Effects of communication and negotiation training on women’s entrance into the workforce

The purpose of the project is to determine if administering a communication training program to women, with an emphasis on negotiation skills, will influence their starting salaries. More specifically, this project proposes to develop and deliver a communication and negotiation skills training workshop to all of the women in a sorority at a South-Eastern university. The project involves conducting a needs analysis to determine the participant’s current level of communication knowledge and negotiation skills. Once the results of the needs analysis are analyzed, the training program will be formally developed and administered. This study proposes that once women have higher knowledge on workplace communication and negotiation skills, their salary will increase. While no men will be included in this study, the ultimate aim is to lessen the pay gap

Does Feedback Increase Decision Aid Use Among Hiring Professionals?

We examined the influence of formative and outcome feedback on people’s reliance on decision aids. Decision aids are tools that managers can use to increase the accuracy of their hiring decisions. In our study, participants were asked to make 20 different hiring decisions and make predictions of a candidate’s performance on the job, with the option of using a decision aid formula. We manipulated whether participants received feedback on the accuracy of their predictions, the accuracy of the decision aid’s predictions, or both. The results demonstrated that feedback failed to have a significant impact on decision aid use for both hiring choice and performance predictions. Our findings suggest that the relationship between feedback and decision aid is weak, and that feedback does not meaningfully affect the use of decision aids

The Effects of Resilience on Mindfulness and Stress in Students

This study tested part of a theoretical model on resilience in the workplace proposed by Rees, Breen, Cusack, and Hegney (2015). We hypothesized that resilience would mediate the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress. Using an online Qualtrics survey, we measured 127 student participants’ levels of mindfulness, resilience, and perceived stress. The results supported a positive relationship between mindfulness and resilience. In addition, there was a positive relationship between resilience and perceived stress. As a result, the proposed mediation was not supported. Resilience did not mediate the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress. Future research should test alternative measures of psychological adjustment within the model (e.g., job burnout)

Employee characteristics: resilience and self-efficacy as protective factors

This study will explore the relationship between self-efficacy and resilience as they affect stress-related outcomes in the workplace. The study will first measure all participant’s self-efficacy and resilience. The experimental group will then receive feedback mirroring that of a negative performance appraisal. The feedback will suggest the participant performed below average on a trivia test. Participants in the control group will receive neutral feedback on the same trivia test. Lastly, all participant’s resilience will be measured a second time. This study will seek to recruit students from a local South-Eastern university. The results of this study will further clarify the relationship that exists between self-efficacy and resilience as well as further demonstrating the value of resilience as a protective factor

The effects of self-efficacy, perceptions of ethical misconduct, and guilt-proneness on CWBs

This study examined the relationship between generalized self-efficacy, perceptions of ethical misconduct, guilt-proneness, and counterproductive work behaviors. We first hypothesized that self-efficacy would be negatively related to counterproductive work behaviors. Secondly, we hypothesized that perceptions of ethical misconduct and levels of guilt-proneness would mediate the negative relationship between generalized self-efficacy and counterproductive work behaviors. We surveyed 190 undergraduate students. To test our hypotheses, we used serial mediation (self-efficacy perceptions of ethical misconduct Guilt CWBs). Results supported our first hypothesis. However, we did not find support for the mediated relationship proposed in our second hypothesis

Understanding the Effect of Individualism vs. Collectivism on Ethical Decision Making

This project will investigate cross cultural differences in the ethical decision-making process of people at work. The project will involve research collaborators across the globe to gather unique data from several nations and cultures. This multinational research project will examine how culture impacts the ethical decision-making process. Specifically, this study proposes that perceptions of ethical misconduct will mediate the relationship between dark personality characteristics (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) and ethical misconduct, and that culture will moderate these relationships. This research will recruit participants from three different countries: The United States, Chile, and India. This groundbreaking international initiative will allow the researchers to better understand the interaction of individual personality and culture on perceptions of ethical misconduct and counterproductive work behaviors

Decision Making: Do People with Dark Triad Traits Utilize Advice?

This research study seeks to gain a better understanding of the effects of the dark triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) on advice taking. This research examined whether or not the dark triad traits result in working professionals being more or less likely to accept advice when making a decision. Past research has shown that outcomes are generally more favorable when the person who is making the decision takes the advice of another person into consideration. Despite this fact, I hypothesized that people with higher narcissistic or psychopathic traits will not accept advice when making a decision. Additionally, I hypothesized that Machiavellians may be the exception in the dark triad and would be more likely to utilize advice. Results indicated that narcissists were less likely to utilize advice and Machiavellians were more likely to utilize advice. There were no significant findings regarding those with psychopathic tendencies. Organizations could benefit from these findings when considering how much their advice may be considered when an employee with narcissistic or Machiavellian tendencies is making a decision