R-3 Repository :: Browsing by Author "Beier, Margaret E."

Browsing by Author "Beier, Margaret E."

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A lifespan development perspective and meta-analysis on the relationship between age and organizational training
(Wiley, 2022) Davenport, Meghan K.; Young, Carmen K.; Kim, Michelle H.; Gilberto, Jacqueline M.; Beier, Margaret E.
The confluence of the aging population and economic conditions that require working longer necessitate a focus on how to best train and develop older workers. We report a meta-analysis of the age and training relationship that examines training outcomes and moderators with 60 independent samples (total N = 10,003). Framed within the lifespan development perspective, we expected and found that older trainees perform worse (ρ = −.14, k = 34, N = 5642; δ = 1.08, k = 21, N = 1242) and take more time (ρ = .19, k = 15, N = 2780; δ = 1.25, k = 12, N = 664) in training relative to younger trainees. Further, age was negatively related to post-training self-efficacy (ρ = −.08, k = 10, N = 4631), but not related to trainee reactions. Moderator analyses provided mixed support that training alone is related to increased mastery of skills and knowledge. No support was found for the moderating effects of pacing or instructional approach. We call for future research examining the interactive effects of training design on older worker outcomes in ways that capitalize on age-related growth, compensate for decline, and consider the strategies workers use to mitigate the effect of age-related losses.
A Meta-analysis of University STEM Summer Bridge Program Effectiveness
(The American Society for Cell Biology, 2021) Bradford, Brittany C.; Beier, Margaret E.; Oswald, Frederick L.
University science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) summer bridge programs provide incoming STEM university students additional course work and preparation before they begin their studies. These programs are designed to reduce attrition and increase the diversity of students pursuing STEM majors and STEM career paths. A meta-analysis of 16 STEM summer bridge programs was conducted. Results showed that program participation had a medium-sized effect on first-year overall grade point average (d = 0.34) and first-year university retention (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.747). Although this meta-analytic research reflects a limited amount of available quantitative academic data on summer STEM bridge programs, this study nonetheless provides important quantitative inroads into much-needed research on programs’ objective effectiveness. These results articulate the importance of thoughtful experimental design and how further research might guide STEM bridge program development to increase the success and retention of matriculating STEM students.
Activities Matter: Personality and Resource Determinants of Activities and their Effect on Mental and Physical Well-being and Retirement Expectations
(Oxford University Press, 2018) Beier, Margaret E.; Torres, W. Jackeline; Gilberto, Jacqueline M.
Remaining active throughout the lifespan is central to healthy aging. The current study tests a model derived from investment and resource theories that examines the extent to which activities mediate the relationship between individual differences in personality and resources on mental and physical well-being and retirement expectations. A subsample (N = 400; 58% women) of participants from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was used. Self-reported activities were grouped into 4 broad categories: productive, physical, social, and leisure. Activity variety, operationalized as the number of different activity categories in which a person reported participating over a specified period of time, was also examined. Correlations and path analysis results suggest small but significant effects between personality traits and activity participation, and more consistent effects of personality for predicting activity variety. Personality was also significantly correlated with well-being and retirement expectations as was activity variety. There was limited evidence, however, that activity variety mediated the relationship between personality and resources and mental and physical well-being and retirement expectations as would be predicted by investment theory.
Adaptive Performance: The Role of Knowledge Structure Development
(2013-09-16) Upchurch, Christina; Villado, Anton J.; Beier, Margaret E.; Oswald, Frederick L.
The ability to successfully engage in adaptive performance is important due to the increasingly dynamic nature of work. The way individuals organize concepts within a performance domain (knowledge structures) has important implications for subsequent performance, including adaptive performance. Past literature has focused on the team knowledge structures and routine or overall performance. It is not evident whether changes in individuals’ knowledge structures after an adaptive performance episode will enhance or impair performance. The current study investigated knowledge structure change and its relationship with individual differences and performance outcomes. The sample contained 185 individuals from a private southern university. There was no evidence of relationships between individual differences or performance outcomes and knowledge structure change. However, the current study contributed to the literature by measuring knowledge structures multiple times and across routine and adaptive performance episodes. Study implications and the potential use of knowledge structures in training design are also discussed.
