Predicting applicants' job pursuit behavior from their selection expectations: the mediating role of the theory of planned behavior

Applicants' pretest expectations about the forthcoming selection procedure may serve as a key factor in applicants' decision‐making. The current study examined the validity of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as an explanatory mechanism of the relationship between pretest selection expectations (warmth/respect, chance to demonstrate potential, difficulty of faking, unbiased assessment, feedback) and job pursuit behavior. Data were collected at two points in time, using a sample of applicants for the military. Selection expectations, job pursuit attitude, subjective norm, and controllability were significantly related to job pursuit intention. Job pursuit attitude mediated the relationship between selection expectations and job pursuit intention. Subjective norm and time lag were the only significant predictors of job pursuit behavior. Practical implications, strengths and limitations, as well as directions for further research are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An empirical analysis of a goal setting questionnaire

This research presents an analysis of a goal setting questionnaire developed by Locke and Latham (1984). The Locke and Latham measure attempts to assess the core goal attributes of ‘specificity’ and ‘difficulty’, as well as other attributes of the goal setting process (such as perceptions about ‘performance feedback’, ‘supervisor support’, ‘conflict’ and ‘stress’). The psychometric properties of the measure were examined using respondents from employees of a large, west-coast electronics organization. A principal components analysis extracted 10 meaningful factors and identified a need for additional items. Results generally supported the meaningfulness of the goal setting factors and provide important directions for future research.     

The role of personality characteristics in young adult driving

BACKGROUND: Motor vehicle injury is the major cause of mortality among young adults. Information about the individual characteristics of those who drive dangerously could enhance traffic safety programs. The goal of this research was to examine the association between various personality-related characteristics and risky driving behaviors. METHODS: Young adults in Michigan, USA (n = 5,362) were surveyed by telephone regarding several personality factors (risk-taking, hostility, aggression, tolerance of deviance, achievement expectations) and driving behaviors (competitive driving, risk-taking driving, high-risk driving, aggressive driving, and drink/driving). Michigan driver records were obtained to examine offenses, serious offenses, driving offense points, crashes and serious crashes in the three pre-interview years. Multivariate regression analyses, adjusting for age, race, and marital status were conducted separately by sex to identify personality factors related to driving. RESULTS: For men and women, greater risk-taking propensity, physical/verbal hostility, aggression, and tolerance of deviance were significant predictors of a competitive attitude toward driving, risk-taking driving, high-risk driving, driving aggression, and drink/driving. Greater risk-taking propensity, physical/verbal hostility, aggression, and to a small degree, expectations for achievement predicted higher numbers of offenses, serious offenses, and points. CONCLUSION: Traffic safety policies and programs could be enhanced through recognition of the role personality factors play in driving behavior and the incorporation of this knowledge into the design and implementation of interventions that modify the behaviors associated with them.     

Are “job hoppers” trapped in hedonic treadmills? Effects of career orientations on newcomers' attitude trajectories

Joining a new organization to change jobs is an influential event in an employee's career. Thus, inter-organizational job changes have sparked growing scholarly interest, especially in the temporal dynamics involved in detaching from organizations and adapting to new ones. While it is widely accepted that employees adapt differently to job changes, the influence of employees' career orientations on changes in job attitudes has not yet been considered. This is surprising given that a key difference between self-centered and organization-centered career orientations is a positive attitude toward job changes. Building on hedonic adaptation, we examined how career orientations influence changes in job satisfaction and turnover intention throughout a job change. We compared self-centered and organization-centered employees using random coefficient modeling on two longitudinal data sets with voluntary job changers. Our results illustrate that self-centered career orientations foster a stronger decline in job satisfaction with the new employer, as well as a larger increase in turnover intention, than organization-centered career orientations. In contrast, employees with organization-centered career orientations experienced an upward trend in job satisfaction toward the end of the first year. Our findings offer important implications for research on the determinants of job attitude trajectories when individuals join a new organization.     

