Publications by year
In Press
Brückner J, Bosak J, Lang J (In Press). Connect vs. conquer? CEO gender and implicit motives. Journal of Managerial Psychology
Brückner J, Bosak J, Lang J (In Press). Connect vs. conquer? CEO gender and implicit motives.
Journal of Managerial Psychology DOI.
Inceoglu I, Arnold KA, Leroy H, Lang J, Stephan U (In Press). FROM MICROSCOPIC TO MACROSCOPIC PERSPECTIVES AND BACK THE STUDY OF LEADERSHIP AND HEALTH/WELL-BEING. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
de Voogt A, Santiago B, Kalagher H, Lang J (In Press). Go-around accidents and General Aviation safety.
Journal of Safety ResearchAbstract:
Go-around accidents and General Aviation safety
Introduction: Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents and the proportion of certain causes of accidents over time.
Methods: Two sets of accidents from 2000 to 2004 and from 2013 to 2017 were extracted from the National Transportation Safety Board online database.
Results: Although the total number of GA accidents per landing significantly decreased over time, the proportion of fatal accidents in the go-around phase increased. Fatalities most often occurred in instrument meteorological conditions.
Conclusion: Advances in technology and training show improvements in GA accident rates but not for accidents in the go-around phase. Scenario-based learning is recommended to include specific instruction concerning the timing of go-around procedures in unstable flights.
Abstract.
Sparfeldt JR, Becker N, Greiff S, Kersting M, König CJ, Lang J, Beauducel A (In Press). Intelligenz(tests) verstehen und missverstehen.
Psychologische Rundschau DOI.
Schild C, Botzet LJ, Planert L, Ścigała KA, Zettler I, Lang J (In Press). Linking Personality Traits to Objective Foul Records in (Semi-)Professional Youth Basketball. Journal of Research in Personality
Eby L, Shockley K, Tayla B, Bryan E, Astrid Homan, Russell J, Lang JWB, Morris S, Oswald F (In Press). Methodological Checklists for Improving Research Quality and Reporting Consistency. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: perspectives on science and practice
Lang J, Sander VH, Runge JM (In Press). Methodological and Conceptual Issues in Studying Effort-Reward Fit.
Journal of Managerial Psychology DOI.
Runge JM, Lang JWB, Zettler I, Lievens F (In Press). Predicting Counterproductive Work Behavior: Do Implicit Motives Have Incremental Validity Beyond Explicit Traits?. Journal of Research in Personality
Runge JM, Lang JWB, Zettler I, Lievens F (In Press). Predicting Counterproductive Work Behavior: Do Implicit Motives Have Incremental Validity Beyond Explicit Traits?. Journal of Research in Personality
Gucciardi DF, Lang J, Lines RLJ, Chapman MT, Ducker KJ, Peeling P, Crane M, Ntoumanis N, Parker SK, Thøgersen-Ntoumani C, et al (In Press). The Emergence of Resilience: Recovery Trajectories in Sleep Functioning After a Major Stressor. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology
Lang J, Tay L (In Press). The Science and Practice of Item Response Theory in Organizations. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior
Lang J, Tay L (In Press). The Science and Practice of Item Response Theory in Organizations. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior
Tiffin PA, Paton LW, O'Mara D, MacCann C, Lang J, Lievens F (In Press). The cross-cutting edge: situational judgments tests for selection: traditional versus construct-driven approaches. Medical Education
Tackett JL, Reardon KW, Fast NJ, Sonia K. K, Lang J, Frederick L. O (In Press). Understanding the Leaders of Tomorrow: the Need to Study Leadership in Adolescence. Perspectives on Psychological Science
Lang J, Runge M, De Fruyt F (In Press). What are Agile, Flexible, or Adaptable Employees and Students? a Typology of Dynamic Individual Differences in Applied Settings. European Journal of Personality
Van Iddekinge CH, Arnold JD, Aguinis H, Lang J, Lievens F (In Press). Work Effort: a Conceptual and Meta-Analytic Review.
Journal of Management DOI.
Reindl G, Lang J, Runge JM (In Press). Work Event Experiences: Implications of an Expanded Taxonomy for Understanding Daily Well-Being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
2022
Greenwald AG, Brendl M, Cai H, Cvencek D, Dovidio JF, Friese M, Hahn A, Hehman E, Hofmann W, Hughes S, et al (2022). Best research practices for using the Implicit Association Test.
Behav Res Methods,
54(3), 1161-1180.
Abstract:
Best research practices for using the Implicit Association Test.
Interest in unintended discrimination that can result from implicit attitudes and stereotypes (implicit biases) has stimulated many research investigations. Much of this research has used the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure association strengths that are presumed to underlie implicit biases. It had been more than a decade since the last published treatment of recommended best practices for research using IAT measures. After an initial draft by the first author, and continuing through three subsequent drafts, the 22 authors and 14 commenters contributed extensively to refining the selection and description of recommendation-worthy research practices. Individual judgments of agreement or disagreement were provided by 29 of the 36 authors and commenters. of the 21 recommended practices for conducting research with IAT measures presented in this article, all but two were endorsed by 90% or more of those who felt knowledgeable enough to express agreement or disagreement; only 4% of the totality of judgments expressed disagreement. For two practices that were retained despite more than two judgments of disagreement (four for one, five for the other), the bases for those disagreements are described in presenting the recommendations. The article additionally provides recommendations for how to report procedures of IAT measures in empirical articles.
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DOI.
Riddell H, Crane M, Lang JWB, Chapman MT, Murdoch EM, Gucciardi DF (2022). Stressor reflections, sleep, and psychological well-being: a pre-registered experimental test of self-distanced versus self-immersed reflections.
Stress HealthAbstract:
Stressor reflections, sleep, and psychological well-being: a pre-registered experimental test of self-distanced versus self-immersed reflections.
Evidence supports the effectiveness of cuing people to analyse negative autobiographical experiences from self-distanced rather than self-immersed perspectives. However, the evidence on which this expectation resides is limited largely to static snapshots of mean levels of cognitive and emotional factors. Via a pre-registered, randomised controlled trial (N = 257), we examined the differential effectiveness of self-distanced relative to self-immersed reflections on mean levels and within-person variability of sleep duration and quality as well as psychological well-being over a 5-day working week. Except for sleep quality, we found that reflecting from a psychologically distanced perspective, overall, was no more effective for mean levels and within-person variability of sleep duration, well-being, and stress-related factors than when the current self is fully immersed in the experiential reality of the event. We consider several substantive and methodological considerations (e.g. dosage, salience of stressor event) that require interrogation in future research via experimental and longitudinal observational methods.
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2020
Lang JWB, Goh Z (2020). BUILDING AN ORGANIZATIONAL SCIENCE OF BEHAVIORAL CONSISTENCY: COMMENT ON KATZ-NAVON, KARK, AND DELEGACH (2020).
