Organizational behavior and human performance最新文献

While a variety of techniques have been used to infer compensatory versus noncompensatory decision making, few studies have used multiple measures in order to evaluate their validity. Using a sample of 48 college students, this study examines two measures from a search task (the variability and pattern of search on an information board) and three measures from a rating or judgment task (nonlinear regression modeling, ANOVA measures of interaction and curvilinearity). The validity of these measures is assessed by their sensitivity to a manipulation of information load and their extent of convergence with one another. The variability of search on the information board and the ANOVA measures of interaction and curvilinearity all indicated an increase in noncompensatory decision making under high information load, while the regression modeling measure did not. There was some convergence between the regression and ANOVA indices, but no relation between the search task and rating task measures. It is concluded that the ANOVA measures of interaction and curvilinearity are more sensitive measures than the nonlinear regression procedure. The information board and ANOVA measures are apparently both valid indices of noncompensatory decision making; they may lack convergence because they represent different parts of the decision process (information acquisition vs combination) or require different responses (choice vs judgment).

Occasionally, personal and situational factors can adversely affect measurement accuracy of job satisfaction questionnaires. Fatigue, misunderstood instructions, and poor reading comprehension are examples where at least some observed responses to questionnaires may not be meaningfully related to an individual's existing level of job satisfaction. Appropriateness indices (M. V. Levine & D. Rubin, Journal of Educational Statistics, 1979, 4, 269–290) are a method of quantifying the probability of response patterns in order to identify those questionnaires containing unexpected responses. The indices in this study, based on a two-parameter item response model, showed good hit rates for identifying experimentally distorted response patterns. Further predictions concerning lower scale variance in samples with lower appropriateness indices were also substantiated in three large samples of survey data. These results are discussed in relation to potential improvements in the appropriateness index, the systematic study of undesirable response distortion, and applications of the research.

Survey data were obtained from 84 New Zealand Pakeha (white) male managers to explore how cultural composition of the work group affected the relationship between leader behavior and leader effectiveness. Factor analysis identified five leadership factors composed of items from American leadership scales and items from interviews with New Zealand employees. Organizationally rated performance evaluations were obtained for each manager along with self-rated evaluations of effectiveness. The managers also rated their level of satisfaction, relations with subordinates, relations among subordinates, and relations with their own boss. Results indicated that three of the leadership factors were significantly correlated with managerial effectiveness for first-level managers and the two remaining factors were significantly correlated with effectiveness at middle-level management. Due to unique socioeconomic conditions in New Zealand, the work groups showed wide variations in cultural (ethnic) composition, ranging from homogeneous up to a mix of five diverse, often antagonistic, ethnic populations. Yet at both levels of management the degree of cultural heterogeneity within the work group did not affect the relationship between the group leader's behavior and the leader's effectiveness. Cultural heterogeneity of the work group was also unrelated to the leader's overall satisfaction, including satisfaction with pay, promotion, and supervision. Leader—member relations, relations among work group members, and the relation between the leader and the leader's own supervisor were also unrelated to cultural heterogeneity of the work group. Similar results were obtained for a very small sample of Polynesian male managers and for a sample of Pakeha (white) female managers. Because organizational level produced major differences in the effectiveness of the leadership factors, it was concluded that the tasks of the work groups determined the effectiveness of the leader's behavior while the cultural background of group members may have influenced the difficulty of implementing the necessary leadership behavior.

The influence of pay and three other attributes on job application decisions under two sets of market conditions were examined. Consistent with economic hypothesizing, results suggested that most respondents used noncompensatory strategies to evaluate pay in making their application decisions. Moreover, both model usage and the pay importance appeared to vary as a function of market pay variability. Results are discussed primarily in terms of likely limitations to the generalizability of findings obtained from studies of attribute importance.

Laboratory research aimed at increased understanding of judgment and decision-making behavior has been criticized for lack of external validity. To counter this criticism, the present paper describes a number of laboratory studies of information integration that demonstrate that responses to independent variable manipulations in the laboratory are meaningfully related to factors external to the task and are predictive of decisions made outside the laboratory. Suggestions are made for how researchers can increase the generalizability and external validity of their results by taking into account differences between the laboratory setting and the natural environment.

Two studies conducted simultaneously investigated the influence of positive affect on risk taking. Results of the study, which employed an actual measure of subjects' willingness to bet something of value, supported the prediction of an interaction between level of risk and positive affect: subjects who had reason to be feeling elated bet more than control subjects on a low-risk bet, but wagered less than controls on a high-risk bet. At the same time, in contrast, a study involving hypothetical risk-taking showed that in general subjects were more willing to take the chance as probability of success went up; but that elated subjects were more daring than controls on a “long shot.” Differences in hypothetical vs real risk taking were noted, and the complexity (the interaction) of the influence of positive feelings on real risk taking was emphasized. The results were related to other research suggesting an influence of feeling states on cognitive processes and decision making.

The effects of justification on subjects' application of judgment policies in a multiple-cue probability learning task under conditions of high versus low task predictability and provision versus no provision of feedback were investigated. The results showed that having to justify one's judgments will lead to higher consistency in the judgment policy when task predictability is low and no feedback is provided. The results are interpreted as indicating that justification may lead to an analytical mode of functioning in judgment behavior. Implications for research in cognitive conflict are also discussed.

Several of Beyth-Marom and Arkes' criticisms of our original article arise from their misunderstanding our conclusions. This reply clarifies those misunderstandings. We reiterate our conclusion that even though people may not use normative rules in laboratory tasks, they still can make inferences that are nearly as optimal as those they would have made if they had been using those rules. This reply also elaborates upon our concern about the use of quantitative word problems to test human inference. We submit that additional evidence is needed to justify continued reliance on these problems.