Theses and Dissertations from UMD

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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Psychology, Industrial

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 39
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    Development and Initial Validation of the Work Addiction Inventory
    (2009) Bryan, Nicole A.; Lent, Robert W.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of the study is to develop and validate the Work Addiction Inventory (WAI). The WAI is designed to assess individual's addiction to work via self-report. Data were collected from 127 working professional employed on at least a part-time (20 hours per week) basis. Results of an exploratory factor analysis retained 24 items and indicated that the WAI consists of three underlying factors. The WAI subscale and total scores showed adequate internal consistency reliabilities. Convergent and discriminant validity was initially supported by the relationship between WAI scores, an existing measure of workaholism, and social desirability. Also, WAI scores correlated highly with several criterion variables. Finally, evidence was found to suggest that the WAI accounts for unique variance beyond an existing measure of workaholism. In conclusion, psychometric properties of the WAI were initially supported by findings of the study.
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    Virtually a Leader: Mitigating Process Losses through Shared Team States
    (2009) Aiken, Juliet Renee; Hanges, Paul J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Research on virtual teams reveals that virtual teams do not operate in the same way as non-virtual teams. Despite increasing interest in this field, virtuality's impact on teams through an integrated IPO framework has yet to be assessed. The current study addresses this limitation by examining how virtuality impacts shared team states, and, subsequently, how shared team states impact communication, and how communication impacts outcomes. Further, this study investigated the role leadership plays in reducing process losses encountered by virtual teams. Results indicate that virtuality impacts the formation of shared team states, and leadership moderates this relationship, but in an unexpected direction. Shared team states were not found to contribute to communication, and communication did not predict outcomes. However, virtuality was found to directly affect communication, and the interaction between virtuality and leadership affected outcomes. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
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    Power Conflict: Struggles for Intragroup Control and Dominance
    (2009) Keller, Kirsten Michelle; Gelfand, Michele J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    There has been a considerable amount of research at the individual level of analysis examining strivings for power and influence within an organizational context. However, research has largely yet to examine how these individual motives and behaviors designed to garner power may translate to processes at the interpersonal and group level, and in particular, the extent to which they may result in conflicts or power struggles between individuals. Therefore, the goal of this dissertation was to delineate and explore a construct of power conflict using both qualitative and quantitative methods in two complementary studies. In the first study of this dissertation, I conducted an inductive, qualitative examination of power conflict designed to provide an in depth exploration of different types or manifestations of power conflict. Using data obtained from 58 semi-structured interviews with employees across 23 different bank branches, this study explored how conflicts over power are enacted within context, including key actions and motives. In addition, this study explored potential antecedents and consequences of power conflict in an effort to begin developing a nomological network. In Study 2, I then built upon these qualitative results by using survey data from 131 bank branches to empirically establish power conflict as an important fourth factor of intragroup conflict, along with the already established task, relationship, and process factors. In support of this, the confirmatory factor analysis results provide evidence that power conflict is a distinct factor of intragroup conflict and is distinct from the potentially related construct of dominating conflict management strategies. I also test a portion of the nomological network developed through the qualitative study by examining the relationship of power conflict to several group level antecedents and consequences. Regression results indicate that groups with higher mean levels of extraversion, lower mean levels of agreeableness, and that are predominantly female tend to have higher levels of power conflict. In contrast, groups that have high learning goal orientation climates tend to have lower levels of power conflict. In terms of consequences, power conflict was significantly related to branch stress and greater branch turnover above and beyond the other three conflict types.
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    Executive Coaching as a Developmental Experience: A Framework and Measure of Coaching Dimensions
    (2008-09-10) Gettman, Hilary J; Stevens, Cynthia; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The widespread and rapidly growing practice of executive coaching (Berglas, 2002) has evolved as a practice outside of the context of any academic discipline. While the literature on executive coaching is voluminous, there has been no attempt to systematically outline and operationalize the important dimensions of coaching practice. This lack of empirical foundation has made it difficult assess coaching in any meaningful way, for example, to determine what aspects of coaching are critical to effectiveness, or if it is even effective at all. In order to begin to fill this gap in the research, I sought to understand the important dimensions of executive coaching. To this end I reviewed the literature on coaching, and relevant research literatures, to get a better understanding of what coaches likely do to promote development, to develop a more grounded conceptualization of the dimensions of executive coaching, and to begin exploring the theoretical bases for these dimensions. I proposed six dimensions of coaching activities: assessment, challenge, emotional support, tactical support, motivational reinforcement and promoting a learning orientation. Second, I operationalized these dimensions by creating items based on the literatures reviewed, as well as input from subject matter experts, and based upon my own expertise. Finally, I administered the scales to 188 coaches and 32 executives, and evaluated the scales for their structure, reliability and validity. In the resulting factor structure, four of the dimensions were found as proposed, but challenge split into three factors and tactical support into two factors, resulting in nine dimensions of coaching activities, with reliabilities ranging from .75 to .91, averaging .84. Finally, some analyses of convergent, divergent and criterion-related validity of the dimensions were conducted, resulting in some preliminary indications of the construct validity of three of the scales, and providing information of where future validation work should be done. Interestingly, levels of engagement in seven of the dimensions varied meaningfully and predictably amongst coaches according to their education and training, which could have widespread implications for coaching selection and training. The resulting dimensions and measures open the door to further study of coaching, advancing both research and practice.