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT DISCOVERIES,
6(1), 149-152.
Author URL.
DOI.
Niessen C, Lang J (2020). Cognitive control strategies and adaptive performance in a complex work task.
Journal of Applied Psychology,
NA, NA-NA.
DOI.
den Hartog SC, Runge JM, Reindl G, Lang JWB (2020). Linking Personality Trait Variance in Self-Managed Teams to Team Innovation.
SMALL GROUP RESEARCH,
51(2), 265-295.
Author URL.
DOI.
Tiffin PA, Paton LW, O'Mara D, MacCann C, Lang JWB, Lievens F (2020). Situational judgement tests for selection: Traditional vs construct-driven approaches.
Med Educ,
54(2), 105-115.
Abstract:
Situational judgement tests for selection: Traditional vs construct-driven approaches.
CONTEXT: Historically, situational judgement tests (SJTs) have been widely used for personnel selection. Their use in medical selection in Europe is growing, with plans for further expansion into North America and Australasia, in an attempt to measure and select on 'non-academic' personal attributes. However, there is a lack of clarity regarding what such tests actually measure and how they should be designed, scored and implemented within the medical and health education selection process. In particular, the theoretical basis from which such tests are developed will determine the scoring options available, influencing their psychometric properties and, ultimately, their validity. METHODS: the aim of this article is to create an awareness of the previous theory and practice that has informed SJT development. We describe the emerging interest in the use of the SJT format to measure specific constructs (eg 'resilience', 'dependability', etc.), drawing on the tradition of 'individual differences' psychology. We compare and contrast this newer 'construct-driven' method with the traditional, pragmatic approach to SJT creation, often employed by organisational psychologists. Making reference to measurement theory, we highlight how the anticipated psychometric properties of traditional vs construct-driven SJTs are likely to differ. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to traditional SJTs, construct-driven SJTs have a strong theoretical basis, are uni- rather than multidimensional, and may behave more like personality self-report instruments. Emerging evidence also suggests that construct-driven SJTs have comparable predictive validity for workplace performance, although they may be more prone to 'faking' effects. It is possible that construct-driven approaches prove more appropriate at early stages of medical selection, where candidates have little or no health care work experience. Conversely, traditional SJTs may be more suitable for specialty recruitment, where a range of hypothetical workplace scenarios can be sampled in assessments.
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Niessen C, Göbel K, Lang JWB, Schmid U (2020). Stop Thinking: an Experience Sampling Study on Suppressing Distractive Thoughts at Work.
Frontiers in Psychology,
11 DOI.
Lang JWB (2020). Timely and to the Point Expectations for Articles and Reviews at the Journal of Personnel Psychology.
JOURNAL OF PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY,
19(1), 1-3.
Author URL.
DOI.
2019
Tackett JL, Lang JWB, Markon KE, Herzhoff K (2019). A Correlated Traits, Correlated Methods Model for Thin-Slice Child Personality Assessment.
Psychological Assessment,
31(4), 545-556.
Abstract:
A Correlated Traits, Correlated Methods Model for Thin-Slice Child Personality Assessment
Recent research has illustrated the utility and accuracy of a thin-slice (TS) approach to child personality assessment, whereby unacquainted observers provide personality ratings of children after exposure to brief behavioral episodes. The current study sought to expand on this approach by exploring formal multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) models for child TS data comprising ratings from a comprehensive set of TS situations. Results using data from a sample of 326 community children 9-10 years of age indicated that a correlated traits, correlated methods (CTCM) model can be used to represent individual differences in children's behavior as manifest across different situations. Indicator variables derived from a CTCM differentially correlated with traditional parental ratings of behavior, moreover, and provide predictive and incremental validity regarding child competencies and behavior. Results illustrate the utility of a TS approach in the assessment of childhood personality and inform understanding of issues encountered in applying different MTMM models to these types of empirical data.
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DOI.
Lang JWB, Lievens F, De Fruyt F, Zettler I, Tackett JL (2019). Assessing Meaningful Within-Person Variability in Likert-Scale Rated Personality Descriptions: an IRT Tree Approach.
Psychological Assessment,
31(4), 474-487.
Abstract:
Assessing Meaningful Within-Person Variability in Likert-Scale Rated Personality Descriptions: an IRT Tree Approach
Personality researchers and clinical psychologists have long been interested in within-person variability in a given personality trait. Two critical methodological challenges that stymie current research on within-person variability are separating meaningful within-person variability from (a) true differences in trait level; and (b) careless responding (or person unreliability). To partly avoid these issues, personality researchers commonly only study within-person variability in personality states over time using the standard deviation (SD) across repeated measurements of the same items (typically across days)-a relatively resource-intensive approach. In this article, we detail an approach that allows researchers to measure another type of within-person variability. The described approach utilizes item-response theory (IRT) on the basis of Böckenholt's (2012) three-process model, and extracts a meaningful variability score from Likert-ratings of personality descriptions that is distinct from directional (trait) responding. Two studies (N = 577; N = 120-235) suggest that IRT variability generalizes across traits, has high split-half reliability, is not highly correlated with established indices of IRT person unreliability for directional trait responding, and correlates with within-person SDs from personality inventories and within-person SDs in a diary study with repeated measurements across days 20 months later. The implications and usefulness of IRT variability from personality descriptions as a conceptually clarified, efficient, and feasible assessment of within-person variability in personality ratings are discussed.
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DOI.
Runge JM, Lang JWB (2019). Can people recognize their implicit thoughts? the motive self-categorization test.
Psychological Assessment,
31(7), 939-951.
Abstract:
Can people recognize their implicit thoughts? the motive self-categorization test
Psychologists have long been interested in studying individual differences in implicit motives. Implicit motives are typically measured asking respondents to write fantasy-stories based on a series of pictures showing one or several persons. The stories are then coded for implicit motivational content by trained experts because researchers have long assumed that respondents have no conscious access to the motivational themes in the stories they write. However, empirical research on self-evaluation of implicit motives is scarce. In this article, we provide new insights into this topic with a new measurement procedure-the motive self-categorization (MSC) test. In the MSC, respondents first fill out an implicit motive measure and then self-code their stories using lists of picture-specific statements that are typical concrete manifestations of implicit motives in the specific picture. We studied the MSC in a sample of 247 respondents by analyzing convergence with expert codings using a latent multitrait-multimethod item response theory (IRT) model. Results showed respondents could evaluate the motivational content of their stories (latent motive-motive rs =. 37-.62), IRT latent motive scores based on self-categorization showed evidence of reliability (rs =. 42-.67), and we found small method effects. The discussion focuses on implications for theory on measuring implicit motives and the possibility that self-insight occasionally goes beyond expert insight.
