Development and validation of the leadership learning agility scale.

Introduction: Learning agility is key in the selection and development of future leaders. However, prior research has failed to clearly conceptualize learning agility and to empirically clarify its dimensions. Method: We developed the Leadership Learning Agility Scale (LLAS) by using a combination of both deductive and inductive approaches and established scale development and validation procedures. We administered the LLAS among three independent samples of workers and leaders (N = 907; N = 196; N = 219). Results: Our results indicate that our 18-item LLAS measures the willingness to learn from social experiences, and the drive to apply those lessons in new and challenging leadership roles, and comprises a Developing Leadership, Seeking Feedback, and Developing Systematically dimension. Furthermore, the LLAS showed adequate internal consistency. Leadership learning agility was positively related to achievement motivation, extraversion, and conscientiousness but unrelated to openness to experience. Discussion: We provided a new scale to measure leadership learning agility that can be applied in both research and practitioner settings.

Constructed response formats and their effects on minority-majority differences and validity.

The inflow of immigrants challenges organizations to consider alternative selection procedures that reduce potential minority (immigrants)-majority (natives) differences, while maintaining valid predictions of performance. To deal with this challenge, this paper proposes response format as a practically and theoretically relevant factor for situational judgment tests (SJTs). We examine a range of response format categories (from traditional multiple-choice formats to more innovative constructed response formats) and conceptually link these response formats to mechanisms underlying minority-majority differences. Two field experiments are conducted with SJTs. Study 1 (274 job seekers) contrasts minority-majority differences in scores on a multiple-choice versus a written constructed response format. Written constructed responses produce much smaller minority-majority differences (d = .28 vs. d = .92). In Study 2 (269 incumbents), scores on a written constructed versus an audiovisual constructed format are compared. The audiovisual format further reduces minority-majority differences (d = .09 vs. d = .41), with validities remaining the same. Results are suggestive of cognitive load as a contributor to the reduction in minority-majority differences, as are rater effects: Scores of raters evaluating transcribed audiovisual responses, which anonymized test takers, produce larger differences. In sum, altering response modality via more realistic response formats (i.e., the audiovisual constructed format) leads to significant reductions in minority-majority differences without impairing criterion-related validity. Implications for selection theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

No Evidence for a Relationship Between Hair Testosterone Concentrations and 2D:4D Ratio or Risk Taking.

Using a recently developed alternative assay procedure to measure hormone levels from hair samples, we examined the relationships between testosterone, cortisol, 2D:4D ratio, overconfidence and risk taking. A total of 162 (53 male) participants provided a 3 cm sample of hair, a scanned image of their right and left hands from which we determined 2D:4D ratios, and completed measures of overconfidence and behavioral risk taking. While our sample size for males was less than ideal, our results revealed no evidence for a relationship between hair testosterone concentrations, 2D:4D ratios and risk taking. No relationships with overconfidence emerged. Partially consistent with the Dual Hormone Hypothesis, we did find evidence for the interacting effect of testosterone and cortisol on risk taking but only in men. Hair testosterone concentrations were positively related to risk taking when levels of hair cortisol concentrations were low, in men. Our results lend support to the suggestion that endogenous testosterone and 2D:4D ratio are unrelated and might then exert diverging activating vs. organizing effects on behavior. Comparing our results to those reported in the existing literature we speculate that behavioral correlates of testosterone such as direct effects on risk taking may be more sensitive to state-based fluctuations than baseline levels of testosterone.

Why Do Situational Interviews Predict Performance? Is it Saying How You Would Behave or Knowing How You Should Behave?

PURPOSE: The present study examined two theoretical explanations for why situational interviews predict work-related performance, namely (a) that they are measures of interviewees' behavioral intentions or (b) that they are measures of interviewees' ability to correctly decipher situational demands. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: We tested these explanations with 101 students, who participated in a 2-day selection simulation. FINDINGS: In line with the first explanation, there was considerable similarity between what participants said they would do and their actual behavior in corresponding work-related situations. However, the underlying postulated mechanism was not supported by the data. In line with the second explanation, participants' ability to correctly decipher situational demands was related to performance in both the interview and work-related situations. Furthermore, the relationship between the interview and performance in the work-related situations was partially explained by this ability to decipher situational demands. IMPLICATIONS: Assessing interviewees' ability to identify criteria might be of additional value for making selection decisions, particularly for jobs where it is essential to assess situational demands. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The present study made an effort to open the 'black box' of situational interview validity by examining two explanations for their validity. The results provided only moderate support for the first explanation. However, the second explanation was fully supported by these results.

What a difference your e-mail makes: effects of informal e-mail addresses in online résumé screening.

Résumés are screened rapidly, with some reports stating that recruiters form their impressions within 10 seconds. Certain résumé characteristics can have a significant impact on the snap judgments these recruiters make. The main goal of the present study was to examine the effect of the e-mail address (formal vs. informal) used in a résumé on the hirability perceptions formed by professional recruiters (N=73). In addition, the effect of the e-mail address on hirability perceptions was compared to the effects of spelling errors and typeface. Participants assessed the cognitive ability, personality, and the hirability of six fictitious applicants for the job of an HR specialist. The hirability ratings for the résumés with informal e-mail addresses were significantly lower than the hirability ratings for résumés that featured a formal e-mail address. The effect of e-mail address was as strong as the effect of spelling errors and stronger than that of typeface. The effect of e-mail address on hirability was mediated by perceptions of conscientiousness and honesty-humility. This study among actual recruiters shows for the first time that the choice of the e-mail address used on a résumé might make a real difference.

An evaluation of an aggression management training program to cope with workplace violence in the healthcare sector.

Workplace violence is a major occupational hazard for healthcare workers, generating a need for effective intervention programs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an aggression management training program. The evaluation design was based on the internal referencing strategy, an unobtrusive and applicable evaluation method that rules out some major threats to internal validity without the need for a control group. On three occasions, training participants completed a questionnaire containing experimental and control variables. As hypothesized, there was a significant improvement in the experimental variables that was larger than the non-significant change in the control variable. We conclude that aggression management training may be an effective instrument in the fight against workplace violence.