Examining Relationships between Transformational Leadership and Employee Creative Performance: The Moderator Effects of Organizational Culture

This study examined whether organizational culture moderates relationships between transformational leadership (TFL) and employee self‐rated creative performance (CP). A convenience sample of 147 working professionals from 109 Fortune 500 organizations participated in the study by completing measures of their organizations’ cultures, their managers’ leadership styles, and their own CP, as well as relevant control measures. Adhocracy culture type moderated the relationship between levels of TFL and CP. Consequently, market culture type was a non‐significant moderator for predicting TFL–CP relationships. Both adhocracy and market culture types were non‐significant mediators of TFL on CP. The theoretical model in this study provides an important extension of TFL and organizational culture theories and a greater understanding of how adhocracy culture interacts with TFL to influence employee CP. This study also provides researchers and practitioners with a better comprehension of how to achieve higher levels of CP given the interaction between TFL and adhocracy culture.     

Extending the metatheoretical framework of social/political influence to leadership: Political skill effects on situational appraisals,responses, and evaluations by others

Building off and extending the metatheoretical framework of political skill, we examined the cognitive and behavioral mechanisms through which the intrapsychic effects of political skill inform its interpersonal effects, and how these interpersonal effects ultimately are transmitted into desirable outcomes. Specifically, we argue that politically skilled leaders demonstrate better situational appraisals (i.e., understanding), and thus, more appropriate situational responses (e.g., consideration and initiating structure behaviors); the demonstration of appropriate situational responses is argued to positively affect subordinates’ evaluations of their leaders (i.e., instrumentality) and subordinates’ concomitant attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction) and behaviors (e.g., performance). Results provided mixed support for the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, leader understanding mediated the relationship between political skill and consideration but not the relationship between political skill and structuring behaviors. Moreover, consideration was positively related to subordinates’ group-level instrumentality perceptions, whereas initiating structure was not. Finally, subordinates’ individual (within-level) perceptions of leader instrumentality were positively related to job satisfaction and performance. The implications of these findings as they relate to theory and practice are discussed along with this investigation's strengths, limitations, and directions for future research.     

The Effects of Performance Monitoring on Emotional Labor and Well-Being in Call Centers

A study was conducted to investigate the relationship between performance monitoring and well-being. It also examined a mechanism, namely emotional labor, that might mediate the relationship between them, assessed the effect of the work context on the relationship between performance monitoring and well-being, and examined the relative effects of performance monitoring and work context on well-being. Three aspects of performance monitoring were covered, namely, its performance-related content (i.e., immediacy of feedback, clarity of performance criteria), its beneficial-purpose (i.e., developmental rather than punitive aims), and its perceived intensity. The participants were 347 customer service agents in two U.K. call centers who completed a battery of questionnaire scales. Regression analyses revealed that the performance-related content and the beneficial-purpose of monitoring were positively related to well-being, while perceived intensity had a strong negative association with well-being. Emotional labor did not mediate the relationship between monitoring and well-being in the form hypothesized, although it was related to these two factors. Work context (job control, problem solving demand, supervisory support) did not mediate the relationship between monitoring and well-being, but job control and supervisory support did moderate the relationship between perceived intensity and well-being. Relative to other study variables, perceived intensity showed stronger associations with emotional exhaustion, while job control and supervisory support tended to show stronger associations with depression and job satisfaction. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.     

LMX and Subordinate Performance: The Moderating Effects of Task Characteristics

Role conflict, role ambiguity, and intrinsic task satisfaction are found to moderate the relationship between leader–member exchange (LMX) and subordinate performance. Data from a field study of 146 supervisor–subordinate dyads indicate low conflict, high ambiguity, and high intrinsic satisfaction enhance the link between LMX and performance. Neutralizing effects are found when ambiguity and intrinsic satisfaction are low. High conflict appears to have a constraining effect, whereby the connection between LMX and performance is reduced but not neutralized. Results from the study call attention to the theoretical and practical benefits of examining the LMX/performance link from a contingency perspective, and offer a viable, albeit tentative, explanation for inconsistent findings reported in earlier studies.     

Separating the Developmental and Evaluative Performance Appraisal Uses

The multiple uses of performance appraisal (PA) have been the focus of much research, often yielding conflicting findings and conclusions. This study used an untreated control group design to examine the effects of separating the developmental and evaluative PA uses (in time and by person) on employee attitudes and behavioral intentions. Results indicated no effect on employee attitudes, however, employees in the separated PA group reported they were less likely to use development in the future.     

Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction Versus Complaints: A Discrepancy in Long-Term Findings

This review describes the discrepancy in findings between postoperative cognitive performance and postoperative cognitive complaints long time after an operation under general anesthesia. Shortly (from 6 hr to 1 week) after an operation a decline in cognitive performance is reported in most studies. However, long time (from 3 weeks to 1–2 years) after an operation this is rarely found although some patients are still reporting cognitive complaints. In general this kind of research is suffering from severe methodological problems (use of insensitive tests, lack of control groups, lack of parallel tests, different definitions of cognitive decline). However, these problems cannot totally explain the discrepancy in findings in the long term. Thus, there are patients who have persistent cognitive complaints long time after an operation, that cannot be measured with cognitive tests. More psychological factors such as fixation on short-term cognitive dysfunction, mood, coping style, and personality are possible explanations for these cognitive complaints in the long term. As a consequence, these factors should be a topic in future research elucidating the persistence of these cognitive complaints long time after an operation under general anesthesia.     

