RCIO Conference Schedule

NOTE: the schedule showing below was from the 2023 RCIO event -- this schedule will be updated for the 2024 event as core speakers are finalized. You can get an idea of the typical flow of the conference, however, from this example schedule.

The RCIO 2024 conference will take place Friday and Saturday, November 8 and 9, 2024. If you have questions about any aspect of the event, contact our conference chair, Dr. Chris Cunningham, at [email protected] or 423-425-4264. Note that the tentative schedule information below will continue to be updated until approximately the week before the conference.

Friday (afternoon sessions only - no registration required)

2:30 - 4:30, Panel Discussion: Strategies for getting a job and/or getting into graduate school with an undergraduate degree in Psychology, UTC University Center, Raccoon Mountain Room (main floor)
7:00 - 9:00 pm, Student social event at "Nic and Normans" restaurant (upstairs dining space), 1386 Market St, Chattanooga, TN 37402.
- All student attendees are encouraged to at least stop by this event as a great way to network and meet each other outside of the core day of the conference.

Saturday (full-day sessions - registration required)

8:15 - 8:25 AM, Welcoming remarks (Dr. Chris Cunningham), UTC University Center, Auditorium (main floor)

8:30 - 9:30 AM, Opening Plenary, UTC University Center, Auditorium (main floor)

Dr. Tracy M. Maylett

Swipe: The Science Behind Why We Disengage (and don’t finish what we start)

Why is it that some organizations attract and retain the best and brightest, yet others seem to struggle attracting talent, retaining top performers, and creating an environment in which their people choose to engage? And why is it that we leave organizations we were once so excited to be a part of?

Working from a database of over 50 million employee survey responses—the largest of its kind—we discovered some of the answers to these questions. Interestingly, we also found that the same factors prompting us to engage (or disengage) in our work are the reasons we disengage in other areas of our lives. Each day we wake up determined to engage with life—to overcome work challenges, engage in our job, excel in school, reach fitness goals, or repair strained relationships. Despite our best intentions, we fall short. Drawing on disciplines from psychology to neurobiology to business, this session will focus on understanding the reasons we disengage in our work—and our lives—and how to address them through increased awareness of

“MAGIC”- Meaning, Autonomy, Growth, Impact, and Connection—The five “keys” required for us to engage in what we do
The Swipe— the mental act of reflexively dismissing an uncomfortable or disturbing present in the hope that something better is easier is just around that corner (think “The Great Resignation”)
Current research on the state of employee engagement (Hint: Do you really think that 80% of employees are disengaged in their jobs?)—The intersection of science and practice
The connection between culture, our environment (the organizations to which we belong), our relationships (managers, coworkers, friends, family) and our desire to engage or disengage in our wor
Why our engagement matters to the organization, to those around us, and to each of us personally
How to create working environments in which our teams will choose to engage
How we can personally re-engage (and why it matters)

While focused on workplace engagement, attendees will find that the workplace concepts from this session apply to engaging in our personal pursuits as well—and finishing what we start.

Speaker bio: Tracy is a CEO, organizational psychologist, researcher, and professor. He advises leaders throughout the world in employee engagement and organizational effectiveness. Dr. Maylett is a bestselling author who travels the globe exploring culture, motivation, and how people and organizations think. His latest book, Swipe: The Science Behind Why We Don’t Finish What We Start (www.swipethebook.com) was released in March of 2023. Maylett is the CEO of employee experience firm DecisionWise and teaches in business undergraduate and graduate programs at Brigham Young University (Provo, UT USA) and Pforzheim University (Pforzheim, Germany). He is the author of numerous academic articles and is a regular contributor to Forbes, Inc., HBR, Entrepreneur, CNN.com, Financial Times, and The Atlantic.

9:45 - 10:45 AM, Presentations 1

Session A: Allison Dunsmore - UTC University Center, Auditorium (main floor)

Brand communication: Why storytelling matters

Stories connect us to places, ideas, and people. When we think of traditional storytelling, we most often associate the practice with cultures representing our personal lives. Corporate brands, however, can also connect with audiences through storytelling. In an ever-changing and challenging labor market, telling stories through “employer branding” can be a powerful tool for reaching talent, especially when those stories are authentic, layered, and represent the lives of real people. When shared in the right places, corporate stories expand reach, widen the talent pool, and pave a path for hiring more diverse talent. The most strategic stories attract more talent, spur innovation and productivity, boost morale and increase financial revenue.

Speaker bio: Over the past 10 years, Allison has enjoyed an exciting career in Human Resources, working for notable companies such as PwC, Banfield Pet Hospital, American Airlines and Petco to strengthen their talent pipelines. She now manages the Talent Acquisition Operations team with Seismic, where she's highly focused on creating meaningful candidate experiences and ensuring robust DEI practices are foundational within her organization. From strategic operational planning to boosting employer brand efforts, Allison believes in the power of corporate storytelling. She obtained a BA in Communications from the University of Massachusetts- Amherst and an MS in HR Management from Stony Brook University and after living all over the United States, she's now settled in North Carolina with her husband and two children.

Session B: Jacob Leslie, Tanner Landolt, Alex Mecklenburg, Dr. Shawn Bergman - UTC University Center, Raccoon Mountain Room (main floor)

Demystifying generative AI: A talent professional’s guide to using a new tool

Humans’ use of tools is nothing new. For centuries, people have been using tools and technology to increase their performance. However, the speed at which technology is changing the tools we have access to is accelerating. Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly emerged as a new and powerful technology, and generative AI like ChatGPT and Dall-E have made AI widely accessible - and adopted - by millions of people. However, for users and non-users alike it still remains unclear what generative AI is and how this new technology fits into a practitioner’s toolkit. Like most tools, generative AI can be used in ways that are more and less effective, and the consequences of using a tool incorrectly may be steep (after all, you might not use a hammer to dig a hole).

With a clear understanding of what generative AI is, how these new tools apply this technology, and how they might fit into a talent professional’s arsenal, users can understand how to confidently and competently use generative AI applications in their organization. This interactive session will dispel the mystique around generative AI and address some misconceptions about AI-powered interactive platforms. Participants will gain an understanding of what generative AI is, how to incorporate emerging AI tools into the work process, and learn how asking the right questions can help find the right balance between professional expertise, others’ viewpoints, and AI-powered insights. Humans’ use of tools is nothing new, but the tools that AI is powering are a bit novel. This session will help cut through the hype and determine the best way to maximize the benefits and minimize the downsides of using generative AI to attract, retain, and maximize talent in an organization.

Learning objectives for this session:

Understand what predictive analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are, and how they power emerging generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Dall-E.
Understand the difference between broader AI applications and generative AI applications in Talent Acquisition.
Discern between situations where generative AI may be effective and when it may lead to unintended and often negative consequences.
Identify opportunities for generative AI tools to be used within HR’s talent acquisition function

Speaker profiles: Jacob Leslie (LinkedIn profile), Tanner Landolt (LinkedIn profile), Alex Mecklenburg (LinkedIn profile), Dr. Shawn Bergman (LinkedIn profile)

11:00 - 12:15 PM, Poster presentations and discussions, UTC University Center, Tennessee Room (main floor)

(1) Measuring an Ability-Based Emotional Intelligence Through an AI Chatbot - Kim

Soonyoung Chloe Kim
Auburn University
Email: [email protected]

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a rapidly expanding field in Psychology, but the term has often been interpreted too broadly, frequently being equated with good character or social skills, such as personality traits. However, EI should be understood as the ability of individuals to react effectively to others based on the emotional information. The purpose of this study is to explore the plausibility of indirectly measuring emotional intelligence as an ability through an Artificial Intelligence chatbot. This chatbot extracts various textual features from users’ free-text responses collected during online conversations and employs machine-learning algorithms to infer emotional intelligence scores that will be resulted in four facets, (1) ‘Identifying Emotions’, (2) ‘Facilitating Emotions’, (3) ‘Understanding Emotions’, and (4) ‘Regulating Emotions’. The psychometric properties of machine-inferred scores will be examined, and those are internal consistency split-half reliability, factorial validity, convergent validity and discriminant validity, and criterion-related and incremental validity. For the method, five hundred participants will be recruited through SONA, a research management system. Participants in the training sample (n=400) will complete a list of Situational Judgment Test (SJT) items to measure their emotional intelligence on Qualtrics, and they will interact with an AI chatbot for approximately 45 to 60 minutes. Participants in the test sample (n=100) will undergo the same study procedure as the training sample and go through additional steps such as providing their college GPA, ACT and/or SAT scores, and completing a couple of surveys: an IQ (g) test and a life satisfaction scale to assess the criterion variables on academic performance, life satisfaction, and cognitive ability.

