FURTHER WITHIN-SETTING EMPIRICAL TESTS OF THE SITUATIONAL SPECIFICITY HYPOTHESIS IN PERSONNEL SELECTION

The situational specificity hypothesis in personnel selection holds that variation in observed validity coefficients across studies for the same test and job is due to subtle variations from setting to setting in what constitutes job performance. This hypothesis therefore predicts that, if the setting does not vary, validity will not vary. Using data from a single large-sample validity study ( N = 1,455), this research generated numerous small-sample studies for which the setting (organization, job, test, criterion measure, applicant pool, time period, and sample size) was held constant. It was found that even under these circumstances there was substantial variability across studies in (a) observed validity coefficients, (b) significance levels, and (c) (using traditional data analytic methods) conclusions about the presence or absence of validity. These findings disconfirm the situational specificity hypothesis and argue strongly against traditional data-analytic procedures and the practice of reliance on single small-sample studies. In contrast to the erroneous conclusions produced by traditional data-analytic procedures, meta-analytic methods correctly estimated the population observed validity at .22 and correctly indicated that all between-study variance in observed validities was due to sampling error alone.     

情境兴趣的研究进展

兴趣是一种重要的非智力因素,受到研究者的普遍关注。随着对兴趣的深入研究,研究者将兴趣分为个体兴趣和情境兴趣。其中,情境兴趣因其可被人为地控制和改变而成为国内外教育界的研究重点和热点。本文从情境兴趣的概念、分类、维度及影响因素等方面对情境兴趣的研究成果进行综述。     

EXPERIENCE-BASED AND SITUATIONAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: STUDIES OF VALIDITY

This research compared the validity of two different types of structured interview questions (i.e., experience-based and situational) under tightly controlled conditions. The experience-based interview questions required that 108 study participants relate how they had handled situations in the past requiring skills and abilities necessary for effective performance on the job. Situational questions, administered to another group of 108 study participants, provided interviewees with hypothetical job-relevant situations and asked them how they would respond if they were confronted with these problems. The experience-based interview questions yielded higher levels of validity than the situational questions. Additional analyses showed that the interview added incrementally to the prediction of performance beyond the variance accounted for by a cognitive ability test. There were small differences in subgroup performance (White, Black, Hispanic, male, and female) on the experience-based interview, though it was equally valid for all subgroups.     

SITUATIONAL JUDGMENT TESTS: CONSTRUCTS ASSESSED AND A META-ANALYSIS OF THEIR CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITIES

Situational judgment tests (SJTs) are a measurement method that may be designed to assess a variety of constructs. Nevertheless, many studies fail to report the constructs measured by the situational judgment tests in the extant literature. Consequently, a construct-level focus in the situational judgment test literature is lacking, and researchers and practitioners know little about the specific constructs typically measured. Our objective was to extend the efforts of previous researchers (e.g., McDaniel, Hartman, Whetzel, & Grubb, 2007 ; McDaniel & Ngyuen, 2001 ; Schmitt & Chan, 2006 ) by highlighting the need for a construct focus in situational judgment test research. We identified and classified the construct domains assessed by situational judgment tests in the literature into a content-based typology. We then conducted a meta-analysis to determine the criterion-related validity of each construct domain and to test for moderators. We found that situational judgment tests most often assess leadership and interpersonal skills and those situational judgment tests measuring teamwork skills and leadership have relatively high validities for overall job performance. Although based on a small number of studies, we found evidence that (a) matching the predictor constructs with criterion facets improved criterion-related validity; and (b) video-based situational judgment tests tended to have stronger criterion-related validity than pencil-and-paper situational judgment tests, holding constructs constant. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

FURTHER TESTS OF THE SCHMIDT-HUNTER BAYESIAN VALIDITY GENERALIZATION PROCEDURE1

Using an improved version of the Bayesian validity generalization model presented in Schmidt and Hunter (1977), this study showed that most of the between-study variation in observed validity coefficients of various aptitude and ability tests for two types of clerical work and for the job of first-line supervisor is artifactual in nature. These results cast additional doubt on the traditional belief that employment test validities are situationally specific. In addition, the results showed that generalization of validities to new settings was justified even where the hypothesis of situational specificity could not be rejected under the standards used in this study. Implications for the use of aptitude and ability tests in selection and for theory development in industrial-organizational psychology are discussed.     