Queuing or sharing? A critical evaluation of the single-bottleneck notion

The model of a single central bottleneck for human information processing is critically examined. Most evidence cited in support of the model has been observed within the overlapping tasks paradigm. It is shown here that most findings obtained within that paradigm and that were used to support the model are also consistent with a simple resource model. The most prominent findings are the millisecond-for-millisecond slope at the left of the RT2-SOA curve, the high RT1-RT2 correlation, the additivity of the effects on RT2 of SOA and of the difficulty of selecting R2, and the washout of the effect of S2 discriminability on RT2 in a dual-task condition. In addition, the asymmetry of the effects of the dual-task requirement on RT1 and RT2 can be accounted for by the resource model provided that it assumes uneven allocation of resources, which is quite reasonable in view of the task asymmetry inherent in the demand characteristics of the paradigm. The same is true for two other findings that appear to support the single-bottleneck model-that in the dual-task condition, the demand of the first task affects equally RT1 and RT2 and that its effect on RT1 is the same as the corresponding effect in the single-task condition. Furthermore, the single-bottleneck model is hard to reconcile with a negative slope at the left of the RT1-SOA curve or a positive slope at the left of the IRI-SOA curve, unless augmented by ancillary assumptions that are yet to be substantiated. Representative data were fit by each of the models using its optimal set of parameters. Both models achieved quite good degrees of fit. It is further argued that since the overlapping tasks paradigm is heavily biased in favor of a speedy reaction to the stimulus that appears first, it is nonoptimal for testing the central bottleneck model. Finally, the bottleneck model is examined in terms of other scientific criteria.     

Effects of competitive reward distribution on auditing and competitive responding

This study allowed subjects to audit each other's responding during a series of competitive contests. Six pairs of female college students competed in 3-min contests in which the competitive response was a knob pull. A sum of money was divided using a proportional distribution or a 100%/0% reward distribution. In the proportional distribution, a subject's proportion of the sum was her proportion of the total number of responses. Also, in every contest either subject could make a response that would end the contest prematurely and give both subjects the same amount: a sum equal to 33% of the competitive total. Each subject could press either or both of two audit buttons that displayed her own and the other's response total for 10 s. Results replicated earlier findings in showing the superiority of the proportional distribution in total number of competitive responses made. No subject audited continuously, and only 1 audited most of the time. Most audits were interpersonal, including both own and other's scores. Auditing typically was more frequent in 100%/0% contests in which subjects were more likely to stop the contest when they were far behind. Winners were more likely to audit than were losers. Competitive response rates increased when the differences revealed by audits were small and decreased when they were large. Overall audit patterns were consistent with the view that feedback as "news" is more often sought when it can lead to improved outcomes.     

Sport bodies: An examination of positive body image,sport-confidence,and subjective sport performance in Jamaican athletes

Guided by the Sport-Confidence Model, this study examined the associations among a positive body image, sport-confidence, and sport performance evaluations. Using a cross-sectional design, a purposive sample of 314 Jamaican athletes (male = 70.7%; $M_{age}$ = 22.85; SD = 4.89) completed measures of body and functionality appreciation, sport-confidence, and subjective sport performance. Results from path analysis provided evidence for good model-data fit. Body (B = 9.03, p < .001) and functionality (B = 4.93, p = .036) appreciation exerted direct effects on sport-confidence. Sport-confidence exerted a direct effect on sport performance evaluations (B = 0.09, p < .001). Body (B = 0.79, CI_95% [0.44, 1.17]) and functionality (B = 0.43, CI_95% [0.05, 0.92]) appreciation exerted indirect effects on sport performance evaluations through sport-confidence. Results indicate that supporting the development of a positive body image in athletes may contribute to feelings of sport-confidence and positive performance outcomes.     

Driving errors,estimated performance and individual characteristics under simulated and real road traffic conditions – A validation study

BackgroundThe suitability of driving simulators for the prediction of driving behaviour in road traffic has been able to be confirmed in respect of individual assessment parameters. However, there is a need for overarching approaches that take into account the interaction between various influencing factors in order to establish proof of validity. The aim of this study was to explore the validity of our driving simulator in respect of its ability to predict driving behaviour based on participants‘ observed driving errors and driver’s individual characteristics.Method41 healthy participants were assessed both in a Smart-Realo-Simulator and on the road. By means of linear modelling, the correlation between observed driving errors was investigated. In addition, the influence of self-reported and externally assessed driving behaviour as well as individual parameters (education and training; driving history) were analysed.ResultsBy including these factors, 58% of the variance could be explained. For observed driving errors, a relative validity was established. For self-reported and externally assessed driving behaviour, an absolute to relative validity emerged. The amount of time spent in education and training proved to have a significant influence on driving performance in the simulator, but not on the road.DiscussionIn general, our results confirmed the validity of our driving simulator with regard to observed and self-reported driving behaviour. It emerged that education and training as potential indicators of cognitive resources played a differential role regarding the study conditions. Since real road driving is considerably automated in experienced drivers, this result suggests that simulation-related behavioural regulation is challenged by additional cognitive demands as opposed to behavioural regulation extending to real road driving. However, the source of these additional cognitive demands remains currently elusive and may form the subject of future research.