Organizational citizenship behavior and performance evaluations: exploring the impact of task interdependence

The influence of task interdependence on the importance attributed to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in evaluations of employee performance was investigated in 3 studies. In Study 1,238 undergraduates were exposed to a task interdependence manipulation and a unit-level performance manipulation and provided citizenship ratings. In Study 2,148 master of business administration students were exposed to a task interdependence manipulation and then rated the importance of OCB in their evaluations of employee performance. In Study 3,130 managers rated the task interdependence in their unit of principal responsibility and the importance of OCB in their overall evaluations of employee performance. The results suggest task interdependence may affect the importance attributed to OCB by evaluators. Implications of these results are explored.     

Reciprocal influences of attentional focus on postural and suprapostural task performance

The authors examined the influence that attentional focus on either a postural or a suprapostural task had on the performance of each task. Participants (N = 32) stood on an inflated rubber disk and held a pole horizontally. All participants performed under 4 attentional focus conditions: external (disk) or internal (feet) focus on the postural task, and external (pole) or internal (hands) focus on the suprapostural task. Compared with internal focuses, external focuses on either task resulted in similar and reduced postural sway. Response frequency on each task increased when participants focused on the respective task. Finally, an external focus on either task produced higher frequencies of responding on the suprapostural task. The authors conclude that suprapostural task goals have a stronger influence on postural control than vice versa, reflecting the propensity of the motor system to optimize control processes on the basis of the desired movement effect.     

A General Structure of Job Performance: Evidence from Two Studies

Purpose  

The purpose of this study is to test alternative models of job performance based on competing categorization criteria.     

Influence of attentional focus on skilled motor performance: Performance decrement under unfamiliar focus conditions

Recent studies have demonstrated that the direction of attentional focus exerts a substantial influence on motor performance. We argue that in well-learned skills, this variable might be confounded with athletes’ familiarity with focus conditions. We studied the effect of familiarity and the direction of attentional focus on performance in two experiments using 2 (familiarity) × 2 (direction) within-subject designs. A significant main effect of familiarity—that is, better performance under familiar compared with unfamiliar focus conditions—confirmed the influence of familiarity on motor performance. Results are consistent with existing concepts, but lead to different consequences when applied to sport and exercise.     

The joint effects of personality and workplace social exchange relationships in predicting task performance and citizenship performance

This field study examines the joint effects of social exchange relationships at work (leader-member exchange and team-member exchange) and employee personality (conscientiousness and agreeableness) in predicting task performance and citizenship performance. Consistent with trait activation theory, matched data on 230 employees, their coworkers, and their supervisors demonstrated interactions in which high quality social exchange relationships weakened the positive relationships between personality and performance. Results demonstrate the benefits of consonant predictions in which predictors and outcomes are matched on the basis of specific targets. We discuss theoretical and practical implications.     

A Society in Transition: Structure and Determinants of Attitudes Toward the Role and Status of Women in Ireland

This study examines the structure of attitudes toward the role and status of women in Ireland and their demographic determinants. Following a pilot test and an instrument pre-test, the main study was based on a stratified quota sample of 420 male and female Dublin adults, aged 18 to 65. Using factor analysis, eight measures were developed tapping attitudes toward the role and status of women. There was a consistent pattern of significant main effects for sex, age, and SES, which indicated that males, older people and those of lower SES background held more traditional attitudes and were less likely to favor social policies associated with greater equality. Among married women, employment status was a significant determinant of more egalitarian sex-role attitudes along a number of dimensions. The implications of the results for social change in Ireland are discussed.     

The interactive effects of person-focused citizenship behaviour,task interdependence,and virtuality on team performance

A multifactorial between-groups experiment examined the effects of person-focused organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBP) on the performance of teams characterized by different levels of virtuality and task interdependence. Results reveal in low virtual teams the moderating effects of task interdependence on the OCBP–team performance relationship are positive; however, these effects are reversed in high virtual teams. Using social presence and task–technology fit theories, our results indicate that task context affects how OCBP impacts team performance, particularly across different levels of team virtuality. The implications for research on OCB and the management of virtual teams are discussed.     

