Psychology

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This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Psychology.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

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Now showing 1 - 11 of 11

Conscientiousness and General Mental Ability Predict Deviation from Optimal Resource Allocation
(University of Waterloo, 2017-08-31) Legault, Canaan; Beck, James
This research speaks to developments in the conscientiousness literature regarding the consequences of being overly conscientious. Specifically, research has found that excessively conscientious individuals exhibit worse task performance than individuals with moderate levels of conscientiousness. The purpose of our study is to understand why and for whom high levels of conscientiousness may be detrimental. To this end, we incorporated resource allocation and general mental ability (GMA) to answer these questions. We conducted a laboratory study in which we manipulated the optimal level of resource allocation across multiple trials of a work simulation. Participants could maximize performance by matching actual resource allocation to the optimal level of resource allocation. This design allowed us to directly observe participants’ resource allocation decisions and vary the optimal level of resource allocation from low to high. We found that individuals with high conscientiousness and low GMA deviated most from the optimal level of resource allocation. Specifically, individuals with high conscientiousness and low GMA had a tendency to over-allocate resources. Downstream, the greater the deviation from the optimal level of resource allocation the worse performance was. Although conscientiousness may be beneficial in some circumstances, more is not always better. We demonstrated that high levels of conscientiousness can be detrimental to performance. This reduction in performance occurs when individuals are willing to invest a great deal of resources (high conscientiousness) but unable to recognize the optimal level of resource allocation (low GMA). Past research has provided limited insight into why highly conscientious individuals have been found to perform worse than individuals with moderate levels of conscientiousness. Our study extends this research by using an experimental design to demonstrate that conscientiousness and GMA interact to indirectly predict performance via resource allocation.
The Effect of Perceived Feedback-Seeking Motive on Feedback Givers' Effort
(University of Waterloo, 2020-08-21) Minnikin, Amy; Beck, James; Shen, Winny
Although people are generally motivated to perform well in their job roles, there is often ambiguity regarding whether they are meeting their organization’s standards. As such, people often seek feedback from others. To date, feedback-seeking research has emphasized the feedback seeker, identifying traits and circumstances associated with feedback-seeking. However, far less is known about this process from the feedback giver’s point of view. This is an important omission, because delivering high-quality feedback requires effort, and we expect that feedback-givers will vary in the degree to which they are willing to allocate effort toward delivering feedback. Specifically, we predict that effort allocated toward a feedback episode will be determined by the feedback-giver’s perceptions of the feedback-seeker’s motives for seeking feedback. We predicted that perceived instrumental motives (a desire to improve one’s performance) would be positively related to the amount of effort put toward delivering feedback, whereas perceived image enhancement motives (a desire to impress the feedback giver) would be negatively related to effort allocation. A field study wherein managers were asked to report on a recent episode in which a subordinate had sought their feedback provided initial support for these predictions. We also present results from an experimental study conducted to replicate and extend upon the first study. This research speaks to the often-overlooked role that the feedback giver plays in feedback-seeking. It sheds light upon factors that influence the quality of feedback that seekers receive, which could affect the likelihood that feedback-seeking will result in improvements in the seeker’s future performance.
Goal-setting and unethical behavior: The journey toward the goal matters
(University of Waterloo, 2018-04-30) Nishioka, Midori; Beck, James; Bobocel, D. Ramona
Unethical behavior in the workplace causes harm to organizations and has a widespread impact on society. Recent studies show that difficult and specific goals can lead to unethical behavior. Specifically, studies show that individuals are more likely to lie about their performance when they receive a difficult and specific goal compared to when they receive an easy or vague goal. Moreover, they are more likely to do so when they miss the goal by a small margin compared to when they miss the goal by a large margin. However, decades of research has demonstrated that assigning a difficult and specific goal to employees leads to higher performance than assigning an easy or vague goal. This poses a dilemma regarding the use of difficult and specific goals: How can organizations improve employees’ performance without also increasing unethical behavior? Drawing on Control theory (Carver & Scheier, 1998) and Gestalt framework of dynamic experiences (Ariely & Carmon, 2003), we predicted that among individuals whose goal progress decelerates, missing the goal by a small margin (compared to a large margin) would have a weak effect on the extent to which they lie about their performance. On the other hand, we predicted that among individuals whose rate of goal progress is constant or accelerates over time, individuals who miss the goal by a small margin would be more likely to lie than individuals who miss the goal by a large margin. In two experimental studies, we found some support for our hypotheses.
