Investigating How Individual Differences in Organisations are Associated with Employee Performance, Job Satisfaction and Climate for Innovation: A Quantitative Study in Jordan’s Middle Eastern Context

For this PhD thesis, individual differences in the workplace are studied, with the focus being on the key personality characteristics and styles identified in the field of business and organisational psychology: the Big Five, Team Roles, Conflict Management Styles, and Decision Making Styles. Some personality characteristics and styles have been identified as ‘healthy’ and productive, whilst others are considered ‘unhealthy’ and dysfunctional. Measuring individual differences in the workplace is seen as highly beneficial in view of its diagnostic potential. Furthermore, these constructs have been found to be significantly associated with employee performance, job satisfaction and climate for innovation. The literature is scant with regards to studying these constructs under one umbrella to investigate their associations with employee performance, job satisfaction and climate for innovation. Moreover, most of the evidence, to date, has been collected in Western contexts and studies from Middle Eastern countries are rare. The aim of this thesis is to address this research gap, by presenting a series of studies from Jordan – a collectivist society, which is becoming increasingly important in terms of economic growth and companies’ roles in the world market. Specifically, three empirical studies are presented that examine the structure of these individual differences constructs and how they are associated with employee performance, job satisfaction and climate for innovation. For Study 1, the structure of individual differences constructs is investigated using a sample recruited from two of the top 20 companies in Jordan: a shipping and logistics company (n=224) and a telecommunications company (n=219). Confirmatory Factor Analyses largely confirmed the factorial structures found in studies in Western cultures: The big five were measured with the short and a longer version of the Big Five Inventory (i.e. BFI-10 and BFI-44), and a 5-factor structure was confirmed for the long, but not the short version. Team roles were measured with the Team Role Experience and Orientation questionnaire, and a 6-factor structure was confirmed. Conflict management styles were measured with the Dutch test for Conflict Handling, with a 5-factor structure being confirmed. Decision making styles were measured with the General Decision-Making Style questionnaire and a 5-factor structure was confirmed. Lastly, climate for innovation was measured with the Team Climate Inventory, with a 4-factor structure being confirmed. Study 2 involved examining how individual differences are associated with employee performance, job satisfaction and climate for innovation. For this purpose, data were collected from a new sample (n=249) from the shipping and logistics company. For employee performance, regression analysis identified conscientiousness from the big five and the problem-solving conflict management style as significant predictors (both positive). For job satisfaction, regression analysis identified neuroticism from the big five and avoidant decision-making style as significant predictors (both negative). For climate for innovation, regression analysis identified agreeableness (positive) and neuroticism (negative) from the big five as significant predictors, along with the problem-solving conflict management style (positive) and rational decision-making style (positive). Study 3 was aimed at replicating the findings from Study 2 in a sample from the Jordanian general population. Further, an additional more reliable measure of employee performance, the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire was used. Three hundred and ninety Jordanian employees participated. The findings from Study 2 were largely confirmed. Furthermore, from the regression analysis, additional predictors of employee performance, job satisfaction and climate for innovation emerged. i.e. neuroticism (negative), rational decision-making style (positive), and avoidant decision-making style (negative), were significant predictors of employee performance. Agreeableness (positive), the problem-solving conflict-management style (positive), and the rational decision-making style (positive) were significant predictors of job satisfaction. Moreover, the avoidant decision-making style was found to be a negative predictor of climate for innovation. These studies contribute to knowledge in several ways: first, by examining the factorial structure of the instruments used in a Jordanian, rather than a Western context and second, by investigating the individual differences constructs simultaneously under one umbrella, thereby identifying the most and least effective characteristics that contribute to high levels of employee performance, job satisfaction and climate for innovation in Jordan’s Middle Eastern context

A daily diary study of stressful and positive events, alcohol use, and addiction severity among heavy drinking sexual minority men

