria–two objective (production quantity and production quality) and two subjective (supervisor and self-ratings)–for their predictability in a criterion-related validity study. Results from this sample of 212 maintenance, mechanic, and field service workers replicated previous meta-analytic results with clerical workers (Nathan & Alexander, 1988); supervisor ratings and objective productivity indices provided similar and significant validity coefficients with a unit-weighted composite of five cognitive ability tests. The objective quality index and employee self-ratings resulted in near zero correlations with the same predictor battery. Additional productivity and quality objective criterion data were available for 2 years since the original validation study; no change in validity was found.     

ON THE VALIDITY OF SUBJECTIVE MEASURES OF COMPANY PERFORMANCE

Subjective measures of company performance are widely used in research and typically are interpreted as equivalent to objective measures. Yet, the assumption of equivalence is open to challenge. We compared the use of both types of measure in 3 separate samples. Findings were consistent in showing that: (a) subjective and objective measures of company performance were positively associated (convergent validity); (b) those relationships were stronger than those between measures of differing aspects of performance using the same method (discriminant validity); and (c) the relationships of subjective and objective company performance measures with a range of independent variables were equivalent (construct validity).     

INTERACTION AND INTERSECTION: THE CONSTELLATION OF EMOTIONAL STABILITY AND EXTRAVERSION IN PREDICTING PERFORMANCE

This study investigated the constellation of 2 Big 5 traits—Emotional Stability and Extraversion—in predicting job performance. Two forms of the constellation, one indirect (a statistical interaction) and the other direct (a measure of the intersection between the traits from the Big 5 circumplex), were used to predict job performance. Data were collected from employees and their supervisors at a regional health and fitness center. Results indicated that both measures predicted performance, even when controlling for the "main effects" of Emotional Stability and Extraversion, as well as 2 other relevant Big 5 traits (Agreeableness and Conscientiousness). These results suggest that the combination of Emotional Stability and Extraversion—reflecting a "happy" or "buoyant" personality—may be more important to performance than either trait in isolation.