SITUATIONAL JUDGMENT TESTS, RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS, AND VALIDITY: A META-ANALYSIS

Situational judgment tests (SJTs) are personnel selection instruments that present job applicants with work-related situations and possible responses to the situations. There are typically 2 types of instructions: behavioral tendency and knowledge. Behavioral tendency instructions ask respondents to identify how they would likely behave in a given situation. Knowledge instructions ask respondents to evaluate the effectiveness of possible responses to a given situation. Results showed that response instructions influenced the constructs measured by the tests. Tests with knowledge instructions had higher correlations with cognitive ability. Tests with behavioral tendency instructions showed higher correlations with personality constructs. Results also showed that response instructions had little moderating effect on criterion-related validity. Supplemental analyses showed that the moderating effect of response instructions on construct validity was not due to systematic differences in item content. SJTs have incremental validity over cognitive ability, the Big 5, and over a composite of cognitive ability and the Big 5.     

INDIVIDUAL AND SITUATIONAL CORRELATES OF WHISTLE-BLOWING

Although popular interest in whistle-blowing continues to increase, little is known about why some employees who observe wrongdoing report it, while others do not. In the present study, we analyze archival survey data from individuals who observed wrongdoing in any of 22 organizations. Results are generally consistent with predictions based on a model of whistle-blowing as a type of prosocial behavior. Whistle-blowing was more likely when observers of wrongdoing (1) held professional positions, (2) had more positive reactions to their work, (3) had longer service, (4) were recently recognized for good performance, (5) were male (though race was unrelated to whistle-blowing), (6) were members of larger work groups, and (7) were employed by organizations perceived by others to be responsive to complaints. Implications for research and practice are described.     

情境访谈的特点与研究趋势

情境访谈自８０年代初到现在已有了长足的发展,人们不仅把它作为一种人员选拔的方法,而更将它理解为一种研究的思路。本文主要着重讨论有关情境访谈研究的以下几个方面：（１）情境访谈与传统访谈的比较研究;（２）过去行为定向情境访谈和将来意图定向情境访谈的比较研究;（３）情境访谈与认知能力测验之间的关系。（４）情境访谈在新的组织情境下的应用。本文还讨论了关于情境访谈的将来研究趋势。     

AN ANALYSIS OF SITUATIONAL DIMENSIONS: A REPLICATION

An analysis of individuals' perceptions of situations was performed and confirmed the main results obtained in an earlier study by Magnusson (1971). Ss gave similarity ratings of situakions from a specific domain. A dimensional analysis and a categorization were mad on data. The method showed good agreement. Stability over time in factor structure was high as well as the agreement between individual structures. The analyses gave a clear and subjectively meaningful structure for both individual data and group data.     

VIDEO-BASED SITUATIONAL TESTING

In two separate studies, video-based tests of situational judgment were developed and validated against measures of performance for hourly service workers. In the first study, 684 employees were used to develop a test of retail associate judgment and 787 newly hired employees were used to cross-validate the instrument. In the second study, 412 current employees were used to develop a test of nursing home caregiver judgment and 148 newly hired caregivers were used to cross-validate this video-based test. In both studies, responses to video-based situational vignettes were empirically keyed against supervisory ratings of performance. The resulting keys produced uncorrected cross-validities in the low .20s. The video-based test scores were also found to be related to measures of cognitive ability and, to a lesser extent, experience. These results suggest that cognitive ability and possibly experience account for some but not all of the predictiveness of video-based situational tests. Video-based situational tests demonstrated score differences between Whites and non-Whites of roughly one-half a standard deviation, indicating that the use of such tests could produce adverse impact against non-Whites. In the second study, customer preferences regarding desired behavior were also used to develop a rational scoring key. This customer driven key was significantly related to performance ( r = .33) in the cross-validation sample, demonstrating that customers' preferences can provide the basis for developing valid predictors. Potential benefits of video-based situational tests in selection and directions for future research are discussed.     