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Beier ME, Kell HJ, Lang JWB (2019). Commenting on the “great debate”: General abilities, specific abilities, and the tools of the trade.
Journal of Intelligence,
7(1).
Abstract:
Commenting on the “great debate”: General abilities, specific abilities, and the tools of the trade
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.
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de Voogt A, Maillot M, Lang JWB, Eerkens JW (2019). Cultural transmission of architectural traits: from the Near East to the Meroitic kingdom.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports,
26Abstract:
Cultural transmission of architectural traits: from the Near East to the Meroitic kingdom
Architecture is a complex cultural trait that lends itself to the analytical methods developed for cultural transmission theory. We analyze a dataset of palace structures that gives insight into horizontal transmission processes between Sudan, Egypt, and the Near East during the Meroitic and Greco-Roman time periods. High similarity between buildings in the same region suggests that building activities required social coordination between builders, as predicted by cultural transmission theory. Similarity in the expression of coating layers and coating thickness both within and across regions also confirms that the iconicity of palaces correlates with the dominance of prestige bias during transmission. Finally, similarity in bricks, mortar, and coating ingredients between buildings in the same region, but significant variation across regions, confirms the prediction that building materials are locally sourced. Results establish a baseline of horizontal transmission for architecture more generally, contrasting traits associated with the outer appearance of buildings, versus those less visible and related to construction design. Additional studies of different regions or with a diachronic perspective may show if hypotheses about the cultural transmission of architecture can be generalized across time and space.
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DOI.
Lang JWB, Bliese PD, Runge JM (2019). Detecting Consensus Emergence in Organizational Multilevel Data: Power Simulations.
Organizational Research Methods,
24(2), 319-341.
Abstract:
Detecting Consensus Emergence in Organizational Multilevel Data: Power Simulations
Theories suggest that groups within organizations often develop shared values, beliefs, affect, behaviors, or agreed-on routines; however, researchers rarely study predictors of consensus emergence over time. Recently, a multilevel-methods approach for detecting and studying emergence in organizational field data has been described. This approach—the consensus emergence model—builds on an extended three-level multilevel model. Researchers planning future studies based on the consensus emergence model need to consider (a) sample size characteristics required to detect emergence effects with satisfactory statistical power and (b) how the distribution of the overall sample size across the levels of the multilevel model influences power. We systematically address both issues by conducting a power simulation for detecting main and moderating effects involving consensus emergence under a variety of typical research scenarios and provide an R-based tool that readers can use to estimate power. Our discussion focuses on the future use and development of multilevel methods for studying emergence in organizational research.
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DOI.
Lang JWB, Kell HJ (2019). General Mental Ability and Specific Abilities: Their Relative Importance for Extrinsic Career Success.
Journal of Applied Psychology DOI.
Runge JM, Lang JWB, Chasiotis A, Hofer J (2019). Improving the Assessment of Implicit Motives Using IRT: Cultural Differences and Differential Item Functioning.
Journal of Personality Assessment,
101(4), 414-424.
Abstract:
Improving the Assessment of Implicit Motives Using IRT: Cultural Differences and Differential Item Functioning
Researchers have long been interested in studying differences in implicit motive between different groups. Implicit motives are typically measured by scoring text that respondents have written in response to picture cues. Recently, research on the measurement of implicit motives has made progress through the application of a dynamic Thurstonian item-response theory model (DTM; Lang, 2014) that captures 2 basic motivational processes in motivational research: motive competition and dynamic reduction of motive strength after a motive has been acted out. In this article, the authors use the DTM to investigate differential item functioning (DIF) in implicit motive measures. The article first discusses DIF in the context of the DTM. The authors then conduct a DIF analysis of data from a study that used a picture set of the Operant Motive Test (OMT; Kuhl & Scheffer, 2002) with participants from Cameroon, Germany, and Costa Rica. Results showed no evidence of DIF in 9 pictures and some evidence for DIF in 3 pictures. The authors show a partial invariance model can be specified and use this partial invariance model to study latent mean differences between Cameroon, Germany, and Costa Rica. The discussion focuses on the use of IRT DIF methods in future research on implicit motives.
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DOI.
Sijbom RBL, Lang JWB, Anseel F (2019). Leaders’ achievement goals predict employee burnout above and beyond employees’ own achievement goals.
Journal of Personality,
87(3), 702-714.
Abstract:
Leaders’ achievement goals predict employee burnout above and beyond employees’ own achievement goals
Objective: Burnout has primarily been examined from an individual's perspective without taking the broader environmental context into account. The authors applied an integrative, multilevel perspective and investigated the influence of leaders’ motivational strivings on employee burnout. In two multisource studies, we investigated relationships between leaders’ achievement goals and employee burnout while controlling for employees’ own achievement goals. Method: Study 1 consisted of 362 members and 72 leaders of the corresponding working groups. Study 2 consisted of 177 employees and 46 leaders of the corresponding working groups, and measurements were spaced apart in time. We also ran a model including the data of both Study 1 and Study 2. Results: Multilevel analyses indicated that leaders’ mastery-approach goals were negatively related to employee burnout above and beyond employees’ own achievement goals. Leaders’ performance-approach goals were positively related to employee burnout in Study 1 and in the overall analysis combining Study 1 and Study 2. Conclusions: We advance our understanding of the motivational etiology of burnout by examining the top-down effects of leaders’ achievement goals on employee burnout over and above employees’ own achievement goals. In order to reduce burnout, organizations should take leaders’ achievement goals into account as an important contextual factor.
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Lang JWB, Bliese PD, Adler AB (2019). Opening the Black Box: a Multilevel Framework for Studying Group Processes.
ADVANCES IN METHODS AND PRACTICES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE,
2(3), 271-287.
Author URL.
DOI.
Apers C, Lang JWB, Derous E (2019). Who earns more? Explicit traits, implicit motives and income growth trajectories.
Journal of Vocational Behavior,
110, 214-228.
Abstract:
Who earns more? Explicit traits, implicit motives and income growth trajectories
Building on career self-management perspectives, this study extends the literature on the link between personality and income as an indicator of objective career success by tracking income over time and by studying not only explicit but also implicit personality constructs, separately and integrated. Hypotheses on effects of explicit (Big Five traits) and implicit (Big Three motives of affiliation, power, and achievement) personality on income and income growth trajectories were tested using a growth model that tracked income over a 4-year time span (N = 311 participants; k = 1244 observations). Results revealed that income had a positive linear growth trajectory over time and employees with higher scores on emotional stability and intellect had higher levels of income at the starting point of the study. Emotional stability and conscientiousness additionally predicted the slope of the trajectory over the 4-year period. Lower implicit affiliation was associated with more income growth over time and implicit personality predicted income growth beyond a model only consisting of explicit personality. Results of this study broaden our understanding of predictors of income growth and present a comprehensive overview of (explicit/implicit) personality-income relations over time. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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2018
Lang JWB, Bliese PD, de Voogt A (2018). Modeling consensus emergence in groups using longitudinal multilevel methods.
