ESTIMATION OF EMPLOYMENT VALIDITIES BY LESS EXPERIENCED JUDGES

In a previous study, Schmidt, Hunter, Croll and McKenzie (1983) demonstrated that estimates of the validity of cognitive tests made by highly trained and experienced judges are more accurate than empirical estimates obtained from small-sample validity studies. The present study examined whether less experienced judges could also produce accurate estimates. Twenty-eight recent Ph.D.'s in I/O Psychology estimated observed validities for the same 54 job-test combinations used by Schmidt et al. (1983). The estimates of these judges contained about twice as much random error as the experts' estimates. Systematic error of the less experienced judges was also greater than that of the experts (.0732 vs .019). The systematic errors of the two sets of judges were in opposite directions: less experienced judges overestimated validities, on average, while experts underestimated them. The results show that the estimates of less experienced judges contain less information than those of experts, but also that averages of estimates of several less experienced judges are as accurate as those obtained from small-sample empirical studies.     

GROUP DIFFERENCES IN PERSONALITY: META‐ANALYSES COMPARING FIVE U.S. RACIAL GROUPS

This research poses 2 applied questions: How large are racial group differences on personality scales and are these differences likely to cause adverse impact in personnel selection? We examined the extent to which racial groups differ across Big 5 personality factors and facets. Large‐scale, quantitative estimates based on over 700 effect sizes were meta‐analytically summarized. Multiple personality instruments and understudied racial groups, particularly Asian Americans and American Indians, were included in the meta‐analyses. Most group comparisons and personality scales yielded negligible differences and are not likely to cause adverse impact in selection. However, facet‐level analyses produced different d‐values, with some group comparisons showing moderate differences, suggesting that the use of personality measures in selection does not uniformly circumvent adverse impact concerns. The veracity of this conclusion depends on (a) the particular trait in question, (b) the composition of the applicant pool (i.e., which groups are to be compared with one another), (c) the effect size (i.e., d‐value), and (d) the selection ratio. For practitioners, we present a quantitatively informed summary of when and where to expect adverse impact to result from personality measures used in personnel selection.     

Predicting Screening Uptake by First‐Degree Relatives of Patients Diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer1

Colorectal cancer represents a significant health threat worldwide. First‐degree relatives (FDRs) of colorectal cancer patients are at increased risk of developing the disease. There is a need to understand the psychosocial predictors of screening uptake in this group. An extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) that included perceived risk was employed to do this. Telephone interviews were conducted with 110 FDRs. The TPB accounted for up to 51% and between 16% and 25% of the variance in intention and behavior, respectively. Injunctive norm emerged as the strongest predictor of screening intention. Therefore, it is recommended that interventions to maximize screening uptake target this variable in particular.     

Cherish the good times: Relational savoring in parents of infants and toddlers

Savoring, or prolonging emotions associated with positive events, improves emotion and life satisfaction; little work, however, focuses on the savoring of interpersonal experiences, termed relational savoring. In a sample of 435 parents, the authors evaluated the impact of relational savoring on emotion and parent–child relationship satisfaction compared to a personal savoring and neutral control condition. Two years later, the authors reassessed parents' feelings of closeness with their children in a subsample of the original participants (n = 64). Both savoring conditions resulted in higher positive emotion for all parents, whereas the effects on negative emotion, relationship satisfaction, and closeness were only present for those higher in attachment avoidance. This study opens new avenues of investigation in both relational savoring and parent–child relationships.     

Effects of self‐disclosure and responsiveness between couples on passionate love within couples

Previous work shows that high‐self‐disclosure interactions between couples can increase feelings of closeness within couples. We investigated whether couple friendships created in the lab through high‐self‐disclosure and closeness‐building activities would boost feelings of passionate love. In Study 1, couples randomly assigned to a high (vs. low) closeness induction task, either alone or with another couple, showed significantly greater increases in passionate love when they were highly self‐disclosing with other couples. Study 2 showed that the responsiveness of the other couple mediated the effects of self‐disclosure on increases in passionate love following high‐self‐disclosure interactions with other couples. The creation of couple friendships may be an additional way to reignite feelings of passionate love in romantic relationships.