(2) Assessing Data Analytics Readiness as a First Step to Predict Incident Probability: A Replication - Syazania et al.

Firzana Syazania, Madison Culver, Caleb Pollard, Shawn Bergman, Timothy Ludwig
Appalachian State University
Email: [email protected]

Organizations have been able to make decisions that increase success and solve practical problems using data analytics and evidence-based management (Barends et. al, 2014). Analysis of injury-related data can reveal environmental workplace weaknesses and safety policy areas for improvement (Illinois Department of Public Health, 2023; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). However, proper variable development, harmonized measurement and data collection are a critical first step to determine the depth of analyses available for analytics. The data analytics readiness tool (DART) was developed to assist organizations in better understanding their current measurement capabilities, so that more advanced analytic techniques can be utilized to maximize organizational safety (Ezerins et al., 2022). Hinson et al., (2021) made use of similar data inventories and data analytic strategies, therefore, our study aims to replicate and build upon these methodologies. We are currently implementing the DART system within a large oil refinery in the southern United States to assess the potential predictive validity between variables of interest and incident probabilities. The DART will be used to sort variables into three broad categories as follows: Culture, prevention, and production. Culture is a measure of the organization's safety culture, prevention includes behaviors and tasks intended to reduce injuries (safety audits, inspections, hazard identifications, and safety observations), and production includes total hours worked, number of employees on site, amount of output, and even day of the week. The results of the DART will provide a roadmap for a) what data to retrieve that has high enough quality for initial analysis, leading to b) initial hypotheses, data cleaning and analysis, and c) direction for improvements to improve the quality of other variables of interest. Usage of the DART allows data to be obtained, organized and aggregated in a timely manner. Additionally, this tool can help identify the required variables to strengthen the analysis. This is especially critical, as it can also highlight variables that organizations may not be collecting information on to assess what may be causing the outcome. Through use of the DART in this proposed study, future data analyses can be completed successfully as certain criteria must have been met to ensure that there is adequate coverage of variables in order to predict the validity between the aforementioned variables of interest and incident probabilities (Compagnone & Ludwig).

(3) Can Replication Save Lives? Reproducing Previous Research where Behavior Based Safety Practices Reduced Incident Likelihoods - Leslie et al.

Jacob Leslie, Taylor Brynds, Drew Sipe, Rylie Sant, Shawn Bergman, TimLudwig
Appalachian State University
Email: [email protected]

Proposed and in-progress research: Introduction In 2021, workplace injuries and illnesses numbered 2.6 million, and workplace fatalities from injury alone numbered 5,190, an increase of 8.9% from 2020 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023). Data from 2019 indicates that these types of incidents collectively cost employers more than $1 billion per week in direct costs (Liberty Mutual Insurance, 2022). The high financial toll and prevalence of workplace injuries indicates the critical nature of safety research. A preliminary predictive model has suggested that safety observations and hazard identifications can reduce the likelihood of workplace injuries (Granowsky et al., 2023). This proposed study will perform a robust replication of that work. Methodology Three years of safety data (2020 - 2022) have been obtained, which includes safety observation counts, hazard identification counts, and incident counts, from the maintenance division in a large chemical manufacturing company in the United States. Safety observations and hazard identifications will be normalized by work hours to reflect the total number of observations per 8-hour shift. Safety incidents will be dichotomized to indicate: did an incident occur (1) or an incident did not occur (0). A rolling sum time-series logistic regression analysis will be performed to analyze weather observations and/or hazards over the previous seven days decrease the odds of an incident occurring over the next seven days. The logistic regression analyses will be performed within seven maintenance departments and aggregated upward such that results represent the average odds increase/decrease across the entire division. Results & Discussion Based on previous findings (Granowsky et al., 2023; Sant et al., 2022) it is expected the results will show that for every daily safety observation performed the odds of an incident will decrease between 15 - 25% over the next three days. Similarly, for every hazard identification performed over three days the odds of an incident occurring will decrease between 10 - 20% over the next seven days. These results would reinforce previous findings suggesting that performing safety observations and reporting hazards can mitigate incident risk, significantly benefiting employees and employers alike. An odds reduction of the aforementioned magnitudes would equate to approximately 20 less workplace incidents annually, preventing serious injuries amongst employees and saving the organization countless monies and resources. To maintain a reduction in workplace incidents, organizations need a strong safety culture, rigorous safety reporting procedures, and upper managerial support for workplace safety.

(4) Reactions to Automated Selection Decisions: Moderation by Job Type - Açıkgöz & Culver

Yalçın Açıkgöz & Madison Culver
Appalachian State University
Email: [email protected]

The civilian unemployment rate in the United States is currently 3.8% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023). This low level of unemployment has caused an increase in competition for talent across many industries and organizations. Talent also has a higher mobility, with an overall of 2.5% of workers, or around four million people, switching jobs each month on average (Kochhar et al., 2022). This means that in addition to attracting talent, it is crucial for organizations to be able to keep individuals in the applicant pool and ensure that they will accept a job offer when the time comes. Due to many organizations wanting to ensure recruitment and retention of potential employees, applicant reactions are an important factor to help achieve these goals. Automated decision making is now being used by many organizations to evaluate applicants for open positions. The extant literature on reactions to these hiring tools suggests that applicants prefer, as described by Mirowska & Mesnet (2022), ‘the devil they know’. Mirowska & Mesnet (2022) elaborate stating applicants seem to prefer human biases and intuition over that of artificial intelligence even when stating a belief that artificial intelligence evaluations are more objective. For example, Langer and colleagues (2020) found that participants included in an automatic evaluation condition felt that through the automation process of their interview, they had fewer opportunities to perform. However, there is no research on whether this is a uniform effect or if there are differences in how applicants react to automated decision making based on job type. In fact, applicant reactions literature largely ignores that the type of job individuals are applying to may make a difference in reactions by applicants. Accordingly, utilizing an experimental design with hypothetical job descriptions, and a sample of Prolific users living in the U.S., this study will examine the following hypotheses: H1: Reactions to automated decision-making will be more positive for a white-collar office job compared to a blue-collar job for a) interviews and b) resume screening. H2: Reactions to automated decision-making will be more positive for remote vs. in-person jobs for a) interviews and b) resume screening. H3: Reactions to automated resume screening will be more positive than reactions to automated interviews.

(5) Exploring the Benefits of Hiring Individuals with Disabilities in the Workplace - Sanders

Rosilyn Sanders
SUNY-Empire
Email: [email protected]

This qualitative study examined the impact of hiring people with intellectual disabilities (ID). The research questions were: What defines a disability? What accommodations are needed to ensure the success of a person with a disability? As a leader, what benefits do people with intellectual disabilities bring to the organization? What are the benefits of hiring people with intellectual disabilities in retail organizations? Moreover, how might people with intellectual disabilities contribute to the organizational culture of retail organizations? A narrative strength approach was used as a theoretical framework to guide the discussion and uncover the benefits of hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities in various retail organizations. Using 15 qualitative interviews, the following themes emerged: diversity and inclusion, accommodations, organizational culture, motivation, and customer service. These findings put to rest some negative stereotypes and perceptions of persons with ID as being unemployable or unable to perform tasks when employed, showing instead that persons with ID can work efficiently when given necessary work accommodations and support in an enabling organizational culture.

(6) Investigating the Gendered Effects of Caregiving Policies in Academia - Simmons et al.

Molly R. Simmons, Aishwarya Kumar, Katrina A. Burch, Ph.D.
Western Kentucky University
Email: [email protected]

Although women receive more doctorates across disciplines, they continue to be underrepresented in academia with representation of women faculty diminishing at higher ranks relative to their male counterparts. This phenomenon is known as the ‘leaky pipeline,’ and is frequently observed in STEM fields, though it exists across disciplines. Previous studies suggest the motherhood penalty heavily impacts women’s careers, especially in academia where biological and tenure clocks coincide. The overall aim of this study is to examine the gendered effects of caregiving policies for faculty in STEM fields at regional comprehensive universities through integrating the Work-Home Resources (W-HR) Model and feminist economics. Feminist economics highlights the unequal challenges faced by women and men, which are often overlooked in gender-neutral caregiving policies. The W-HR Model posits that demands in one domain, such as caregiving responsibilities, can spill over to affect resources in another domain, potentially impacting work outcomes. This study will employ a mixed-methods approach, incorporating publicly available data on caregiving policies and the number of male and female STEM faculty pre- and post-policy implementation from university websites; survey measures assessing work (i.e., productivity, workload) and well-being outcomes (i.e., family guilt, work-family conflict); and structured interviews to gather in-depth insights on parental leave policies and return-to-work experiences. The sample will include approximately 150 faculty from STEM disciplines who have utilized caregiving policies at regional comprehensive universities in the United States. Following the implementation of caregiving policies, we expect a decrease in the number of women faculty in STEM from Assistant to Associate Professor ranks. We also expect women faculty in STEM to report spending significantly more time on caregiving responsibilities than their male counterparts, as well as report significantly poorer work-related and well-being outcomes linked to caregiving compared to male colleagues. The study contributes to both research and practice by informing our understanding of the impact of caregiving policies on gender disparities in academia and guiding interventions to enhance the retention of women faculty in STEM at regional comprehensive universities. Achieving gender equity in academia necessitates addressing these issues, and this research aims to facilitate that progress.

