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The purpose of this study was to answer questions about affect intensity and self-perceived arousal differences in aberrant self-promoters (ASPs) and in individuals high and low in affect intensity (AI). Participants in the study completed a task asking them to respond as quickly and accurately as possible to letter strings presented for 200ms on a computer screen. They completed the task once with letter strings that formed words with an emotional valance and a second time with neutral-valence words. After each task, participants made self-reports of Energy and Tense dimensions of arousal as measured by the Activation-Deactivation Adjective Checklist. As first formulated, the study examined 4 groups of n̲ = 30 (ASPs, non-ASP controls, high-AIs, and low-AIs). Results showed that, as hypothesized, ASPs scored significantly lower than high-AIs on the Affect Intensity Measure (AIM). Other hypotheses were not supported by analyses of the original four groups. However, because about 1/3 of the ASPs exhibited high AIM scores, ASPs were divided into primary and secondary types: (a) those who scored low and (b) those who scored high on the AIM. Subsequent post hoc analyses, based on the hypotheses that had not been supported initially, were conducted on five groups of n̲ = 7. The study found that low-AI ASPs reported significantly lower arousability levels than high-AIs. Results also showed that controls, high-AIs, and low-AIs all reacted significantly more slowly to emotional words than to neutral words. Low-AI ASPs failed to demonstrate this response-time slowing, indicating that, like psychopaths, ASPs may process positive, negative, and neutral stimuli similarly. Additional results indicated that low-AI ASPs decreased both energetic and tension arousal levels after the emotional word task, compared to the neutral word task, whereas high-AIs reported corresponding increases in these types of arousal. These findings support Larsen and Diener's (1987) theory regarding arousal differences in high- and low-AIs. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of a weak Behavioral Inhibition System (Gray, 1987). Ph. D.

A sample of aberrant self-promoters (ASPs) was identified through their pattern of answers on a 179-item questionnaire. A group of comparison participants who did not exhibit the ASP pattern was also identified. The participants viewed a videotape of a lecture and rated the lecturer's performance. Half of the participants were told that they were required to provide face-to-face feedback to the lecturer (the accountability condition); the other half were not given these instructions (non-accountability condition). Also, half of the participants were told that there may be an opportunity for them to appear on a training video for graduate student instructors (opportunity for personal recognition condition); the other half were not told of this opportunity (no opportunity condition). This study attempted to identify the roles of aberrant self-promotion, accountability, and opportunity for personal recognition in rater accuracy and rater leniency. Master of Science

One of the most prominent trends in organizations today is the use of teams to accomplish the work once assigned to individuals. Team composition variables, including the personality characteristics of team members, need to be carefully considered so that the transition of work from individuals to teams results in performance improvements. The types of tasks relegated to teams also affect performance, and it is equally important that group tasks are clearly defined. As such, the current study explores the impact of Big Five personality patterns on both group cohesiveness and group performance on creative, brainstorming tasks. At the group level, it was predicted that teams with personality patterns consisting of moderate levels of Extraversion, high levels of Openness to Experience, and high levels of Conscientiousness (Optimal pattern) would perform significantly better on an innovative task than teams with personality patterns that varied from this pattern. It was also hypothesized that group cohesiveness would mediate this relationship. Of the 65 three-person groups, it was found that those possessing the Optimal pattern outperformed groups with three different patterns in terms of the quantity of creative ideas generated and average level of creativity. However, groups with the Optimal pattern generated more superior ideas than only one of the other pattern conditions, and contrary to predictions, did not generate a significantly higher percentage of superior ideas than any of the other pattern conditions. It was also found that group cohesion did not mediate the relationship between group-level personality and creative task performance. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. Ph. D.