The relative importance of task, citizenship, and counterproductive performance to global ratings of job performance: a policy-capturing approach

A review of research on job performance suggests 3 broad components: task, citizenship, and counterproductive performance. This study examined the relative importance of each component to ratings of overall performance by using an experimental policy-capturing design. Managers in 5 jobs read hypothetical profiles describing employees' task, citizenship, and counterproductive performance and provided global ratings of performance. Within-subjects regression analyses indicated that the weights given to the 3 performance components varied across raters. Hierarchical cluster analyses indicated that raters' policies could be grouped into 3 homogeneous clusters: (a) task performance weighted highest, (b) counterproductive performance weighted highest, and (c) equal and large weights given to task and counterproductive performance. Hierarchical linear modeling indicated that demographic variables were not related to raters' weights.     

The effects of age and task domain on dual task performance: A meta-analysis

Recent research has provided mixed findings as to whether older adults find dual tasking problematic. Here, we examined whether methodological variations across studies can account for the discrepancies in the literature. Meta-analyses conducted on the results of 34 studies conducted between 1981 and 2003 found a strong overall effect size (d = .68), which indicated a clear age-related dual tasking impairment. However, this effect size was not representative of all the individual studies reported. Subsequent analyses, using an analysis of variance analogue (Hedges & Olkin, 1985), investigated potential moderators responsible for the variability in the effect sizes across studies. These secondary analyses included a comparison of dependent measure used, whether baseline differences in performance had been controlled for, and task domain. Task domain was found to be the critical moderator variable. Notably, tasks with a substantial controlled processing, or motor component showed greater dual task impairment than tasks that were relatively simple or relied on automatic processing.     

Motivational factors,school atmosphere,and SES: Determinants of children's probability task performance

Motivational aspects of probability learning performance were examined in 106 third- and fourth-grade children, sampled from three schools. Several measurement modalities were used to assess children's motivational levels. The relationship between probability learning scores and motivational constructs was found to be strongly influenced by socioeconomic status (SES) as well as by school atmosphere Unlike their middle-class counterparts, lower SES children with an internal locus of control made fewer maximizing responses, displaying an unwillingness to settle quickly for lower amounts of reinforcement. Additionally, in the most strict of the three schools, children with high success expectancies made fewer attempts at different patterns of response, reflecting lower tendencies to explore in searching for maximal reinforcement. The effects obtained were interpreted in terms of sociodemographic influences on children's motivational structures, and in terms of possibility varying cannotations of probability learning scores across different subject populations.     

The multiple face(t)s of state conscientiousness: Predicting task performance and organizational citizenship behavior

Previous studies have shown that conscientiousness facets incrementally predict performance above and beyond trait conscientiousness. In the present paper we investigate whether this finding also holds at the daily level. We conducted a ten-day experience sampling study assessing state conscientiousness in the morning and task performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the afternoon. Using multilevel bi-factor modeling we show that general state conscientiousness positively predicts both task performance and OCB. Moreover, self-discipline and deliberation showed incremental predictive validity above and beyond overall state conscientiousness in the prediction of daily task performance, whereas none of the state conscientiousness facets uniquely predicted daily OCB levels.     

The interactive effects of task complexity and participation on task performance: A field experiment

Goal-setting investigators have suggested that participation in the goal-setting process may be important for both motivational and cognitive reasons; however, goal-setting research has focused almost exclusively on the motivational aspect of participation, while generally ignoring the cognitive aspect. In an attempt to demonstrate the cognitive implications of participation, a field experiment was conducted with 40 computer programmers writing either a simple or a complex program. Half the participants were actively involved in discussing the project and in jointly determining the completion target, while the other half were simply assigned completion times of equivalent difficulty. It was hypothesized that, for complex programs, individuals participating in the discussion process would outperform individuals having assigned targets of similar difficulty. In contrast, for simple programs, it was expected that participation would have no effect on task performance. The data were analyzed using a 2 × 2 ANOVA procedure, and results strongly supported the hypothesized interaction. Discussion centered on the implications of the findings for future research in this area.     