Aging and Burnout for Nurses in an Acute Care Setting: The First Wave of COVID-19
(MDPI, 2023) Beier, Margaret E.; Cockerham, Mona; Branson, Sandy; Boss, Lisa
We examined the relationship between age, coping, and burnout during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic with nurses in Texas (N = 376). Nurses were recruited through a professional association and snowball sampling methodology for the cross-sectional survey study. Framed in lifespan development theories, we expected that nurse age and experience would be positively correlated with positive coping strategies (e.g., getting emotional support from others) and negatively correlated with negative coping strategies (e.g., drinking and drug use). We also expected age to be negatively related to the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization facets of burnout and positively related to the personal accomplishment facet of burnout. Findings were largely supported in that age was positively associated with positive coping and personal accomplishment and age and experience were negatively correlated with negative coping and depersonalization. Age was not, however, associated with emotional exhaustion. Mediation models further suggest that coping explains some of the effect of age on burnout. A theoretical extension of lifespan development models into an extreme environment and practical implications for coping in these environments are discussed.
An investigation of audiovisual speech perception using the McGurk effect
(2014-04-14) Basu Mallick, Debshila; Beauchamp, Michael S.; Dannemiller, James L.; Beier, Margaret E.; Schnur, Tatiana T.
Integrating information from the auditory and visual modalities is vital for speech perception. In this thesis, I describe two studies of audiovisual speech perception that make use of an audiovisual illusion known as the McGurk effect. In the McGurk effect, two different syllables presented simultaneously in auditory and visual modalities are fused and perceived as a novel syllable (McGurk & MacDonald, 1976). In the first study, we conducted a large-scale assessment of the McGurk effect across fourteen McGurk stimuli tested in up to 165 participants. This study revealed that McGurk perception is characterized by wide variability across stimuli. The second study investigated whether phonetic identification training could increase McGurk perception. This study showed that participants improved on the training task, but there was no increase in McGurk perception.
An investigation of the validity of implicit measures of personality
(2007) McDaniel, Max Julian; Beier, Margaret E.
The current research examines the construct validity of Implicit Association Tests designed to measure two of the Big Five factor traits, Extraversion (EIAT) and Conscientiousness (CIAT), and whether or not these IATs predict performance for retail Sales Representatives. In Study 1 and 2, undergraduate students completed self-report measures of personality and the EIAT and CIAT. Results provide evidence of the construct validity for both the EIAT and CIAT. In Study 3, a concurrent validity study was conducted with a sample of cell phone retail sales employees. Results of Study 3 provide evidence of criterion-related validity for the EIAT and CIAT. The combined results of the three studies suggest the EIAT and CIAT may be useful personality measures in a selection context.
Antecedents of Expatriates’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Expatriate Adjustment and Job Attitudes as Mediators and Cultural Similarity as the Moderator
(2014-04-21) Ercan, Seydahmet; Oswald, Frederick L.; Beier, Margaret E.; Smith, D. Brent; Villado, Anton J.