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    Managers, Mentoring, and Moving Up: The Role of Mentoring in Women's Career Advancement in the Chemical Industry
    (2008-05-13) Paquin, Jill Denise; Fassinger, Ruth E; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The underrepresentation of women in White male-dominated science and technology fields (STEM) has been documented, with special attention on the lack of women's advancement within these fields, including industry (NSF, 2004; Fassinger, 2001; Fassinger, 2002). Mentoring has been shown to be a key variable in the career advancement of both men and women. Lack of mentoring for women also has been demonstrated as a barrier to career advancement (Fassinger & Hensler-McGinnis, 2005). The chemical industry is the largest employer of U.S. scientists and therefore represents an important testing ground for identifying barriers and facilitative factors, such as access to mentoring, that could impact women's career success in this arena (NSB, 2000). Managers represent an untapped mentoring resource for women trained in science and engineering working in industrial chemistry. This study sought to better understand how managers think about mentoring and women's advancement within their field. Specifically, results suggest that managers' experiences with mentoring may have some influence on their perceptions of mentoring more generally, and that their perceptions of gender may be linked to their beliefs about mentoring for women in the workplace.
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    Development and Validation of the Toxic Leadership Scale
    (2008-06-11) Schmidt, Andrew A.; Hanges, Paul J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    While many publications focus on traits and behaviors that make leaders effective, some leaders engage in dysfunctional and destructive behaviors. These "toxic leadership" styles have been largely unexplored. The goals of this study were to empirically derive the dimensions of toxic leadership, to create a reliable and valid survey that measures the construct, to explore convergent and discriminant construct validity, and to perform a preliminary examination of subordinate outcomes that may result from working under a toxic leader. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies across military and civilian sectors, this study suggests that toxic leadership is composed of the following five dimensions: abusive supervision, authoritarian leadership, narcissism, self-promotion, and unpredictability. Toxic leadership is differentiable from other leadership constructs (e.g., transformational, LMX) and its dimensions significantly predict employee outcomes such as turnover intentions, job satisfaction, and satisfaction with the supervisor. Implications for future research are discussed.
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    Virtual Team Member Performance and Viability: The Influence of Individual Characteristics
    (2008-04-23) Hill, Nora Sharon; Bartol, Kathryn M; Business and Management: Management & Organization; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The use of virtual teams is increasing in organizations. Virtual teamwork occurs when team members collaborate using technology-mediated communication rather than face-to-face. Research has shown that virtual teamwork can be challenging. However, currently there is little research to help organizations identify team members who are most likely to be effective in a virtual teamwork environment. Given this, the purpose of my dissertation research was to identify individual characteristics that influence a virtual team member's contribution to team performance and team membership viability. This dissertation developed and tested a theoretical model that integrates literature identifying individual team member characteristics that are directly germane to effective functioning in a team operating virtually. These characteristics include virtual teamwork knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs); self-regulatory team orientation; and preference for face-to-face communication with team members. These individual characteristics were hypothesized to influence team member contribution to team performance and membership viability through the intervening variables of virtual teamwork behaviors and attitude toward virtual teamwork with the team. In addition, team technology support and empowering team leadership were two contextual factors predicted to moderate the hypothesized relationships between team member characteristics and virtual teamwork behaviors. The hypotheses were tested using data from 193 team members in 29 virtual teams in the procurement department of one large multinational company. The data were collected from team members and team leaders using online surveys, and hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the data. Results showed that both virtual teamwork KSAs and self-regulatory team orientation, although not directly associated with virtual teamwork behaviors, interacted with empowering team leadership to influence virtual teamwork behaviors. Self-regulatory team orientation and preference for face-to-face communication were both found to be positively associated with attitude toward virtual teamwork. Results further showed that virtual teamwork behaviors and attitude toward virtual teamwork were both positively associated with contribution to team performance and membership viability. Finally, no support was found for the hypothesized moderating influence of team technology support on the relationship between team member characteristics and virtual teamwork behaviors.