The use of teams and work groups in organizations has become increasingly more popular in the last decade. Within each of these groups, a leadership role must be filled in order for the team to achieve its task. This study posited that the method by which the leader comes into this role may have a direct impact on the group's performance and its perceptions of the group's interpersonal processes and efficiency, satisfaction with the group, satisfaction with the group output, and support for the leader. In addition, the influence of leader assignment was expected to change based on the level of interdependence required by the task. One hundred forty-eight subjects were assigned to one of four conditions in a 2X2 design (appointed vs. elected leaders X high vs. low interdependence task), and were asked to fill out a questionnaire upon completion of their task. Results found that the higher level of interdependence was significantly related to more favorable ratings of Perceived Group Efficiency ( F =6.89, p

Although not universally accepted, much of the field has converged upon the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality as constituting a comprehensive taxonomy of normal personality functioning. A weakness common to all personality inventories is excessive length, which can result in examinee fatigue, and ultimately, poor data quality. Computer adaptive testing offers a solution to the test fatigue problem by administering only the items that are informative for that examinee on a given scale. A new test based upon the FFM of normal personality administered in a computer adaptive fashion was constructed. Reliability and validity evidence were obtained, with favorable results. New approaches to the detection of intentional response distortion were explored with mixed results including some promising findings in need of cross-validation. Response latencies were able to discriminate between honest and faking subjects, but the findings were unable to clarify the issue of whether faking is an easier or more laborious cognitive process than honest answering. New directions in computer adaptive personality testing research are proposed. Ph. D.

This study examined test-taking attitudes and response distortion on a personality test. Consistent with our hypotheses, applicants were found to have significantly more positive test-taking attitudes and exhibit a greater degree of response distortion as compared to incumbents. In addition, test-taking attitudes were significantly associated with response distortion. However, test-taking attitudes failed to affect work performance or validity in the incumbent sample. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed. Ph. D.

Dating violence among college students has become a pressing concern. However, to date, the bulk of the research in this area has attempted to discern correlates of marital violence. Little research has been paid to the isolation of predictors of violence that occurs early in the relationship. This paper demonstrates the utility of several risk factors identified among male college students in predicting dating violence. Factors included are history of abuse in the family of origin; insecure attachment style as measured by parental attachment and girlfriend attachment; attributional style; anger; and depression. Though it is likely that many other factors predict male dating violence, this study aims to isolate those factors that operate within the framework of history of abuse and insecure attachment. Results indicated the following: 1. History of abuse accounted for a substantial portion of the variance in predicting dating violence. 2. The interaction of attachment to family and partner was related to verbal aggression and abuse toward and from the partner. 3. Attributional style did not significantly predict dating violence beyond history of abuse. 4. Depression was not significantly related to dating violence; however, anger was significantly and directly related to verbal aggression and overall abuse from self toward partner. 5. Results were also discussed in terms of the four abuse criteria, including some notable findings regarding partner attachment style and direction of abuse. In addition, implications for treatment and prevention and suggestions for future research were offered. Master of Science

Realistic scenarios were evaluated to determine whether participants would make ethical/ unethical decisions in the face of various dilemmas. 3 factors were systematically varied throughout 32 different scenarios: accountability, deception, and profitability. A personality variable, locus of control was also explored for its relationship to ethical decision making. Subjects were 25 managers from a national car rental company as well as 21 undergraduate students. In a policy-capturing analysis of the ethical reasoning process., we found neither managers nor students used consistent policies in their decision making. Regression analyses revealed that locus of control orientation did not influence number of ethical decisions made. Implications for the study of ethical decision making are discussed. Master of Science

