THE IMPACT OF MOTIVATION,EMPOWERMENT, AND SKILL‐ENHANCING PRACTICES ON AGGREGATE VOLUNTARY TURNOVER: THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF COLLECTIVE AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT

This study advances research on macro human resource management by examining collective commitment as a mediator of motivation, empowerment, and skill‐enhancing practices and aggregate voluntary turnover. Findings from 20 top HR managers and 1,748 employees in 93 different job groups suggest collective affective commitment independently mediates the negative relationships between motivation and empowerment‐enhancing practices and aggregate voluntary turnover. Human resource practices functioning to enhance the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the workforce are positively associated with voluntary turnover but are not mediated by collective affective commitment. Functionally, this paper resolves the divergent thinking of 4 streams of research regarding HR practices, collective commitment and aggregate turnover. The implications for macro‐HRM theory and practice are discussed.     

Pulling the strings: Effects of friend and parent opinions on dating choices

The current study examined how dating choices are affected when individuals are faced with social network opinions that are in agreement or disagreement about the quality of potential dates. In a virtual dating game paradigm, participants spoke to 2 potential romantic partners online and received positive and/or negative feedback ostensibly from their friend and parent about 1 of the partners. The study employed a 2 (parent opinion: approve, disapprove) × 2 (friend opinion: approve, disapprove) × 2 (interaction partner: evaluated target, control target—within subjects) mixed factorial design. Friend opinion influenced who the participants liked, whereas parental opinion was influential when participants relied on their parent for more resources than their friend. In the end, though, only friend opinion predicted dating choice.     

Encoding in anticipation of various tests of retention

Abstract.— Subjects learned a pictorial material in anticipation of either free recall (FR), serial recall (SR), or recognition tests. A design containing all possible combinations of anticipated test and test actually given was used. SR and recognition performance was best when subjects anticipated these tests, respectively, whereas FR performance was best when an SR test was anticipated. Anticipation of recognition tended to interfere with SR performance, and vice versa. The results indicate that subjects encode pictorial material differently in anticipation of different retention tests; that this serves to facilitate or to impair performance on the anticipated and/or other retention tests in a predictable manner; and that subjects tend to use different information from the stimuli to pass recognition tests and to pass recall (FR or SR) tests.     

On the development of encoding in anticipation of various tests of retention

Abstract.— Seven, 9, 12–13, and 18–21-year-old subjects learned a pictorial material in anticipation of free recall (FR), serial recall (SR), or recognition tests. Type of anticipated test and test actually given were factorially combined, retention being tested after 2 min or after 2 weeks. Recall performance improved with age but recognition performance did not improve after CA 9. Differential anticipation had little effect on the performance of the youngest children. For older subjects the effects were clear-cut and similar at all age levels and at both retention intervals. SR and recognition performance was best when subjects anticipated these tests, respectively; anticipation of recognition interfered with recall performance, and vice versa. The main age-related improvement occurred between age levels 7 and 9.     

Effects of context variation, intracategory variation, and spacing on the free recall of pictures

Abstract.— Two experiments examined the effects of encoding variability on the free recall of pictures. In Expt. I, drawn objects were presented 3 times in different pictorial contexts (RV) or in the same contexts (RR). In Expt. II, repeated stimuli were 3 different specimens of the same object category (VR) or the same object presented 3 times (RR). Spacing of repetitions was varied from zero to 15, and a mixed-list design was used. Both RV and VR items tended to be recalled better than and prior to RR items. Recall of RR and of VR items increased with increasing spacing, but recall of RV items showed no spacing effect. In a second recall test, preceded by 4 min of "thinking about" the pictures, the only remaining effect of spacing or of context variation was a low recall of massed RR items. VR items were still recalled better than and prior to RR items. It is suggested that spacing, and variation of the external context of pictures, facilitate retrieval when the time and effort spent on recall is limited, by increasing the numberlvariety of potential recall cues stored together with item information.     

Distribution of probability assessments for almanac and future event questions

This study examines the distribution and calibration of probability assessments given to general knowledge questions and question concerning future events. Two experiments revealed that: (1) People use certainty responses less frequently in response to questions concerning then-future events than to general knowledge questions even when the then-future event questions are easier than the general knowledge questions. (2) Indonesian students previously thought to have little grasp of probabilistic thinking, are able to give realistic probability assessments for then-future events. Cultural and task influences on our findings are discussed in relation to a procedural model of the processes involved in answering a question. We conclude that, as most applications of decision analysis involve future uncertainty, research in probability assessment should concentrate on questions concerning future events rather than on general knowledge questions.