Expatriates are important parts of transnational companies’ (TNC) foreign subsidiary staffing programs because TNCs heavily rely on expatriates to achieve coordination/control and knowledge transfer in their subsidiaries (Boyacigiller, 1990; Tan & Mahoney, 2006). Thus, expatriates’ job performance is an important factor directly contributing to the success of a subsidiary. Although research has focused on the effects of various dispositional and situational characteristics, job attitudes, and cross-cultural adjustment on expatriates’ task performance (e.g., managerial behaviors, Black & Porter, 1991; the Big Five, Dalton & Wilson, 2000), it underexplored the effects of these variables on expatriates’ OCB performance. Therefore, I aimed to fill this research gap by exploring the effects of various distal (e.g., Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, POS) and proximal (e.g., job satisfaction, work adjustment, organizational commitment) antecedents on expatriates’ OCB performance. In addition, I investigated the possible mediating effects of expatriate adjustment and job attitudes and moderating effect of perceived similarity of host-county culture (i.e., cultural novelty) on the relationship between expatriates’ OCB performance and its antecedents. In the pilot study, I constructed the Cross-Cultural Work Similarity Scale, which measures the novelty of host-company work settings. In the main study, I explored the direct and indirect (through expatriate adjustment and job attitudes) effects of distal predictors on expatriates’ self- and coworker-rated OCBI (organizational citizenship behavior directed at individuals) and OCBO (organizational citizenship behavior directed at the organization) performance. First, the results showed that Agreeableness and collectivity orientation were important predictors of self-rated OCBI, whereas Conscientiousness was of self-rated OCBO; and interaction adjustment, host country language skills, and Agreeableness were important predictors of coworker-rated OCBI and Conscientiousness was of coworker-rated OCBO performance. Second, mediation analyses based on coworker-rated OCB data and isolated mediation analyses based on self-rated OCB data supported the partial mediation effects of expatriate adjustment. Third, the results did not support the possible moderating effect of cultural novelty. These findings highlighted the relative importance of dispositional characteristics (e.g., Agreeableness, Conscientiousness) and expatriate adjustment in predicting expatriates’ OCB performance. Furthermore, the result supported Ilies, Fulmer, Spitzmuller, and Johnson’s (2009) findings regarding the differential validity of personality predictors of OCBI and OCBO performance.
Assessing Adverse Impact: An Alternative to the Four-Fifths Rule
(2012-09-05) Ercan, Seydahmet; Oswald, Frederick L.; Beier, Margaret E.; Villado, Anton J.
The current study examines the behaviors of four adverse impact measurements: the 4/5ths rule, two tests of significance (ZD and ZIR), and a newly developed AI measurement (Lnadj). Upon the suggestion of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program Manual about the sensitivity of the assessment of AI when the sample size is very large (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, 2002), Lnadj is a new statistic that has been developed and proposed as an alternative practical significance test to the 4/5ths rule. The results indicated that, unlike the 4/5ths rule and other tests for adverse impact, Lnadj is an index of practical significance that is less sensitive to differences across selection conditions that are not supposed to affect tests of adverse impact. Furthermore, Lnadj decreases Type I error rates when there is a small d value and Type II error rates when there is moderate to large d value.
Commenting on the “Great Debate”: General Abilities, Specific Abilities, and the Tools of the Trade
(MDPI, 2019) Beier, Margaret E.; Kell, Harrison J.; Lang, Jonas W.B.
We review papers in the special issue regarding the great debate on general and specific abilities. Papers in the special issue either provided an empirical examination of the debate using a uniform dataset or they provided a debate commentary. Themes that run through the papers and that are discussed further here are that: (1) the importance of general and specific ability predictors will largely depend on the outcome to be predicted, (2) the effectiveness of both general and specific predictors will largely depend on the quality and breadth of how the manifest indicators are measured, and (3) research on general and specific ability predictors is alive and well and more research is warranted. We conclude by providing a review of potentially fruitful areas of future research.
Confronting bias: How targets and allies can address prejudice against gay men in the workplace
(2012-09-05) Martinez, Larry; Hebl, Michelle R.; Beier, Margaret E.; Cornwell, John M.; Wilson, Rick K.