The construct of mood (defined as a transient feeling state) has been shown in numerous studies to have a great effect on our daily lives. The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to investigate the effects of mood on psychomotor test performance, and (2) to examine the conceptualization of mood more closely. An experiment was conducted investigating the effects of positive (happy, elated) and negative (sad, depressed) mood on a newly developed Air Force selection battery. In addition, self-efficacy, perceived performance, and causal attributions were measured as potential contributors to the mood-performance relationship. Subjects consisted of Air Force Recruits at Lackland Air Force Base. Mood was manipulated by showing emotionally laden film clips before administering the test battery. The selection battery consisted of psychomotor tests, which measure reaction time and hand-eye coordination. The mood and performance model was tested through the structural equation modeling technique, LISREL. Results indicated that mood did not have an effect on any of the variables in the model. However, this null result was likely due to a relatively weak mood induction. Self-efficacy was found to predict both performance and perceived performance, and performance was found to predict perceived performance. Post-hoc analyses revealed that performance predicted mood such that subjects who performed well were in a better mood than subjects who performed poorly. What is still in question is whether mood, in turn, influences performance. The conceptualization of mood was examined by addressing the counter-intuitive theory by Watson, Clark, and Tellegen (1988) that positive and negative mood are two independent factors. This theory was examined by comparing factor structures from two different mood scales. On a more traditional scale in which only extremely worded mood items are included, positive and negative mood factors were not found to correlate. However, on a newly constructed mood scale entitled the Composite Mood Checklist (CMC), the mood factors were found to significantly correlate in a negative direction. This finding lends evidence to Spector et al.'s (1995) argument that positive and negative mood independence is an illusion created by artifactual mood scales. Ph. D.

Self-ratings of work performance have been investigated by researchers for a number of years. Previous research has shown that self-ratings are often lenient, inaccurate, and lack convergence with other performance measures. However, self-ratings are less likely to produce a halo effect when compared to other performance appraisal measures. Further, it has been suggested that the inclusion of self-ratings may decrease an employee's defensiveness in the appraisal system. The current study investigated boundary conditions (Type A / B personality type, social comparison information, and public / private rating settings) that might facilitate more accurate, and less lenient self-ratings. Limited support was found for the research hypotheses. A number of theoretical and empirical explanations can be offered to interpret the findings. Master of Science

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of amount of performance information (API) and discrepant self-appraisal information on the modification of supervisor's original performance ratings. Confidence in original ratings was expected to mediate the relationship between API and modification of ratings after begin presented with discrepant self-appraisal information. The results indicated that AP! was not related to modification of original ratings. Moreover, API was unrelated to confidence in original ratings. However, as expected there was a negative relationship between confidence and modification of ratings, although the correlation was not significant. Additional analyses indicated that supervisors in the low API condition became more confident in their final performance ratings after viewing self-ratings than those in the high API condition. The implications of the findings of this study are discussed. Ph. D.

The underreporting of chargeable time and premature audit sign-offs can adversely affect public accounting firms. While prior studies of these activities have generally lacked a strong theoretical foundation, the decision model used in this study integrates elements of cognitive moral development, moral evaluation, opportunity, and individual moderators. Accountants employed by six public accounting firms completed a questionnaire designed to measure the model elements, and responded to two case scenarios involving underreporting and premature audit signoff activities. Path analyses of the decision models do not support expected relations between model elements. Because there were no Significant paths associated with the moral development element, each of the path models was reduced to a single multiple regression. Results suggest accountants view underreporting and premature sign-offs as having different ethical dimensions. The likelihood of underreporting appears affected by reward expectation, teleological evaluation, and the time an accountant has spent in practice. The significance of reward expectation and teleological evaluation suggests that accountants may use a consequences-based approach when deciding whether to underreport chargeable time. Results also suggest that as accountants become more experienced, they become less likely to prematurely signoff. Participants with an internal locus of control were less likely to prematurely sign-off. Three other issues - impact of time budget pressure on underreporting and premature sign-offs, influence of organizational sanctions on underreporting, and effect of procedure materiality on premature sign-offs - were examined. Results indicate that the likelihood of underreporting and the percentage of time written off generally increase with time budget pressure, while the likelihood of premature sign-off activity appears unaffected. Results also suggest that codes of conduct and a threat of termination may reduce the likelihood of underreporting. Finally, participants are more likely to prematurely sign-off on an audit procedure if they believe the procedure is immaterial to performance of the audit. Ph. D.