EXAMINATION OF SITUATIONAL AND ATTITUDINAL MODERATORS OF THE HESITATION AND PERFORMANCE RELATION

The hesitation dimension of action-state orientation refers to the behavioral capacity to start action on tasks. In this study, job characteristics (autonomy and routineness) and job attitudes (satisfaction and involvement) were examined as moderators of the relation between hesitation and supervisor ratings of work behaviors (overall job performance and self-management performance) in 2 different samples. In both samples, routineness moderated the hesitation and self-management performance relation such that individuals low in hesitation performed better than individuals high in hesitation when routineness was low, but no differences in performance were observed when routineness was high. In addition, job satisfaction and job involvement were significant moderators of the relation between hesitation and self-management performance, with individuals low in hesitation performing better than individuals high in hesitation when satisfaction or involvement was low, but no differences in performance were observed when satisfaction or involvement was high.     

关于閃光信号語义干扰的另一些实驗研究

問題我們在“閃光信号的語义干扰”实驗研究中,对代表物体运动速度的閃光信号的三种不同編碼方案进行了比較。結果表明,以快閃代表快速、慢閃代表慢速、固定灯光代表更慢的速度所产生的語义干扰最少,因而可以孰为是最优編碼方案,并且是最符合人們的思維习慣的。但是关于語义干扰的产生,还有以下几个問题須待解答。这些問題是:1.如果最优方案的編碼是最适当的,那末,在其他方案中总有一些信号,它們的意义     

SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES ON THE SELECTION OF STRATEGIES TO RESIST COMPLIANCE-GAINING ATTEMPTS

This study investigated the effects of situational variables on the likelihood of use of four types of strategies to resist compliance-gaining attempts: identity managing, negotiation, justifying, and non-negotiation. Subjects rated strategies on the probability that they would actually use them to resist complying in each of eight situations, which varied systematically in the level of agent-target intimacy, the consequences to the target-agent relationship of noncompliance, and the rights of the target to resist. Significant second-order interactions of the situational factors were obtained for the likelihood of use of each of the four types of strategies. Resistance message selection was concluded to be based upon an assessment of the relative risk associated with the implementation of a given strategy in conjunction with a particular combination of situational constraints.     

A FURTHER STUDY OF VELOCITY SYNTHESIS

C ohen , R. L. A further study of velocity synthesis. Scand.J. Psychol ., 1962, 3 , 137–142.—A prediction as to the variation of estimates of subjects performing on the velocity synthesis apparatus, if the intensity of one of the twin spots were to be decreased, was made on the basis of the signal/interference approach. This prediction was then verified by experiment, where it was found that the mean score of a group of subjects estimating absolute velocity was influenced to a far greater extent than that of a group estimating relative velocity, when the intensity of one of the twin spots was decreased stepwise to a level just above the threshold value.     

A SITUATIONAL JUDGMENT TEST OF PERSONAL INITIATIVE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO PERFORMANCE

Although situational judgment tests have been found to be valid predictors of performance, they have rarely been used to measure particular constructs. In this study, we apply the situational judgment test method to the measurement of personal initiative, a construct defined as situated action. We used respondents' situated preferences in mental simulations of work scenarios as formative indicators of their overall level of personal initiative at work. Results from a validation study showed that the situational judgment test of personal initiative (SJT-PI) had adequate validity and complemented a Likert-type self-report measure of personal initiative in predicting behavioral criteria. Situated preferences for personal initiative were hypothesized to be proximal predictors of actual behavior and were accordingly found to mediate the relationship between generalized self-efficacy, felt responsibility, and actual behavior. Furthermore, situated preferences for personal initiative could be differentiated empirically from organizational citizenship behavior. We conclude that situational judgment tests are a promising method for measuring personal initiative and may be a general means of improving the validity of measurement in organizations.