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.     

Race,social relationships,and mental health

Researchers often assume that the extent, quality, and effectiveness of personal relationships explain why African Americans have relatively good mental health despite experiencing high levels of stress. This study tests this assumption using data from the 1990–1992 National Comorbidity Survey. Few racial differences emerge in patterns of social relationships, and the nature and quality of social relationships do not explain African Americans’ resiliency on mental health. Several aspects of social relationships benefit African Americans’ mental health more than Whites’, but these moderating effects are insubstantial. Hence, the data do not support the assumption. If social relationships help explain the lack of racial differences in mental health, their nature and effects must be more adequately conceptualized.     

Narrative Ideas for Consulting with Communities and Organizations: Ripples from the Gatherings

This paper reviews Michael White's early work with communities and extends ideas and practices from that work into the realm of consulting with organizations. We draw on Michael's writing and the records of two specific projects, as well as the recollections of team members in those projects, to describe how ideas and practices that were originally developed in working with individuals and families came to be applied in community settings. Specifically, we show how the central intention of the work is to use narrative ideas and practices in ways that allow communities to articulate, appreciate, document, utilize, and share their own knowledges of life and skills of living. We discuss the basic narrative ideas of stories, double listening, telling and retelling, making documents, and linking lives through shared purposes. For these projects, the teams developed structures that made it possible to use the basic idea with whole communities. We show how this work with communities has offered inspiration and ideas for our work in consulting to organizations. Finally, we describe and illustrate a particular way of working with organizations that carries the spirit of Michael's community work into situations requiring shorter blocks of time and more limited commitments than the original community contexts.     

PARRHESIA,PHAEDRA, AND THE POLIS: ANTICIPATING PSYCHOANALYTIC FREE ASSOCIATION AS DEMOCRATIC PRACTICE

This essay explores the mostly unexamined analogy of psychoanalytic free association to democratic free speech. The author turns back to a time when free speech was a matter of considerable discussion: the classical period of the Athenian constitution and its experiment with parrhesia. Ordinarily translated into English as “free speech,” parrhesia is startlingly relevant to psychoanalysis. The Athenian stage—in particular, Hippolytus (Euripides, 5th century BCE)—illustrates this point. Euripides's tragic tale anticipates Freud's inquiries, exploring the fundamental link between free speech and female embodiment. The author suggests that psychoanalysis should claim its own conception of a polis as a mediated and ethical space between private and public spheres, between body and mind, and between speaking and listening communities.     

Exploring the effects of social anxiety similarity in newly developed same‐sex friendships

In studying the interpersonal consequences of social anxiety (SA), researchers generally have neglected to account for partner levels of SA. Therefore, in the current study, we examined how SA similarity would influence interpersonal closeness and uncertainty during the early stages of friendship development. Fifty‐six same‐sex friend pairs completed measures of SA, closeness, and uncertainty after knowing each other for approximately 1 month and then again 6 weeks later. Although higher levels of SA at Time 1 were related to more uncertainty, similarity had no effect on closeness or uncertainty at Time 1. However, friends matched on SA experienced increased closeness and decreased uncertainty over the 6 weeks, suggesting SA similarity may become increasingly important as friendships develop.     

The Effects of Musical Mood Induction on Creativity

A music mood induction was used to induce either elated, depressed, or neutral mood in 71 college undergraduates. The elated group scored significantly higher than the depressed group on mood ratings. Creativity measures administered to each group revealed that subjects in the elated and depressed groups showed significantly greater creativity than subjects in the neutral group. Findings were interpreted in light of existing research on the relationship between mood and creativity.     

Differences in Gender and Ethnicity as Measured by Ratings of Three Writing Tasks

The issue of racial/ethnic and gender differences in intelligence and academic abilities is fiercely and frequently debated, yet the examination of these differences in creativity is less studied. Our goal in this study was to use the Consensual Assessment Technique, in which experts judge a product's creativity, to examine differences in creativity among gender and ethnic groups. We conducted three separate analyses in which 13 experts rated 103 poems, 104 fictional stories, and 103 personal narratives written by Caucasian, African American, Latino/a, and Asian eighth‐grade students. There were no significant African American‐Caucasian differences on any of the writing tasks and there were no gender differences on all three tasks. The only significant differences in the creativity ratings on any of the tasks occurred in poetry, between the Latino/ a‐Caucasian groups and Latino/a‐Asian groups. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

THE EFFECTS OF FORMING MULTI-PREDICTOR COMPOSITES ON GROUP DIFFERENCES AND ADVERSE IMPACT

A common assumption exists which asserts that the formation of composites of predictors represents a method for dealing with adverse impact. It is often expected that including predictors that demonstrate smaller group differences with others that demonstrate larger group differences will help to alleviate the amount of adverse impact observed at the composite level. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question “If two or more predictors are combined to form a composite, what will be the magnitude of group differences and, consequently, of adverse impact, of using that composite for selection?” In answering this question, a set of tables, figures, and formulas are presented that highlight variables influential in affecting how composites of predictors influence observed group differences. A number of conclusions are drawn that clarify the extent to which forming composites decreases group differences and subsequently adverse impact.     

Finding the “Meaning” of Native American Substance Abuse: Implications for Community Prevention

The author examines chemical use by Native Americans with a proposal for a holistic prevention program involving enhancement of cultural interdependence.