Browsing by Author "Mark Wilson, Committee Member"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13

Conscientiousness and Training Outcomes: The Added Utility of Facet-level Analysis.
(2010-04-28) Toaddy, Steven; Samuel Pond, Committee Chair; Mark Wilson, Committee Member; Stephen Craig, Committee Member
Core Self-Evaluations in the Context of Training: The Impact of Self-Regard on Training Outcomes.
(2010-04-26) Stanhope, Daniel; Samuel Pond, Committee Chair; Stephen Craig, Committee Member; Mark Wilson, Committee Member
Developing Technical Leaders in a Global Organization: Examining the Influence of Culture on Multi-Source Feedback and Performance.
(2010-08-30) Yoshimura, Kari Emi; Frank Smith, Committee Chair; John Fleenor, Committee Member; Mark Wilson, Committee Member; Stephen Craig, Committee Member; Perry Peralta, Committee Member
The Effects of Mode of Administration on Timed Cognitive Ability Tests
(2006-04-28) Huff, Kyle; Mark Wilson, Committee Member; Paul Mulvey, Committee Member; Joan Michael, Committee Chair; John Fleenor, Committee Member
Although widely used, there exists very little published research on the equivalence of web-based cognitive ability tests used for employee selection to their original paper-and-pencil versions. This issue is even further complicated by the limited research into the effects of proctoring on these types of tests. To investigate this issue, data was analyzed from the Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT) and the Wonderlic Personnel Test-Quicktest (WPT-Q). Using the Differential Functioning of Items and Test (DFIT) procedure, data from 325 paper-and-pencil WPT administrations were compared to 325 web-based proctored administrations of the test. To check for the effects of proctoring, 108 proctored administrations of the WPT-Q were compared to 104 unproctored administrations again using the DFIT procedure. The results indicate that although the differences in administration produced low levels of differential item functioning (DIF), there is enough DIF to warrant conducting new validation studies when the mode of administration is changed.
Employee Traits, Perceived Organizational Support, Supervisory Communication, Affective Commitment, and Intent to Leave: Group Differences
(2003-11-13) Yoshimura, Kari Emi; John Fleenor, Committee Member; Mark Wilson, Committee Member; Frank Smith, Committee Chair
This study explored the implications a diversifying workforce may have on employee attitudes, perceptions, and intention to leave the organization. Employee responses to an annual company survey (N=2838) were analyzed to determine whether demographic groups differed in perceptions of organizational support and supervisory communication, organizational commitment, and intention to leave. Demographic groups of interest included gender, job classification, and race. Age and tenure differences were also studied. The study also examined the relationship between perceived organizational support, affective commitment, perceived supervisory communication, and intention to leave. The predictive relationship between perceived organizational support, affective commitment, perceived supervisory communication, and employee demographics with intention to leave was also explored. Results of this study suggest that gender differences are diminishing in the current workforce. Further, it suggests that meaningful group differences are not prevalent in the sample analyzed. Affective commitment, perceived organizational support, and supervisory communication were shown to be positively related. Employees who intended to leave could not be consistently identified by their attitudes, perceptions, and demographic information using discriminant function analysis.
Factors that Predict Organizational Commitment for Full-time and Part-time Faculty in Community Colleges across North Carolina.
(2010-04-30) Engle, Deborah Lynn; Duane Akroyd, Committee Chair; Leila Gonzalez Sullivan, Committee Member; Timothy Hatcher, Committee Member; Mark Wilson, Committee Member
Organizational dependence on part-time employees is a relatively recent trend across the modern landscape of the American workforce and is especially apparent in higher education. At community colleges across the country, as well as in North Carolina, there is a substantial reliance on part-time faculty employment. This is common practice in order to reduce institutional costs and to maintain institutional flexibility in curricular offerings. As community collegesâ€™ dependence on part-time faculty continues, it becomes apparent that these employees are critical to the success of these institutions. Despite the widespread employment of part-time faculty, there is little known about the commitment levels of these faculty, or even the levels of their full-time counterparts. The purpose of this study is to investigate the predictive value of several variables on organizational commitment for both full-time and part-time faculty in community colleges across North Carolina. The study utilizes the Meyer and Allen (1991) three-component model of organizational commitment which proposes that individuals become committed for any of three psychological reasons labeled as affective, continuance, and normative. The dataset consists of faculty responses on a web-based survey distributed to community colleges across North Carolina. Using analysis of variance (ANOVA), this study seeks to compare levels of organizational commitment between full-time and part-time faculty. Results show that mean scores of affective, continuance and normative commitment are significantly higher for full-time faculty than part-time faculty. Using multiple regression, this study also seeks to understand how organizational, alternatives/transferability, rewards and demographic variables predict organizational commitment for full-time and part-time faculty. Generally, regression analyses show that organizational support, extrinsic rewards, age and education level are significantly predictive of all three commitment components, for both full-time and part-time faculty. Furthermore, regression analysis indicates that extrinsic financial rewards have a significant negative influence on affective commitment for part-time faculty.
IAT and Personality: Implicit Personality as a Predictor of Performance.