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Background: The purpose of this study is to examine the conditions under which daily stressful and positive events are associated with alcohol use among heavy drinking sexual minority men (SMM). Specifically, we examined the moderating effects of two indicators of alcohol addiction severity (i.e., alcohol dependence severity and negative drinking consequences) on the associations between daily stressful events and alcohol use and between daily positive events and alcohol use among heavy drinking SMM. Procedures: Secondary data analyses were performed using data from a randomized controlled trial of heavy drinking and treatment seeking SMM who were assigned male at birth (N = 200). Participants responded to a daily survey delivered via interactive voice recording (IVR). The first seven days of the IVR were analyzed for this study. Results: While accounting for treatment condition, weekday/weekend, and baseline drinking, stressful and positive events were both associated with increased daily drinking; however, indicators of alcohol addiction severity moderated these associations. For heavy drinkers with high alcohol addiction severity, daily stressful events were not associated with alcohol use, and daily positive events were associated with increased alcohol use. In contrast, for heavy drinkers with low alcohol addiction severity, daily stressful events were associated with less drinking, and daily positive events were not associated with alcohol use. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that alcohol addiction severity plays a key role in explaining when daily stressful or positive events are associated with daily alcohol use among heavy drinking SMM

The Association Between Daily Concealment and Affect Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents:The Moderating Role of Family and Peer Support

Purpose There is a lack of research on the association between identity concealment and mental health among sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents and how social support may attenuate this association. Furthermore, research typically neglects the day-to-day variability in concealment experiences of SGM adolescents. Therefore, we examined the association between daily sexual orientation and gender identity concealment and positive and negative affect and the moderating role of family and peer support on this association among SGM adolescents. Methods A 21-day daily diary study among 94 SGM adolescents (mean [M] age = 16.10, standard deviation [SD] = 1.50; 31.9% gender minority; 44.7% youth of color) was conducted. Multilevel regression analyses tested the association between daily concealment and positive and negative affect and a cross-level interaction was used to assess the moderating effects of social supports. Results Daily concealment was associated with higher negative but not with positive affect. Family support was associated with lower daily negative affect but not with positive affect. Peer support was not significantly associated with negative or positive affect. Moderation results indicated that the association between daily concealment and negative affect was significant for adolescents who reported low or average levels of family support but was no longer significant for adolescents who reported high levels of family support. Discussion Daily identity concealment was positively associated with negative affect and this association was attenuated by family support. Future research and interventions should target families to improve the lives of SGM adolescents and to help reduce and eliminate mental health disparities

Resilience Through Relational Connection: A Relational Model to Sexual Minority Mental and Physical Health

Thesis advisor: Paul PoteatSexual minorities (e.g., lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals) are at higher risk for mental and physical health disparities than heterosexuals, and research has related some of these disparities to minority stressors such as institutional heterosexism, sexual prejudice, and discrimination. Yet, there is a dearth of research elucidating factors that predict the development of these health risks, and factors that protect and promote resiliency against them. Building on the minority stress model, the present study utilized relational cultural theory to situate sexual minority health disparities within a relational framework. Specifically, the study examined the mediating and moderating factors between the deleterious effects of distal stressors (i.e., heterosexist relational disconnections such as discrimination and victimization) and proximal stressors (i.e., self-disparaging relational images such as internalized homophobia, sexual orientation concealment) on mental and physical health for sexual minorities. Among 719 sexual minority adults, structural equation modeling analyses were used to test three models of: the relations between minority stressors and health; mediating effects of diminished agency, loneliness, and shame on the relations between minority stressors and health; and the moderated-mediation effects of growth-fostering relationships with peers, mentors, and community on the mediating pathways between minority stressors and health. Results indicated that heterosexist distal and proximal minority stressors predicted poor mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, and suicidality) and physical health (i.e., cardiovascular disease risk, distressing physical symptoms). The relations between proximal minority stressors and health were mediated by diminished sense of agency, loneliness, and shame, and there were mixed results for the relations between distal stressors and health. Although the direct effects of growth-fostering relationships were significant in predicting lower levels of diminished agency, loneliness, and shame, these factors had mixed moderating effects. Findings have research, practice, and policy implications that underscore the possible mechanisms by which sexual minority stressors lead to poor health. Researchers and practitioners need to addresses and advocate against societal forces contributing to heterosexist relational disconnections and for sexual minority health policies and research.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology

An Instrument Development Study of Men's Planning for Career and Family: Contributions of Parental Attachment and Gender Role Conflict

The present study first investigated the factor structure and assessed the psychometric properties of a scale that measures the degree to which future family responsibilities are considered by men when making career decisions. The study then examined the contributions of parental attachment and gender role conflict in predicting men's career and family planning. Participants included 205 college men. The findings suggested that two subscales comprise the measure: the Incorporating Future Family in Career Plans subscale (IFFCP; α = .80) and the Choosing a Career Independent of Future Family subscale (CCIFF; α = .80). Convergent validity was supported through a negative correlation among the IFFCP subscale and career aspirations. Discriminant validity was supported, in which the IFFCP subscale lacked a correlation and the CCIFF subscale had a low correlation with the career decision-making self-efficacy. Attachment to father positively predicted incorporating future family considerations in career planning, and gender role conflict in the success, power and competition domain positively predicted choosing a career independent of future family considerations