New recruit safety expectations: Relationships with trust and perceived job risk

Very little research has examined the safety expectations of new recruits, particularly those of individuals about to enter full-time work for the first time. There is evidence that new recruits have proportionally more accidents in the first period of their employment. One possible explanation for this is that the safety expectations of new recruits do not match the reality of the workplace they are about to enter. In Study 1 data on workplace safety expectations were collected from 142 final year high school students from six schools. Study 2 collected data from 40 organizations on the safety expectations of a new recruit and compared it with safety expectation data from a manager of the job they were entering. Both studies found that new recruit safety expectations were significantly correlated with ratings of safety specific trust in co-workers and management. Study 2 found that new recruits safety expectation scores were significantly higher than those given by managers. The results suggest that organizations need to develop a clear safety-specific psychological contract with new recruits.     

Construction Job Safety Analysis

Job Safety Analysis (JSA), which is also known as Job Hazard Analysis, is an efficient proactive measure for safety risk assessment used in industrial manufacturing settings. However, unlike the manufacturing settings for which JSA was developed, at construction sites the physical environment is constantly changing, workers move through the site in the course of their work, and they are often endangered by activities performed by other teams. To address this difficulty, a structured method for hazard analysis and assessment for construction activities, called “Construction Job Safety Analysis” (CJSA), was developed. The method was developed within the framework of research toward a lean approach to safety management in construction, which required the ability to predict fluctuating safety risk levels in order to support safety conscious planning and pulling of safety management efforts to the places and times where they are most effective. The method involves identification of potential loss-of-control events for detailed stages of the activities commonly performed in construction, and assessment of the probability of occurrence for each event identified. It was applied to explore 14 primary construction activities in an extensive trial implementation that included expert workshops and a series of 101 interviews with site engineers and superintendents. Detailed quantitative results were obtained for a total of 699 possible loss-of-control events; the most frequent events are those related to exterior work at height.     

A Process investigation of realistic job previews: Mediating variables and channels of communication

A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the role of three possible mediating variables (job attitude, job knowledge, and job acceptance intention) to explain the effects of realistic job previews (RJPs) on entry-level outcomes. In addition, the effectiveness of an oral realistic job preview presented by an employment interviewer was compared to a written RJP. Sixty undergraduate student volunteers were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) an oral RJP presented to job applicants by the employment interviewer during an employment interview; (2) a written RJP given to job applicants to read before an employment interview; and (3) a control condition in which job applicants received general job information from the interviewer during an employment interview. Results indicated that knowledge was an important mediator of RJP effects on several entry-level outcomes whereas attitude and job acceptance intention did not mediate RJP effects although both were strongly related to job acceptance decisions. In addition, the oral RJP was more effective than both the written RJP and general job information in creating positive preceptions of interviewer and organization honesty. Both the oral and the written RJP lowered subjects' job expectations and increased role clarity in comparison to the control group but did not affect job acceptance or commitment to job choice. The implications for future RJP research and application are discussed.     

A path analysis model for explaining unsafe behavior in workplaces: the effect of perceived work pressure

Background. Unsafe behavior is closely related to occupational accidents. Work pressure is one the main factors affecting employees’ behavior. The aim of the present study was to provide a path analysis model for explaining how work pressure affects safety behavior. Methods. Using a self-administered questionnaire, six variables supposed to affect safety employees’ behavior were measured. The path analysis model was constructed based on several hypotheses. The goodness of fit of the model was assessed using both absolute and comparative fit indices. Results. Work pressure was determined not to influence safety behavior directly. However, it negatively influenced other variables. Group attitude and personal attitude toward safety were the main factors mediating the effect of work pressure on safety behavior. Among the variables investigated in the present study, group attitude, personal attitude and work pressure had the strongest effects on safety behavior. Conclusion. Managers should consider that in order to improve employees’ safety behavior, work pressure should be reduced to a reasonable level, and concurrently a supportive environment, which ensures a positive group attitude toward safety, should be provided. Replication of the study is recommended.     

