Industrial and Organizational Psychology Flashcards
Adverse Impact/80% rule
Adverse impact occurs when use of a selection test or other employment procedure results in substantially higher rejection rates for members of a legally protected (minority) group than for the majority group. The 80% rule can be used to determine if adverse impact is occurring. When using this rule, the hiring rate for the majority group is multiplied by 80% to determine the minimum hiring rate for the minority group.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a method of generating creative ideas that requires individuals or group members to freely suggest any idea or thought without criticism, evaluation, or censorship. Research suggests that individuals brainstorming alone do better than the same number brainstorming together.
Centralized And Decentralized Networks
Centralized communication networks are best for simple tasks; while decentralized communication networks are better for complex tasks and are associated with greater overall satisfaction.
Comparable Worth
Comparable worth is also known as pay equity and refers to the principle that jobs that require the same education, experience, skills, and other qualifications should pay the same wage/salary regardless of the employee’s age, gender, race/ethnicity, etc.
Compressed Workweek
The compressed workweek is an alternative work schedule that involves decreasing the number of work days by increasing the number of hours worked each day. It is associated with better supervisor ratings of employee performance, employee overall job satisfaction, and employee satisfaction with the work schedule, with the effects being strongest for employee attitudes.
Consideration And Initiating Structure
The Ohio State University studies found that the behavior of leaders can be described in terms of two independent dimensions - consideration (person-centered style) and initiating structure (task-oriented style).
Contingency Theory (Fiedler)
Fiedler’s contingency theory proposes that a leader’s effectiveness is related to an interaction between the leader’s style and the nature (favorableness) of the situation. Low LPC leaders (leaders who describe their least preferred coworker in negative terms) are most effective in very unfavorable or very favorable situations; while high LPC leaders (leaders who describe their least preferred coworker in positive terms) are better in moderately favorable situations.
Criterion Contamination
Criterion contamination occurs when a criterion measure assesses factors other than those it was designed to measure. For example, contamination is occurring when a rater’s knowledge of a ratee’s performance on a predictor affects how the rater rates the ratee on the criterion. It can artificially inflate the criterion-related validity coefficient.
Dawis And Lofquist’s Theory Of Work Adjustment
The theory of work adjustment describes satisfaction, tenure, and other job outcomes as the result of the correspondence between the worker and his/her work environment on two dimensions - satisfaction and satisfactoriness: A worker’s satisfaction with the job depends on the degree to which the characteristics of the job correspond to his or her needs and values, while the worker’s satisfactoriness depends on the extent to which the worker’s skills correspond to the skill demands of the job.
Demand-Control Model (Karasek)
Karasek’s demand-control model predicts that job demand and job control are the primary contributors to job stress. Jobs associated with the highest levels of stress are characterized by a combination of high job demand and low job control and include machine-paced jobs and service jobs.
Differential Validity And Unfairness
Differential validity exists when the validity coefficient of a predictor is significantly different for one subgroup than for another subgroup (e.g., lower for African American job applicants than for White applicants). Unfairness occurs when members of the minority group consistently score lower on a predictor but perform approximately the same on the criterion as members of the majority group. Differential validity and unfairness are potential causes of adverse impact.
Downsizing/Survivor Syndrome
Downsizing occurs when an organization attempts to reduce its costs by reducing the size of the work force and/or by eliminating entire divisions or businesses. Workers who are not “downsized” may exhibit survivor syndrome, which is characterized by depression, anxiety, guilt, stress-related illnesses, and decreased job satisfaction and organizational commitment
Equity Theory
Equity theory proposes that an employee’s motivation is related to the employee’s comparison of his/her input/outcome ratio to the input/outcome ratios of others performing the same or similar jobs. A perception of inequity leads to attempts to restore equity, with the perception of underpayment inequity (the belief that one is putting more into the job than one is getting from it) leading to more adverse outcomes than overpayment inequity does (the belief that one is putting less into the job than one is getting from it).