While many organizations have taken steps to protect minority individuals from the negative effects of prejudice and discrimination, such initiatives may be met with limited success. That is, prejudice and discrimination may remain major problems even with organizations who adopt organizational policies to enhance equity and reduce workplace discrimination. This dissertation examines the use of an individual-level strategy that individuals can enact in response to prejudice and/or discrimination, and that is the strategy of directly confronting the prejudice of their co-workers. This study examines the utility of confronting co-workers in the workplace with particular emphasis on the cognitions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions of third-party bystanders following witnessing a confrontation. I anticipated that the identity of the confronter (a member of the target group or an ally) and the level of conflict (high or low conflict) as well as the type of conflict (aggressive vs. calm, and personalized to the individual vs. generalized to society as a whole) in the confrontation would differentially impact outcome variables. Indeed, the results suggest that allies (versus targets) who confront elicit more positive behavioral intentions from observers to enact such strategies in the future; that high conflict (either aggressive or personalized) confrontations elicit more negative cognitions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions than do low conflict confrontations; and that targets and allies who confront have the most impact on third-party individuals if they utilize different strategies. Specifically, allies received particularly negative ratings when they confronted in an aggressive and personalized manner (compared to the other three strategies) and targets received relatively negative ratings only when confronting in an aggressive manner. These results held true in data obtained several weeks later. This research assesses the practicality of using confrontation as a prejudice-reduction tool and potentially informs future diversity management initiatives in organizations.
Consecutive Shifts: A Repeated Measure Study to Evaluate Stress, Biomarkers, Social Support, and Fatigue in Medical/Surgical Nurses
(MDPI, 2023) Cockerham, Mona; Kang, Duck-Hee; Beier, Margaret E.
Nurses report that they are required to work during their scheduled breaks and generally experience extended work times and heavy workloads due to staffing shortages. This study aimed to examine changes in personal, work-related, and overall stress, as well as biological responses and fatigue experienced by nurses during three consecutive 12 h workdays (i.e., the typical “three-twelves” schedule). We also considered the moderating effects of social resources. This prospective study of 81 medical/surgical nurses who completed questionnaires and provided saliva samples at four designated intervals (i.e., pre-shift and post-shift on workdays 1 and 3). Fatigue reported by night shift nurses increased significantly over three consecutive workdays (p = 0.001). Day shift nurses said they encountered more social support than those on the night shift (p = 0.05). Social support moderated the relationship between work-related stress at baseline and reported fatigue on day 3.
Dual process model of personality: Implications for prediction of behavior
(2009) McDaniel, Max Julian; Beier, Margaret E.
The current research examined behavior prediction of implicit and explicit measures of personality. Specifically, I examined the role of cognitive load and information processing in the prediction of behavior by implicit and explicit self-concept personality measures. Undergraduate students, N=83, completed self-report (explicit) and Implicit Association Test (implicit) measures of two Big Five factors (extraversion and conscientiousness), and their personality-relevant behaviors were coded in multiple work-related tasks, including video-recorded telephone interviews. Participants completed all tasks in single-task and dual-task conditions. Results did not provide support for a dual process model of personality self-concept which posits that implicit measures are better predictors of behavior under conditions of cognitive load, and self-report measures are better predictors of behavior under conditions of low cognitive load. The limitations of the current study are discussed. Overall, the results did provide some evidence of the validity of implicit measures in the personality domain.
Employee Turnover: The Effects of Workplace Events
(2011) Hanks, Ashley Rittmayer; Beier, Margaret E.
This research was designed to extend the unfolding model of voluntary turnover by examining the most commonly reported turnover decision path. Specifically, the purpose of the current investigation was to explore how employees evaluate negative workplace events--coined "shocks"--and the effects of such events on turnover intention. Participants, 204 Registered Nurses currently employed by a hospital, were asked to report on a negative work event. Only satisfaction with the organization's response to the event affected justice perceptions regarding the shock event. Events perceived as unjust or unfair were negatively related to perceived compatibility with the organization, which in turn predicted turnover intention. Job embeddedness also influenced perceived compatibility and intent to leave the organization. Characteristics of the shock events and suggestions to organizations to prevent avoidable, voluntary turnover are also presented.
Error management training from a resource allocation perspective: An investigation of individual differences and the training components that contribute to transfer
(2007) Campbell, Madeline; Beier, Margaret E.