Hoping for the Best, Preparing for the Worst: Employee Reactions to Automation at Work
(University of Waterloo, 2022-07-08) Godollei, Anna; Beck, James
Automation is increasingly becoming a disruptive force in modern workplaces. For individual workers, the consequences of automation are varied; In some cases, employees may be harmed by automation (e.g., job loss), whereas in other cases employees may benefit from its implementation (e.g., enhanced performance). Importantly, the extent to which employees fear and disengage from, or eagerly anticipate and prepare for, automation may influence how they fare in the workplace. To this end, in this dissertation I present two essays across which I examine employees’ psychological evaluations and subsequent attitudinal (Essay 1) and behavioural (Essay 2) reactions to automation at work. In Essay 1, I draw on appraisal theory to distinguish between employees' belief that technology can conduct their work (perceived automatability) from employees' appraisals regarding the implications of automation on their job prospects (job insecurity) and job performance (performance optimism). Given that control at work enables people to mitigate the possible harms of automation and harness the potential benefits of automation, I propose that control at work mitigates the relationship between perceived automatability and job insecurity, and strengthens the relationship between perceived automatability and performance optimism, with each appraisal having competing effects on downstream job attitudes. Using a survey (N = 500) and an experiment (N = 194), I found overall support for these predictions. In Essay 2, I examine people’s preparatory responses to their job’s objective likelihood of becoming automated (automatability), via their job insecurity. Given that skills-discrepancies may make people vulnerable to job loss during automation-related job restructuring or downsizing, I predict that people with a large skills-gap will be more likely to develop job insecurity in response to their automatability than people with a low skills-gap. I draw on control theories to suggest that job insecurity subsequently results in remedial actions to address the threat of unemployment, including developmental activities and career exploration, efforts which are further strengthened by organizational support for development (or the lack thereof). I found support for these predictions using a survey of 244 employees. Overall, this dissertation sheds light on employees’ perspectives on automation at work, with substantial practical implications for organizations and policymakers seeking to help employees transition to the future of work.
It’s About Time (for the Next Task): Time Available and Next Task Valence Interact to Explain Velocity’s Influence on Affect
(University of Waterloo, 2016-12-14) Phan, Vincent; Beck, James
Over the course of a typical day, employees often face a seemingly never-ending sequence of goals. Given the omnipresence and importance of goals in the workplace, a keen understanding of the goal pursuit process is necessary. Along those lines, several studies have shown that during goal pursuit, individuals’ affective experiences are influenced by their velocity—their rate or goal progress over time. Specifically, experiments demonstrate that fast velocities lead to more positive affect and less negative affect compared to slow velocities. However, most of the research on velocity to date has focused on the pursuit of one goal in isolation where attainment is uncertain. In contrast, we know little about why and when velocity influences affect in contexts more representative of the typical workday – where people sequentially complete numerous goals for which attainment is more or less certain. To address this limitation, we proposed and tested a stage 2 moderated mediation model where (1) velocity is positively related to the amount perceived time available for the next task, and (2) perceived time available interacts with the valence of the next task to influence affect. More precisely, we predicted that via perceived time available, velocity would influence affect to a greater extent when the next task is expected to be pleasant than when it is expected to be unpleasant. In an online experiment (N = 145), we tested our propositions and found support regarding positive affect, but not negative affect. Our study contributes to the motivation literature by explaining in part how affect arises as people pursue goals.
