A COMPARISON OF VALIDATION CRITERIA: OBJECTIVE VERSUS SUBJECTIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND SELF- VERSUS SUPERVISOR RATINGS

This study compared four criteria–two objective (production quantity and production quality) and two subjective (supervisor and self-ratings)–for their predictability in a criterion-related validity study. Results from this sample of 212 maintenance, mechanic, and field service workers replicated previous meta-analytic results with clerical workers (Nathan & Alexander, 1988); supervisor ratings and objective productivity indices provided similar and significant validity coefficients with a unit-weighted composite of five cognitive ability tests. The objective quality index and employee self-ratings resulted in near zero correlations with the same predictor battery. Additional productivity and quality objective criterion data were available for 2 years since the original validation study; no change in validity was found.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HR PRACTICES AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: EXAMINING CAUSAL ORDER

Significant research attention has been devoted to examining the relationship between HR practices and firm performance, and research support has assumed HR as the causal variable. Using data from 45 business units (with 62 data points), this study examines how measures of HR practices correlate with past, concurrent, and future operational performance measures. The results indicate that correlations with performance measures at all 3 times are both high and invariant, and that controlling for past or concurrent performance virtually eliminates the correlation of HR practices with future performance. Implications are discussed.     

BREACH AND FULFILLMENT OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT: A COMPARISON OF TRADITIONAL AND EXPANDED VIEWS

Breach and fulfillment in a psychological contract has traditionally been studied with approaches that are conceptually and methodologically limited. We compared predictions derived from the traditional view to predictions from an expanded view that maintains the distinction between promised and delivered inducements and examines their joint relationship with employee satisfaction. The traditional and expanded views were compared using longitudinal data and polynomial regression analysis. Results provided little support for the traditional view. In contrast, results supported the expanded view and revealed that relationships for breach and fulfillment are more complex than previously suggested. Specifically, satisfaction depended on whether breach represented deficient or excess inducements and the particular inducement under consideration. Moreover, satisfaction was more strongly related to delivered inducements than promised inducements. These results question basic tenets of psychological contract research and indicate new avenues for research that build on the expanded view developed in this article.     

EMPLOYEE ATTRIBUTIONS OF THE “WHY” OF HR PRACTICES: THEIR EFFECTS ON EMPLOYEE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS,AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

The construct of human resource (HR) attributions is introduced. We argue that the attributions that employees make about the reasons why management adopts the HR practices that it does have consequences for their attitudes and behaviors, and ultimately, unit performance. Drawing on the strategic HR literature, we propose a typology of 5 HR‐attribution dimensions. Utilizing data collected from a service firm, we show that employees make varying attributions for the same HR practices, and that these attributions are differentially associated with commitment and satisfaction. In turn, we show that these attitudes become shared within units and that they are related to unit‐level organizational citizenship behaviors and customer satisfaction. Findings and implications are discussed.     

THE PRECURSORS AND PRODUCTS OF JUSTICE CLIMATES: GROUP LEADER ANTECEDENTS AND EMPLOYEE ATTITUDINAL CONSEQUENCES

Drawing on the organizational justice, organizational climate, leadership and personality, and social comparison theory literatures, we develop hypotheses about the effects of leader personality on the development of 3 types of justice climates (e.g., procedural, interpersonal, and informational) and the moderating effects of these climates on individual-level justice–attitude relationships. Largely consistent with the theoretically derived hypotheses, the results showed that leader (a) Agreeableness was positively related to procedural, interpersonal, and informational justice climates; (b) Conscientiousness was positively related to a procedural justice climate; and (c) Neuroticism was negatively related to all 3 types of justice climates. Further, consistent with social comparison theory, multilevel data analyses revealed that the relationship between individual justice perceptions and job attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction, commitment) was moderated by justice climate such that the relationships were stronger when justice climate was high.     

For whom do we forgive? A functional analysis of forgiveness

We propose that people forgive to serve particular functions, depending on the extent to which forgiveness is intended to benefit the self, the offender, and their relationship. Three studies on personally experienced transgressions in valued relationships (Ns = 233, 239, and 83) indicate that victims are more likely to forgive for the sake of the self and the relationship than for an offender. Relationship focus is associated with increased benevolence and relationship quality and decreased revenge and avoidance. Offender focus is associated with nonvengeful motivations. Self focus is associated with avoidance and lower relationship closeness; in the immediate aftermath of a transgression, it is also related to unforgiving responses and reduced relationship satisfaction. The findings have important implications for forgiveness theorizing and application.     

Examination of consistency of adolescent and parent reports across several psychosocial constructs

This study investigated the consistency of discrepancy scores between adolescent and parent reports across several psychosocial constructs (adolescent internalizing, externalizing, emotion regulation difficulties, parent rewarding responses to adolescent emotions, and parent depressive symptoms). Sixty‐two adolescents (67.7% females; 76.7% African American) and one of their parents participated. Most of the associations among discrepancy scores were equivalent. There was one instance in which the association among two discrepancy scores (youth internalizing and externalizing) was stronger than the others and one instance in which the association was weaker than the others (youth internalizing and parent rewarding). These results suggest that discrepancies between adolescent and parent reports are not necessarily a stable characteristic of the dyad and depend on the construct under consideration.     

Adult attachment styles and stressor severity as moderators of the coping sequence

This study examined the normative temporal sequence of the coping process and whether stressor severity or adult attachment styles moderated that sequence. Participants (N = 75) described a minor or a major stressor. They were given a stack of index cards, representing coping strategies from five different domains. They selected strategies they had employed and sorted them into the order used. Overall, support from partner was one of the first coping techniques used. Adult attachment styles moderated the coping sequence. For major stressors, dismissing attachment predicted later use of support seeking from partner and earlier use of distancing coping, while preoccupied attachment predicted earlier use of emotion‐focused coping.     

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.