When criterion related validity studies are not feasible due to statistical power problems, a number of alternate methods for validation are available. Indirect validity offers a few of these strategies. One of these is synthetic validity which, in its most generalized form, is the linking of predictor items or tests directly to a job's elements. Three main operational definitions exist for synthetic validity, but only one, job component validity (JCV), actually specifies minimum scores for a given job. In an era of minimum cutoff scores, having an empirical procedure to determine requisite scores can be quite valuable. JCV can be used to predict personality test scores for jobs, scores which can be used for selection as well as other personnel decisions. While much is known about the process of predicting cognitive ability test scores as well as the efficacy of such predictions, little is known about the use of JCV with personality test profiles. This study sought to examine the efficacy of the ICV model when applied to a personality test, namely the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, using the work dimension scores of the Common-Metric Questionnaire (CMQ) as predictors. Results indicated that the JCV model is applicable to non-ability tests such as the MBTI. Moreover, prediction of personality test scores is not moderated by the type of work performed. Finally, results supported the MBTI's claim that its scales synergistically interact with each other. Master of Science

Although the issue of ethical integrity in leadership has received a great deal of attention in the business ethics literature, very little empirical research has explored the role of leader integrity in leadership effectiveness. Using both a student sample and an organizational field sample, this research examined the importance of subordinate perceptions of leader integrity with regard to the effectiveness criteria of subordinate job satisfaction and desire to turnover. Perceived leader integrity was found to be strongly related to subordinate satisfaction, which was, in turn, strongly related to subordinates’ desire to quit. Subordinate sensitivity to ethical issues was identified as a possible moderator of the relation between perceived leader integrity and subordinate satisfaction. It was concluded that practicing managers should be aware that the impressions subordinates form of their ethical integrity carry consequences for job outcomes. Directions for future research are discussed. Master of Science

Two longitudinal studies were conducted to explore the mother-infant communication process during the first four months of postnatal life. One study focused on mothers' experiences communicating with their infants. Forty-seven mothers were interviewed when their infants were 6 to 8 weeks of age; 42 of the same mothers were interviewed when their infants were 16 to 18 weeks of age. Mothers were asked questions about their interactions with their infants, how they talked to their infants, why they talked to their infants, how they learned to talk to their infants, and what th,eir beliefs were about the relationship between talking to infants and development. A model was constructed from these data, conceptualizing the communication process between mothers and their young infants. Four themes were identified: expert advice influenced some mother-infant communication; mothers and infants co-regulated some of their communication; maternal communication behaviors were consistent across age and ethnicity; and experience talking to pets influenced some new mothers' speaking styles. Ph. D.

Despite the growing number of women in the workforce, women still emerge as leaders in organizations less often than men. In order to understand this phenomenon, the current study explores the effects of self-monitoring, task characteristics, and priming on emergent male and female leaders. 160 high and low self-monitors performed one of two tasks (production or interpersonal task) in mixed sex groups of four, with a priming manipulation given to half of the groups. It was hypothesized and found that high self-monitors emerged more often as leaders than low self-monitors. The second hypothesis received partial support, as males emerged as leaders more often in a production task, but females did not emerge more often in an interpersonal task. Other hypotheses also received partial support, showing that high self-monitoring males emerged more often as leaders than females even during interpersonal tasks. Females did not emerge more often as leaders even if they were high self-monitors or if they were given a priming manipulation before completing a specified task. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. Master of Science

The current study examines psychological correlates of childhood maltreatment, including adult attachment, attributional style, perceived family environment, and current social support and demonstrates their main effects and interactions for predicting long-term psychological distress. Further, this study expands upon past research by broadly defining childhood maltreatment to include sexual, physical, and psychological aspects of maltreatment. This perspective enables the examination of abuse main effects as well as the interactional effect of the various types of abuse. Three hundred and twenty college women completed the Family Experiences Survey, Conflict Tactics Scale, Childhood Maltreatment Interview - Revised, Social Support Questionnaire, Insecure Attachment Inventory, Bell Object Relations Reality Testing Inventory, Mental Health Inventory, and Brief Symptom Inventory. One hundred and twenty eight women reported a history of maltreatment. Ph. D.