The Receipt of Task-Related Help: Developing and Validating a Scale
(University of Waterloo, 2018-08-23) Law, Denise; Brown, Douglas; Beck, James
Helping behaviors have been subjected to a substantial amount of research attention. However, organizational researchers have disproportionately focused on the help giver, neglecting the recipient of help. To stimulate future research on the recipient of help, I developed a receipt of task-related help scale. In Study 1, I adopted an inductive approach to generate examples of different types of task-related helping behaviors that employees receive at work. Study 1 revealed three general types of task-related helping behaviors - namely, materials, labor, and knowledge. The results of Study 1 were used to guide item development for the receipt of task-related help scale. In Study 2, I provided evidence of the items’ substantive validity. In Study 3, I explored the factor structure of the scale. In Study 4, I verified that the scale assesses three dimensions of task-related help that employees can receive. In Study 5, I developed an initial nomological network for the receipt of task-related help. I hope this research will stimulate future research to adopt the recipient’s perspective to understand helping behaviors at work.
Two Essays on Managers' Feedback Behavior in the Workplace
(University of Waterloo, 2024-11-22) Minnikin, Amy Florine; Beck, James
Previous feedback research has largely focused on the perspective of the feedback recipient, often taking the act of giving feedback for granted. However, providing feedback can be a complicated and demanding task for managers, and there is likely considerable variance in the frequency and types of feedback behaviors in which managers engage. To this end, in this dissertation I present two essays to address this issue. In Essay 1, I develop the Manager Feedback Behavior Scale (MFBS), which is comprised of seven factors: fostering credibility, providing high-quality feedback, delivering feedback with tact, providing positive feedback, providing negative feedback, ensuring availability, and promoting feedback-seeking. Across four studies, I provide evidence for the validity of the MFBS. In Essay 2, I integrate self-regulatory theories of work motivation with the literature on mental health stereotypes. Across two studies, I present evidence that managers adjust the effort they allocate toward feedback behaviors based on perceptions of their subordinates’ mental health. Briefly, the results indicate that these adjustments are driven by beliefs regarding the likelihood that providing feedback will “pay off” in terms of improved performance. As a set, these essays make several contributions to the feedback literature. Specifically, this research elucidates feedback processes from the manager’s point of view, provides a framework for future investigation of managerial feedback behavior, and emphasizes that providing feedback should be considered with more nuance than simply whether feedback was or was not provided.
Understanding the Decision to Enroll in Massive Open Online Courses
(University of Waterloo, 2021-09-27) Towers, Sarah; Beck, James
The prevalence of high-paying, stable jobs for low skilled workers has declined over the past few decades. As a result, individuals lacking marketable job skills may be less likely to succeed in the workplace. Given this circumstance, massive open online courses (MOOCs) could offer a viable means of developing in-demand job skills. However, MOOCs do not appear to attract the individuals who stand to benefit the most from enrolling in them. Therefore, the purpose of the current research is to understand the factors leading individuals to enroll in a MOOC. To date, research has focused primarily on participant demographics, with little attention given to the psychological process behind enrolling in a MOOC. Thus, we conducted an empirical study to determine the psychological process underlying an individual’s decision to sign up for a MOOC. The results indicate that participants were more likely to sign up for a MOOC if they had the intention to do so. We found that the intention to sign up for a MOOC was impacted by competing demands, perceived skills gap, value perceptions, and expectancy perceptions. That is, participants were more likely to intend to sign up if they perceived a gap in their job skills, perceived value in taking a MOOC, and had high expectancy in their ability to successfully complete a MOOC. Additionally, there was a negative relationship between competing demands and expectancy. Overall, this research has both practical and theoretical implications, including informing interventions to encourage under-skilled workers to pursue career advancement via MOOCs.