Error management training is an intervention that capitalizes on the cognitive benefits of making errors for transfer of training, while minimizing the negative effects of errors on motivation. This study examined the effects of the structural and instructional components of error management training within a resource allocation framework, and investigated the role of distal predictors (cognitive ability and learning goal orientation) and proximal predictors (self-regulatory processes: emotion control, metacognitive activity, and self-efficacy) on training outcomes. Participants (N = 161, mean age = 39.7) were recruited from the community and were trained on computer database software in one of three conditions: high structure + error encouragement instructions, high structure + no instructions, or low structure + error encouragement instructions. Training effectiveness was assessed on multiple indices of learning (task performance, knowledge structures, and self-efficacy), measured immediately following training and after a 1-week retention interval. Key findings include an age x cognitive ability x effect of instruction interaction for training performance, indicating that individual differences should be considered when designing training to optimize transfer. Low structure training was found to enhance immediate task performance for all learners, but this effect did not persist over time. In addition, emotion control fully mediated the relationship between learning goal orientation and self-efficacy for knowledge retention in the error encouragement training conditions, as well as interacting with the effect of instruction to predict task performance.
Generations at Work: Don't Throw the Baby Out With the Bathwater
(Cambridge University Press, 2015) Beier, Margaret E.; Kanfer, Ruth
Costanza and Finkelstein (2015) are correct to highlight the dangers of using generationally based stereotypes in organizations. Although popular, these stereotypes are related to a stigmatization based on group membership that can be pernicious and discriminatory. Costanza and Finkelstein are also correct in their assessment of the state of the literature on generational effects: theory and research is woefully lacking. Indeed, a recent review of research on generations at work characterized this research as descriptive and neither theoretical nor empirical (Lyons & Kuron, 2014). Yet, as pointed out by Costanza and Finkelstein, the idea of a generational identity is salient and even appealing to many people. Why would this be if it were completely devoid of psychological import? People seem to resonate with the idea that, to some extent at least, they are a product of their generation. In this article we argue that the concept of generation provides a means to understanding how people process experiences within a cultural context. As such, consideration of generation is important to the development of self-concept, which in turn affects the development of attitudes, knowledge, and values. Although we agree that research on generations is problematic in its current state, we assert that it is too soon to jettison the psychological importance of generations in industrialﾖorganizational (I-O) research without risking throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Individual Differences in Adaptation to Changes
(2012-09-05) Wang, Shu; Beier, Margaret E.; Oswald, Fredick L.
Successful adaptation to changes is of great importance to today’s workforce and for organizations. Built on the I-ADAPT theory (Ployhart & Bliese, 2006), this dissertation research explored the relationships among ability and personality factors, adaptability, and adaptive performance. Using a relatively simple skill acquisition task, the noun-pair lookup task, this research examined whether those relationships would be affected by the skill acquisition stages at which a change is introduced. As such, unexpected changes were introduced at different performance stages of the noun-pair lookup task. In one condition, participants experienced an unexpected change to the varied mapping (VM) version of the noun-pair lookup task at early stages of consistent mapping (CM) task learning. In the other condition, the change from the CM task to the VM task was introduced at late stages of the CM task learning. Two hundred and twenty five participants completed the noun-pair lookup task in one of two conditions. They also completed measures of two Big Five factors (openness to experience at the construct level and conscientiousness at the facet level), the I-ADAPT-M measure of adaptability, and tests of working memory capacity and perceptual speed. It was found that the timing of introducing a change did matter. Controlling for pre-change performance, participants had greater performance decrements when the change was introduced at late stages of the CM task practice than when it was introduced at early stages of the CM task practice. Ability factors and personality traits were found to be predictive of strategy choice in the CM task. There was no evidence of the moderating effect of the performance stage at which a change was introduced on the relationship between ability factors and adaptive performance. The mediation effect of adaptability on the relationship between ability and personality factors and adaptive performance was not supported. Adaptability as measured by I-ADAPT-M was also correlated with personality traits but not with ability factors or performance on the noun-pair lookup task. In conclusion, this dissertation showed the importance of making a clear distinction between adaptability and adaptive performance, and taking into consideration skill acquisition stages in task-related adaptive performance.
Is Cognitive Ability a Liability?: A Critique and Future Research Agenda on Skilled Performance
(American Psychological Association, 2012) Beier, Margaret E.; Oswald, Frederick L.