(7) Minding the Intergenerational Gap: The Impact of Age on Knowledge Hiding and Organizational Justice - Jones & Baker

Seth Jones & Courtney Baker
East Carolina University
Email: [email protected]

Intergenerational workplaces contain multiple generations (Iweins et al., 2013) contributing to an organization’s climate with unique challenges as employees learn to work together despite generational barriers. With employees having increased career lengths and average lifespans, intergenerational workplaces are more prevalent, and the benefits of an age-diverse workplace cannot be understated (e.g., increased creativity, Backes-Gellner et al., 2011, increased decision-making capabilities Wegge et al., 2008). Knowledge management research has considered knowledge sharing within intergenerational teams, suggesting that age may be an important factor when considering employee’s knowledge sharing (Fasbender & Gerpott, 2021), but not explicitly knowledge hiding. Further, given there are many routes that age can have an influence on workplace processes, there have yet to be studies to consider the relationship between intergenerational contact and knowledge hiding. The current study investigates the moderating role of intergenerational contact between perceptions of organizational justice, age, and knowledge hiding. Additionally, we examine how knowledge hiding may subsequently impact exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect (EVLN). This study aims to address how issues arise in age-diverse organizations and how knowledge is effectively transferred to develop healthier age-diverse workplaces. This study considers the role of age, organizational justice, and intergenerational contact as predictors of knowledge hiding facets: playing dumb, evasive hiding, and rationalized hiding. Additionally, intergenerational contact, a subfactor of the workplace intergenerational climate scale (WICS) is expected to moderate the relationship between organizational justice and knowledge hiding. Further, the impact of knowledge hiding on EVLN is considered as differing knowledge hiding facets may impact these behaviors differently. For instance, evasive hiding may lead to increased neglect and rationalized hiding may lead to more loyalty. Data will be collected in a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 500 full-time workers obtained via CloudResearch’s Connect. Measures will include chronological age, WICS (King & Bryant, 2016), organizational justice (Colquitt, 2001), knowledge hiding (Connelly et al., 2012), and EVLN factors (Rusbult et al., 1982; Hirschman, 1970). Moderated mediation will be used. If the proposed model is accepted, the theoretical implications will situate more than chronological age within the knowledge management space by suggesting that age-diverse climates should be considered in knowledge management behaviors. Subsequently, the current study will identify facets of knowledge hiding that could warn employers about different workplace outcomes, like turnover. For practice, there may be ways to promote intergenerational contact within the workplace and alleviate knowledge hiding to provide recommendations for helping different aged workers.

(8) Investigating Perceived Social Class on the Likelihood of Employment During Virtual Interviews - East

Ashley C. East
Western Kentucky University
Email: [email protected]

Perceptions of social class impact multiple domains in an organization. In recent years, the interview process has changed, which has increased the usage of virtual job recruitment and selection. If individuals perceive an applicant as part of a particular social class, it is possible for the perception to be associated with how qualified they perceive the applicant to be. The present study examined the influence of a perceived social class during a virtual interview on the likelihood of employment. Specifically, I hypothesized that people who perceive an applicant as having a high social class will perceive them as more qualified than an applicant perceived as low social class. Data was collected using a vignette methodology with two experimental social class manipulations via Qualtrics. A convenience sample was recruited via social media (Facebook and Instagram), and a total of 77 responses were analyzed. Using independent samples t-tests, results indicate that there was not an association between perceived social class and likelihood of employment. While results showed no statistical significance regarding perceived social class and hireability, the findings from this study can be used to deepen the understanding of virtual interviews and biases in the recruitment process.

(9) A picture worth a thousand words: how career website images influence application intentions - Robertson et al.

Lukas Robertson, Hunter Bass, Luke Millen, Paige Couturier, Tanner Couturier, Tim Huelsman, Kristl Davison, Jess Doll
Appalachian State University
Email: [email protected]

Organizations are motivated to persuade qualified applicants to apply for open positions so they can identify and select higher-quality candidates (Phillips & Gully, 2015). As organizations realize the value of a diverse workforce, they have deployed recruitment strategies to attract underrepresented applicants (Greenberg, 2015). Studies conducted in 2003 and 2006 by Avery and McKay suggested that targeted recruitment advertisements positioning non-White employees as recognized and included in the organization increased non-White job seeker attraction to the organization. It has not yet been examined if this same effect extends to White members of other marginalized groups - specifically White and non-White members of the LGBTQ+ community (Avery & McKay, 2006; Walker et al., 2011). This study will examine the effects that images on a company’s “Careers Page'' web page have on the application intentions of applicants of different race/ethnic and LGBTQ+ identities. We will test four hypotheses with this study: Hypothesis One (H1): Images portraying a racially and ethnically diverse workforce will positively affect application intentions of non-White applicants Hypothesis Two (H2): Images portraying a LGBTQ+ symbolism will positively affect application intentions of LGBTQ+ applicants. Hypothesis Three (H3): Images representing one marginalized group will have positive, but slightly smaller effects on the application intentions of other marginalized groups. Hypothesis Four (H4): Application intentions of White applicants will remain unaffected by images portraying a racially and ethnically diverse workforce. These hypotheses will be tested in a 2x2x2 quasi-experiment, where we will measure the application intentions between groups of non-White job applicants and White job applicants. The application intentions of those who identify as LGBTQ+, or not, will also be examined. Study participants will be be presented with one of four different images on a mock web page: an image portraying no racial or ethnic diversity, an image portraying no racial or ethnic diversity with LGBTQ+ symbolism, an image portraying a racially and ethnically diverse workforce, or an image portraying a racially and ethnically diverse workforce with LGBTQ+ symbolism. Participation will be solicited from students completing their undergraduate degree at universities or community colleges. Findings from this study will quantify the effect elements of website images supporting diversity and inclusion have on different applicants’ application intentions. We will be able to better understand if the perception of any marginalized identity in the workforce, whether or not it is the applicant’s identity, increases the perception that one would be welcomed and included there.

(10) HBC- Who?: Perceptions of Talent from Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Taylor et al.

Kwani Taylor, Natalee Jamerson, Cassidy Zekas, Rachel Weaver, Tim Huelsman, Jessica Doll, Kristl Davison
Appalachian State University
Email: [email protected]

Qualified applicants strive to be recognized as a “good fit” in organizations. However, with a long history of racial discrimination in talent acquisition, how do Historically Black College and University graduates feel they are perceived by organizations in comparison to their Predominantly White Institutions (PWI) counterparts? Furthermore, how does the intersectionality of race and gender in the workplace affect these perceptions? It is important to examine these relationships and how organizations can improve direction and create meaningful strides for equity for a diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative. In this study, we will survey students and graduates from HBCUs and PWIs about how they feel they are perceived by employer organizations. We will examine the differences in self-reported perceptions between HBCU and PWI students and graduates. To conduct further analysis, we will collect data from the students and graduates via a survey in MTurk. The survey will include questions related to racial code switching, perception of professionalism, perceived notability of educational institutions, and attitudes toward organizations. Participation will be limited to those who are 18 years or older, graduated from a HBCU/PWI institution, or are a Junior/Senior student at a HBCU/PWI institution. We will test three hypotheses with this study: Hypothesis 1 (H1): Graduates and students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities will feel more negatively perceived by organizations in comparison to their PWI counterparts. Hypothesis 2 (H2): Graduates and students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities will feel less inclined to codeswitch in comparison to their PWI counterparts. Hypothesis 3 (H3): Female graduates and students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities will feel the most negatively perceived by organizations. Through prior research and survey data, we expect to find HBCU graduates will perceive that organizations view them as less professional and qualified in comparison to their PWI counterparts. These findings will stem from questions directed toward disposition, professionalism, University notability, and use of code switching. It is further predicted that Black women will feel they are perceived as more sexual, aggressive, and unapproachable, and therefore less professional compared to peers. This study will help quantify how HBCU graduates feel they are viewed in comparison to their PWI counterparts and help organizations identify where to develop inclusive and equitable talent acquisition initiatives. The study will assist organizations on how to best implement implicit bias training throughout their organization to create a more inclusive environment for all employees.