When our co-workers share their unfair experiences, do we believe them? Perceptions of workplace fairness are negatively related to perceived credibility of coworkers’ claims of injustice
(University of Waterloo, 2022-08-23) Nishioka, Midori; Bobocel, Ramona; Beck, James
Prior research shows that when observing a co-worker being treated unfairly, employees who are third parties to the incident feel angry and want to punish the perpetrator. However, research has focused on situations in which third parties have unambiguous information about the unfair incident, such as when they witnessed the incident directly. I argue that in many situations, third parties merely hear a co-worker’s claim about an unfair experience, which often provides ambiguous information about the incident. To compensate for ambiguity, I argue that third parties rely on their perceptions of their organization’s overall fairness when interpreting a claim, such that the more they perceive the organization to be fair, the less credible they perceive the claim to be. Across five studies using correlational and experimental designs, I found that third parties’ overall justice perceptions negatively affected their perceptions of claim credibility. In turn, perceived claim credibility was positively related to subsequent reactions, including anger and intentions to punish the accused and support the claimant. Consequently, the more third parties perceived their organization to be fair, the less they reacted to a claim of unfairness. However, the negative effect of overall justice on perceived claim credibility was reduced when third parties had unambiguous information about the incident. Although prior research has focused on beneficial effects of employees’ justice perceptions, I show that there can also be harmful effects. Thus, even if an organization is generally fair, its leaders must remain vigilant to ensure that victims of injustice receive proper support.
Why do people (not) take breaks? An investigation of individuals’ reasons for taking and for not taking breaks at work
(University of Waterloo, 2021-01-18) Phan, Vincent; Beck, James
Employees sometimes need breaks to deal with the demands of their jobs. Indeed, studies show that breaks allow employees to stay energized and maintain high levels of performance throughout the day. However, few studies have investigated employees’ reasons for taking a break. Further, almost no research has examined employees’ reasons for not taking a break, even though employees sometimes refrain from taking a break despite wanting or needing a break. I address this gap by identifying psychological processes underlying break-taking. In Study 1, I conducted a qualitative survey in which employees reported their reasons for taking and for not taking a break. This allowed me to identify break antecedents that may not have been considered previously, but that can nonetheless influence whether or not a person will take a break. In Study 2, I developed and validated measures of the antecedents found in Study 1 across two samples. In Study 3, I conducted a daily diary study to investigate the manner in which these antecedents combine with employees’ micro-break climate and conscientiousness to predict break frequency over five workdays. The results indicate that employees may want a break due to the negative experiences (fatigue, negative affect, and performance concerns) they encounter as a result of high workloads, but that characteristics of employees’ goals (expedience concerns) and of the broader work setting (micro-break climate) may deter employees from actually taking a break. Altogether, this dissertation challenges the implicit assumption within the literature that individuals’ break-taking behaviors are primarily driven by fatigue.
Worth the Effort? The Effects of Task-Centrality, Annoyance, and Arrogance on Manager Effort Allocation During Feedback-Seeking Episodes
(University of Waterloo, 2022-08-12) Westlake, Kennedy; Beck, James
Employees seek feedback from managers to reduce work-related ambiguity. However, managers typically have other competing demands on their time, and as such, may not allocate sufficient effort to providing feedback. To this end, the purpose of the current study is to investigate the feedback-seeking process from the manager’s perspective. Specifically, we draw on self-regulatory theories to explain how managers balance providing feedback with other work demands. We predicted that the perception of providing feedback as a central task in one’s role as a manager would be positively related to effort allocated to delivering feedback. Furthermore, we expected annoyance to mediate this relationship. However, we did not expect the effect of task centrality on annoyance to be uniform across all managers. Instead, we predicted the relationship between task centrality and annoyance would be strongest for managers who are highly arrogant, relative to their less arrogant counterparts. We tested our predictions using a multi-wave, correlational study. Managers (N=187) reflected on a recent feedback episode, and completed self-report measures of annoyance, arrogance, task centrality, and effort. As predicted, there was a significant positive relationship between task centrality and effort. Additionally, annoyance mediated task centrality and effort. Although the focal analyses did not support arrogance as a moderator for task centrality and annoyance, supplemental analyses revealed that arrogance was associated with less effort allocated to delivering feedback, and that this effect was mediated by task centrality perceptions. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings as well as future research directions will be discussed.

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Browsing Psychology by Author "Beck, James"