The purpose of the present study was to provide evidence of discriminant validity for the aberrant self-promotion construct proposed by Gustafson and Ritzer (1994a). The study attempted to differentiate the aberrant self-promotion construct from the Machiavellianism construct proposed by Christie (1970a). The aberrant self-promoter (ASP) has been conceptualized as exhibiting high self-esteem, low social desirability, and a high degree of antisocial behavior. In contrast, the Machiavellian has been conceptualized as an individual who is coldly rational in determining his or her actions and who is adept at engaging in manipulation to achieve a desired end. It was proposed in the present study that although both the ASP and the Machiavellian may be characterized by high narcissism, high self-esteem, and low social desirability, the Machiavellian does not exhibit the antisocial behavior that is a key component of the ASP pattern. The proposed differentiation, based on 28 undergraduate ASPs and 19 undergraduate Machiavellians, involved a structured interview and a prisoner's dilemma game. The results from the interview showed that the ASPs scored significantly higher on the total score, as well as on the subscore for a narcissism-related factor and on the subscore for an antisocial behavior factor. The prisoner's dilemma results, however, revealed no significant differences between the ASPs and Machs. Discussion focused on the insufficient salience of the prisoner's dilemma experimental situation and on the research and organizational implications of the ASP/Machiavellian differentiation supported by the interview. Master of Science

The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether the separate contributors to procedural and distributive justice also affected the other form of justice. Previous research investigating these cross over effects of justice contributors had not examined inputs in addition to outcomes and procedures, and had typically assumed outcome level to be equivalent to the equitableness of outcomes. Subjects were 120 undergraduate psychology students. Outcomes, inputs and procedures were manipulated in a laboratory experiment in order to assess their independent and combined effects on distributive and procedural justice perceptions. In contrast to past research, the current study found a weak and inconsistent effect of procedures on distributive justice perceptions. Outcome level had a strong effect on both procedural and distributive justice perceptions. In addition, outcome fairness was found to effect procedural justice perceptions. When procedures were fair, the equitableness of outcomes influenced distributive justice ratings. When procedures were unfair, however, the equitableness of outcomes did not influence distributive justice judgements. Implications for procedural justice conceptualizations, equity theory and organizations are discussed. Ph. D.

Being held accountable for one's views in an ambiguous situation has been found to increase cognitive processing and reduce possible biases often pervasive in performance appraisals (Tetlock, 1983a). The present study examined the effects of making raters more accountable for their performance ratings through expectations of a supervisory review. Two types of accountability were manipulated. Interpersonal accountability induced subjects to believe that they would receive feedback based on their justifications of their ratings. Reward accountability subjects expected that they would receive a reward based on the quality of their ratings compared to true performance scores. Half of the subjects were also told that the supervisor gave the ratee a negative performance rating. 191 female subjects rated an interviewer's performance after receiving accountability and view manipulations. Results indicated that subjects who received accountability manipulations in conjunction with the view gave more unfavorable ratings and were less accurate on Cronbach's (1955) elevation component of accuracy than no accountability and/or no view groups. Accountable subjects who did not receive the view were expected to increase cognitive processing. These hypotheses pertaining to increases in cognitive complexity and dimensional accuracy were not supported. Although unexpected, interpersonal accountability in conjunction with reward accountability prevented a decrement in processing when given the view. A biased versus unbiased vigilant processing hypothesis was proposed to explain these results. Possible limitations are also proposed as well as implications for future research. Master of Science

Attribution theory has been used to explain the responses of individuals to others behavior. Previous research has shown that attributions for performance can influence rater's judgments and the sex of the ratee has been shown to influence the attributions made for performance. Discrepant information was used to cue the formation of attributions and these attributions were predicted to mediate the relationship between the subjects' existing view of a manager's performance and subsequent performance ratings. It was hypothesized that different attributions would be made depending on the sex of the manager and the direction of the discrepant information (positive or negative) and that these attributions would be related to performance ratings. First, no relationship between attributions and performance ratings was found. Second, the expected pattern of attributions was only found for the female manager/positive discrepancy condition. Finally, performance ratings within the positive and negative discrepancy conditions did not differ as a function of sex. Limitations of this study, possible explanations of the current results, and suggestions for future research are discussed. Master of Science