PSYC/ORSC 2544 Exam 2 Study Guide: Selection, Training, Motivation, Attitudes, and Behavior

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering employee selection, legal regulations, training frameworks, motivation models, job attitudes, and counterproductive work behaviors.

HR Planning

The first step of acquiring employees, involving forecasting HR demand to determine how many people are needed in each job and choosing an increase strategy (hiring, training, up-skilling) or reduction strategy (hiring freeze, layoffs, reskilling).

Realistic Job Preview (RJP)

A recruitment and hiring technique that presents both positive and honest aspects of a job, increasing perceptions of organizational honesty and reducing turnover.

Scientific Selection

The practice of using assessments (such as tests of KSAOs and structured interviews) that have been demonstrated through validation studies to predict future job performance.

Concurrent Validation

A validation study design in which predictor assessment data and criterion job performance data are collected at the same time using current employees.

Predictive Validation

A validation study design where an assessment is administered to job applicants, and performance criterion data is collected later after they have spent time on the job.

Regression Approach

A compensatory selection method where each predictor score is inserted into an empirically derived equation to estimate job performance, allowing high scores on one predictor to offset low scores on another.

Multiple Hurdles

A non-compensatory selection approach requiring applicants to achieve a passing cut score on each predictor at sequential stages, eliminating applicants who fail any single hurdle.

Selection Ratio

The ratio of available positions to the total number of applicants, calculated as $\text{positions} \div \text{applicants}$; a smaller ratio indicates higher selectivity and greater potential utility.

Base Rate

The percentage of job applicants who would be successful employees if every applicant were hired without screening.

Employment at Will

A legal doctrine stating that either the employer or the employee can end the employment relationship at any time, except for unlawful reasons such as discrimination or retaliation.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964)

Federal legislation prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, covering organizations with 15 or more employees, employment agencies, and labor unions.

Bostock v. Clayton County (2020)

A Supreme Court ruling establishing that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity falls under the protected category of sex under Title VII.

Tower(s) Amendment

A statutory provision establishing that employment tests are legally defensible if they do not discriminate against a protected class and are professionally developed by qualified experts.

Civil Rights Act of 1991 (CRA 1991)

Legislation that placed the burden of proof on the employer (defendant), clarified business necessity, and explicitly banned within-group (race) norming or altering test scores based on demographics.

Griggs v. Duke Power (1971)

A Supreme Court case establishing that a neutral employment requirement (such as a high school diploma) that causes adverse impact against a protected class is unlawful if the employer cannot prove business necessity, proving intent is not required for discrimination.

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)

A narrow legal exception permitting employment criteria based on sex, religion, or national origin (never race) when reasonably necessary to the normal operation of a particular business.

Disparate Treatment

A legal theory of discrimination defined by the intentional differential treatment of members of a protected group; always illegal under Title VII.

Adverse Impact (Disparate Impact)

A legal theory of discrimination where an ostensibly neutral selection practice yields differential hiring outcomes across groups regardless of intent; unlawful unless justified by business necessity with no equally valid alternative.

Four-Fifths (80%) Rule

An EEOC guideline stating that adverse impact is present when the selection rate of a minoritized group is less than 80% ($.80$) of the selection rate of the group with the highest hiring rate ($\text{SR of minoritized group} \div \text{SR of majority group} < .80$).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990)

Federal legislation protecting qualified individuals who can perform essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodation, forbidding undue hardship to employers, and prohibiting pre-offer medical exams or inquiries.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA, 1967)

Legislation prohibiting age discrimination against individuals aged 40 and older, covering employers with 20 or more employees, unions, and employment agencies.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

A federal law granting eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying personal and family health conditions or the birth/care of a newborn in covered employers with 50 or more employees.

Needs Assessment

The initial phase of training design that systematically identifies what competencies need training and who requires them, comprising organization, task, and person analyses.

Organization Analysis

A component of needs assessment that evaluates organizational goals, climate, resources, and readiness to determine where training is needed and if training is the appropriate solution.

Task Analysis

A component of needs assessment derived from job analysis that specifies the core duties, tasks, and KSAOs required for competent job performance.

Person Analysis

A component of needs assessment that examines individual employees to determine specific KSAO gaps, identifying who needs training and what content they require.

