Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.

/pdf/common-method-biases-in-behavioral-research-a-critical-53ocysaemj.pdf

Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies.

This study focuses on burnout and its positive antipode—engagement. A model is tested in which burnout and engagement have different predictors and different possible consequences. Structural equation modeling was used to simultaneously analyze data from four independent occupational samples (total N = 1698). Results confirm the hypothesized model indicating that: (1) burnout and engagement are negatively related, sharing between 10 per cent and 25 per cent of their variances; (2) burnout is mainly predicted by job demands but also by lack of job resources, whereas engagement is exclusively predicted by available job resources; (3) burnout is related to health problems as well as to turnover intention, whereas engagement is related only to the latter; (4) burnout mediates the relationship between job demands and health problems, whereas engagement mediates the relationship between job resources and turnover intention. The fact that burnout and engagement exhibit different patterns of possible causes and consequences implies that different intervention strategies should be used when burnout is to be reduced or engagement is to be enhanced. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

/pdf/job-demands-job-resources-and-their-relationship-with-k0dg00q4k0.pdf

Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: a multi‐sample study

This article reports on the development of a short questionnaire to measure work engagement—a positive work-related state of fulfillment that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. ...

The Measurement of Work Engagement With a Short Questionnaire: A Cross-National Study.

Purpose – Employee engagement has become a hot topic in recent years among consulting firms and in the popular business press. However, employee engagement has rarely been studied in the academic literature and relatively little is known about its antecedents and consequences. The purpose of this study was to test a model of the antecedents and consequences of job and organization engagements based on social exchange theory.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was completed by 102 employees working in a variety of jobs and organizations. The average age was 34 and 60 percent were female. Participants had been in their current job for an average of four years, in their organization an average of five years, and had on average 12 years of work experience. The survey included measures of job and organization engagement as well as the antecedents and consequences of engagement.Findings – Results indicate that there is a meaningful difference between job and organization engagements and that perceived organi...

Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement

The Social Psychology of Organizations.

Researchers have studied whether there are classes of people who differ systematically in the way they respond to polytomous ordered scales with a middle category such as ?. The mixed-partial credit model was fitted to a number of scales of a personality questionnaire. Most of the scales fit better with the use of 2 latent subpopulations. The most consistent difference among the latent classes was related to the functioning of the middle response category. For most of the examinees, the probability of choosing the middle category was very close to zero, but a nonnegligible percentage of people selected this category with much higher probability. The total scores from the 2 subpopulations were incommensurate. Some personality factors contributed to explaining class membership.

Investigating the functioning of a middle category by means of a mixed-measurement model.

This study examines the influence of education level diversity on team communication quality and team performance. Specifically, we propose a moderated mediation model with team communication quality as a mediator in the relationship between education level diversity and team performance, and with innovation team climate as a moderator in this mediated relationship. The study sample consisted of 57 bank branches, and a lagged design with three data-collection points was implemented. The results obtained showed that, as expected, innovation team climate moderated the relationship between education level diversity and team communication quality, as well as the indirect effect linking education level diversity, team communication quality, and team performance. Practitioner points This study informs team managers about the contingent influence of education level diversity on work teams' functioning that should be taken into account when forming and managing teams composed of individuals with different levels of formal education., Education level diversity was found to influence team communication quality and performance positively when the level of innovation team climate was high, but negatively when it was low. Therefore, team managers should foster innovation climates in teams with members who have different levels of education., The aforementioned influence of education level diversity was transmitted through intrateam communication quality. Therefore, team managers should enhance the latter variable within educationally diverse teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linking educational diversity and team performance: Team communication quality and innovation team climate matter

The objective of this study is to test the validity of the collective climate concept. It was expected that membership in collective climates was related to membership in the collectivities defined by departmental membership, hierarchical level, shift, job location and organizational tenure. The study sample was composed of 195 employees from a central administration agency. Using a combination of hierarchical and non-hierarchical clustering methods, three different collective climates were obtained. The results showed that only hierarchical level was related to collective climate membership. Based on all the results obtained, the debate on the validity of collective climates is reconsidered, and research on climate formation and relevant factors in that process is emphasized.

The validity of collective climates

Ambiguous response formats predict correlations from .467 to 1 between opposite items, depending on whether the respondent’s interpretation of the format is unipolar or bipolar. The authors present a procedure to investigate the proper interpretation in each case. It consists of applying nonparametric and parametric item response theory models (the Mokken and the graded response models) to pairs of opposite items in order to find the locations of the response options along the latent scale and, therefore, identify the response format construction. The authors tested this procedure on 4 samples (Ns 142–1,150) and 2 item pairs (“relaxed”–“tense” and “optimistic”–“pessimistic”). The results revealed that respondents constructed the formats as bipolar and supported the bipolarity of the item pairs. The structure of affect has been the object of great debate for more than 40 years. Throughout these 4 decades, some controversies have been resolved and others have been forgotten, but the cornerstone of the polemic, that is, the bipolar or monopolar nature of the main dimensions of the affect structure, has remained the same.

How do respondents construe ambiguous response formats of affect items

We investigated whether a set of indicators of the employability dimensions proposed by Fugate, Kinicki, and Asforth (i.e., career identity, personal adaptability, and human and social capital) are...

Vicente González-Romá

Papers

Investigating the functioning of a middle category by means of a mixed-measurement model.

Linking educational diversity and team performance: Team communication quality and innovation team climate matter

The validity of collective climates

How do respondents construe ambiguous response formats of affect items

University Graduates' Employability, Employment Status, and Job Quality.