Personnel Psychology,
71(2), 255-281.
Abstract:
Modeling consensus emergence in groups using longitudinal multilevel methods
Organizational researchers have long been interested in studying bottom-up multilevel processes where lower level units (e.g. employees) in organizations interact to jointly create characteristics of higher level units (e.g. work groups). This article contributes to the literature on bottom-up processes by detailing a statistical approach—the consensus emergence model (CEM)—that allows researchers to study emergence of shared perceptions and feelings or climates in groups over time. The described methodological approach extends standard multilevel methodology by examining residual variances within a growth model to account for dynamic change in group consensus. The CEM provides a formal test for consensus emergence. The approach also allows researchers to test explanatory models of consensus emergence by including person-level, group-level, and observation-level predictors. We illustrate the CEM by applying the method to data from two longitudinal studies of work units. The first study investigated job satisfaction in military companies. Our second study examined professional archeologists working in groups on a field excavation mission and focused on fatigue at the end of the work day. Our analyses demonstrate the CEM's ability to detect and study emergence, and suggest that the CEM may be a valuable tool to help extend the study of emergence in organizational research.
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Lang JWB, Mussel P, Runge JM (2018). TBS-TK Rezension: Inventar zur Erfassung von Arbeitsmotiven (IEA).
Zeitschrift fur Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie,
62(3), 161-163.
DOI.
Kell HJ, Lang JWB (2018). The Great Debate: General Ability and Specific Abilities in the Prediction of Important Outcomes.
J Intell,
6(3).
Abstract:
The Great Debate: General Ability and Specific Abilities in the Prediction of Important Outcomes.
The relative value of specific versus general cognitive abilities for the prediction of practical outcomes has been debated since the inception of modern intelligence theorizing and testing. This editorial introduces a special issue dedicated to exploring this ongoing "great debate". It provides an overview of the debate, explains the motivation for the special issue and two types of submissions solicited, and briefly illustrates how differing conceptualizations of cognitive abilities demand different analytic strategies for predicting criteria, and that these different strategies can yield conflicting findings about the real-world importance of general versus specific abilities.
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Lievens F, Lang JWB, De Fruyt F, Corstjens J, Van de Vijver M, Bledow R (2018). The predictive power of people's intraindividual variability across situations: Implementing whole trait theory in assessment.
Journal of Applied Psychology,
103(7), 753-771.
Abstract:
The predictive power of people's intraindividual variability across situations: Implementing whole trait theory in assessment
In the last decade, there has been increased recognition that traits refer not only to between-person differences but also to meaningful within-person variability across situations (i.e. whole trait theory). So far, this broader more contemporary trait conceptualization has made few inroads into assessment practices. Therefore, this study focuses on the assessment and predictive power of people's intraindividual variability across situations. In three studies (either in student or employee samples), both test-takers' mean trait scores and the variability of their responses across multiple written job-related situations of a situational judgment test (SJT) were assessed. Results revealed that people's intraindividual variability (a) was related to their self-rated functional flexibility, (b) predicted performance above their mean scores, and (c) predicted their actual personality state variability over 10 days. These results open opportunities for complementing traditional selection procedures with more dynamic indices in assessment.
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2017
Paul A, Lang JWB, Baumgartner RJ (2017). A multilevel approach for assessing business strategies on climate change.
Journal of Cleaner Production,
160, 50-70.
Abstract:
A multilevel approach for assessing business strategies on climate change
The need for an interdisciplinary and integrative approach for doing research on business strategies and climate change is gaining increasing recognition. However, there is a consensus that such cross-fertilization is currently missing. Multilevel research methods by virtue of being interdisciplinary in nature may address this need. This paper proposes to advance the adoption of multilevel research approach in the context of business strategies and climate change. As a guide for conducting multilevel assessment, a flexible analytical framework is presented. The framework is developed through a process of structured literature review. The framework consists of thirteen contextual factors spread across five levels and identifies the key multilevel relationships that moderate organisational level climate change related strategy formulation. Level specificities of several theories across these five levels are also identified to facilitate application of the framework in building multilevel hypotheses for business strategies on climate change. In addition, a concise summary of the fundamental concepts of multilevel modelling techniques is provided to help researchers in selecting suitable multilevel models during the operationalization of the framework. The operationalization of the framework is demonstrated by building and testing a three level hypotheses on corporate lobbying activities on climate change issues. It is observed that irrespective of their locations, financially underperforming companies with a larger workforce and belonging to sectors with higher Green House Gas emission intensities particularly lobby intensely on climate change issues. In conclusion, the potential challenges and opportunities in applying the framework for building multilevel theories in the context of business strategies and climate change are discussed.
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De Voogt A, Lang JWB (2017). Employee Work Ethic in Nine Nonindustrialized Contexts: Some Surprising Non-POSH Findings.
Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
10(3), 398-403.
DOI.
Kell HJ, Lang JWB (2017). Specific Abilities in the Workplace: More Important Than g?.
J Intell,
5(2).
Abstract:
Specific Abilities in the Workplace: More Important Than g?
A frequently reported finding is that general mental ability (GMA) is the best single psychological predictor of job performance. Furthermore, specific abilities often add little incremental validity beyond GMA, suggesting that they are not useful for predicting job performance criteria once general intelligence is accounted for. We review these findings and their historical background, along with different approaches to studying the relative influence of g and narrower abilities. Then, we discuss several recent studies that used relative importance analysis to study this relative influence and that found that specific abilities are equally good, and sometimes better, predictors of work performance than GMA. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings and sketching future areas for research.
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Lang JWB, Tackett JL, Zettler I (2017). Utilizing advanced psychometric methods in research on trait expression across situations.
European Journal of Personality,
31(5), 464-465.
Abstract:
Utilizing advanced psychometric methods in research on trait expression across situations
Lievens emphasized the extent to which new measurement tools and additional statistics can be used to advance research on trait expression across situations. We suggest that advanced psychometric models represent additional important and complementary building blocks for progress and new insights in research on trait expression across situations. Here, we offer two specific examples of this: (1) Item Response Theory modelling of within-person variability simultaneous with estimation of latent trait levels and (2) estimation of latent trait and latent situation factors from a multitrait-multimethod framework.
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2016
Schwager ITL, Hülsheger UR, Lang JWB (2016). Be aware to be on the square: Mindfulness and counterproductive academic behavior.
Personality and Individual Differences,
93, 74-79.