(11) Pretty privilege at work: the influence of physical attractiveness on hiring and rating decisions - Chance et al.

Madeline Chance, Alexander T. Jackson, Mark Frame
Middle Tennessee State University
Email: [email protected]

Today, many aspects of life revolve around one’s physical appearance and attractiveness. One’s attractiveness not only has an impact for everyday life, but can also impact other areas in one’s life, especially the workplace (Frieze et al., 1991; Johnson et al. 2010; Nault et al., 2020). My thesis examined whether physical attractiveness of an applicant influences a hiring (and termination) decision through perceived efficacy of the applicant. I found that perceived efficacy significantly mediated the relationship between attractiveness and hiring. However, attractiveness did not influence the firing decision. The purpose of this poster is to further explore the study’s results by examining how attractiveness and hiring choice relate to applicant ratings. RQ 1: Does applicant attractiveness influence ratings of the applicant? RQ 2: Do applicant ratings influence hiring choice? Methods 130 people with experience making hiring decisions were recruited using Prolific and were paid $2.00 for participation. Participants viewed the resume and picture of a job applicant. Participants were randomly assigned to either an attractive or unattractive condition and to either a man or woman condition. Participants rated applicant attractiveness, perceived efficacy, and whether they would hire the candidate. Participants were also asked to rate the candidate on several factors, including if they would recommend the candidate, if the candidate was qualified, how the candidate would perform, how well the candidate would communicate, and the candidate’s ability to get along with coworkers. Participants then viewed a performance review with a picture and a workplace misconduct report of an employee. Participants rated the attractiveness of the employee and whether they would fire the employee. Results To address the research questions, we reviewed the data from applicant ratings that were not included in the original analyses. These results showed that attractiveness was significantly correlated with recommendation, communication, and the ability to get along with a coworker, but not with qualifications or performance (Table 1). Results show that participants think the attractive candidates would have better communication, get along with their coworkers and they would be more likely to recommend hiring this candidate. Implications These findings reveal that one’s physical attractiveness effects how they are perceived and the likelihood they are hired. This has implications for employees and organizations everywhere. These biases, combined or separate, are a disadvantage to both the individual and the workplace. The results of this study highlight the importance of identifying ways to reduce or eliminate the attractiveness bias."

(12) Perceived Organizational Support Through a Lens of Racial Tension and Challenging Times - Romick et al.

Cora Romick, Lilli Watson, Skylar Oney, Malissa Clark
University of Georgia
Email: [email protected]

The degree to which employees believe their organization cares about them and their well-being – also called perceived organizational support (POS) – has important downstream impacts on employee work behaviors, their orientation toward their organization, and their well-being (Eisenberger et al., 2020). Furthermore, when one’s organization shows support for its employees, this elicits norms of reciprocity between organizations and employees (Eisenberger et al., 2020). This study expands POS knowledge by investigating the linkages between POS and important outcomes during turbulent social and challenging economic times. During 2021, there was extremely high racial tension with the creation of various movements (i.e., Black Lives Matter) in response to social injustice. Additionally, economic crises and COVID-19 created unique challenges and a high degree of uncertainty for many United States citizens. These tensions and crises led to organizational support’s increased salience; therefore, understanding the role of POS under these circumstances is crucial. Participants completed online self-report surveys across two time points – September 2021 and May 2023. Our sample includes 170 part- and full-time employees in the United States (Mage = 46.5, 62.4% White, 56.5% female). We measured three aspects of POS – coworker support, supervisor support, and inclusion climate, and three outcomes of POS – affective organizational commitment (AOC), burnout, and intention to resign. We hypothesize the following: Hypothesis 1. Perceived coworker support will be (a) positively related to AOC, (b) negatively related to intention to resign, and (c) negatively related to burnout. Hypothesis 2. Perceived supervisor support will be (a) positively related to AOC, (b) negatively related to intention to resign, and (c) negatively related to burnout. Hypothesis 3. Inclusion climate will be (a) positively related to AOC, (b) negatively related to intention to resign, and (c) negatively related to burnout. To test the above hypotheses, we will utilize path analysis. We are currently analyzing the data, and results will be available in time to present if accepted. This work will contribute practical implications for organizations to aid them in preparing for and understanding the importance of POS, particularly during trying societal times, and mitigating adverse outcomes (i.e., turnover). This work also contributes novel insights into how inclusion climate is related to perceived organizational support, serving as a foundation for future research.

(13) Are psychology undergraduate students equipped to work in business and technology after graduation? - Branco et al.

Abigail Branco, Brenna McNamara, Samantha Plourde, Cassidy Zekas, Alexandra Mecklenburg, Shawn Bergman
Appalachian State University
Email: [email protected]

Introduction Psychology students are underemployed in their field after graduation, so one potential avenue is examining job opportunities less directly related to psychology. Business and technology are rapidly growing fields and many of the related occupations and careers have a bright outlook as defined by O*NET (National Center for O*NET Development, n.d.). As psychology is the fourth most popular major, there are opportunities for psychology graduates to contribute to other fields (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). Determining the presence of gaps and overlaps between KSAs acquired through the psychology curriculum and those needed in business and technology will enhance students’ abilities to work in business and technology fields. Methods Our research will follow a similar methodology as laid out in Sterling et al. (2021), by using O*NET to filter jobs that fall into business and technology-related fields and job levels 3-5 to examine the KSAs needed for those jobs. Sterling et al.’s (2021) results already defined 41 KSAs from O*NET that psychology undergraduates have from their psychology curriculum. We will compare the psychology-related KSAs to those needed in business and technology jobs, where we can then find the overlap and gaps in KSAs that psychology students have. Expected Results Understanding if psychology students are missing specific KSAs from their undergraduate education would allow us to determine how they can better capitalize on job opportunities in business and technology. The KSAs required in the field of business and technology largely overlap with the KSAs psychology graduates possess, so identifying the gaps and overlap in KSAs needed in these jobs will allow psychology graduates to be better informed in the options they have after they graduate. Implications This information will reflect the existence of this gap in KSAs and prepare students for working in business and technology. The psychology curriculum may be adjusted to further develop the missing KSAs and better prepare psychology graduates to work in business and technology. This industry could benefit greatly from this increase in interest from psychology students with a variety of KSAs to be utilized. Identifying gaps between the undergraduate psychology curriculum and the KSAs needed to effectively work in the field of business and technology will allow psychology students to better position themselves for jobs post-graduation.

(14) Perceived vs. Actual: Bridging the gap in the understanding of psychology majors’ skills - Briggs et al.

Logan Briggs, Ryan Witt, Madhu Sukumar, Oliver Sullivan, Morgan, McElhaney, Shawn Bergman
Appalachian State University
Email: [email protected]

Abstract Introduction Psychology undergraduates gain various knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) from their curriculum as outlined in the American Psychological Association’s (2023) “Guidelines For the Undergraduate Psychology Major”, but what is preventing them from understanding and expressing these KSAs to employers? These KSAs acquired in the psychology curriculum are some of the most sought-after characteristics employers are looking for in candidates (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2016). This study will help illuminate the paradox of how psychology is one of the most popular fields of study among undergraduate students while yielding one of the highest underemployment rates in the country by exploring the potential disconnect between the perceived and actual competencies undergraduate psychology students gain over their college career. Methods To identify the specific areas in which this disconnect potentially occurs, this study will seek input from undergraduate psychology majors at Appalachian State University regarding their perceptions of career readiness. To collect this information, a self-administered online questionnaire employing Qualtrics will be utilized. The questionnaire will be designed to clarify the potential gap between a student’s perceived KSAs and the KSAs they actually obtain from their undergraduate curriculum. The main focus of the questions will be to identify students’ perceived KSAs followed by supplemental questions focused on measuring potential contributing factors such as students’ awareness of career development opportunities, awareness of careers in psychology outside of graduate school, and students’ commitment to their prospective career path. Expected Results & Implications The findings of this research will serve as a valuable resource for addressing and narrowing the perceived-versus-actual skills gap prevalent among psychology undergraduates. Once this gap is understood, psychology undergraduate students will be able to better understand and communicate their actual KSAs leading to more accurate marketability of skills and therefore more professionally fulfilling employment opportunities. These findings will also help employers to better understand the capabilities of psychology undergraduates. Additionally, universities and their professors can use these findings to curate their curriculums to better prepare psychology majors for the workforce.

(15) Predicting Aviation Performance in Rotor-Wing Students - Earnest et al.