Belief-bias and labor unions: The effect of strong attitudes on reasoning

This study compared three types of reasoning bias associated with strong belief: Judgement of plausibility, contrast effects, and social attribution. Respectively, these relate to bias in the perceived validity and extremity of statements and bias in causal interpretations of actions. Technical college students (N = 153) in two highly unionized communities completed one scale for each form of bias and a section of the IRC Union Attitude Scale which measured their attitude toward unions. Belief–bias was indicated across all three measures although there were differences in their salience. Social attribution was the strongest type of bias manifested (r = 0.58, p ? 0.001) and contrast effects (r = 0.33, p ? 0.001) were a second and third. The implications of these results are explored and future research directions in this new line of study are suggested.     

The effect of aviation safety education on passenger cabin safety awareness

This paper examines the effect of aviation safety education on passenger cabin safety awareness in knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAB). The educational value of KAB has been addressed in various fields such as AIDS prevention and campus safety. KAB has been applied in aviation safety related areas, especially in training, such as crew resource management training, pilot training, and mechanic training. However, KAB has not been implemented in aviation passenger education in cabin safety. This paper uses the construct of “aviation safety education”, which is intended to influence airline passenger knowledge of, attitude toward, and behavior about cabin safety awareness. Passenger surveys were done at two Taiwan airports. The results show that aviation safety education positively affects airline passenger cabin safety knowledge, attitude, and behavior. We recommend safety education that involves accurate instruction about emergency equipment procedures, situational awareness, emergency responses, and relevant cabin-safety regulations.Our findings indicated that an increase in cabin safety knowledge positively affected airline passenger behavior, which supported knowledge–behavior consistency. We also found that a positive attitude toward cabin safety positively affected airline passenger behavior, which supported attitude–behavior consistency. The hypothesis that cabin safety knowledge positively affected passenger attitude – knowledge–attitude consistency was not supported.     

The role of dispositions,entry stressors,and behavioral plasticity theory in predicting newcomers' adjustment to work

This longitudinal field study examined the combined effects of dispositions, entry stressors, and behavioral plasticity theory in predicting newcomers' adjustment to work after four and 10 months of organizational entry. Recent graduates completed a questionnaire prior to entry that measured two dispositions (negative affectivity and general self‐efficacy), and a questionnaire four months after entry that measured four entry stressors (role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, and unmet expectations). Measures of work adjustment were taken after four and 10 months. Based on behavioral plasticity theory, it was expected that the effects of the entry stressors would be most negative for the adjustment of newcomers with low general self‐efficacy. Limited support was found for behavioral plasticity theory. Those interactions that were significant indicated that increasing levels of role conflict were associated with lower organizational commitment and identification for newcomers with low general self‐efficacy. The results also provided weak support for a dispositional theory of work adjustment. The dispositions only predicted three of seven adjustment variables at four and 10 months. However, the entry stressors significantly predicted all seven adjustment measures. The results are discussed in terms of the predominant role played by the organizational setting in predicting newcomers' adjustment to work. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relationship between the implementation of a Safety Management System and the attitudes of employees towards unsafe acts in aviation