Identical Elements

A training design principle stating that training transfer is maximized when the features, equipment, and conditions of the training environment closely mimic those of the actual work setting.

Overlearning

A training practice technique in which trainees continue rehearsing a task beyond initial mastery until automaticity is achieved, enabling performance with minimal cognitive demand.

Kirkpatrick's 4 Levels of Evaluation

A framework evaluating training effectiveness across four criteria: Level 1 Reactions (satisfaction), Level 2 Learning (acquired knowledge/tests), Level 3 Transfer/Behavior (on-the-job application), and Level 4 Results (organizational payoffs like sales or reduced errors).

Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

A motivational theory asserting that intrinsic motivation and well-being are fostered when workplace environments fulfill three fundamental psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness.

Expectancy Theory

A cognitive model of motivation proposing that behavioral force is the multiplicative product of three beliefs: $\text{Force} = \text{Expectancy} \times \text{Valence} \times \text{Instrumentality}$.

Expectancy

A person's subjective belief or self-confidence that expending effort will successfully result in completing a specific behavior or task ('Can I do it?').

Instrumentality

The subjective probability or belief that successfully performing a behavior will lead to a particular outcome or reward ('Will it pay off?').

Valence

The perceived positive or negative value, preference, or attractiveness that an individual places on an anticipated reward or outcome.

Self-Efficacy

A general belief in one's personal capability to perform tasks and attain goals, functioning as a self-fulfilling prophecy that predicts job performance independent of ability.

Learning Goal Orientation

A dispositional or state goal orientation characterized by an intrinsic desire to develop competence, gain new skills, master challenges, and learn from mistakes.

Performance Goal Orientation

A goal orientation focused on demonstrating competence, seeking favorable evaluations, and achieving high performance relative to peers.

Equity Theory

A justice-based motivation theory asserting that individuals compare their ratio of inputs to outcomes against referent others, experiencing tension primarily when perceiving underpayment.

Distributive Justice

The perceived fairness of the tangible or intangible allocation of rewards and outcomes distributed within an organization.

Procedural Justice

The perceived fairness of the policies, rules, and decision-making processes used to determine the distribution of organizational outcomes.

Deep Acting

An emotional labor process wherein an employee actively regulates their inner thoughts and feelings in order to authentically experience and display the required emotional state.

Surface Acting

An emotional labor strategy involving the outward simulation or faking of required emotions without changing underlying feelings, often leading to emotional dissonance and burnout.

Job Characteristics Model (JCM)

Hackman and Oldham's model specifying that five core dimensions—skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and task feedback—create critical psychological states that drive job satisfaction and performance.

Growth Need Strength (GNS)

A personal characteristic reflecting an individual's desire for personal accomplishment, learning, and self-actualization, which moderates the relationship between enriched job characteristics and positive job attitudes.

Spillover Model

A framework of work-life attitudes proposing that feelings, affect, and satisfaction experienced in one domain (such as work) carry over directly into other life domains (such as home).

Affective Commitment

An individual's emotional attachment to and identification with an organization, characterized by an intrinsic desire to remain ('I want to stay').

Continuance Commitment

An individual's attachment to an organization based on the perceived economic and personal costs associated with leaving, including lost benefits or lack of alternative employment ('I need to stay').

Normative Commitment

An individual's attachment to an organization driven by a sense of moral obligation, shared values, or perceived duty ('I ought to stay').

Organizational Constraints

Environmental conditions and barriers in the workplace—such as deficient tools, lack of equipment, time limits, or poor budgetary support—that directly inhibit employee job performance and cause frustration.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

Discretionary, extra-role workplace behavior not formally mandated by core job duties that contributes positively to organizational functioning, categorized into compliance and altruism, or OCB-I and OCB-O.

Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB)

Voluntary, intentional behavior that harms or intends to harm an organization or its stakeholders, consisting of withdrawal, abuse, sabotage, and theft.

Presenteeism

The act of attending work while physically ill, typically triggered by punitive attendance policies, which can result in increased mistakes, safety incidents, and the spread of illness.

Cyberloafing

The unauthorized use of an organization's electronic systems, internet access, or personal mobile devices for non-work personal activities during scheduled work time.