David R. Earnest, Kevin R. Harris, Charles W. Weigandt, Joseph C. Rosario, Jessica M. Mann Christopher A. Timbes
Austin Peay State University
Email: [email protected]

A critical shortage of commercial fixed and rotor-wing pilots has elevated the importance of the recruitment, training, and certification of pilots. The U.S. Department of Labor has identified situational awareness, selective attention, and inhibitory function as important and frequently occurring Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) for the job of commercial pilot. Previous research has shown that success in situation awareness training performance predicts future fixed-wing airline pilot performance. In addition, the flanker task, measuring selective attention and inhibitory function, has been shown to predict performance across a variety of professions. The purpose of the current study will be to predict student performance in instrumentality courses of a rotor-wing aircraft program using assessments of situation awareness, selective attention, and inhibitory function. Currently, no research has investigated the predictive ability of situational awareness, selective attention, and inhibitory function in rotor-wing aviation student course performance. The hypothesis for the current study is: Higher student scores on situational awareness, selective attention, and inhibitory function assessments will have a positive relationship with course performance measures. Participants will be rotor-wing aviation students enrolled in instrumentality courses at a local university. Participants will complete a modified version of the Factors Affecting Situation Awareness (FASA) assessment of situational awareness and a modified Flanker task measuring participants' ability to avoid the interference of distractors via reaction time. Scores from each measure will be compared to various student course performance measures collected throughout their Aviation program courses. Results of this research can be used to improve the recruitment and training process of academic and commercial training programs for commercial pilots. The identification of KSAs that predict future pilot performance could be used to improve the training pipeline for commercial pilots, thereby reducing the critical shortage currently impacting the domestic and global markets.

(16) Employee Preference on Sustainable Organizational Messaging According to Individual Differences - Vangilder et al.

Ellise Vangilder, Jack Carson, Kaitlyn Miller, Mackenzie Law, Mariana Solanilla
Appalachian State University
Email: [email protected]

Sustainable human resource management is an emerging practice in the future of global business environments. Research into this topic has been accelerated as organizations are moving away from the standard business protocols and onto more sustainable methods. This study builds on prior research investigating employees' preferences regarding organizational sustainability communications (e.g. Joyal-Desmarais et al., 2022; Kataria et al., 2013). In this study, we assess the relationship between employee individual differences and sustainability informational meetings attendance preferences. Additionally, this study aims to examine the potential relationship between individuals' egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric values using a scale developed by de Groot and Steg (2008) and preferences for value-laden organizational sustainability messaging. Finally, this study will take an exploratory view regarding relationships between other demographic variables, intent to attend a sustainable orientation sessions, and value preferences. We recruited 201 respondents on Prolific and then distributed a survey through Qualtrics for respondents to complete. Measures will be assessed with factor analysis, and relationships will be assessed with correlation and regression. We expect that individual differences will predict an individual's sustainable message preferences. Additionally, we expect to find positive correlations between an individual's ratings on egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric values and their preferences for matching value-laden sustainable messaging. The findings of this study will inform business leaders on effective practices that may increase the attendance of their orientation sessions regarding sustainable business practices and contribute to the emerging research field of employee sustainability message preferences.

(17) Late withdrawal

Late withdrawal from conference.

(18) The Individual Differences of Adopters of Technology in a Challenging Labor Market - Symasek et al.

Luke Symasek, Sabrina Adhami, Kristin Weger
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Email: [email protected]

Digital technology can attract talent that aligns with an organization’s goals by displaying to potential hires that the organization values innovation and growth. Despite this fact, these technologies have proven difficult to implement because they are not always accepted or adopted. Businesses often have a difficult time implementing a new digital technology because of a lack of acceptance from its employees, and a lack of adoption from instructors can cause educational settings to lack the proper technological education, which may discourage potential teachers from working in those settings. Because of the importance and potential usefulness of digital technology, it is important for organizations to understand what factors affect someone’s likelihood of adopting and using a technology. One way in which research has examined the acceptance of technology is through individual differences (IDs) in the groups that the technology is targeting. The current poster comes from a literature review examining studies researching IDs’ influence on the acceptance of technology. Some of the IDs frequently examined in the research include personality traits, gender, social influence, socio-economic status, self-efficacy, trust, personality, and experience. Different circumstances will also affect how these IDs influence the acceptance of a technology. Banking applications, for example, rely on trust from the consumers using them, while educational institutions often need their teachers to have self-efficacy with using technology to effectively implement it. While IDs may affect acceptance differently in different circumstances, the findings from the literature review did allow for the creation of acceptance and adoption model by considering these various IDs. The results of this review can help businesses understand how to implement technologies to signal to potential hires that they value innovation and growth. When effectively integrated, this technology can attract tech-savvy candidates by displaying the organization’s ability to create a modern work environment. When a business is successfully able to demonstrate a commitment to leveraging new technology for the success of the organization, this can attract talent that aligns with the organization’s goals.

(19) Student Perspectives of Affordability for Workforce Onboarding - Yeazitzis et al.

Taylor Yeazitzis, Don Nguyen, Lindsey May, Kristin Weger, Bryan Mesmer, Dale Thomas
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Email: [email protected]

Affordability is often a high priority within organizations as many organizations strive to maximize output capabilities while minimizing the cost of operations. In order to operate with affordability as an organizational goal, members must work together as a cohesive unit to ensure processes and behaviors reflect this goal. While those further along in their careers may be more familiar with organizational aspects such as organizational goals, organizational culture, and organizational climate, those with limited experience may not be aware of these fundamentally important concepts. The goal of the current study was to examine perceptions of affordability given by currently employed students in order to understand how those in the exploration stage of their career view affordability in organizations. Students from The University of Alabama in Huntsville (N = 143) responded to a survey featuring both free response and Likert-type questions regarding currently held beliefs surrounding affordability and organizational culture. Results from this study indicated that students are often unaware of the concept of organizational culture and climate, and this lack of familiarity may potentially lead to organization members distancing themselves from understanding their individual impact to organizational processes. In addition, students view affordability in terms of budgets and funding, often not taking into consideration organizational behaviors that may indirectly influence the overall affordability of a project or program. These perceptions may be used to inform organizations of how best to tailor onboarding processes in order to familiarize newly hired organization members with their individual impact to an organization as well as their role within a larger organizational unit.

(20) Language learning in the trenches: unraveling the role of psychological safety in military second language acquisition - Baird & Earnest

Lonnie Baird & David Earnest
Austin Peay State University
Email: [email protected]

Military second language acquisition is an important component of military training. Across branches of the United States Military Service, servicemembers are trained in a variety of foreign languages to support United States national interests. Adult Second Language Acquisition (SLA) poses significant challenges to learners, impacting their identity and self-concept. Exposure to a new language and culture threatens the learner's sense of self and engenders psychological distress. Due to a variety of factors, such as decreased learning anxiety and increased team learning behaviors, psychological safety enhances learning outcomes across various sectors, including medical education, business, and Research and Development (R&D) sectors. According to the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the widespread deficiency of psychological safety within teams, and among teams, could compromise the national security of the United States of America by curtailing innovation and impeding the United States Department of Defense’s (DoD) adaptability to respond to threats and shifting landscapes. Investigating the relationships between individual perceptions of psychological safety in an adult second language acquisition (SLA) classroom group setting can illuminate the importance of psychological safety in learning environments and its role in adult SLA, particularly in a military environment. This study hypothesizes that higher psychological safety levels correlate with higher Defense Language Proficiency Test scores in SLA at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) and other SLA environments. Additionally, it is hypothesized that degree of instructor support and quality of interpersonal relationships, antecedents to psychological safety, will positively correlate with psychological safety in SLA classrooms. Participants will comprise of approximately 380 service members who successfully completed a second language acquisition course at DLI in the past 20 years. Participants will complete a 30-minute survey that includes scales assessing psychological safety (7 items), psychological safety antecedents (15 items), language proficiency self-assessments for reading and listening (50 items), and demographic information (29 items). The results of this research can be used to improve SLA training and thereby increase the foreign language proficiency of U.S. Service members. It will also provide insights into the impact of antecedents on performance in military and academic learning environments. Finally, the results of this research can provide suggestions about how to create psychological safety in all institutional and unit level training throughout the DoD.

