Knowledge that Transforms

One hundred twenty mock jurors heard 1 of several versions of a civil trial. The tort trial was either high or low in information load and contained evidence that either clearly favored the plaintiffs or was ambiguous. Expert witnesses testified in either technical or less technical language. Verdicts favored the plaintiffs when the evidence was clear and was presented in technical language because technical language enhanced witnesses' credibility when the evidence was clear. Although high information loads and technical language hindered evidence processing, jurors endeavored to comprehend, as indicated by the recall of more facts and alternative constructions of the evidence when that evidence was ambiguous. However. those constructions were of poorer quality, incorporating evidence of lesser probative value.

This study explored whether different models of work-family relationship were possible for individuals with different attachment styles. A mail survey was conducted using employees (N = 481) at a midwestern university in the United States. Results suggested that (a) individuals with a preoccupied attachment pattern were more likely to experience negative spillover from the family/home to the work domain than those with a secure or dismissing style, (b) securely attached individuals experienced positive spillover in both work and family domains more than those in the other groups. and (c) preoccupied individuals were much less likely to use a segmentation strategy than the other 3 attachment groups. However, when the conventional job satisfaction-life satisfaction relationship was examined. the data provided unique support for the spillover model, Implications of the findings for both attachment and work-family relationship literatures are discussed.

Two hundred thirty-two manager-subordinate dyads provided data on the effort expended toward the development of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships, how such effort related to expectations about relationship quality, and intentions to exert future effort toward relationship development. For both managers and subordinates, higher quality LMX relationships were reported and expectations were met when the other member of the dyad put forth effort into relationship development. One's own higher effort coupled with lower effort by the other was associated with a lower quality LMX relationship. Examination of the 4 dimensions of LMX (R. C. Liden & J. M. Maslyn, 1998) revealed unique effects depending on the dimension considered. In addition, LMX and relationship tenure interacted, showing that future effort toward relationship development was greatest when individuals had been in higher quality relationships for longer periods of time.

Results of a survey of 222 detainees in Dutch jails and police stations showed that outcome-fairness judgments of individuals with high self-esteem were more strongly related to outcome considerations than to procedural considerations, whereas outcome-fairness judgments of individuals with low self-esteem were more strongly related to procedural considerations than to outcome considerations. It was proposed that these differences were due to the fact that (a) procedures more strongly express a social evaluation than outcomes and (b) individuals with low self-esteem are more concerned with social evaluations than individuals with high self-esteem. The implications of the results for other individual-differences factors and other populations than detainees are discussed.

The authors investigated temporal trends in the validity of an assessment center consisting of a group discussion and an analysis presentation exercise for predicting career advancement as measured by average salary growth over a 7-year period in a sample of 679 academic graduates. The validity of the overall assessment rating for persons with tenure of 7 years, corrected for initial differences in starting salaries and restriction in range, was .39. There was a considerable time variation in the validity of both the overall assessment rating and the assessment center dimensions. In accordance with findings from research in managerial effectiveness and development, the interpersonal effectiveness dimension became valid only after a number of years, whereas the firmness dimension was predictive in the whole period and increased with time. For comparison, validity trends for 2 types of interviews and a mental test were also studied.

Eighty pilots participated in a study of variables influencing the transfer process. Posttraining performance was assessed in a flight simulation under 1 of 2 conditions. Those in the maximum performance condition were made aware of the skill to be assessed and the fact that their teammates were confederates, whereas those in the typical performance condition were not. The results indicated that (a) simulator ratings correlated with a measure of transfer to the cockpit for those in the typical condition only; (b) team leader support, manipulated in a pretask brief, moderated the disparity between maximum and typical performance; (c) team climate mediated the impact of support on performance in the typical condition; (d) those with a stronger predisposition toward the trained skill viewed their climate as more supportive; and (e) perceptions of team climate were better predictors of performance for those with a more external locus of control.

Results of a study using data collected at 2 points in time, separated by 6 months, suggested that subordinates resisted their supervisors' downward influence tactics with greater frequency when their supervisors were more abusive and that subordinates' personality moderated the effects of abusive supervision. The relationship between abusive supervision and subordinates' dysfunctional resistance was stronger among subordinates who were lower in conscientiousness than among subordinates who were higher in conscientiousness, but this effect emerged only for subordinates who were also lower in agreeableness. The relationship between abusive supervision and subordinates' constructive resistance was stronger among subordinates who were higher in conscientiousness than among subordinates who were lower in conscientiousness. The study's implications for theory and research are discussed.

The job demands-resources (JD-R) model proposes that working conditions can be categorized into 2 broad categories, job demands and job resources. that are differentially related to specific outcomes. A series of LISREL analyses using self-reports as well as observer ratings of the working conditions provided strong evidence for the JD-R model: Job demands are primarily related to the exhaustion component of burnout, whereas (lack of) job resources are primarily related to disengagement. Highly similar patterns were observed in each of 3 occupational groups: human services, industry, and transport (total N = 374). In addition, results confirmed the 2-factor structure (exhaustion and disengagement) of a new burnout instrument--the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory--and suggested that this structure is essentially invariant across occupational groups.