Archives: Downloads

Age and environmental sustainability: A meta-analysis

Wiernik, B. M., Ones, D. S., & Dilchert, S.
Journal of Managerial Psychology, 28, 826-856.
(2013)

Research has shown that individuals of different ages hold different environmental attitudes and perform environmental behaviors of different kinds and to varying degrees. The strength and direction of age-effects observed across studies has been inconsistent, however. This study examined the relationship between age and a variety of environmental sustainability-related psychological variables using meta-analytic techniques.
Methodology: Relationships between age and environmental concern, environmental values, attitudes toward environmental behaviors, environmental awareness, environmental knowledge, environmental motives, environmental intentions, and pro-environmental behaviors were examined. Data from relevant studies between 1970 and 2010 were meta-analyzed to determine the magnitudes of relationships between age and environmental variables, and to investigate whether effects generalize across studies.
Findings: Most relationships were negligibly small. Small but generalizable relationships indicated that older individuals appear to be more likely to engage with nature, avoid environmental harm, and conserve raw materials and natural resources.
Value: Stereotypes about age-differences in environmental sustainability are commonly held in organizations. If work and organizational psychologists are to encourage and help individuals to be more environmentally responsible at work, understanding how age affects these efforts is imperative. By meta-analytically estimating age-differences in environmental sustainability variables, the present study helps to dispel erroneous stereotypes and guide organizations to implement effective environmental interventions.

Gewissenhaftigkeit

[Conscientiousness]
Dilchert, S., & Ones, D. S.
In W. Sarges (Ed.),
Management-Diagnostik (4th ed., pp. 323-332).
Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe.
(2013)

Gewissenhaftigkeit umfasst – wie die meisten Konstrukte höherer Ordnung – eine Vielzahl zusammenhängender, aber dennoch konzeptionell unterschiedlicher Facetten. Ziel dieses Kapitels ist es, die Bedeutung des psychologischen Konstrukts, einschließlich seiner wichtigsten Facetten, zu skizzieren und eine Übersicht darüber zu geben, wie es mit dem Arbeitsleben von Managern zusammenhängt.

Counterproductive work behaviors: Concepts, measurement, and nomological network

Ones, D. S., & Dilchert, S.
In K. F. Geisinger, B. A. Bracken, J. F. Carlson, J.-I. C. Hansen, N. R. Kuncel, S. P. Reise, & M. C. Rodriguez (Eds.),
APA handbook of testing and assessment in psychology (pp. 643-659).
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
(2013)

The work psychology literature has collectively referred to undesirable employee behaviors as counterproductive work behavior (CWB). In the quest to better understand this construct, this chapter offers a measurement-based, quantitative, psychological perspective. The purpose is to provide an overview of CWB and its measurement in work psychology. To this end, first the construct space for CWB is defined, locating it in models of job performance. Second, competing definitions from the literature and the strengths and weaknesses of each are summarized. Third, both broad measures and specific indicators of the construct and its lower order factor structure are described. Fourth, the reliability of scale scores in this domain is reviewed. Fifth, the measurement of CWB using observer reports is discussed. Sixth, findings on individual-differences correlates of CWB measures from the meta-analytic literature are summarized. The authors also offer some recommendations for better conceptualization and measurement of the CWB construct domain.

Measuring, understanding, and influencing employee green behaviors

Ones, D. S., & Dilchert, S.
In A. H. Huffman & S. R. Klein,
Green organizations: Driving change with I-O Psychology (pp. 115-148).
New York: Routledge.
(2013)

In this chapter, we first highlight evidence that environmental sustainability and responsibility are increasingly valued by many corporations. Second, we delineate environmental sustainability constructs at both the organizational and individual levels of analysis. At the organizational level, we distinguish environmental performance from social responsibility, and highlight how each is related to organizational financial performance. At the individual level, we distinguish between general pro-environmental behaviors and employee green behaviors. We also discuss how employee green behaviors relate to constructs such as employee engagement, task performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, counterproductive work behaviors, and organizational tenure. Third, we describe a taxonomy of employee green behaviors, noting functional and motivational differences among categories. Fourth, we review person-based approaches (recruiting, staffing) and intervention-based approaches (training, motivational interventions) that can be used to influence employee green behaviors in organizations. We conclude by highlighting streams of employee-focused research that will contribute to improving environmental sustainability of organizations.