(21) Justice perceptions, quiet quitting & personality - Wicker & Van Hein

Sarah Wicker & Judith Van Hein
Middle Tennessee State University
Email: [email protected]

Quiet quitting is a term that has grown in popularity over the past few years. Quiet quitting can refer to a decrease in employees’ commitment to carry out assigned tasks, avoiding tasks that are not within employees’ job description, quitting the idea of going above and beyond in their job performance (Formica & Sfodera 2022) & (Rosalsky & Selyukh 2022). In the past, researcher have shown the relationship between engagement and burnout with personality. Since quiet quitting has only recently grown popular, the relationship between quiet quitting and personality has not been greatly researched. This thesis attempts to fill this gap by aiming to determine if personality is a predictor for quiet quitting in response to organizational injustice. The primary research question for this study asks if personality predicts quiet quitting in response to organizational injustice. There are five hypotheses included in this study that suggest a relationship between quiet quitting and the factors of the Big Five Inventory (BFI): agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion. The proposed method for this study is to collect participants by mass emailing MTSU students. Then, each participant will be asked to complete a demographics questionnaire, a work injustice scenario survey, a quiet quitting scale, and the BFI. The proposed analysis consists of using correlational analysis to determine the relationship between quiet quitting and personality in response to organizational injustice. Anticipated results include extroversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism being related to quiet quitting. However, openness and agreeableness are not expected to be related to quiet quitting. The implications of this study relate to the 2023 RCIO theme. If quiet quitting is related to personality, organizations can use personality assessments to assist in their screening process. This will help organizations select talented individuals who are less prone to quiet quitting. If this study shows quiet quitting is related to organizational injustice, then this study reinforces the importance of creating a healthy work environment that will be more attractive to talent.

(22) Office housework and individual work ethic: A correlational study - Moss & Van Hein

Hailey Moss & Judith Van Hein
Middle Tennessee State University
Email: [email protected]

The following submission will be for a proposed research design. Housework has been operationally defined as “non-role-specific work that a) benefits the organization, b) does not directly benefit the worker in their work capacity, and c) is under appreciated and generally goes unrecognized” (Adams, 2018). Previous studies have investigated this work completed by employees, including trying to define/measure the construct, distinguishing it from organizational citizenship behaviors, and understanding how it relates to other important characteristics, such as values and personality (Adams, 2018; Mussleman, 2020, Bourque, 2023). Office housework tasks can be vast, such as planning office parties, having to take staff meeting notes, comforting other employee emotions, or maintaining an environment that is desirable to the organization (Adams, 2018). To add to the minimal existing research of office housework, this study will assess how these behaviors relate to the different dimensions of work ethic. Work ethic is defined as the commitment to hard work among employees (Miller et. al, 2002). Characteristics of work ethic include that its’s related to work activities, is learned, refers to attitudes/beliefs, and demonstrates motivation in one’s work (Miller et. al., 2002). Because the context of completing office housework tasks usually means going over specified job duties, understanding how one’s personal work ethic might relate to their office housework completion could help the overall understanding of office housework, and any important trends associated with it. The main research question that will be assessed includes if office housework relates to individual work ethic or not. Six hypotheses will also be included, concerning the relationship between specific work ethic dimensions with the 4 dimensions of office housework tasks. The proposed method of this research study would be to gather data from a crowdsource, Amazon’s MTurk. Paid participants will be sent a survey containing a measure of office housework, a measure of individual work ethic, and demographic questions. Correlational analyses will be used to indicate the strength of relationships between the different dimensions of office housework and work ethic. Expected results are that office housework and work ethic will be related, and that there will be varying relationships between the dimensions of each of these constructs. Implications of this study could include further understanding of the connection between contextual job performance and what could serve as a potential predictor of that performance. Relating to the purpose of this conference, findings from this study could help an organization understand what to base their selection decisions on.

(23) Stressed Out and Clocking Out: Analyzing Challenge-Hindrance Stressors as Predictors of Turnover Intentions - Vosika

Emma Vosika
Clemson University
Email: [email protected]

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the understanding of how job stressors, specifically, challenge-hindrance (C-H) stressors, can negatively impact employee turnover. C-H stressors can be defined as perceptions of a work environment related to level of demands in such that challenge stressors (e.g., responsibility, job complexity, etc.) are viewed as potential opportunities for growth or mastery and hindrance stressors (e.g., conflict, ambiguity, etc.) are viewed as potential constraints or barriers to one’s goal or growth (Zhang et al., 2014). The hypotheses guiding this study were that (a) challenge and (b) hindrance stressors at Time 1 would positively and significantly predict turnover intentions at Time 1 (H1a-b). Additionally, (a) challenge and (b) hindrance stressors at Time 1 would positively and significantly predict turnover intentions at Time 2 (H2a-b). Participants were recruited to partake in a survey administered at two separate time points, 3-months apart, via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). A total of 518 individuals participated in the Time 1 survey. Of those participants, 301 responded to the Time 2 survey. Participants received compensation for completing the survey. Participants were predominantly white (79.1%), female (57.8%), and were on average 37.36 years of age (SD = 9.78). On average, participants worked 41.86 (SD = 6.07) hours per week. Multiple linear regression was used to examine how C-H stressors related to overall turnover intentions. All assumptions were met prior to running the analyses. Results indicated that C-H stressors at both time points significantly predicted turnover intentions, (H1a-b) F (2,515) = 55.60, p < .001, R2 = .18; (H2a-b) F (2,298) = 20.00, p < .001, R2 = .12. In support of H1b and H2b, hindrance stressors had a positive and significant relationship with turnover intentions, (H1b) β = .70, se = .07, t (517) = 10.30, p <.001; (H2b) β = .56, se = .09, t (300) = 6.22, p <.001. Alternatively, challenge stressors were negatively and significantly related to turnover intentions, (H1a) β = -.42, se = .07, t (517) = -5.72, p <.001; (H2a) β = -.27, se = .10, t (300) = -2.80, p =.006, partially supporting hypothesis 1a and hypothesis 2a. These findings suggest that to attract and, importantly, retain talent, organizations should aim to reduce hindrance stressors such as task ambiguity, administrative hassles, red tape policies, etc. Further suggestions are provided.

(24) The Heart of the Problem: Assessing the Relationship between Workaholism and Health-Related Outcomes - Tresidder & Aziz

Adam Tresidder & Shahnaz Aziz
East Carolina University
Email: [email protected]

Workaholism was initially proposed by Oates (1971) to describe “a person whose need for work has become so excessive that it creates a noticeable disturbance or interference with bodily health, personal happiness, and interpersonal relations, and with smooth social functioning” (p. 4). Since the 1970s, this term has undergone phases of conceptualization such as addiction (Ng et al., 2007), syndrome (Aziz & Zickar, 2006), and a multi-dimensional construct (Clark et al., 2020). Substantial research has assessed health outcomes associated with workaholism such as hypercholesterolemia (Aziz et al., 2015), poor BMI (Aziz et al., 2017), and risk behaviors associated with cardiovascular disorder (i.e., smoking, alcohol consumption; Thurston et al., 2013). We aim to assess if workaholic employees foresee or worry about negative health outcomes. If our results are significant, we will provide future directions regarding a leader's responsibility to implement effective interventions within organizations. By doing so, we suggest managers can improve employee health and reduce the potential onset of chronic diagnoses. We hypothesize a direct relationship between workaholism and heart anxiety (H1), psychological well-being (H2), work-life balance (H3), and psychological well-being (H4). Based upon potential significant findings, recovery experiences will be tested as a moderator in the relationships between workaholism and heart anxiety (H5) and workaholism and psychological well-being (H6). Furthermore, work-life balance will be tested as a moderator in the relationships between workaholism and heart anxiety (H7) and workaholism and psychological well-being (H8). Variables will be measured with the Multi-Dimensional Workaholism Scale (Clark et al., 2020), Recovery Experience Questionnaire (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007), Work-Life Balance Assessment (Brough et al., 2014), Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire (Eifert et al., 2000), and Ryff’s Consolidated Psychological Well-Being measure (Ryff & Keyes, 1995). A host of personal and occupational demographics will be used to account for the potential influence of extraneous variables. The sample will consist of a random selection of faculty and staff at a southeastern university. An online survey will be administered with the approval of a university-based Survey Review and Oversight Committee. Data analyses will be conducted with correlations and multiple regressions. We will use Hayes (2017) PROCESS to assess the potential influence of moderating relationships.