Abstract:
Be aware to be on the square: Mindfulness and counterproductive academic behavior
The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of dispositional mindfulness - the capacity to be nonjudgmentally aware of the present moment (Brown & Ryan, 2003) - in counterproductive academic behavior. Apart from investigating the direct relationship between mindfulness and counterproductive behavior, we tested the moderating role of established personality dimensions (conscientiousness and honesty-humility) in the relationship between mindfulness and counterproductive academic behavior. Two hundred eighty-one graduate students completed a trait mindfulness measure and a personality inventory based on the HEXACO model, followed by self-ratings of counterproductive academic behavior after a three-month time lag. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed thatmindfulness, conscientiousness, and honesty-humility were negatively related to counterproductive academic behavior. As hypothesized, conscientiousness and honesty-humility moderated the relationship betweenmindfulness and counterproductive behavior, such that the mindfulness-counterproductive behavior relationship was stronger for students low on conscientiousness and on honesty-humility. These findings add to previous findings on the positive effects of mindfulness for students by demonstrating that it also benefits professional academic behavior.
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Zettler I, Lang JWB, Hülsheger UR, Hilbig BE (2016). Dissociating Indifferent, Directional, and Extreme Responding in Personality Data: Applying the Three-Process Model to Self- and Observer Reports.
Journal of Personality,
84(4), 461-472.
Abstract:
Dissociating Indifferent, Directional, and Extreme Responding in Personality Data: Applying the Three-Process Model to Self- and Observer Reports
Research suggests that respondents vary in their tendency to use the response scale of typical (Likert-style) questionnaires. We study the nature of the response process by applying a recently introduced item response theory modeling procedure, the three-process model, to data of self- and observer reports of personality traits. The three-process model captures indifferent, directional, and extreme responding. Substantively, we hypothesize that, and test whether, trait Honesty-Humility is negatively linked to extreme responding. We applied the three-process model to personality data of 577 dyads (self- and observer reports of the HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised; Lee & Ashton,) of Dutch and German undergraduate respondents. First, we provide evidence that indifferent, directional, and extreme responding can be separated from each other in personality data through the use of the three-process model. Second, we show that the various response processes show a pattern of correlations across traits and rating sources which is in line with the idea that indifferent and extreme responding are person-specific tendencies, whereas directional responding is content-specific. Third, we report findings supporting the hypothesis that Honesty-Humility is negatively linked to extreme responding. In Likert-based personality data, applying the three-process model can unveil individual differences in the response process.
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Lang JWB, Kersting M, Beauducel A (2016). Hierarchies of factor solutions in the intelligence domain: Applying methodology from personality psychology to gain insights into the nature of intelligence.
Learning and Individual Differences,
47, 37-50.
Abstract:
Hierarchies of factor solutions in the intelligence domain: Applying methodology from personality psychology to gain insights into the nature of intelligence
Research on the structure of psychometric intelligence has used hierarchical models like the higher-order and the bi-factor model and has studied the hierarchical relationship between factors within these models. In contrast, research on the structure of personality has not only used hierarchical models but has also studied hierarchies of factor solutions. We clarify the theoretical and conceptual differences between hierarchical models and the solutions-hierarchy approach used in the field of personality research, and suggest that the solutions-hierarchy perspective can provide a novel perspective for intelligence research. We used the solutions-hierarchy approach to study four correlation matrices (N= 230 to 710; 38 to 63 tests), and a large dataset (N= 16,823; 44 tests). Results provided (a) insights into relationships between intelligence constructs across the hierarchy of factor solutions, and (b) evidence that intelligence has a 1-2-3-5 hierarchy of factor solutions with a g factor at the top, gc and gf factors at the second level, a speed-reasoning-knowledge taxonomy at the third level, and possibly a speed-reasoning-fluency-knowledge-memory/perception taxonomy at the fifth level.
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Bliese PD, Lang JWB (2016). Understanding Relative and Absolute Change in Discontinuous Growth Models: Coding Alternatives and Implications for Hypothesis Testing.
Organizational Research Methods,
19(4), 562-592.
Abstract:
Understanding Relative and Absolute Change in Discontinuous Growth Models: Coding Alternatives and Implications for Hypothesis Testing
Organizational researchers routinely have access to repeated measures from numerous time periods punctuated by one or more discontinuities. Discontinuities may be planned, such as when a researcher introduces an unexpected change in the context of a skill acquisition task. Alternatively, discontinuities may be unplanned, such as when a natural disaster or economic event occurs during an ongoing data collection. In this article, we build off the basic discontinuous growth model and illustrate how alternative specifications of time-related variables allow one to examine relative versus absolute change in transition and post-transition slopes. Our examples focus on interpreting time-varying covariates in a variety of situations (multiple discontinuities, linear and quadratic models, and models where discontinuities occur at different times). We show that the ability to test relative and absolute differences provides a high degree of precision in terms of specifying and testing hypotheses.
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2015
Zettler I, Lang JWB (2015). Employees' Political Skill and Job Performance: an Inverted U-Shaped Relation?.
Applied Psychology,
64(3), 541-577.
Abstract:
Employees' Political Skill and Job Performance: an Inverted U-Shaped Relation?
During the past decade, the construct of political skill has attracted a lot of attention. In particular, its relation to job performance has been examined. With regard to this link, it is typically proposed that political skill affects job performance in a positive linear manner. However, in this article it is suggested that intermediate levels of employees' political skill yield the highest job performance, implying that this association is in fact represented by an inverted U-shape. Findings from two field studies (N1 = 178, N2 = 115 employee-supervisor-colleague triads) that incorporated different sample characteristics (early career employees, established employees), job performance dimensions (overall, task, contextual, and adaptive performance), and rating sources (supervisors and colleagues) supported this idea. Across different analyses, employees with intermediate levels of political skill received higher job performance ratings compared to those with lower and higher levels, respectively. In addition, the nature of the relationships between employees and their raters was found to moderate this curvilinear effect. Specifically, besides the fact that employees who had close working relationships with their raters generally received higher job performance ratings, the decreases in the job performance ratings of employees high in political skill were less pronounced when they had close relationships.
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Schwager ITL, Hülsheger UR, Bridgeman B, Lang JWB (2015). Graduate Student Selection: Graduate record examination, socioeconomic status, and undergraduate grade point average as predictors of study success in a western European University.
International Journal of Selection and Assessment,
23(1), 71-79.
Abstract:
Graduate Student Selection: Graduate record examination, socioeconomic status, and undergraduate grade point average as predictors of study success in a western European University
Graduate students' mobility has increased within Europe. Yet, empirical evidence on the validity of standardized admission tests in Europe is still scarce. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the incremental validity of the GRE® revised general test above undergraduate grade point average (U-GPA) by focusing on a multinational sample of master students (N=282) enrolled at a Dutch university. Results indicated that the Analytical Writing part of the GRE predicts graduate grade point average above and beyond U-GPA. Furthermore, the results suggest that the relationship is independent of students' socioeconomic status as indexed by parental education. Implications for graduate student selection in a European context are discussed.