Over a century of psychological research provides strong and consistent support for the idea that cognitive ability correlates positively with success in tasks that people face in employment, education, and everyday life. Recent experimental research, however, has converged on a different and provocative conclusion, namely that lower-ability people can actually be more effective performers within special environments characterized by features such as time pressure, social evaluation and unpredictable task change. If this conclusion is true, it has extensive implications for practices such as personnel selection, training design, and teaching at all levels. The current paper re-examines and reinterprets this research within the context of well-established resource theories of cognitive processing and skill acquisition leading to a less provocative conclusion that serves to reiterate the benefits of cognitive ability for task performance. Following this re-examination, we conclude by providing a research agenda for examining the determinants of skilled performance in dynamic task environments, including: (a) broadening the range of abilities and task difficulties examined, (b) considering the role of non-ability traits and goals in skilled performance (e.g., personality, learning and performance goals), (c) investigating the processes (e.g., problem solving strategies) that people use in complex environments, (d) developing research designs and analytic strategies for examining adaptive performance, and (e) investigating how best to train for adaptive performance.
Is Retest Bias Biased? An Examination of Race, Sex, and Ability Differences in Retest Performance on the Wonderlic Personnel Test
(2013-07-24) Randall, Jason; Villado, Anton J.; Beier, Margaret E.; Oswald, Frederick L.
Research suggests there may be race, sex, and ability differences in score improvement on different selection tests and methods when retested (Schleicher, Van Iddekinge, Morgeson, & Campion, 2010). However, it is uncertain what individual differences moderate retest performance on GMA assessments, and why. In this study, 243 participants were retested on the Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT). There was no evidence that race, sex, emotional stability, or conscientiousness moderate retest performance on the WPT, although SAT scores did positively predict retest performance. Individuals within the interquartile range of the initial WPT scores gained more when retested than those with more extreme scores. Establishing artificial cut-off levels demonstrated that those below the cut-off gained more when retested than those above the cut-off. Therefore, average-scorers and in some cases lower-scorers who may have failed to meet a predetermined cut-off are encouraged to re-test as they have little to lose and much to gain.
Just Saying "No": An Examination of Gender Differences in the Ability to Decline Requests in the Workplace
(2014-04-22) O'Brien, Katharine Ridgway; Hebl, Michelle R.; Beier, Margaret E.; Villado, Anton J.; Gorman, Bridget K.
Anecdotal evidence from popular culture suggests that women have a difficult time declining professional requests made by others. However, very little research has empirically addressed such claims. The current dissertation examines the possibility that women do not say “no” professionally as much as do men in three related studies. The first study examined the willingness that women (and men) show in saying “no” to work-related requests, along with gender norms that individuals hold toward others of their gender, individual differences in, and affective outcomes of saying “no.” Results confirmed that women do not feel that they can say “no” in the workplace and that this relates to other personality differences and outcomes. The second study examined the consequences of saying “no.” This experiment examined differences in raters’ reactions to a target who had been asked to head a committee by his or her supervisor, which differed based on the target’s gender (male or female), the nature of the task (whether self-serving or communal), and the target’s response (“yes” or “no”). Results supported a distinct preference for targets who did not say “no” to their supervisor and that participants rewarded women in particular with promotions and other rewards when they did not say “no.” The third and final study employed a two-week diary study that measured the extent to which individuals received requests and the nature of those requests and then provided two remediative strategies for men and women to reflect upon and consider requests. Results indicated that there were differences in the types of requests made of men versus women as well as different responses. Additionally, both interventions provided benefits to those exposed to them, though in different ways. The impact of the three studies together is the first-known empirical study to: 1) address the contention that women say “no” less often than do men; 2) illuminate a potential mechanism behind the behavior: the preference for individuals, particularly women, who do not say “no;” and 3) potentially offer remediative strategies for individuals to engage in to effectively help them deal with professional requests.

Browsing by Author "Beier, Margaret E."

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