Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Psychology

Advisor's Name

Chockalingam Viswesvaran

Advisor's Title

Committee Chair

Advisor's Name

Nathan Hiller

Advisor's Name

Victoria Pace

Advisor's Name

Jesse Michel

Keywords

Applicant attraction, need for achievement, person-organization fit, valence-instrumentality-expectancy theory, organizational personality

Date of Defense

6-16-2010

Abstract

This research explored the thesis that organizational personality is related to applicants’ attraction to an organization through a process which involves need motivation, expectancy beliefs, and applicants’ perceptions of person-organization fit. Organizational personality may be defined as a collection of trait-like characteristics that individuals use to describe organizational practices, policies, values, and culture. Specifically, this research investigated the hypothesis that organizational personality information is useful to applicants because it helps individuals to determine their perceptions of fit. A sample of students (N = 198) and working adults (N = 198) participated in an online experiment. Findings indicated that individuals’ beliefs about the instrumentality of desirable work related outcomes are essential to determining their perceptions of fit and organizational attraction. Additionally, organizational personality perceptions interacted with need motivation to affect perceptions of fit and organizational attraction. For instance, perceptions of fit mediated the influence of the interaction between need for achievement and perceptions of innovativeness on organizational attraction. The interaction of need motivation and perceptions of organizational personality helped individuals to better determine their perceptions of fit and subsequent attraction toward organizations.


Download

Files over 15MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "Save as..."

Share

COinS