Airports represent highly complex organisations, incorporating such interdependent operations as airlines, ground transport, flight services, ground services, refueling, maintenance, customer services, catering, administration and security. Airports, and especially International Airports, must ensure that their operations are conducted in a safe and efficient manner, as the consequence of any error or failure during operations has the potential for catastrophic outcomes. The international governing body for air transportation, ICAO, requires that airports must implement a Safety Management System as a means of ensuring safe operations and eliminating or reducing the likelihood of low frequency/high consequence incidents. This research project sought to determine the extent to which the implementation of a Safety Management System (SMS) influenced the attitudes of airport employees toward unsafe acts. The hypothesis tested was that the implementation of an SMS into an airport will result in an improvement in attitudes toward safety. A Safety Culture Survey was utilized to measure these attitudes. Two International Airports were chosen to measure the extent to which the introduction of an SMS at one airport would influence the safety attitude and culture of those employees. Sharjah International Airport, UAE, was used as the experimental group, as it did not have a formal SMS in operation, with another English-speaking International Airport (the Second Airport) being used as a control group, as it already had an SMS in operation. A Safety Culture Survey was used as the pre and post-test measure over a 12-month period to determine the extent of influence of the introduction of the SMS at Sharjah Airport. The results of Phase 1 of the survey (June 2008) were compared against the results of Phase 2 of the survey (June 2009). The average score reported by participants at Sharjah Airport increased significantly from pre-test measure to post-test measure in relation to communication, safety rules, supportive environment, personal risk appreciation, work environment, and involvement. At the same time, the average score for personal priorities decreased significantly from Phases 1 to 2. Results indicate that participants at Sharjah Airport recorded a significant positive shift in attitude to the safety factors covered in the Safety Culture Survey, whilst at the same time responses from the Second Airport showed no such shift in attitude. The Second Airport showed neither decline nor improvement in responses. Whilst some methodological issues were identified, the results were of sufficient strength as to conclude that the outcomes reported support the hypothesis that the introduction of an SMS at Sharjah Airport has effected positive changes not observed at the Second Airport. Recommendations for ongoing research were made to further explore the strength of relationship between SMS and safety attitudes, as well as the relationship between safe attitude and safe behaviour.     

Attitudes toward computers: Construct validation and relations to computer use

Attitudes toward computers are generally thought to be composed of two factors: (1) beliefs that the computer is a beneficial tool, and (2) beliefs that computers are autonomous entities. We employed confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to examine (1) the convergent and discriminant validity of scales assessing two attitudes toward computers, (2) the relative predictive validity of the two attitude dimensions with computer use, and (3) a theoretical model of attitudes toward computers and computer use. Results supported the hypothesis that attitudes toward computers are composed of two distinct constructs and the hypothesis concerning the ordering of the two computer attitudes and computer use. We found partial support for the hypothesis that the two attitude factors differ in their prediction of computer use. Overall, the results supported the idea that two distinct beliefs about computers are present and that these two beliefs are significantly related to computer use.     

Willingness to accept mobility opportunities: Destination makes a difference

Previous research on employee willingness to accept mobility opportunities involving geographic relocation has generally not specified characteristics of potential destination communities. However, studies of employee adjustment following relocation suggest that community characteristics are critical to employee satisfaction. In order to better understand the factors that influence employees' acceptance of mobility opportunities, we investigated differences in both levels and antecedents of willingness to accept mobility opportunities involving relocation between similar communities and relocation between dissimilar communities. Results suggest that employees were particularly reluctant to accept moves between dissimilar communities, and that the role of career factors, community attachment, and location preferences as antecedents varied depending on the specific nature of the mobility opportunity. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

基于比较思维的安全经济学研究

为探究比较思维对安全经济学发展影响,以扩展安全经济学的研究领域,基于比较学与安全经济学的基本理论,提出比较安全经济学的定义和内涵,并阐述其研究意义,描述其基础理论和研究层次。基于比较安全经济学的属性,提出研究比较安全经济学的10个角度,总结比较安全经济学的应用领域,构建比较安全经济学“方法—知识—步骤—逻辑”四维结构体系,举例阐述其研究步骤及其安全应用。研究表明:比较安全经济学是安全经济学与比较学交叉融合形成的一门新兴安全科学分支学科,其研究旨在为企业安全资源优化配置提供理论基础。     

Toward an integrative approach of the industrial risk management process in France

Management in the field of environmental protection and risk prevention has evolved to the increasing participation of all stakeholders in the decision-making process. It certainly results from the development of the Information society and the global increase of knowledge of the population, combined with the concerns of the populations related to a sustainable development of our civilisation. Our ‘risk society’, following the big industrial disasters (Flixborough,Tchernobyl, Bhopal, Challenger, and more recently Toulouse), has also developed a cautious attitude towards the role of the expertise when it comes to assessing risks, along with a question of the ability of science to give definite answers.