(25) Why Dirty Work? An investigation of Factors Impacting Stigmatized Worker Job Satisfaction - Sanders & Earnest

Christina S. Sanders & David R. Earnest
Austin Peay State University
Email: [email protected]

Understanding dirty work and its workers is an emerging area of study related to all elements of society. Dirty work is defined as occupations that society views as physically, socially, and/or morally tainted. Dirty workers (e.g., sanitation workers, morticians, social workers) perform services that fulfill societal needs, yet these occupations are stigmatized by society and considered by many to be undesirable jobs. Many varieties of dirty work exist and can be understood by the degree of associated occupational prestige, public perception of an individual’s social standing based on their professional position (lower and higher occupational prestige). Regardless of the prestige associated with dirty work the presence of dirt or “taint” exists. Taint can be categorized into three stigmatized groups: physically, socially, and morally. “Dirty” occupations have attached stigma that becomes a central part of the stigmatized group members' image and identity, which can lead to a significant part of their life being engaged in creating an identity separate from their beneficial yet dirty work. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the impact of occupation prestige, financial insecurity, stigmatized perceptions, and employee engagement on job satisfaction in stigmatized workers. Hypotheses include 1) Positive relationship will exist between occupational prestige and job satisfaction and employee engagement and job satisfaction, 2) Negative relationships will exist between financial insecurity and job satisfaction and stigmatized perceptions and job satisfaction, and 3) Occupational prestige and employee engagement will have a greater impact on job satisfaction than stigmatized perceptions and financial insecurity. Participants will include employees from 6 dirty work occupations. Occupations will consist of two occupations per type of taint, one that is considered to have a higher occupational prestige, and another that is considered to have lower occupational prestige. Participants will complete a combination of assessments including a job satisfaction survey, financial insecurity survey, measure of stigmatized perceptions, and employee engagement. Results of this research will inform and further expand the current body of research for dirty work professions by identifying factors influencing the satisfaction employees experience in dirty work occupations. This study will be the first to assess relationships across all three taints, while using occupational prestige as a factor impacting job satisfaction in dirty work occupations.

(26) Cyber incivility and spillover effects: A proposed mediation model - Hurt et al.

Cora Hurt, Anne Simpson, Katrina Burch
Western Kentucky University
Email: [email protected]

Background Incivility is pervasive in the workplace, affecting upwards of 96% of employees across their work lives, with approximately 50% of employees indicating they experience incivility regularly, on a weekly basis. Recent research indicates that given the massive shift to virtual work, the incidence and impact of cyber incivility associated with work is an increasing issue. Although the individual and organizational effects of cyber incivility on work outcomes are well researched, less is known about how this low-intensity, deviant behavior affects the target of cyber incivility in other domains, such as the home domain. The present study will examine the association of cyber incivility on target angry and withdrawn behaviors at home, through the spillover mechanism of affective rumination via affective events theory. It is hypothesized that daily experienced cyber incivility will be positively associated with both angry behavior (H1) and withdrawal behavior (H2) at home. Additionally, work-related affective rumination is hypothesized to mediate the relationship between daily experienced cyber incivility and both aggression (H3a) and withdrawal (H3b) at home. Proposed Method Approximately 100 participants who work full-time will be enrolled in the study via Prolific Academic, an online participant crowdsourcing site. To date, the sample size consists of 63 participants who have completed 10-day daily surveys. Participants will be pre-screened to ensure they are 18 or older, work full-time, and interact with coworkers and supervisors daily. Proposed Analyses Hypotheses H1-H3b will be assessed using multilevel path analysis because of the hierarchical nature of the data (daily observations will be nested within individuals). Daily variables (level 1) will be person-mean centered, while between-person variables (e.g., aggregate means of constructs of interest, demographics, and trait characteristics) will be grand-mean centered and controlled for at the between-person level (level 2). Because mediation is hypothesized, indirect effects will be examined using bootstrapped estimates and confidence interval coverage. Expected Results & Implications Results from this study are expected to provide support for the episodic occurrence of work-related cyber incivility and its effects on at-home behavior, providing support for spillover effects between work and home. This is significant because work-related cyber incivility is on the rise with the shift to virtual work and is an understudied phenomenon. Understanding how experienced work-related cyber incivility impacts employees at home behavior will allow for the development of targeted interventions.

(27) Impact of COVID 19 on Higher Learning Community - Sanders et al.

Adriane M.F. Sanders, David R. Earnest, Austin M. Greene, Bodie P. Schieffer
Austin Peay State University
Email: [email protected]

The societal upheaval related to the COVID-19 pandemic was far-reaching and continues to impact individuals in both personal and professional ways. Attempts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 included quarantining at home and temporarily closing schools, businesses, and other public spaces. As these disruptions of everyday life eased and restrictions were lifted, individuals and organizations alike are reflecting on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic continues to have differential effects across industry types. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are a particularly unique example as they serve as both an organization navigating employee needs as well as providing learning services and support to students who may also be working outside of classes. This study aimed to investigate the unique impact of the pandemic on employee and student experiences within a HEI. As part of a larger study, the current researchers sought to understand how higher education professionals (faculty and staff) and employed students navigated work during and since the peak of the pandemic. To measure the employment impact of COVID-19, a survey consisting of 43 items from established scales measuring work-family conflict (WFC and FWC), job demands, job autonomy, job stress, job insecurity, perceived supervisor and organizational support (PSS, POS), work engagement, and job satisfaction was administered to university employed staff (n = 133), university faculty (n = 118), and off-campus employed students (n = 379). ANOVAs with Welch homogeneity corrections were conducted to account for unequal variances between samples. Results revealed significant differences among students, faculty, and staff in their experiences of WFC, FWC, job demands, job autonomy, job stress, and work engagement. Students reported the highest levels of conflict and stress, and the lowest levels of autonomy and job satisfaction. Faculty and staff exhibited higher work engagement and job satisfaction despite experiencing high job demands, perhaps in part related to their higher reported levels of job autonomy and supervisor support. These findings underscore the urgency for targeted interventions to alleviate identified challenges. University-based support measures are recommended to help manage ongoing competing demands and work-related stress. These resources should be customized to meet the specific needs of each group and go beyond generalized campus counseling services and EAPs, towards a culture that demonstrates that the health and wellbeing of the campus community is valued. The data offer a comprehensive understanding of the complex impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different employment groups within higher education, thereby extending the current literature.

(28) Understanding the Work Demands, Resources, and Barriers to Achieving Optimal Well-Being in Immigrant Workers - Marquez Moreno & Black

Amira Marquez Moreno & Kristen J. Black
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Email: [email protected]

According to recent reports of immigrants working in poor conditions worldwide, the International Committee of Health (ICOH, 2021) has declared the immediate need to create scientific evidence to encourage a preventive culture in occupational health for migrant workers. In 2019, 470,125 immigrants lived in Tennessee, of which 43% are Latino, and Spanish the most common language (76%). The present study aims to identify the work-demands, resources, and barriers to achieve optimal well-being in immigrant workers with a sample recruited from Chattanooga and the surrounding area. Participants will be recruited through convenience and snowball sampling with the inclusion criteria of being at least 18 years old and working full time in a manual labor job with hourly pay or project-based/contract for at least 5 years. The participants will form three focus groups of eight members each, based on evidence concluding that code and thematic saturation can be found in focus group research designs with three to six focus groups (Guest et al., 2017). To structure the discussion and data gathering, a semi-structured questionnaire in Spanish will be composed of three sections: Perceived hazards at work, which will contain questions like “Have you encountered any materials or instruments at work that you believe are harmful to your health?”. Resources to protect well-being, which will contain questions like: “Do you have any strategies to protect your health while at work?”. And barriers to access to needed resources for optimal well-being, which will include questions like: “Are there any additional resources or support that you wish you had access to at work to enhance your well-being?”. The data gathered will be analyzed using Thematic Analysis to identify themes in a data-driven, bottom-up, and a deductive approach. Two coders with Spanish proficiency will achieve consensus of interpretations while coding the data and identify themes that share common ideas. The researcher expects to find demands, resources, and barriers like prior research, but also aim to explore novel factors not identified in empirical research, such as perceived access to care, physical and psychological connectedness to long exposure, and surveillance of diseases. With immigration increasing worldwide, leaders of organizations need to seriously consider the opportunity this presents to identify and hire diverse talent, as well to acknowledge the resources they need to be happier and productive (Fang et al., 2022).

(29) Validation of the Mindfulness Skill Scale - Maladkar & Jackson

Rhea Maladkar & Alex Jackson
Middle Tennessee State University
Email: [email protected]

Recent research has shown that people can effectively cope with work stress using mindfulness. Mindfulness has been shown to decrease perceived stress levels (Carmody & Baer, 2008; Jensen et al., 2012; Rich et al., 2021; Schulte-Frankenfeld & Trautwein, 2022), anxiety (Gál et al., 2021, Farb et al., 2010), and depression (Bostock et al., 2019; Farb et al., 2010). The purpose of this study is to replicate and extend the work of Stremic (2020), who created the Mindfulness Skill Scale (MSS). Stremic (2020) argued that mindfulness should be best measured as a skill that can be learned, so she developed the MSS to measure mindfulness skill. Currently, much of the literature defines and operationalizes mindfulness as a state (Brown et al., 2007) or trait (Michel et al., 2021). I propose to examine changes in mindfulness after a mindfulness meditation intervention. I predict that mindfulness when measured as a skill will change but when measured as a state or trait will not change. Additionally, I propose to examine whether mindfulness skill following a mindfulness intervention correlates more strongly with a variety of outcomes than state or trait mindfulness.