(2010-04-30) Hoffman, Ashley; Adam Meade, Committee Chair; Mark Wilson, Committee Member; Samuel Pond, Committee Member
The Language of Performance: The Link Between Language, Personality and Performance
(2004-02-11) Rieser, Torrey Elizabeth; Samuel Pond, Committee Chair; Bert Westbrook, Committee Member; Mark Wilson, Committee Member
The purpose of this research has been to assess the relationships between language use, personality and performance ratings. More specifically, this research attempted to assess whether writing style could predict student performance in a scholarship setting and whether a significant amount of variance in writing style could be accounted for by personality. Writing samples from two groups of applicants to a university scholarship program were drawn and content analyzed. Three factors of language were found including use of positive words, use of negative words and use of cognitive words. Analyses indicate that there were significant differences between selected and non-selected students in terms of usage of positive words, with selected applicants using significantly more positive words. Correlations between the three language factors and a five-factor model of personality showed no significant correlations. Regression analyses revealed that personality factors were better able to predict student performance ratings based on a four-factor model of student performance. However, use of positive words did add incremental variance in addition to personality on two of the four performance factors. Implications for the use of content analysis of student essays and administration of personality tests to scholarship applicants are discussed.
Perceived Overqualification: A Model of Antecedents and Outcomes
(2010-02-23) Lobene, Eleni Vagias; Mark Wilson, Committee Member; Samuel Pond, Committee Member; Adam Meade, Committee Chair
The purpose of this study is to explore the antecedents of perceived overqualification (POQ) and to investigate its relationship with relevant work behaviors and perceptions. Supervisory (N = 208) and self-reports (N = 415) were collected. Results indicate that POQ is predicted by narcissism and certain work dimensions, including task repetition and the presence of a uniform requirement. POQ is also related to lower job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and higher turnover intentions. Further research is needed to address POQÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s relationship to absenteeism and truancy.
Perceptions of Transfer Climate Factors in the Macro and Micro Organizational Work Environment.
(2010-11-29) Diggs, Byron; Carol Kasworm, Committee Chair; Gerald Ponder, Committee Member; Mark Wilson, Committee Member; Saundra Williams, Committee Member
Referent Indicators in Tests of Metric Invariance
(2008-03-19) Johnson, Emily C; Adam Meade, Committee Chair; Mark Wilson, Committee Member; S. Bart Craig, Committee Member
Organizations frequently administer surveys and psychological measures to multiple groups (e.g., cultural and demographic groups). However, before making direct cross-group comparisons, researchers need to ensure that the psychometric properties of these measures do not differ by groups. In order to test this hypothesis of measurement invariance, many researchers employ confirmatory factor analytic tests of measurement invariance. These tests require a referent indicator (RI) for model identification. This RI is assumed to be perfectly invariant across groups. Using simulated data, results indicate that inappropriate RI selection may be mildly problematic for scale-level invariance tests and highly problematic for item-level tests. These findings underscore the importance of careful RI selection.
A Study of the Predictive Validity and Procedural Justice of the Implicit Association Test.
(2010-10-22) Wright, Natalie; Adam Meade, Committee Chair; Stephen Craig, Committee Member; Mark Wilson, Committee Member
Survey Comment Nonresponse and the Characteristics of Nonresponders
(2008-11-26) Harman, Reanna Poncheri; Lori Foster Thompson, Committee Chair; S. Bartholomew Craig, Committee Member; Samuel B. Pond, III, Committee Member; Mark Wilson, Committee Member
This study explored survey commenting behavior and investigated the two broad questions of â€œwhoâ€ comments and â€œhowâ€ respondents comment. Participants were military personnel (N=419) who were given the opportunity to respond to an open-ended question on a training evaluation survey after completing a foreign language course. The first set of hypotheses examined the question of â€œwhoâ€ comments. As expected, results showed that dissatisfied individuals and those interested in the topic were especially inclined to comment. Additionally, partial support was found for a positive relationship between education and commenting behavior, such that those with some college education but no four-year degree or higher were more likely to comment than those with no college experience. Unexpectedly, however, no significant difference was found between respondents with a four-year degree and higher than those with either some or no college experience. In contrast with the study hypotheses, conscientious respondents were not especially inclined to comment. The second set of hypotheses explored the question of â€œhowâ€ respondents comment. As hypothesized, dissatisfied respondents tended to provide negative comments, and conscientious respondents provided specific comments. In contrast to the study hypotheses, respondents scoring high on agreeableness and emotional stability did not provide particularly positive comments, those who were satisfied with course materials and the learning environment were more (not less) likely to provide specific comments, and those high in extraversion and conscientiousness were not particularly likely to provide suggestions. The vividness of verbatim comments may lead managers and training evaluators to place more weight on comments than quantitative data (i.e., ratings) when following up on survey results. This study suggests that those who do so may be basing their decisions on input from an unrepresentative segment of respondents. Steps should be taken to inform managers and training evaluators of the potential for nonresponse bias in open-ended comments. In addition, survey research and practice would benefit from interventions aimed at increasing the likelihood of hearing from the voices that often go unheard.