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Hülsheger UR, Lang JWB, Schewe AF, Zijlstra FRH (2015). When regulating emotions at work pays off: a diary and an intervention study on emotion regulation and customer tips in service jobs.
Journal of Applied Psychology,
100(2), 263-277.
Abstract:
When regulating emotions at work pays off: a diary and an intervention study on emotion regulation and customer tips in service jobs
We investigated the relationship between deep acting, automatic regulation and customer tips with 2 different study designs. The first study was a daily diary study using a sample of Dutch waiters and taxi-drivers and assessed the link of employees' daily self-reported levels of deep acting and automatic regulation with the amount of tips provided by customers (N = 166 measurement occasions nested in 34 persons). Whereas deep acting refers to deliberate attempts to modify felt emotions and involves conscious effort, automatic regulation refers to automated emotion regulatory processes that result in the natural experience of desired emotions and do not involve deliberate control and effort. Multilevel analyses revealed that both types of emotion regulation were positively associated with customer tips. The second study was an experimental field study using a sample of German hairdressers (N = 41). Emotion regulation in terms of both deep acting and automatic regulation was manipulated using a brief self-training intervention and daily instructions to use cognitive change and attentional deployment. Results revealed that participants in the intervention group received significantly more tips than participants in the control group.
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2014
Lang JWB (2014). A Dynamic Thurstonian item response theory of motive expression in the picture story exercise: Solving the internal consistency paradox of the PSE.
Psychological Review,
121(3), 481-500.
Abstract:
A Dynamic Thurstonian item response theory of motive expression in the picture story exercise: Solving the internal consistency paradox of the PSE
The measurement of implicit or unconscious motives using the picture story exercise (PSE) has long been a target of debate in the psychological literature. Most debates have centered on the apparent paradox that PSE measures of implicit motives typically show low internal consistency reliability on common indices like Cronbach's alpha but nevertheless predict behavioral outcomes. I describe a dynamic Thurstonian item response theory (IRT) model that builds on dynamic system theories of motivation, theorizing on the PSE response process, and recent advancements in Thurstonian IRT modeling of choice data. To assess the models' capability to explain the internal consistency paradox, I first fitted the model to archival data (Gurin, Veroff, & Feld, 1957) and then simulated data based on bias-corrected model estimates from the real data. Simulation results revealed that the average squared correlation reliability for the motives in the Thurstonian IRT model was. 74 and that Cronbach's alpha values were similar to the real data (
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Schwager ITL, Hülsheger UR, Lang JWB, Klieger DM, Bridgeman B, Wendler C (2014). Supervisor ratings of students' academic potential as predictors of citizenship and counterproductive behavior.
Learning and Individual Differences,
35, 62-69.
Abstract:
Supervisor ratings of students' academic potential as predictors of citizenship and counterproductive behavior
The educational psychology literature has recently discussed the implications of university citizenship behavior - activities that go beyond the primary student role - and counterproductive academic behavior - behaviors that run counter to academic values and objectives. This study investigated whether supervisor ratings of students' academic potential can serve as a valuable predictor of those criteria. The sample included 115 international students enrolled in a master's degree program at a university in the Netherlands. Results revealed that supervisor ratings of students' academic potential provided incremental validity above and beyond undergraduate grade point average (U-GPA) in predicting self-ratings of university citizenship and counterproductive academic behavior. The usefulness of supervisor ratings as supplement to traditional predictors of study success, and implications for student selection are discussed. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.
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Anseel F, Carette B, Lang JWB, Lievens F (2014). The Move to Business Schools: How is Industrial-Organizational Psychology Holding up in Europe?.
Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
7(3), 365-370.
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Hülsheger UR, Lang JWB, Depenbrock F, Fehrmann C, Zijlstra FRH, Alberts HJEM (2014). The power of presence: the role of mindfulness at work for daily levels and change trajectories of psychological detachment and sleep quality.
Journal of Applied Psychology,
99(6), 1113-1128.
Abstract:
The power of presence: the role of mindfulness at work for daily levels and change trajectories of psychological detachment and sleep quality
In this research, we examined the role of mindfulness for recovery from work using a daily diary design (N = 121; 5 days; 3 measurement occasions per day). The first goal of the study was to investigate the relationship of mindfulness with sleep quality and the mediating role of psychological detachment from a day-level perspective. A second goal was to extend the process perspective in recovery research beyond the day level and consider systematic change trajectories in recovery variables over the course of the work week and the role of mindfulness in these trajectories. Results regarding day-level relationships confirmed that mindfulness experienced during work was related to subsequent sleep quality, and this relationship was mediated by psychological detachment from work in the evening. Furthermore, an investigation of the role of mindfulness in recovery change trajectories supported the idea that psychological detachment trajectories increase over the work week for individuals low on mindfulness while there was no systematic mean-level change for individuals high on mindfulness. In contrast, sleep quality followed a linear increase from Monday to Friday for all individuals, irrespective of their levels of trait mindfulness. Practical and theoretical implications for the mindfulness and the recovery literature are discussed in conclusion.
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2013
Hülsheger UR, Alberts HJEM, Feinholdt A, Lang JWB (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: the role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction.
Journal of Applied Psychology,
98(2), 310-325.
Abstract:
Benefits of mindfulness at work: the role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction
Mindfulness describes a state of consciousness in which individuals attend to ongoing events and experiences in a receptive and non-judgmental way. The present research investigated the idea that mindfulness reduces emotional exhaustion and improves job satisfaction. The authors further suggest that these associations are mediated by the emotion regulation strategy of surface acting. Study 1 was a 5-day diary study with 219 employees and revealed that mindfulness negatively related to emotional exhaustion and positively related to job satisfaction at both the within- and the between-person levels. Both relationships were mediated by surface acting at both levels of analysis. Study 2 was an experimental field study, in which participants (N 64) were randomly assigned to a self-training mindfulness intervention group or a control group. Results revealed that participants in the mindfulness intervention group experienced significantly less emotional exhaustion and more job satisfaction than participants in the control group. The causal effect of mindfulness self-training on emotional exhaustion was mediated by surface acting. Implications for using mindfulness and mindfulness training interventions in organizational research and practice are discussed in conclusion. © American Psychological Association.
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2012
Lang JWB, Bliese PD (2012). I-O Psychology and Progressive Research Programs on Intelligence.
Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
5(2), 161-166.
DOI.
Lang JWB, Zettler I, Ewen C, Hülsheger UR (2012). Implicit motives, explicit traits, and task and contextual performance at work.
