Theme 3 2023
Theme 3 2023
Theme 3 2023
Prescribed reading
Woods & West (Prescribed textbook) Ch 2
• Explain the meaning of and the basis for individual [psychological] differences
• People differ in various ways and the differences have implications for
behaviour and thus performance
• What is intelligence:
A very general mental capability that, among other things, involves
the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly,
comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from
experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic
skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather it reflects a broader and
deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings –
‘catching-on’, ‘making sense’ of things, or ‘figuring out’ what to
do.
Gottfredson (1997)
Multiple intelligences
Definition
Psychoanalysis
• Sigmund Freud
• The ‘id’ represents basic drive for instant gratification
• The “ego” mediates basic desires on the reality principle
• The “super-ego” represents social conscience
Behaviourism
• Pavlov & Skinner
• Explores how behaviour is shaped by the environment –
conditioning
• Do not consider internal processes
Reciprocal determinism
Personality and Work
Agreeableness the extent to which a person is warm and trusting, versus cold and unfriendly
Inskiklikheid die mate waarin 'n persoon warm en vertrouend is teenoor koud en onvriendelik
Conscientiousness the extent to which a person is organized and dependable, versus impulsive and
Pligsgetrouheid disorganized
die mate waarin 'n persoon georganiseer en betroubaar is teenoor impulsief en
ongeorganiseerd
Emotional stability the extent to which a person is calm and stable, versus neurotic and anxious
Emosionele stabiliteit die mate waarin 'n persoon kalm en stabiel is, teenoor neuroties en angstig
Openness/intellect the extent to which a person is imaginative and open to new experiences, versus
Openheid / intellek narrow-minded and unimaginative
die mate waarin 'n persoon verbeeldingryk en oop is vir nuwe ervarings , teenoor
eng en verbeeldingloos
Personality, Cognitive Ability and Work
Summary
• Cognitive ability is critical in the learning phase of the job (Woods & West,
p.45), but the influence thereof decreases as jobs become more familiar and
practiced
• Over time, other factors such as motivation [Theme 4] and personality
become increasing more important
• Moods
• A global positive (pleasant) or negative (unpleasant) feeling.
• Not focused on a specific cause.
• May last for a few moments or even for a few weeks.
• Dispositional affect
• Represent the general tendency to experience positive or negative
feelings, moods and emotions
• Distinguish between positive and negative affectivity
Emotions and Work
• Although we distinguish between emotions and personality, it is
actually intertwined. The concepts of Core Self-Evaluations and
Psychological Capital is examples of this.
• Dispositional affect is more closely associated with personality
• Both, personality and emotions have implications for work-related
behaviours, positive or negative.
Emotions, personality and Work: Core Self-Evaluations
Test-Retest Reliability
•Test-retest reliability: Calculated by correlating measurements taken at time one
with measurement taken at time two
Measuring individual differences: Reliability
Internal consistency
Internal consistency
Cronbach’s Alpha
• is the most commonly used method as it overcomes some of the
problems of the split-half method
• It considers the correlations between the individual test items - to
determine the extent to which they measure the same
unidimensional concept
Measuring individual differences: Reliability
Different raters
Inter-Rater Reliability
•Different individuals make judgement about a person
•E.g. ratings of performance of a worker made by several different
supervisors
•Calculate various statistical indices to show level of agreement
among raters: Inter-rater reliability
Measuring individual differences: Validity
1. Face Validity
•Validity approach that is demonstrated by the way the test looks in the
‘eyes’ of the test-takers.
•It is qualitative/subjective judgement about whether the test items appear
relevant for their purpose
•The perception of relevance makes test taking worthwhile, thereby
increasing test taking motivation
Validity
2.Criterion-Related Validity
•Validity approach that is demonstrated by correlating the test score with a
performance measure; improves researcher’s confidence in the inference
that people with higher test scores have higher performance
•Validity coefficient: Correlation between a test score (predictor) and a
performance measure (criterion)
•2 Designs:
• Predictive validity
• Concurrent validity
Validity
3. Content-Related Validity
•Demonstrates that the content of the selection procedure represents an adequate
sample of important work behaviours and activities and/or worker KSAOs defined
by the job analyses
•Analyse the job to determine most important tasks/duties and abilities to perform
those tasks
•Ask subject matter experts
•Analyse their answers to identify or develop possible predictors for testing them
Validity
4. Construct-Related Validity
•Focus on the permissibility of decisions or inferences regarding
psychological constructs
•Unlike the other forms, construct validity involves performing a range of
statistical analyses in order to establish an evidence base for the validity of
a measurement.
•Greater accumulation of evidence, the greater the confidence