Situational strength interactions: Are variance patterns consistent with the theory?

2019 ◽  
Vol 104 (12) ◽  
pp. 1487-1513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen R. Keeler ◽  
Wenmo Kong ◽  
Reeshad S. Dalal ◽  
Jose M. Cortina
Keyword(s):  
Situational Strength

scholarly journals Understanding the Relationship between Situational Strength and Burnout: A Multi-Sample Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 162
Author(s):  
José García-Arroyo ◽  
Isabel Cárdenas Moncayo ◽  
Antonio Ramón Gómez García ◽  
Amparo Osca Segovia
Keyword(s):  
Protective Factors ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Situational Strength ◽  
Three Samples ◽  
Consistency Constraints ◽  
Organisational Behaviour ◽  
Office Employees ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Strong Situation ◽  
Practical Implications

Many studies have examined the effect of situational strength (clarity, consistency, constraints, and consequences) on organisational behaviour, but little has been investigated about its health effects. This study aimed to analyse the relationship between situational strength and burnout. Specifically, we examined whether situational strength characteristics may be associated with burnout, whether these characteristics are risk (or protective) factors for burnout, and whether a strong situation is related to higher levels of burnout. Examining three samples from different occupations, it was found that clarity and consistency are negatively associated with burnout, being protective factors, while constraints are positively associated with burnout, being risk factors. These results are consistent across the samples. In addition to the direct effects, interaction effects between clarity and consistency in the office employee’s sample (two-way interaction), between constraints and consequences in the samples of office employees and teachers (two-way interaction), and among clarity, consistency, and constraints in the salespeople’s sample (three-way interaction) were also significant, explaining from 20% to 33% of the variance of burnout. We concluded that situational strength is associated not only with behaviour but also with health. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Situational Strength Theory

2018 ◽  
pp. 78-95
Author(s):  
Rustin D. Meyer ◽  
Elnora D. Kelly ◽  
Nathan A. Bowling
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Strength Theory ◽  
Situational Strength ◽  
Intuitive Appeal ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Functional Mechanisms ◽  
Practical Implications

The notion that individual differences (e.g., personality traits) predict behavior and relevant outcomes in “weak” situations (i.e., when people are left to their own devices to determine what to do) but not in “strong” situations (i.e., when situations provide people with unmistakable cues about what to do) is often treated as a truism among psychologists (Cooper & Withey, 2009). Although many studies support this general idea, its intuitive appeal may have dissuaded researchers from treating situational strength as a meaningful construct in its own right. This chapter attempts to remedy this state of affairs by (a) proposing a formalized theory of situational strength that outlines this construct’s functional mechanisms, (b) demonstrating how this knowledge can be used to develop testable hypotheses (e.g., pertaining to the criterion-oriented validity of individual differences), and (c) exploring several theoretical and practical implications of this theory for both science and practice.

Situations at Work

2017 ◽  
pp. 465-489
Author(s):  
Robert P. Tett ◽  
Jennifer Ragsdale ◽  
Sylvia L. Mol ◽  
Nathan Hundley
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Development ◽  
Personnel Selection ◽  
Work Motivation ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Work Behavior ◽  
Situational Strength ◽  
Evolving System ◽  
Main Effects

Targeting a productive and rewarding fit between the worker and the work setting, industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology is heavily vested in identifying situational factors as main effects on work behavior, as moderators of personological (e.g., personality) influences, and as outcomes in understanding the workplace as a dynamic and evolving system. Here, we focus on the role of situations in the I-O psychology practices of job analysis, personnel selection and validation, training, work motivation, leadership, job design, and organizational development. Then, select workplace situational taxonomies are presented from the literature, organized by task (e.g., RIASEC), group (team task type), and organizational (e.g., culture) levels. Several broad situational features (e.g., situational strength, situational trait-relevance) are also identified. The chapter closes with some general observations aimed at advancing integration of situational factors in the psychology of work.

Context Matters

2020 ◽  
pp. 233-263
Author(s):  
Jeanette N. Cleveland
Keyword(s):  
Performance Management ◽  
Performance Appraisal ◽  
Applied Psychology ◽  
Situation Assessment ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Situational Strength ◽  
Key Features ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Way

Contexts shape the way the performance appraisal (PA) and performance management (PM) systems are designed and utilized. Yet, the analysis of situations, especially more macro-context, including cultural, economic, and political/legal values, is one of the most underresearched areas in applied psychology despite the fact that context is likely to be critical to understanding the success and the failures associated with individual and team PM in organizations. To date, most research on situations has focused on proximal factors that impinge directly on raters’ and ratees’ motivation and goals, with less attention given to variations in macro and meso context across and within organizations, nations, and cultures. In the present chapter, the current research linking context with PA and PM is reviewed. Drawing from both situational strength and institutional theories, the mechanisms (e.g., norms and constraints) by which situations can shape the design and process of PA/PM within and across organizations are discussed. The chapter concludes by translating key features from the context and situation assessment literature into action that can be taken by industrial and organizational psychologists to help improve PA/PM research and practice in organizations.

In Defense of the Situation: An Interactionist Explanation for Performance on Situational Judgment Tests

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra M. Harris ◽  
Lane E. Siedor ◽  
Yi Fan ◽  
Benjamin Listyg ◽  
Nathan T. Carter
Keyword(s):  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Situational Judgment Test ◽  
Situational Judgment ◽  
Situational Judgment Tests ◽  
General Domain ◽  
Situational Strength ◽  
Activation Theory ◽  
Trait Activation ◽  
Key Pathways

Whereas Lievens and Motowidlo (2016) propose a model of situational judgment test (SJT) performance that removes the “situation” in favor of conceptualizing SJTs as a measure of general domain knowledge, we argue that the expression of general domain knowledge is in fact contingent on situational judgment. As we explain, the evidence cited by Lievens and Motowidlo against a situational component does not inherently exclude the importance of situations from SJTs and does overlook the strong support for a person–situation interaction explanation of behavior. Based on the interactionist literature—in particular, the trait activation theory (TAT) and situational strength literatures—we propose a model that both maintains the key pathways and definitions posited by Lievens and Motowidlo and integrates the situational component of SJTs.

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