Journal of Applied Psychology,
97(6), 1201-1217.
Abstract:
Implicit motives, explicit traits, and task and contextual performance at work
Personality psychologists have long argued that explicit traits (as measured by questionnaires) channel the expression of implicit motives (as measured by coding imaginative verbal behavior) such that both interact in the prediction of relevant life outcome variables. In the present research, we apply these ideas in the context of industrial and organizational psychology and propose that 2 explicit traits work as channels for the expression of 3 core implicit motives in task and contextual job performance (extraversion for implicit affiliation and implicit power; explicit achievement for implicit achievement). As a test of these theoretical ideas, we report a study in which employees (N = 241) filled out a questionnaire booklet and worked on an improved modern implicit motive measure, the operant motive test. Their supervisors rated their task and contextual performance. Results support 4 of the 6 theoretical predictions and show that interactions between implicit motives and explicit traits increase the explained criterion variance in both task and contextual performance. © 2012 American Psychological Association.
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Lang J, Ochsmann E, Kraus T, Lang JWB (2012). Psychosocial work stressors as antecedents of musculoskeletal problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis of stability-adjusted longitudinal studies.
Social Science and Medicine,
75(7), 1163-1174.
Abstract:
Psychosocial work stressors as antecedents of musculoskeletal problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis of stability-adjusted longitudinal studies
Although the relationship between psychosocial workplace conditions and musculoskeletal problems has been extensively studied, the causal impact of psychosocial workplace factors in the development of musculoskeletal problems remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to conduct a systematic review of baseline-adjusted prospective longitudinal studies estimating the lagged effect of psychosocial risk factors on musculoskeletal problems in industrialized work settings. A literature review was conducted by searching the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychINFO databases dated until August 2009. The authors classified studies into categories of psychological work stressors and musculoskeletal problems. Available effect sizes were converted to odds ratios (OR). ORs were then pooled for each stressor-problem relationship using a random-effects model. Additionally, the possibility of publication bias was assessed with the Duval and Tweedie nonparametric "trim and fill" procedure. In total, 50 primary studies fulfilled inclusion criteria. Within these studies at least five effect sizes were available for 23 of the 45 possible psychosocial work stress-musculoskeletal problems relationships, leaving 9 psychosocial variables and four musculoskeletal problem areas for analyses. of these 23 relationships, pooled OR estimates were positive and significant ranging from 1.15 to 1.66 with the largest pooled OR estimating the relationship between highly monotonous work and lower back pain. The lagged effect of low social support on lower limb problems was the only effect size for which the statistical test for bias was significant. Most psychosocial stressors had small but significant lagged effects on the development of musculoskeletal problems. Thus, organizational interventions to minimize these stressors may be promising in reducing one risk factor for the development of employee musculoskeletal problems. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
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2011
Lang JWB, Lang J (2011). Practical implications of test anxiety tools.
Science,
332(6031), 791-792.
DOI.
Lang J, Bliese PD, Lang JWB, Adler AB (2011). Work gets unfair for the depressed: Cross-lagged relations between organizational justice perceptions and depressive symptoms.
Journal of Applied Psychology,
96(3), 602-618.
Abstract:
Work gets unfair for the depressed: Cross-lagged relations between organizational justice perceptions and depressive symptoms
The organizational justice literature has consistently documented substantial correlations between organizational justice and employee depression. Existing theoretical literature suggests this relationship occurs because perceptions of organizational (in)justice lead to subsequent psychological health problems. Building on recent research on the affective nature of justice perceptions, in the present research we broaden this perspective by arguing there are also theoretical arguments for a reverse effect whereby psychological health problems influence perceptions of organizational justice. To contrast both theoretical perspectives, we test longitudinal lagged effects between organizational justice perceptions (i.e. distributive justice, interactional justice, interpersonal justice, informational justice, and procedural justice) and employee depressive symptoms using structural equation modeling. Analyses of 3 samples from different military contexts (N1 = 625, N2 = 134, N3 = 550) revealed evidence of depressive symptoms leading to subsequent organizational justice perceptions. In contrast, the opposite effects of organizational justice perceptions on depressive symptoms were not significant for any of the justice dimensions. The findings have broad implications for theoretical perspectives on psychological health and organizational justice perceptions. © 2011 American Psychological Association.
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2010
Hülsheger UR, Lang JWB, Maier GW (2010). Emotional labor, strain, and performance: Testing reciprocal relationships in a longitudinal panel study.
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology,
15(4), 505-521.
Abstract:
Emotional labor, strain, and performance: Testing reciprocal relationships in a longitudinal panel study
Models of emotional labor suggest that emotional labor leads to strain and affects job performance. Although the link between emotional labor, strain, and performance has been well documented in cross-sectional field studies, not much is known about the causal direction of relationships between emotional labor, strain, and performance. Goal of the present study was therefore to test the direction of effects in a two-wave longitudinal panel study using a sample of 151 trainee teachers. Longitudinal lagged effects were tested using structural equation modeling. Results revealed that the emotional labor strategy of surface acting led to increases in subsequent strain while deep acting led to increases in job performance. In contrast, there was no indication of reverse causation: Neither strain nor job performance had a significant lagged effect on subsequent surface or deep acting. Overall, results support models of emotional labor suggesting that surface and deep acting causally precede individual and organizational well-being. © 2010 American Psychological Association.
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Lang JWB, Kersting M, Hülsheger UR, Lang J (2010). General mental ability, narrower cognitive abilities, and job performance: the perspective of the nested-factors model of cognitive abilities.
Personnel Psychology,
63(3), 595-640.
Abstract:
General mental ability, narrower cognitive abilities, and job performance: the perspective of the nested-factors model of cognitive abilities
The nested-factors model is a well-established structural model of cognitive abilities in cognitive ability research but has not yet been used to investigate the role of cognitive abilities in job performance. Core assumptions of the nested-factors model are that a broad general mental ability (GMA) exists besides narrower abilities and that this GMA differs from the narrower cognitive abilities in breadth but not in subordination. The authors of this article propose that a recently emerging statistical technique-relative importance analysis-corresponds to the assumptions of the nested-factors model. To empirically study the implications of using the nested-factors model, the authors applied relative importance analysis to a meta-analytic matrix linking measures of 7 narrower cognitive abilities from an established ability taxonomy (Thurstone's primary mental abilities), GMA, and job performance. Results revealed that GMA accounted for 10.9% to 28.6% of the total variance explained in job performance and that GMA was not consistently the most important predictor. The discussion focuses on potential theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the nested-factors model for personnel psychology. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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van Doorn RRA, Lang JWB (2010). Performance differences explained by the neuroticism facets withdrawal and volatility, variations in task demand, and effort allocation.
Journal of Research in Personality,
44(4), 446-452.