Testing Cross-sectional and Prospective Mediators of Internalized Heterosexism on Heavy Drinking, Alcohol Problems, and Psychological Distress Among Heavy Drinking Men Who Have Sex with Men

Objective: Minority stress theory is often used as a causal explanation for substance use among lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations. This study tested whether drinking to cope with stress (DTC), loneliness, and gay community participation (GCP) mediated the relationship between one type of minority stress (i.e., internalized heterosexism, IH) and behavioral health outcomes. Method: Utilizing secondary data analysis and the PROCESS procedure, relationships between IH, the mediators (DTC, loneliness, and GCP), and outcomes (heavy drinking, alcohol problems, and psychological distress) were explored, both cross-sectionally and in a lagged manner, among both treatment seeking and non-treatment seeking problem drinking men who have sex with men (MSM). Problem drinkers (N=187) were assessed, provided brief normative feedback about their drinking, given the choice to receive brief alcohol use disorder treatment or change on their own, and then followed for 9 months. Results: Cross-sectional findings revealed that IH was significantly associated with heavy drinking, alcohol problems, and psychological distress. DTC emerged as a significant mediator of IH for all the health outcomes. Loneliness and GCP were significant mediators of IH for alcohol problems and psychological distress. Multiple mediation models reveal that all three mediators significantly contribute to IH’s effect on health outcomes. Lagged analyses did not yield any significant indirect effects. Conclusion: Findings underscore the necessity of addressing IH in psychosocial interventions along with coping skills training that emphasizes culturally relevant social support. Limitations related to generalizability and measurement are reviewed

When Leaders Are Not Who They Appear: The Effects of Leader Disclosure of a Concealable Stigma on Follower Reactions

Two studies examined follower reactions to disclosure of concealable stigma (i.e., transgender identity) by a leader. Using 109 employed participants, Study 1 showed followers rated leaders disclosing a stigma less likable and effective. This effect was both direct and indirect through relational identification with the leader. Using 206 employed participants, Study 2 found when a leader\u27s stigma was involuntarily found out and disclosed later they received lower ratings of likability and effectiveness compared to leaders who voluntarily came out and disclosed earlier. Method (found out vs. came out) and timing of disclosure (later vs. earlier) had direct relationships with ratings of likability and effectiveness and method of disclosure had an indirect relationship with the outcomes via relational identification

Deep-sequencing reveals broad subtype-specific HCV resistance mutations associated with treatment failure

A percentage of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients fail direct acting antiviral (DAA)-based treatment regimens, often because of drug resistance-associated substitutions (RAS). The aim of this study was to characterize the resistance profile of a large cohort of patients failing DAA-based treatments, and investigate the relationship between HCV subtype and failure, as an aid to optimizing management of these patients. A new, standardized HCV-RAS testing protocol based on deep sequencing was designed and applied to 220 previously subtyped samples from patients failing DAA treatment, collected in 39 Spanish hospitals. The majority had received DAA-based interferon (IFN) a-free regimens; 79% had failed sofosbuvir-containing therapy. Genomic regions encoding the nonstructural protein (NS) 3, NS5A, and NS5B (DAA target regions) were analyzed using subtype-specific primers. Viral subtype distribution was as follows: genotype (G) 1, 62.7%; G3a, 21.4%; G4d, 12.3%; G2, 1.8%; and mixed infections 1.8%. Overall, 88.6% of patients carried at least 1 RAS, and 19% carried RAS at frequencies below 20% in the mutant spectrum. There were no differences in RAS selection between treatments with and without ribavirin. Regardless of the treatment received, each HCV subtype showed specific types of RAS. Of note, no RAS were detected in the target proteins of 18.6% of patients failing treatment, and 30.4% of patients had RAS in proteins that were not targets of the inhibitors they received. HCV patients failing DAA therapy showed a high diversity of RAS. Ribavirin use did not influence the type or number of RAS at failure. The subtype-specific pattern of RAS emergence underscores the importance of accurate HCV subtyping. The frequency of “extra-target” RAS suggests the need for RAS screening in all three DAA target regions