Effective and adaptable: Four studies on the shortened attitude toward the color blue marker variable scale.

This research is an extension of the recent scale development efforts for the marker variable Attitude Toward the Color Blue (ATCB), which addresses the efficacy of multiple shorter permutations of the scale. The purpose of this study is to develop a shorter version of an ideal marker variable scale used to detect common method variance. Potential uses of the shorter version of ATCB include intensive longitudinal studies, implementation of experience sampling methodology, or any brief survey for which the original version might be cumbersome to implement repeatedly or appear very odd to the respondent when paired with only a few other substantive items. Study 1, uses all six-, five-, and four-item versions of ATCB in confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) marker technique tests on a bivariate relationship. Study 2 analyzes the best- and worst-performing versions of reduced lengths of the ATCB scale found in the first study on another bivariate relationship. Study 3 compares the original seven-item version, as well as randomly selected reduced length versions in a data set with 15 model relationships. Study 4 uses an experiment to determine the efficacy of providing respondents with one of three shorter ATCB scales in a model of three substantive variables. Our findings indicate that ATCB of different permutations and lengths can detect CMV successfully, and that researchers should choose the length of scale based on their survey length. We conclude that ATCB is adaptable for a variety of research situations, presenting it as a valuable tool for high-quality research.

Conscientiousness, autonomy fit, and development: a longitudinal study.

The authors examined employee development and its relationship with Conscientiousness and person-environment fit (in terms of needs and supplies of autonomy). They hypothesized that Conscientiousness would be positively associated with development but only when employees felt that the autonomy supplied by the organization did not fit their needs. In other words, whereas Conscientiousness could supply the dispositional resources for development, misfit was needed to create the need for development. The results supported the authors' predictions. Conscientiousness was positively related to development but only when employees were misfits with respect to autonomy. Employee involvement in development activities was then linked to subsequent fit.