Abstract:
Performance differences explained by the neuroticism facets withdrawal and volatility, variations in task demand, and effort allocation
The present study investigated the relationship between two aspects of trait neuroticism, namely withdrawal and volatility, and performance. Sixty-eight participants performed a search task in three difficulty conditions, and rated their invested effort per condition. Results show that the two aspects of neuroticism are differently related to search performance. Especially in a high demanding situation of task difficulty, the relationship between performance and invested effort is negative for high volatility individuals, while for high withdrawal individuals additional effort investment leads to relatively better performance. The discussion focuses on how considering the two neuroticism facets, task demand and effort investment add to the understanding of trait neuroticism, its relationship to performance and the involvement of the (dys) functional regulation of mental resources. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.
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Lang JWB, Lang J (2010). Priming competence diminishes the link between cognitive test anxiety and test performance. Implications for the interpretation of test scores.
Psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society / APS,
21(6), 811-819.
Abstract:
Priming competence diminishes the link between cognitive test anxiety and test performance. Implications for the interpretation of test scores.
Researchers disagree whether the correlation between cognitive test anxiety and test performance is causal or explainable by skill deficits, which lead to both cognitive test anxiety and lower test performance. Most causal theories of test anxiety assume that individual differences in cognitive test anxiety originate from differences in self-perceived competence. Accordingly, in the present research, we sought to temporarily heighten perceptions of competence using a priming intervention. Two studies with secondary- and vocational-school students (Ns = 219 and 232, respectively) contrasted this intervention with a no-priming control condition. Priming competence diminished the association between cognitive test anxiety and test performance by heightening the performance of cognitively test-anxious students and by lowering the performance of students with low levels of cognitive test anxiety. The findings suggest that cognitively test-anxious persons have greater abilities than they commonly show. Competency priming may offer a way to improve the situation of people with cognitive test anxiety.
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Lang JWB, Kersting M, Hülsheger UR (2010). Range Shrinkage of Cognitive Ability Test Scores in Applicant Pools for German Governmental Jobs: Implications for range restriction corrections.
International Journal of Selection and Assessment,
18(3), 321-328.
Abstract:
Range Shrinkage of Cognitive Ability Test Scores in Applicant Pools for German Governmental Jobs: Implications for range restriction corrections
Range restriction corrections require the predictor standard deviation in the applicant pool of interest. Unfortunately, this information is frequently not available in applied contexts. The common strategy in this type of situations is to use national-norm standard deviation estimates. This study used data from 8,276 applicants applying to nine jobs in German governmental organizations to compare applicant pool standard deviations for two cognitive ability tests with national-norm standard deviation estimates, and standard deviations for the total group of governmental applicants. Results revealed that job- and organizational context-specific applicant pool standard deviations were on average about 10-12% smaller than estimates from national norms, and about 4-6% smaller than standard deviations for the total group of governmental applicants. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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van Doorn RRA, Lang JWB, Weijters T (2010). Self-reported cognitive failures: a core self-evaluation?.
Personality and Individual Differences,
49(7), 717-722.
Abstract:
Self-reported cognitive failures: a core self-evaluation?
The cognitive failures questionnaire (CFQ) measures the self-reported frequency of everyday mistakes and represents the tendency to make everyday mistakes. The present research pursues an alternative interpretation of the CFQ, namely the tendency to evaluate one's worth and functioning in a pessimistic way. Study 1 shows that the self-reported frequency of daily mistakes is related to a pessimistic self-evaluation of task performance. Study 2 shows that CFQ has considerable overlap with a construct that represents the self-evaluation of one's general worth and functioning, namely core self-evaluations. It is discussed what these results mean for the applicability of the cognitive failures questionnaire as an indication of the tendency to make mistakes. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
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2009
Lang JWB, Bliese PD (2009). General Mental Ability and Two Types of Adaptation to Unforeseen Change: Applying Discontinuous Growth Models to the Task-Change Paradigm.
Journal of Applied Psychology,
94(2), 411-428.
Abstract:
General Mental Ability and Two Types of Adaptation to Unforeseen Change: Applying Discontinuous Growth Models to the Task-Change Paradigm
The present research provides new insights into the relationship between general mental ability (GMA) and adaptive performance by applying a discontinuous growth modeling framework to a study of unforeseen change on a complex decision-making task. The proposed framework provides a way to distinguish 2 types of adaptation (transition adaptation and reacquisition adaptation) from 2 common performance components (skill acquisition and basal task performance). Transition adaptation refers to an immediate loss of performance following a change, whereas reacquisition adaptation refers to the ability to relearn a changed task over time. Analyses revealed that GMA was negatively related to transition adaptation and found no evidence for a relationship between GMA and reacquisition adaptation. The results are integrated within the context of adaptability research, and implications of using the described discontinuous growth modeling framework to study adaptability are discussed. © 2009 American Psychological Association.
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2007
Lang JWB, Kersting M (2007). Regular feedback from student ratings of instruction: Do college teachers improve their ratings in the long run?.
Instructional Science,
35(3), 187-205.
Abstract:
Regular feedback from student ratings of instruction: Do college teachers improve their ratings in the long run?
The authors examined whether feedback from student ratings of instruction not augmented with consultation helps college teachers to improve their student ratings on a long-term basis. The study reported was conducted in an institution where no previous teaching-effectiveness evaluations had taken place. At the end of each of four consecutive semesters, student ratings were assessed and teachers were provided with feedback. Data from 3122 questionnaires evaluating 12 teachers were analyzed using polynomial and piecewise random coefficient models. Results revealed that student ratings increased from the no-feedback baseline semester to the second semester and then gradually decreased from the second to the fourth semester, although feedback was provided after each semester. The findings suggest that student ratings not augmented with consultation are far less effective than typically assumed when considered from a long-term perspective. © Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007.
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2006
Lang JWB, Fries S (2006). A revised 10-item version of the achievement motives scale: Psychometric properties in German-speaking samples.
European Journal of Psychological Assessment,
22(3), 216-224.
Abstract:
A revised 10-item version of the achievement motives scale: Psychometric properties in German-speaking samples
The Achievement Motives Scale (AMS) is a well-established and frequently used scale to assess hope of success and fear of failure. In three studies with German-speaking samples (N = 3523, N = 132, N = 126), the authors developed a revised form of the AMS using confirmatory factor analysis. As found in previous research, the original 30-item set of the AMS did not provide an acceptable fit to a two-factor model. In contrast, a revised 10-item version (AMS-R) provided an adequate fit to the theoretically intended two-factor model. The adequate fit could be validated in cross-validation procedures. Furthermore, the revised scales provided adequate reliability, lower interscale correlations, and criterion-related validity with respect to typical criteria of achievement-related behavior. © 2006 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.
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