SOURCE-RELATED DETERMINANTS OF PERCEIVED JOB SCOPE

The effect of manipulating source competence, locus of control, and social cues on perceived job scope was examined in an experimental study. A total of 185 business students participated in a 2×2×2×2 factorial research design. The design partitions were: task level (enriched versus unenriched), social cues (positive versus neutral), source competence (high versus low), and locus of control (high versus low). Subjects were screened on a locus of control measure such that those either in the upper or lower third score range were eligible to participate. A three-way interaction was found, involving source competence × social cues × locus of control on perceived job scope. The results of this study are discussed in terms of the Social Information Processing Approach (SIPA) to task design.     

FURTHER EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JOB SEARCH AND VOLUNTARY INDIVIDUAL TURNOVER

This study tested the usefulness of a new job search behavior measure to account for voluntary turnover beyond more frequently tested work attitude and withdrawal cognition variables. Using two samples, 339 registered nurses and 234 insurance company employees, three measures of job search were distinguished: preparatory job search behavior, active job search behavior, and general effort job search. Active job search behavior had a stronger relationship to voluntary turnover than preparatory job search behavior or general effort job search, and it accounted for significant additional turnover variance beyond work attitude and withdrawal cognition variables. Stronger results were found when unavoidable leavers were deleted from the turnover subsample.     

WHITHER INTERNALISM? HOW INTERNALISTS SHOULD RESPOND TO THE EXTENDED MIND HYPOTHESIS

Abstract: A new position in the philosophy of mind has recently appeared: the extended mind hypothesis (EMH). Some of its proponents think the EMH, which says that a subject's mental states can extend into the local environment, shows that internalism is false. I argue that this is wrong. The EMH does not refute internalism; in fact, it necessarily does not do so. The popular assumption that the EMH spells trouble for internalists is premised on a bad characterization of the internalist thesis—albeit one that most internalists have adhered to. I show that internalism is entirely compatible with the EMH. This view should prompt us to reconsider the characterization of internalism, and in conclusion I make some brief remarks about how that project might proceed.     

THE FUTILITY OF UTILITY ANALYSIS

In a study involving 143 experienced managers, utility analysis was found to influence managerial decision making, but not in the way intended by advocates of this technique. Utility analysis reduced the support of managers for implementing a valid selection procedure, even though the analysis indicated that the net benefits from the new procedure were substantial. In light of these findings, industrial/organizational psychologists are advised to reconsider their assumptions regarding the information managers use when managers make human resource policy decisions.