Research Group Description

Various I-O faculty members and students have interests related to judgment and decision making in the workplace. A general theme in the different research streams is the application of behavioral decision research to the understanding of people’s judgments about jobs, organizations, and human resource practices.

One stream of research is focused on resistance to the use of decision aids in organizations--particularly selection decision aids. A number of studies are being done on topics such as selection decision-making styles, lay impressions (or “folk theories”) of employee selection, and reactions to different methods of communicating selection utility.

Another stream of research is focused on understanding the psychology of attraction to organizations. Studies are being conducted on the impression-management objectives of job seekers, and how corporate reputations help job seekers meet these objectives. Other topics include the measurement of corporate reputation perceptions, and understanding the complex relation between corporate familiarity and attraction.

In addition, research is being done to understand the relation between job seekers’ impressions of jobs, and job holders’ attitudes about those jobs. For example, research in decision making has identified an “empathy gap” between expectations for a choice and actual satisfaction with that choice. Do people know what they want in a job? Can job choice provide need fulfillment?

Recent Research Publications and Presentations

Dalal, D. K., Diab, D. L, Balzer, W. K., Doherty, M. E. (In press). The Lens Model: An application of JDM methodologies to IOOB practice. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice.

Daniels, M., Pui, S., Diab, D., Alexander, K., Brooks, M.E. (2009, November). Effects of Imperfect Information and Risk on Job ChoiceBehavior of Indecisives and Maximizers. Poster presented at the annual Society for Judgment and Decision Making conference, Boston, MA.

Diab, D., Alexander, K., Daniels, M., Pui, S., Brooks, M.E. (2009, November). Individual differences and susceptibility to context effects in an organizational recruitment setting. Poster presented at the annual Society for Judgment and Decision Making conference, Boston, MA.

Kirkendall, S. R., Withrow, S. A., Kostek, J. A., & Highhouse, S. (November, 2010). A measure of self-presentation motives in decision making. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting for the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, St. Louis, MO.

Lake, C., Wood, N.L., Kirkendall, S.R., & Highhouse, S. (November, 2010). From dollars to outrage: Modeling reactions to executive bonuses. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting for the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, St. Louis, MO.

Nolan, K.P., Dalal, D.K., Yankelevich, M., & Brooks, M. (November, 2009). Communicating Statistics: The interpretation of common language effect sizes. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, Boston, MA.