Effects of symptom presentation order on perceived disease risk

People are quick to perceive meaningful patterns in the co-occurrence of events. We report two studies exploring the effects of streaks in symptom checklists on perceived personal disease risk. In the context of these studies, a streak is a sequence of consecutive items on a list that share the characteristic of being either general or specific. We identify a psychological mechanism underlying the effect of streaks in a list of symptoms and show that the effect of streaks on perceived risk varies with the length of the symptom list. Our findings reveal a tendency to infer meaning from streaks in medical and health decision making. Participants perceived a higher personal risk of having an illness when presented with a checklist in which common symptoms were grouped together than when presented with a checklist in which these same symptoms were separated by rare symptoms. This research demonstrates that something as arbitrary as the order in which symptoms are presented in a checklist can affect perceived risk of disease.     

Do Procedural Justice Perceptions in a Selection Testing Context Predict Applicant Attraction and Intention Toward the Organization?

This study examines the effects of procedural justice perceptions on outcomes in an actual selection context with applicants taking a general mental ability test to gain employment as utility meter readers. Applicant attraction and intention related to the organization were measured at 3 time periods. This allowed us to control for initial levels of outcome variables and the pass-fail result when assessing procedural justice effects. Procedural justice perceptions modestly predicted organizational attractiveness and intention prior to pass-fail feedback. However, the procedural justice effects on these outcomes were diminished after controlling for the pass-fail result. Either changes in R ² or regression coefficients associated with procedural justice perceptions failed to achieve significance for all outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for procedural justice research and for employment managers.     

Built to last: Interactive effects of perceived overqualification and proactive personality on new employee adjustment

We integrate relative deprivation and broaden and build theories to develop a process-based model of perceived overqualification and its relationship with new employee adjustment via “broaden and build” mechanisms (i.e., reciprocal relationships between initial status and change trajectories in work-related positive affect and perceived job autonomy). Additionally, we examine how new employee proactive personality may influence this process. Analyses of weekly survey responses from 331 new employees of a large financial institution throughout their first 90 days of employment revealed that those who felt overqualified generally experienced less work-related positive affect and perceived less job autonomy when beginning their jobs (assessed the first week of employment) than their more qualified counterparts. Moreover, initial levels of perceived job autonomy were positively associated with adjustment outcomes (assessed at 90 days of employment) via linear change in positive affect over time (assessed weekly, up to 8 weeks of employment). These findings suggest that perceived overqualification may negatively influence newcomer adjustment by stunting broaden and build processes. However, proactive personality attenuated this effect. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Work-Family Conflict and Work-Related Withdrawal Behaviors

This survey study explored the effects of work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict on withdrawal behaviors at work (family interruptions at work, lateness to work, and absenteeism) among both members of 359 dual-earner couples. Using a systems theory framework, regression analyses revealed significant individual-level and crossover effects for both types of work-family conflict on withdrawal behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications of the study of work-family conflict crossover effects on withdrawal behaviors at work are discussed.