Moderation effects of perceived organisational support on curvilinear relationship between neuroticism and job performance

Numeracy Gender Gap in STEM Higher Education: The Role of Neuroticism and Math Anxiety

The under-representation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is ubiquitous and understanding the roots of this phenomenon is mandatory to guarantee social equality and economic growth. In the present study, we investigated the contribution of non-cognitive factors that usually show higher levels in females, such as math anxiety (MA) and neuroticism personality trait, to numeracy competence, a core component in STEM studies. A sample of STEM undergraduate students, balanced for gender (N_F = N_M = 70) and Intelligent Quotient (IQ), completed online self-report questionnaires and a numeracy cognitive assessment test. Results show that females scored lower in the numeracy test, and higher in the non-cognitive measures. Moreover, compared to males’, females’ numeracy scores were more strongly influenced by MA and neuroticism. We also tested whether MA association to numeracy is mediated by neuroticism, and whether this mediation is characterized by gender differences. While we failed to detect a significant mediation of neuroticism in the association between MA and numeracy overall, when gender was added as a moderator in this association, neuroticism turned out to be significant for females only. Our findings revealed that non-cognitive factors differently supported numeracy in females and males in STEM programs.

Curvilinear Effects of Extraversion on Socialization Outcomes Among Chinese College Students

The authors examine the too-much-of-a-good-thing effect (TMGT effect) in a model showing that extraversion has a curvilinear relationship with social acceptance and depression. A study of 371 freshmen in a Chinese university showed that extraversion had a curvilinear relationship with social acceptance, such that the relationship was significantly positive from lower to moderate levels of extraversion, but the positive relationship leveled off at higher levels of extraversion. Extraversion also had a curvilinear relationship with depression, such that the relationship was significantly negative from lower to moderate levels of extraversion, but the negative relationship leveled off at higher levels of extraversion. The study indicates that beyond a certain point, the beneficial effects of extraversion on socialization outcomes were diminished. That is, higher levels of extraversion were not associated with more positive socialization outcomes (though they were not associated with worse outcomes either) when extraversion exceeded a certain point. Implications of theory and practice, and limitations and directions for future research, are discussed.

Felt accountability: the role of personality and organizational factors

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to employ the meso-level theory of felt accountability to investigate the relationships among positive affect, negative affect, perceived organizational support, organizational structure and felt accountability.

Design/methodology/approach

To avoid common method bias, this study employed a time-lag data collection technique in collecting data from 132 participants. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationships among the variables.

Findings

The results show a positive association between positive affect and perceived organizational support and felt accountability, whereas negative affect and organizational structure were negatively correlated with felt accountability, in that machine structures constraint the development of felt accountability.

Originality/value

This research advances the meso-level theory of felt accountability and social exchange frameworks by integrating personality and organizational factors influencing felt accountability, and demonstrating that that the tangible advantages offered by an organization are reciprocated by employees’ accountability.

Aberrant personality tendencies and academic success throughout engineering education

OBJECTIVE

In a longitudinal field study, we investigated the predictive associations between six aberrant personality tendencies (schizotypal, avoidant, borderline, antisocial, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive) and academic success of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students.

METHOD

Bachelor students of Industrial Engineering at a Dutch technical university (N = 432, M_age  = 18.45; 87.3% male) filled out the NEO-PI-R and aberrant tendencies were operationalized by the five-factor model (FFM) compound technique. Indicators of academic achievement (grades) and persistence (credit points earned per year, re-enrollment, study duration) were made available by the academic office.

RESULTS

Validities across the 3 years of the study program consistently support the role of two aberrant tendencies: Individuals with high antisocial tendency reached lower academic achievement, took longer to finish their study, and had a higher risk of dropout. The obsessive-compulsive tendency was associated with higher grade-point average, faster study progress, and higher retention rates and effects were still visible while controlling for known predictors (high school grades, Conscientiousness). Contrary to our expectations, we found no evidence for inverted U-shaped relationships.

CONCLUSIONS

We used the compound technique for aberrant tendencies based on the FFM in the academic context and our findings support the importance of personality-based psychopathological tendencies for academic success.

Assessing the Physicians' Acceptance of E-Prescribing in a Developing Country

This article describes how physicians in developing countries spend much time and effort in handling manual prescriptions, which can be easily reduced with the help of online technology. Although different theoretical models for technology acceptance have been thoroughly explored, there is as yet sparse literature regarding its use in the context of healthcare in developing countries, especially with innovative models. To this end, this article uses an integrative model of Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) extended by perceived credibility to better understand the acceptance of e-prescribing among physicians in a developing Asian country. In addition, the article uses perceived organizational support as a moderator between behavioral intentions and usage of technology. Using a survey method, the article collects data from 295 physicians in the capital city of Pakistan and analyzes the data through structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate relationships among the identified constructs. The authors' results supply empirical evidence that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, and perceived credibility all have a positive and significant impact on physicians' behavioral intentions to adopt e-prescribing. The article also concludes that the higher the perceived organizational support, the higher the use of e-prescribing. The study enriches theory and practice by giving implications for both academicians and practitioners.