(30) The Burnout Assessment Tool: An Initial U.S. Validation Study - Watson et al.

Lilli Watson, Lilli Watson, Skylar Oney, Malissa Clark
University of Georgia
Email: [email protected]

Despite the long-standing history of studying burnout, it remains a prevalent concern, with nearly 6 out of 10 U.S. workers self-reporting at least moderate levels of burnout (Forbes, 2023). Burnout, as defined by Maslach and Leiter (2016), is a psychological syndrome that emerges as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors encountered in the workplace. The repercussions of burnout are far-reaching, impacting employee job satisfaction, organizational commitment, absenteeism rates, turnover intentions, and job performance (Edú-Valsania et al., 2022). The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) has historically served as the gold standard for assessing burnout, being employed in a staggering 88% of all publications on the subject (Schaufeli et al., 2020). However, concerns have been raised regarding its suitability for accurately capturing the complex phenomenon of burnout. These concerns revolve around three major flaws in the MBI. Firstly, it was developed inductively, derived from interviews with human service professionals rather than being grounded in a comprehensive conceptual framework. Secondly, the MBI exhibits technical and psychometric weaknesses that have raised doubts about its reliability and validity. Lastly, the absence of clear cut-off scores in the MBI manual complicates the determination of when a score signifies burnout (Schaufeli & De Witte, 2023). In response to these concerns, researchers have developed a new burnout assessment tool called the Burnout Assessment Tool using Flemish and Dutch working population samples (BAT; Schaufeli et al., 2020a, 2020b). The BAT seeks to address the limitations of the MBI and has been validated in countries overseas (e.g., Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Portugal). However, there is a notable gap in research concerning its applicability, reliability, and validation in the context of U.S. workers. The present study aims to contribute to this field of research by providing evidence for the reliability and validity of the BAT in a sample of U.S. workers, as scant evidence is available thus far. A sample of U.S. participants completed online self-report surveys across two time points – September 2021 and May 2023. Our sample includes 170 part- and full-time employees (Mage = 46.5, 62.4% White, 56.5% female). Analyses are currently being conducted to establish the reliability and construct validity of this new burnout measure using a U.S. sample. Full results will be available in time for presentation if accepted.

(31) All Aboard for Employee Onboarding - Lloyd

Haylie Lloyd
Middle Tennessee State University
Email: [email protected]

My Internship Overview Poster reflects my experiences as an HR Intern for SPI LLC during the summer of 2023. I acquired this internship through a posting on Indeed and subsequent meetings/interviews. Specialty Products and Insulation (SPI) LLC is a company that fabricates, manufactures, and distributes insulation and related products. During my time at SPI, I had the opportunity to demonstrate my knowledge and skills by designing a comprehensive onboarding program for their new hires. This internship experience helped me better develop my business acumen, data analysis skills, communication, time-management skills, and attention to detail. Two of my biggest take-aways was the importance of benchmark data and not to be scared of sharing my ideas.

12:20 - 1:30 PM, "Industry Spotlight" Lunch, Discussion, and Networking, UTC University Center, Chattanooga Room (main floor)

Josh Summers, Theresa Cassem, Brian Nolen, and Dr. Chris Cunningham (moderator)

Industry Spotlight: Talent Acquisition Challenges in Manufacturing

In this year's "industry spotlight" panel discussion, join representatives from the Smart Factory Institute and local manufacturing organizations to discuss talent acquisition challenges affecting the manufacturing industry, which is facing a shortage of skilled workers, which is hindering its growth and competitiveness. To address this issue, companies are adopting various strategies to attract and recruit workers into the industry. These strategies include offering competitive wages and benefits, providing training and development opportunities, partnering with community organizations, and promoting the industry as a viable career option. Additionally, companies are leveraging technology and automation to make manufacturing jobs more attractive and less physically demanding. Despite these efforts, the industry still faces challenges in attracting younger generations and diversifying its workforce. Companies are realizing that it is crucial to continue to innovate and adapt their recruitment strategies to meet the changing needs and expectations of the workforce.

Speaker profiles: Josh Summers (LinkedIn profile), Theresa Cassem (LinkedIn profile), Brian Nolen (LinkedIn profile), and Dr. Chris Cunningham (LinkedIn profile)

1:40 - 2:40 PM, Afternoon Plenary, UTC University Center, Auditorium (main floor)

Dr. Neil Morelli

Recruiting Technical Talent When You’re Not Big Tech

In our modern, digital economy all companies are now tech companies. But how do small or regional employers source, attract, select, nurture, and close the right technical talent for roles that many large, big tech employers also recruit? This session will provide HR, talent acquisition, and functional leaders from “non-tech companies” with evidence-backed tips and tricks for filling the technical roles they need. Employers need to understand methods that will appeal to a technical audience and know how technical roles, such as software engineering, are changing with the release of generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT). This session will also cover trends impacting how workers perform these roles and what human competencies will be critical to source and evaluate.

Speaker bio: Neil Morelli, Ph.D., is the Chief I-O Psychologist at Codility, a technical hiring platform serving companies such as Microsoft, Tesla, and Paypal. Neil adds scientific expertise to Codility’s product teams and consults customers on fair and effective tech hiring. Before joining Codility, Dr. Morelli was the VP of Product at HighMatch, an Atlanta-based pre-hire assessment software company, and the Head of Product and Selection Science for The Cole Group, a Bay Area executive search firm serving high-growth start-ups and technology companies. Dr. Morelli has also taught graduate-level Talent Acquisition courses at the University of Georgia and has authored peer-reviewed publications in the International Journal of Selection and Assessment, The Handbook of Employee Commitment, and The Cambridge Handbook of Technology and Employee Behavior.

2:55 - 3:55 PM, Presentations 2

Session A: Dr. Deborah K. Ford - UTC University Center, Auditorium (main floor)

Employer Brand Analysis: An Applied Operationalization

The job market has produced enormous challenges in recent years with record level lows of unemployment that have strained the job market (Management Recruiters International, 2015). The market has shifted to become more candidate driven where the perceptions of employers are that much more important than in previous hiring eras, especially considering the increased level of transparency in the job market with online websites such as glassdoor.com. As such, progressive organizations are focusing extensively on being “brand forward” in their social media strategy, in their work space, and in the experiences reinforced throughout the employee journey that starts during the attraction stage of the hiring process and solidifies during those onboarding moments that span much of their first year. Employer value propositions combined with a corporate brand analysis are two methods useful for informing talent sourcing, attraction, hiring and onboarding processes. This talk includes applied methodology derived from the fields of marketing, artificial intelligence and I/O psychology.

Speaker bio: Deborah Ford is dedicated to driving a connected employee experience that reinforces diversity, equity and inclusion. She has led teams in start-up organizations just beginning their journey and mature organizations with diverse stakeholders, global impact, and ambitious goals. She most recently acted as the VP of People for the “Flying Taxi” research organization, Kittyhawk, lead by Google founder, Larry Page, and self-driving car pioneer, Sebastian Thrun. Deborah has a strong ethos dedicated to redefining the ways we work for the future in support of faster iterative processes, speed to value, collaborative decision making and growth mindset. She received her M.S. from George Mason University and her PhD from Portland State University in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

Session B: Sachit Kamat - UTC University Center, Raccoon Mountain Room (main floor)

The intersection of employment and AI across roles and industries

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming every industry. This session will focus on the practical applications of AI within employment hiring and succession strategies, enabling organizations to automate processes, improve efficiency, and uncover data-driven insights for enhanced decision making. We will discuss advancements using AI in the recruitment process, including the use of machine learning algorithms to screen resumes and identify successful candidates. The talk will highlight the regulatory environment and the intersection of the IO and AI fields within this rapidly evolving landscape. Additionally, the presentation will explore where AI is being used to improve organizational retention and performance. We will discuss the use of technology to identify skills and capabilities gaps across the workforce to better inform employee development and future hiring strategies.

Speaker bio: Sachit is Chief Product Officer at Eightfold.ai, a leader in AI solutions aimed at employment. Eightfold’s AI solutions are being utilized by some of the largest corporations globally. Sachit has spent significant time during his career at mission-driven companies like Uber and LinkedIn that have transformed industries using technology and AI. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, an MS in Computer Science from University of Texas at Arlington and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from VJTI, Mumbai.

4:05 - 4:45 PM, Conference wrap-up and poster awards, UTC University Center, Auditorium (main floor)

Please share any constructive feedback about this year's RCIO conference with the conference chair, by emailing it to [email protected].

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