The effect of state core self-evaluations on task performance,organizational citizenship behaviour,and counterproductive work behaviour

Although the personality–performance relationship has been studied extensively, most studies focused on the relationship between between-person differences in the Big Five personality dimensions and between-person differences in job performance. The current paper extends this research in two ways. First, we build on core self-evaluations (CSEs): an alternative, broad personality dimension that has proven to be a good predictor of job performance. Second, we tested concurrent and lagged within-person relationships between CSEs and task performance, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and counterproductive work behaviour (CWB). To this end, we conducted two experience sampling studies; the first one assessing the relationship between state CSEs and levels of momentary task performance and OCB, and a second study in which employees reported on their level of state CSEs and momentary CWB. Results showed that there is substantial within-person variability in CSEs and that these within-person fluctuations relate to within-person variation in task performance, OCB, and CWB towards the organization, and CWB towards the individual. Moreover, CSEs prospectively predicted within-person differences in task performance and CWB towards the organization, whereas the reversed effect did not hold. These findings tentatively suggest that state CSEs predict performance, rather than the other way around.     

Perceiving and Understanding Religion: A task for RE in the classroom

Given conventional refusals of sense perception in RE pedagogics, this article tries to take a fresh approach. To provide new insight into the essence and function of perception for religion and RE, it draws on a phenomenological concept of the human senses. Finally, it presents two elements of RE classroom practice.     

The significance of task significance: Job performance effects, relational mechanisms, and boundary conditions

Does task significance increase job performance? Correlational designs and confounded manipulations have prevented researchers from assessing the causal impact of task significance on job performance. To address this gap, 3 field experiments examined the performance effects, relational mechanisms, and boundary conditions of task significance. In Experiment 1, fundraising callers who received a task significance intervention increased their levels of job performance relative to callers in 2 other conditions and to their own prior performance. In Experiment 2, task significance increased the job dedication and helping behavior of lifeguards, and these effects were mediated by increases in perceptions of social impact and social worth. In Experiment 3, conscientiousness and prosocial values moderated the effects of task significance on the performance of new fundraising callers. The results provide fresh insights into the effects, relational mechanisms, and boundary conditions of task significance, offering noteworthy implications for theory, research, and practice on job design, social information processing, and work motivation and performance.     

工作绩效的结构及其与胜任特征的关系

本研究旨在验证党政领导干部对下级工作绩效评定的结构,并探讨其与胜任特征之间的关系。两个省市的450名党政领导干部完成了对自己下级的工作绩效和胜任特征的评定。结果表明,评定下级干部工作绩效的两因素结构,即任务指向和个人素质,得到了验证;分别以工作绩效的两个二阶因素为因变量,以胜任特征的七个维度为预测变量进行逐步回归分析,胜任特征可以解释工作绩效的“才”和“德”成分54．5％和55．3％的变异。胜任特征和工作绩效中“德”和“才”的成分之间存在复杂的关系,既可以相互促进,也可以交互抑制。文中还对这一结果的含义及本土化研究的意义进行了深入讨论。     

Job crafting and job performance: A longitudinal study

In this three-wave study (N = 288), we examined whether job crafting intentions and work engagement led to actual job crafting behaviours and, in turn, to higher levels of prospective work engagement and job performance. We used the Job Demands-Resources model as a theoretical framework and defined job crafting as the self-initiated changes that employees make in their job demands and resources. One month after reporting their job crafting intentions, respondents rated their actual job crafting behaviours. Again one month later, they rated their levels of work engagement, in-role performance, and organizational citizenship behaviour towards individuals (OCBI). Results of structural equation modelling showed that job crafting intentions and work engagement significantly related to actual job crafting, which, in turn, related to higher levels of work engagement, while controlling for job characteristics. Results further showed that engaged employees performed better on their in-role tasks but did not perform more OCBIs. The findings suggest that employees can increase their own work engagement and job performance through job crafting.     

Private speech on an executive task: relations with task difficulty and task performance

Measures of private speech and task performance were obtained for a sample of 46 5- and 6-year-olds engaged on a mechanical version of the Tower of London (ToL) task. Two different sets of four puzzles of increasing difficulty were attempted on two occasions. In line with Vygotskian predictions, there was a quadratic relation between private speech and task difficulty, but no evidence of a shift towards self-regulatory sub-types of private speech with increasing task difficulty. Levels of self-regulatory private speech were significantly related to concurrent, but not subsequent, task performance. We discuss the significance of these findings for the Vygotskian view that private speech has an adaptive function in the self-regulation of behaviour.