Environmental sustainability at work: A call to action

Ones, D. S., & Dilchert, S.
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 5, 444-466.
(2012)

As world economies and organizations transform to minimize, mitigate, and neutralize their environmental impact and adapt for environmental sustainability, industrial and organizational psychologists are uniquely positioned to aid in these efforts. Industrial and organizational (I–O) psychology has a central role to play and a duty to contribute to organizational greening initiatives. In making our case, we first describe how economic activities, organizations, and workplaces of today are in the midst of unprecedented change in terms of their impacts on and relations with the natural environment. To ensure conceptual clarity, we then delineate environmental sustainability constructs that are relevant in work settings and distinguish them from related concepts (e.g., social responsibility). We also provide an overview of psychological contributions to environmental sustainability and note that so far there is limited I–O psychological research and application. We conclude by describing ways in which I–O psychologists can contribute.

Environmental sustainability in and of organizations

Dilchert, S., & Ones, D. S.
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 5, 509-517.
(2012)

We note that the current intellectual, social, and economic milieu has led to general acceptance of environmental sustainability as one of the most important issues of our time. Environmental sustainability is a big idea, and it is in the air (Gladwell, 2008). Few industrialorganizational (IO) psychologists disagree. However, there are many different ideas on the what, where, and how our field can contribute. We review facilitators, drivers, and barriers to environmental sustainability of organizations. We also discuss the ways in which cultural and international research can strengthen sustainability research and practice. In order to make a meaningful difference and positive environmental impact, IO psychologists and HR practitioners need to focus on their unique skills and influence organizational environmental sustainability by designing and shaping work, workplaces, and workforces.

Measuring and improving environmental sustainability

Dilchert, S., & Ones, D. S.
In S. E. Jackson, D. S. Ones, & S. Dilchert (Eds.),
Managing human resources for environmental sustainability (pp. 187-221).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
(2012)

A thorough understanding of how organizational activities can be managed in environmentally sustainable ways requires input from organizational and behavioral scholars and practitioners and needs to be based on individual and organizational level measurement. At the individual level, the degree to which employees contribute to or detract from environmental sustainability can be observed, measured, and influenced. At the organizational level, corporate environmental performance can be conceptualized and measured to help manage the triple bottom-line (Elkington, 1998, Savitz & Weber, 2006). The goal of this chapter is to highlight some of the ways that environmental sustainability has been conceptualized and measured at both levels, review approaches to positively impact environmental sustainability at the individual level, and summarize important variables that relate to it at the organizational level. It is hoped that this review will increase the knowledge base on and understanding of those issues, and that it will aid industrial and organizational psychologists in their efforts to improve environmental sustainability in organizations and their workforces.

Employee green behaviors

Ones, D. S., & Dilchert, S. (2012).  
In S. E. Jackson, D. S. Ones, & S. Dilchert (Eds.),
Managing human resources for environmental sustainability (pp. 85-116).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
(2012)

The overall objective of this chapter is to describe individual variability in employee behaviors that relate to environmental sustainability work settings. To achieve this goal, we first define a broad category of behavior that we have come to refer to as employee green behavior. Second, we then detail a taxonomy of employee green behaviors that is intended to describe the content of employee green behavior categories and define a construct of individual level environmental sustainability in work settings. Third, ‘we address the connections between employee green behaviors and model of individual level performance. Fourth, we offer guidance on how the framework presented in this chapter can be used in human resources management practice and research applications. We conclude by addressing construct validity questions about the model of employee green behaviors.

Environmental sustainability and organization sensing at Procter & Gamble

Biga, A., Dilchert, S., McCance, A. S., Gibby, R. E., Oudersluys, A. D.
In S. E. Jackson, D. S. Ones, & S. Dilchert (Eds.),
Managing human resources for environmental sustainability (pp. 362-374).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
(2012)

This case study provides a brief overview of P&G’s sustainability efforts in general and illustrates how the company uses organizational surveys as a pulse check on employee engagement and its link to environmental sustainability behaviors in the workplace.

A review of citizenship and counterproductive behaviors in organizational decision-making

Hoffman, B. J., & Dilchert, S.
In N. Schmitt (Ed.),
Oxford handbook of personnel assessment and selection (pp. 543–569).
New York: Oxford University Press.
(2012)

This chapter provides an analysis of historical trends underlying the measurement of two alternative work criterion variables: organizational citizenship and counterproductive work behaviors. Conceptual frameworks and taxonomic models are reviewed, and measurement of the two constructs in research and applied settings is discussed. The empirical evidence that links individual differences predictors and assessment tools to citizenship and counterproductivity is discussed with a focus on employee selection.