Expectancy Theory
Expectancy theory regards job motivation as the result of three elements: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. The highest levels of motivation occur when an employee believes that high job effort results in high task success (high expectancy), that high success leads to the attainment of certain outcomes (high instrumentality), and that the outcomes are desirable (positive valence).
Flextime
Flextime is an alternative work schedule that allows workers to choose the times they will begin and end work. It is associated with increased employee productivity, overall job satisfaction, and satisfaction with the work schedule and decreased absenteeism.
Force Field Analysis (Lewin)
According to Lewin’s force field analysis model of planned change, organizational change involves three stages - unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.
Formative And Summative Evaluation
Formative evaluations are conducted while a training program is being developed, and their results are used to make necessary modifications to the program. A summative evaluation is conducted after a program has been implemented in order to assess its outcomes.
Four Levels Of Criteria (Kirkpatrick)
Kirkpatrick identified four levels of criteria for evaluating the effects of a training program - reaction, learning, behavioral, and results.
Frame-of-Reference Training
Frame-of-reference training is a type of rater training that emphasizes the multidimensional nature of job performance and focuses on the ability to distinguish between good and poor work-related behaviors. It is useful for eliminating rater biases.
Gender Differences In Leadership
Eagly and Johnson’s (1990) meta-analysis of the research found that male and female leaders do not consistently differ in terms of consideration or initiating structure. However, female leaders are more likely than male leaders to rely on a democratic (participative) decision-making style.
Goal-Setting Theory
Goal-setting theory proposes that employees will be more motivated to achieve goals when they have explicitly accepted those goals and are committed to them. It also proposes that assigning specific, moderately difficult goals and providing employees with feedback about their progress toward achieving goals increases productivity.
Group Norms/Idiosyncrasy Credits
Group norms are the standard rules of conduct that maintain uniformity of behavior among group members. Idiosyncrasy credits are positive sentiments within a group toward a member that allow that member to occasionally deviate from group norms. A person accumulates idiosyncrasy credits when he/she has a history of conforming to norms, has contributed in some special way to the group, or has served as the group leader.
Group Polarization
Group polarization is the tendency of groups to make more extreme decisions (either more conservative or more risky) than individual members would have made alone.
Groupthink
Groupthink occurs when the desire of group members for unanimity and cohesiveness overrides their ability to realistically appraise or determine alternative courses of action. It can be alleviated when the group leader encourages dissent, has someone play devil’s advocate, and refrains from stating his/her decision or solution too quickly.
Hawthorne Effect
The Hawthorne effect refers to an improvement in job performance resulting from participation in a research study (i.e., due to the novelty of the situation, increased attention, etc.).
Holland (Riasec, Differentiation)
Holland’s career theory emphasizes the importance of a good personality/work environment match and distinguishes between six personality and environment types (“RIASEC”) - realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. A personality-environment match is most accurate as a predictor of job outcomes when the individual exhibits a high degree of differentiation - i.e., has clear interests as evidenced by a high score on one of Holland’s six types and low scores on all others.
Identical Elements
Providing identical elements - i.e., ensuring that training and performance environments are similar in terms of materials, conditions, etc. - maximizes transfer of training.
Incremental Validity (section ratio, baseline rate)
Incremental validity refers to the increase in decision-making accuracy resulting from the use of a new predictor. It is maximized when the predictor’s validity coefficient is high, the selection ratio is low, and the base rate is moderate. (The selection ratio is the ratio of number of jobs to job applicants; the base rate is the proportion of successful decisions without the new predictor.)
Internal and External Change Agents
A change agent is a person who is responsible for guiding a change effort. An internal change agent is a member of the organization, is already familiar with the company’s culture, norms, and power structure, and has a personal interest in the change effort. An external change agent (consultant) is often able to see the situation more objectively, to bring in a new perspective, and to be better received by the members of the organization because of his/her impartiality.