This has lead in particular to the adoption of the Aarhus convention in 1998 and the evolution of several regulations in the developed countries. For example, in France the new law no. 2003–699 of 30 July 2003 about the ‘prevention of the technological and natural risks and to the compensation for the damages’ has introduced an important innovation into the process of technological risks prevention.

This law has enabled the involvement of the stakeholders in the decision-making process related to risk prevention and has urged the development of specific tools to deal with the complexity of risk management issues, in particular for those related to land-use planning.

As technical support to decision-makers in risk management from both public and private sectors, INERIS has played an important role for the evolution of the French risk management system.

This paper describes an analysis on the difficulty to control major accident hazards in an evolving context where the industrial systems becomes more and more complex and where the expectations of the civil society has increased. Then, the authors describe how an integrated vision for industrial risk management has emerged in France and is being implemented in a new law adopted after the Toulouse disaster.     

National culture and safe work behaviour of construction workers in Pakistan

It is widely accepted that unsafe behaviour is intrinsically linked to workplace accidents. A positive correlation exists between workers’ safe behaviour and safety climate on construction sites. Construction workers’ attitude towards safety is influenced by their perception of risk, management, safety rules and procedures. Pakistan, a developing country, is currently experiencing a strong growth in its construction activities. Unfortunately, the enforcement of safety regulations in Pakistan is not widespread. Indeed, some relevant regulations are both outdated and irrelevant to daily construction operations. This paper investigates local construction workers’ behaviour, perception and attitude toward safety, and attempts to link the research findings to the influence of national culture. A three-part interview-based questionnaire survey has identified that the majority of workers have a good degree of risk awareness and self-rated competence. Additionally, workers’ intentional behaviour was empirically explained by their attitudes towards their own and management’s safety responsibilities, as well as their perception of the risk they are generally exposed to in their workplace. The paper also reveals that workers operating in a more collective and higher uncertainty avoidance environment, are more likely to have safety awareness and beliefs, which can exhibit safer on-site behaviour.     

Attribution theory: An introduction to the special issue

This special issue of the Journal of Organizational Behavior was developed to further extend attribution theory and its application to the field of organizational behavior. In this introduction, we provide a brief overview of the motivation for this special issue, a concise summary of the papers included in it, a discussion about progress toward the field's goals, and suggestions for how future research can move the field forward. In doing so, we describe how applying attribution theory to studies that utilize a broad range of study designs, research contexts, and focal topics results in insights that enhance our understanding of how attributional processes predict and explain individuals' emotions and behaviors. We also provide suggestions for how to further develop attribution theory so we can more clearly describe the generalizability of relationships across a wide variety of organizational contexts.     

Comparison of young male and female drivers' attitude and self-reported traffic behaviour in Finland in 1978 and 2001

Problem: This study evaluates how the traffic behaviors of young drivers and their attitudes toward traffic regulations have changed over the last 23 years, and particularly, whether the differences in attitudes and behavior between male and female drivers have changed. Method: The study was conducted in 2001, and it replicated a traffic attitude survey administered in 1978. The same survey was used, enabling comparison between the years. The number of respondents was 3,158 in 1978 and 2,759 in 2001. Results: The comparison revealed several differences regarding the background factors, attitudes, and driving style of novice drivers. Most obvious changes in the drivers' background were the changes in education level (higher today), driver training (more private training today), and exposure/experience in terms of kilometers (more today). The summary variable measured that the young drivers showed more negative attitudes toward traffic rules and safe driving in 2001 compared to 1978. Female drivers drove less than males and evaluated their driving skill lower. Female drivers were less involved in accidents and they committed less traffic offenses than males (kilometrage controlled). Female drivers showed a more positive attitude toward traffic safety and rules than males. The difference in traffic attitudes and behavior between males and females in 1978 compared to 2001 remained the same or even increased somewhat.