Dr. Wendy Casper
Assistant Professor
The Relationship Between Personnel Support Programs and Readiness: A Model to Guide Future Research.
McGonigle, Timothy P.; Casper, Wendy J.; Meiman, Edward P.; Cronin, Candace Blair; Cronin, Brian E. & Harris, Rebecca R., 2005, Military Psychology, Vol. 17 Issue 1, 23–37.
In this article we provide a conceptual model for investigating the relationship between personnel support programs and readiness. The model categorizes personnel support programs and defines readiness in a manner that allowed for a systematic review of their relationship in the military and civilian literature. The model also defines a set of mediating variables to help explain the relationship between personnel support programs and readiness. After reviewing the structure of the model, we summarize existing research on the mediated relationships between the two. We conclude by providing recommendations for future research on the role of personnel support programs in readiness.
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Collaborative Planning For Training Impact.
Kraiger, Kurt; Mclinden, Daniel; Casper, Wendy J. Winter2004, Human Resource Management, Vol. 43 Issue 4, p337, 15p.
The article presents recent models and research on training from areas of industrial/organizational psychology. Even as organizations continue to look to training to contribute to long-term strategic goals, training professionals are redefining themselves as broad-based change agents and performance improvement consultants. Survey data indicate that organizations still do not routinely measure the impact of training on job performance. It is valuable to consider whether training has used the tools of its professional practice to warrant inclusion in organizational decision making. Planning for training must be a collaborative effort, involving all levels of the organization. Research on training effectiveness suggests that training has its greatest impact when all parties in the organization share responsibility for identifying training needs, ensuring that trainees have the time and opportunity to focus on training, and have the opportunity and support to apply and practice trained skills on the job.;
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The Work-life benefits and job pursuit intentions: The role of anticipated organizational support.
Casper, Wendy J. & Buffardi, Louis C. 2004. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(3), Pages 391-410.
The current study examined the impact of two work-life benefits, work schedule flexibility, and dependent care assistance, on applicants’ intentions to pursue jobs with potential employers. The study also explored whether anticipated organizational support would mediate the relationships between these two work-life benefits and job pursuit intentions. Results indicated that although work schedule flexibility, dependent care assistance, and salary were all related to job pursuit intentions, only schedule flexibility, and dependent care were related to anticipated organizational support. Findings also indicated that anticipated organizational support fully mediated the effects of work schedule flexibility and dependent care assistance on job pursuit intentions. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of organizational support as a mediating mechanism through which work-life benefits influence more distal outcomes, and in terms of implications for organizational recruiting strategies.
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Work and family research in IO/OB: Content analysis and review of the literature (1980–2002).
Lillian T. Eby, Casper Wendy J.; Angie Lockwood, Chris Bordeaux & Andi Brinley. 2005. Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 66 Issue 1, Pages 124-197.
This monograph reviews 190 work–family studies published in IO/OB journals from 1980 to 2002. The results of a content analysis are presented which catalog these articles with respect to the study focus, nature and direction of the proposed effects, and predictor, criterion, and mediator variables examined. Then a narrative review of the articles is presented, organized in terms of the following topical areas: (1) work–family conflict, (2) work role stress, (3) work–family assistance, (4) work schedules, (5) job-related relocation, (6) career and job-related outcomes, (7) gender and the relationship between work and family domains, (8) dual-earner couples, and (9) relationships among life domains. The review concludes with a discussion of recurring themes in the literature and the identification of blind spots in the IO/OB perspective on work and family. Specific suggestions for future research are also provided.
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Gilad Chen; Goddard, Thomas G.; Casper, Wendy J. Jul2004, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Vol. 53 Issue 3, p349, 22p.
The authors delineated and tested the relationships among individual differences (general and work-specific self-evaluations), contextual variables (work-related control beliefs), and three job attitudes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job involvement). Results from a study of 159 healthcare employees found that work-specific self-evaluations, particularly organization-based self-esteem, strongly predicted job attitudes. Moreover, work-specific self-evaluations helped explain why and how general self-evaluations and work-related control beliefs relate to job attitudes. Finally, the correlations between general self-evaluations and organization-based self-esteem were moderated by work-related control beliefs. Contributions to organizational theory and practice, as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.
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Supervisor Referrals to Work--Family Programs.
Casper, Wendy J.; Fox, Kevin E.; Sitzmann, Traci M.; Landy, Ann L,. Apr2004, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p136, 16p.
Supervisors play an important role in determining whether employees use work-family programs. Yet little research has examined the factors that relate to supervisor perceptions of and behaviors surrounding work-family programs. This study builds on past research, the theory of reasoned action, and expectancy theory to explore factors that contribute to supervisors' decisions to refer subordinates to work-family programs. Usable surveys assessing perceptions of work-family programs were completed and returned by 1,972 managers in a large government agency. Results revealed that program awareness and instrumentality perceptions both contributed uniquely to predicting the frequency of supervisors' referrals to work-family programs. Supportive attitudes also predicted referrals, but only through their shared relationship with instrumentality perceptions.
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Casper, Wendy J.; Martin, Jennifer A.; Buffardi, Louis C.; Erdwins, Carol J.; Source: April 2002, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. Vol. 7 (2pp. 99-108).
This study investigated the impact of work interfering with family (WIF) and family interfering with work (FIW) on women's organizational commitment and examined both the direct and moderating effects of their perceived organizational support. Participants were 143 professional employed mothers with at least 1 preschool-age child. The study found that WIF was positively related to continuance organizational commitment but unrelated to affective commitment, and FIW was not related to either form of organizational commitment. Results also indicated that perceived organizational support exhibited a main effect on both types of commitment.
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Chen, Gilad; Casper, Wendy J.; Cortina, Jose M., 2001, Human PerformanceVol. 14 Issue 3, p209, 22p.
Although cognitive ability and conscientiousness have been found to predict work-related performance, less is known about whether and when certain mediating variables help explain these relationships. This study examined meta-analytically whether self-efficacy mediates the cognitive ability-performance and conscientiousness-performance relationships, and whether task complexity moderates the extent to which self-efficacy mediates these relationships. Results indicated that cognitive ability and conscientiousness positively relate to self-efficacy, but that the magnitude of these relationships varies with task complexity. Furthermore, results showed that self-efficacy mediates the relationships of cognitive ability and conscientiousness with performance on simple tasks, but not on complex tasks. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
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Examining the Factor Structure of Participant Reactions to Training: A Multidimensional Approach.
Morgan, Ronald B.; Casper, Wendy J.. Fall2000, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 11 Issue 3, p301, 17p.
Increased understanding of the content of participant reactions to training is a necessary step in improving their construct validity and usefulness. This study examines the factor structure of a large database of participant reactions to training and explores the emergence of a utility factor. The results suggest that participant reactions are multidimensional and that utility judgments represent an underlying dimension. Treating reactions as unidimensional may mash their true relationship to other measures of training effectiveness.
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