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Erscheinungsjahr
- 2013 (2) (entfernen)
Schlagworte
- Driving Behaviour (1)
- Fahrerverhalten (1)
- career (1)
Institut
- Psychologie/Wirtschaftspsychologie (2) (entfernen)
Research in work and organizational psychology frequently conducts studies based on self-report questionnaires. Evidence of the reliability and validity of these measures has to be provided based on thorough research in order to be certain that meaningful conclusions can be reached. Recently, latent variable approaches have been introduced that provide new opportunities to examine the instruments and determine if they are suitable to obtain meaningful results. They also offer new approaches to investigate the relationships between constructs, particularly when assessed over time. The research conducted in this PhD thesis and reported in three papers aims at utilizing these opportunities to examine the measurement properties of a selection of self-report questionnaires and to address conceptual questions regarding the validity of these instruments. In the first paper, the structure of two five-factor personality inventories was examined using Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) and Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). Both methods were applied to construct better-fitting, though more complex models based on data from two questionnaires (NEO PI-R and 16PF) completed by 620 respondents. The impact on the construct validity of the inventories was assessed. Generally, scores derived from either method did not differ substantially. When applying ESEM, convergent validity declined but discriminant validity improved. When applying CFA, convergent and discriminant validity decreased. We conclude that using current personality questionnaires that utilize a simple structure is appropriate. In the second paper, the nature of and reason for the relationship between a presence of a calling and three aspects of career preparation (career planning, decidedness, and self-efficacy) were investigated. Data were collected in three waves of a diverse sample of German university students (N = 846) over one year. Latent growth analyses revealed that calling was positively related with all career preparation measures. The slope of calling was positively related to those of decidedness and self-efficacy but not to planning. Cross-lagged analyses showed that calling predicted a subsequent increase in planning and self-efficacy. Planning and decidedness predicted an increase in the presence of a calling. In the third paper, the measurement properties of an adapted protean career orientation scale were examined. We present a series of studies that (1) establish the scale’s unidimensionality and measurement invariance across gender within separate samples of students and working professionals as well as measurement invariance between both samples; (2) demonstrate measurement invariance and differential stability over six months among students and professionals; (3) show that a protean career orientation partially mediates the relationship between personality dispositions (i.e., proactive personality, core self-evaluations) and proactive career behaviors and career satisfaction among students and employees; (4) demonstrate that a protean career orientation possesses incremental predictive validity regarding proactive career behaviors and career satisfaction beyond personality dispositions among students and employees; and (5) based on a cross-lagged study among employees, we show that career satisfaction predicts a protean career orientation but not vice versa. In summary, the research presented here provides researchers in the field of work and organizational psychology with a thorough assessment of the measurement properties and aspects of validity of these self-report questionnaires. The findings demonstrate their suitability for future research studies conducted in work and organizational psychology as well as for practical applications.
Determinants of Emotional Experiences in Traffic Situations and Their Impact on Driving Behaviour
(2013)
Emotions play a prominent role in explaining maladaptive driving and resulting motor vehicle accidents (MVAs). Above all, traffic psychologists have focussed their attention on anger and anxiety, including the origins and influence of these emotions on driving behaviours. This dissertation contributes to the field with three manuscripts that build upon each other. Those manuscripts have three separate objectives. The first identifies the broad range of emotions in traffic that should be analysed. Second, the impact of specific emotions on driving behaviour is focussed. Finally, the research investigates how situational and personal factors can influence emotional experiences and influence driving behaviour. The first article tackles the bandwidth of emotions in traffic. In two consecutive online studies (study one: = 100; study two: n = 187), different emotional experiences were assessed using the Geneva Emotion Wheel (and an advanced version). The stimulus material consisted of written traffic situations structured around specific factors (in these studies, predominantly goal congruence, goal relevance and blame). It could be shown that the properties of the situation can elicit emotions such as anger, anxiety and happiness, but also pride, guilt and shame. The second article saw a transfer of those situational factor structures from online-presented text to simulated driving. At this time, the focus of interest was the driving behaviour influenced by the elicited emotions. The simulator study (n = 79) revealed that anger, contempt and anxiety led to similar declines in driving performance profiles. Performance declines included driving at higher speeds, more frequent speeding and worse lateral control. The third article examined to what extent anger and personal characteristics could negatively influence driving behaviour. Two studies were conducted (study one: n = 74; study two; n = 80). The results indicated that specific characteristics of the person (male, little driving experience, high driving motivation, high trait-driving anger) could influence driving behaviour in negative ways, both directly and indirectly, via triggered anger emotions. It can be concluded from these results that the range of emotions in traffic encompasses much more than just anger and anxiety. Furthermore, the second and third articles show that within simulated environments, minimal but effective emotional intensities can be triggered, and those emotions (especially anger and anxiety) create similar performance patterns. Personal characteristics should be considered when explaining the elicitations of emotion and subsequent driving behaviour. The papers of this dissertation echo the call for new comprehensive models to explain the relationships among emotions and traffic behaviours.