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    When Apologies Work: The Benefits of Matching Apology Content to Victims and Context
    (2007-11-30) Fehr, Ryan; Gelfand, Michele; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Research shows that apologies are useful social tools. Yet common sense tells us that apologies often differ in terms of what is said, who they are said to, and the circumstances under which they are said. In each of these cases, an apology's impact can be expected to change. Data from 171 students participating in a policy capturing experiment were used to explore the interacting effects of apology content, victim self-construal, and harm severity on forgiveness. Results suggest that each apology component positively and independently influences forgiveness. Furthermore, victim self-construal moderates apology effectiveness. Specifically, the independent self strengthens the impact of compensation, the relational self strengthens the impact of concern and acknowledgement of a violated rule/norm, and the collective self strengthens the impact of acknowledgement of a violated rule/norm. Lastly, harm severity is found to strengthen the relationship between apology length and forgiveness. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
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    The Effect of Instructional Consultation Teams on Teachers' Reported Instructional Practices
    (2007-11-26) Kaiser, Lauren Tracy; Rosenfield, Sylvia A; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    A primary goal of Instructional Consultation Teams (IC Teams; Rosenfield & Gravois, 1996) is that students' problems will be prevented or resolved through the provision of services to the adults who serve them. The assumption is that teachers will improve instructional planning, delivery, management, and assessment (e.g., matching instruction to student levels) as a result of working with a colleague through a collaborative problem-solving relationship, or working in a school building in which norms of collaboration and problem-solving with a focus on instruction have been developed. The efficacy of IC Teams for improving instruction has not yet been rigorously evaluated. The current study assesses teachers' self-reported frequency of use of good instructional practices in assessment and delivery of instruction to evaluate the effect of instructional consultation services on instruction in a sample of 977 teachers. Because teachers are nested within schools, multilevel analysis was conducted to control for nonequivalence and to correctly model the error structure of the data. Elementary school teachers in 11 schools that have implemented IC Teams for two or three years were compared with teachers in 17 non-equivalent schools that have never implemented IC Teams and teachers from 17 schools with one year of implementation. Results of multilevel analyses indicate that there are no significant differences in instructional practices between schools with or without IC Teams, but that teacher characteristics, such as years of experience and grade level of instruction, do explain some of the variance in teacher practices. Implications and limitations of the study are addressed.
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    Locked Up: Exploring the Complex Nature of Conflicting Values Systems and Their Effects on Work Attitudes
    (2007-08-06) DeCelles, Katherine A.; Tesluk, Paul; Business and Management: Management & Organization; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Values are individuals' enduring perspectives on what is fundamentally right or wrong (Rokeach, 1973). These perspectives affect how people interpret their surroundings and interactions with others; individuals act in accordance with, and judge others' behavior by, what they believe is right (Bandura, 1991). Values have been studied extensively in the organizational literature, focusing on how individuals' values (such as honesty or achievement) affect their job attitudes (such as organizational commitment and job satisfaction; Ravlin & Meglino, 1987). While values and their effects on employees have been widely studied (Braithwaite, 1994; Cable & Edwards, 2004; Judge & Bretz, 1992; Rokeach, 1973; Ravlin & Meglino, 1987; Schwartz, 1992, 1994; Tsui & O'Reilly, 1989), they are often categorized into competing or conflicting frameworks (e.g., Cameron & Quinn, 1999; Schwartz, 1994). However, emerging evidence suggests that some competing values might actually be held simultaneously by individuals (Braithwaite, 1994; El-Sawad, Arnold, & Cohen, 2004; Kerlinger, 1983; Tetlock, 1986). If this paradoxical scenario is true, these values may actually interact, rather than displace one another. While cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) and balance theory (Heider, 1946) --- central in psychology and organizational literature --- predict that individuals cannot hold conflicting values simultaneously without suffering from negative consequences like stress, I argue otherwise. This dissertation examines the extent to which individuals can hold conflicting values simultaneously rather than dichotomously, explores the mechanisms through which they do so, and also examines the effects of such value composition on employee attitudes. This is accomplished through two studies: first, a survey-based examination, and second, an in-depth inductive study. Both of these studies investigate these questions about conflicting values in a sample of correctional officers, and their values towards crime (punitive and rehabilitative ideals). Results indicate support that conflicting values can be simultaneously held by individuals, and that they interact to produce positive, rather than negative, job attitudes. More specifically, I find that correctional officers who hold both of these values have higher levels of perceived fit with their organization, higher levels of organizational commitment, and lower levels of burnout than officers of other value combinations. Inductive results of the qualitative portion also add explanatory value to the question of why and how this can happen; qualitative results show that correctional officers often draw from both value-perspectives in order to complete their difficult job duties in effective and balanced ways.