Do Impression Management Scales in Personality Inventories Predict Managerial Job Performance Ratings?

Theorists have argued that impression management scales should predict job performance in jobs where interpersonal interactions are important. This research examined the correlation between impression management scale scores and overall job performance as well as its component dimensions for managerial jobs (one type of job requiring considerable interpersonal interaction). First, a meta‐analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between impression management scale scores and overall managerial performance. Results indicated that the correlation was .04 (k = 17, N = 20,069) for managers. Two additional studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between impression management and specific facets or dimensions of managerial performance. In one of these two studies, the relationships between impression management scores and supervisory ratings on 24 performance facets were investigated for 826 managers. Criterion‐related validities ranged from ‐.06 to .07. In the second study, correlations of an impression management scale with ratings on 22 dimensions of performance were examined using a sample of 257 executives. The validities ranged from .01 to .11. There appears to be little evidence that impression management scales predict job performance in at least one job category where interpersonal interactions are important (management). Potential relevance of these results for understanding social desirability in personality measurement for personnel selection is discussed.     

Perceived self-other differences in life events and mental health among Mexicans and Americans

The social context of reported stressful life events was examined as a determinant of psychiatric symptoms in four cultural groups: Anglo-Americans (n = 132), Mexican-Americans (n = 108), Mexicans in El Paso (n = 90), and Mexican nationals (n = 133). The perceived difference between life events experienced by the self and spouse or by the self and significant others constituted preliminary operational definitions of the social context of life events. Ten Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview (PERI) psychiatric symptom scales as well as a suicidal tendency scale and a hopelessness index constituted the measures of the dependent variables. The potential predictive value of the social contextual measures of life-event stress for mental health variables was generally supported by the findings. Results indicated a rank ordering of predicted effects, with Mexican nationals most susceptible to the psychological effects of the social context of life events and Anglo-Americans least susceptible.     

Three post-Vietnam “rap/therapy” groups: An analysis

An analysis is presented of the content and process over a one year's period of time of 81 sessions with three therapy groups of help-seeking Vietnam theater veterans. Data were collected concerning the frequency and content of the symptoms and issues that were discussed, the frequency and relationship of the discussion of current life issues versus Vietnam and pre- and post-Vietnam life issues, the predominant therapeutic themes that emerged in the groups, and the kinds of therapy interventions provided. Implications are discussed regarding the DSM-III inclusionary symptom criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder, and the structure and format to facilitate a combined rap and therapy group process with Vietnam veterans.The opinions of the authors do not reflect official Veterans Administration policy and should not be so construed.     

Career success: A new perspective

If the effectiveness of vocational guidance services is to be evaluated it is important to have adequate ways of measuring career success. In this paper the concept of career success is discussed in relation to the societal, the individual and the organisational frames of reference, all of which are regarded as dynamic. The actual criteria of success discussed relate to the degree of achievement of valued goals via the occupational setting, as measured through a particular frame of reference. The authors deliberately use the term career success in preference to that of occupational success since they wish to emphasise the significance of work in a person's total life space.     

Sexual Desire and Depression Following Spinal Cord Injury: Masculine Sexual Prowess as a Moderator

Men’s adherence to masculine norms stressing sexual prowess may contribute to their adjustment to changes in sexual functioning following spinal cord injury. The authors test this hypothesis by examining the moderating role of men’s conformity to gender norms for sexual prowess on the relationship between sexual desire and depression. One hundred and sixteen male citizens of the United States with spinal cord injuries were recruited for participation in the internet-based survey. Results indicated that participants with strong sexual desire evinced higher rates of depression when they conformed to masculine norms emphasizing sexual prowess. Men with little reported sexual desire, by contrast, demonstrated lower rates of depression when they endorsed norms for prowess. Directions for future research and treatment interventions are offered.     

Predictive validity of a multidisciplinary model of reemployment success

The authors propose a multidisciplinary model of the predictors of reemployment and test its predictive validity for explaining reemployment success. Predictor variables from the fields of economics, sociology, and psychology are incorporated into the model. Reemployment success is conceptualized as a construct consisting of unemployment insurance exhaustion and reemployment speed, and for reemployed persons, job improvement, job-organization fit, and intention to leave the new job. Direct, mediated, and moderated relationships were hypothesized and tested, clarifying the role of the variables in the reemployment process and outcome. The authors' proposal and examination of a multidisciplinary model of reemployment success contributes to a literature that has not tended to adequately cross disciplinary boundaries.     

Childhood and adolescent onset conduct disorder: a test of the developmental taxonomy

Hypotheses generated by a developmental taxonomy that distinguishes between childhood and adolescent onset conduct disorders were tested. Hypotheses predicted that (1) individual and familial factors would be more strongly related to childhood onset conduct disorder, whereas ethnic minority status and exposure to deviant peers would be more strongly related to adolescent onset conduct disorder and (2) individuals with childhood onset disorder would be more likely to commit violent and victim oriented offenses than individuals with adolescent onset conduct disorder. The first hypothesis was strongly supported and the second hypothesis was partially supported. Implications for early identification of youth at risk for chronic offending are discussed.