Job Suitability Research Articles

New developments in the occupational safety and health management system

The occupational safety and health management system(OSHMS)has been introduced into many companies and factories in Japan. However, there are certain factories that are considering the introduction of OSHMS, while other factories are not interested in it. In the factories which have introduced OSHMS, occupational health activities are still insufficient. Passage by which OSHMS was introduced into Japan and a basic way to advance OSHMS is described in this paper. In addition, for OSHMS to spread to many companies in the future, and to achieve good results, the themes and prospects which should be examined are described. The themes shown in this paper are as follows: risk assessment, revision of the law and regulation, system auditing, individual management of safety and health rules, evaluation of the low concentration exposure influence, appropriate job suitability system, training of the expert, the support organization, supporting small and medium-sized scale factories.

青年海外協力隊員の職業性ストレス―職業性ストレス簡易調査票を用いて―

Mental health problems have recently increased among Japan Overseas Cooperation volunteers since 1965, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan International Cooperation Agency) launched this volunteer work project for improving hygiene and socioeconomic conditions in developing countries. There was little research on job stress among them dispatched despite previous surveys indicating job as an important stressor. To investigate stress and job-related stressors among them, we conducted a cross-sectional epidemiological study from October to December in 2003. The subjects were all 1,084 Japan Overseas Cooperation volunteers aged 20-40, who worked in 67 countries worldwide at the time of this study (485 and 599 males and females, 316, 332 and 436 for those staying overseas for 11, 7 and 4 months, respectively). Approximately 80% were involved in their dispatching occupational organizations as professionals in information technology, health & welfare, education, and research. Our main outcome measure used was the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire, which was developed to assess stress and job-related stressors or buffers for Japanese workers. Demographic and personality (Egogram) characteristics as well as other health information were obtained. The response rate was 86.9%. For psychological stress, prevalence was 5.5% (n = 49). Means (+/- SD) were 4.22 (+/- 3.98), and 4.89 (+/- 4.40) for males and females (p < 0.05), and 5.15 (+/- 4.17), 5.05 (+/- 4.45), 3.93 (+/- 4.40) for those staying overseas for 11, 7 and 4 months (p < 0.01), respectively. For physical stress, prevalence was 2.9% (n = 26). Means (+/- SD) were 1.10 (+/- 1.68), and 1.41 (+/- 1.74) for males and females (p < 0.01), and 1.47 (+/- 1.77), 1.35 (+/- 1.89), 1.11 (+/- 1.55) for those staying overseas for 11, 7 and 4 months (p < 0.05), respectively. The factors significantly associated with psychological stress were high job demand, poor human relationships at work, low job suitability, low social support from supervisors and colleagues, and being dissatisfied with their life, according to multiple logistic regression analysis. The present study suggested that psychological stress was more prevalent than physical. It also implied a significant relationship between psychological stress and job-related stressors among the subjects of this study as in employees in Japan. Mental health check-ups and counseling in the early stage of psychological stress is important from the viewpoint of prevention of developing stress-related mental health disorders. Education on stress-coping skills should be considered in a training program before they are sent overseas.

The Interactive Effects of Race, Gender, and Job Type on Job Suitability Ratings and Selection Decisions1

The present study examined the main and interactive effects of race, gender, and job type on job suitability ratings and selection decisions. Consistent with the double‐advantage additive effects model of race and gender, highly educated Black women were rated as more suitable for jobs and more likely to be selected for jobs requiring high levels of cognitive ability than were comparably educated White men, White women, or Black men. These results suggest that selection decisions might be jointly determined by race, gender, and the nature of a job. The implications of these findings for overcoming biases in employment‐related decision making are discussed.

Modeling employees' perceptions and proportional preferences of work locations: the regular workplace and telecommuting alternatives

This paper develops measures of job and workplace perceptions, and examines the importance of those and other measures to the desired proportions of work time at each of three locations: regular workplace, home, and telecommuting center. Using data from 188 participants in the Neighborhood Telecenters Project, four job context perception factors were identified: productivity, job satisfaction, supervisor relationship, and co-worker interaction. Four generic workplace perception factors were identified (with measures for each of the work locations of interest): personal benefits, work effectiveness, autonomy, and supervisor comfort. A multinomial logit model of the desired work time allocation found the generic variables job suitability, personal benefits, and work effectiveness to be significant and positively related to greater desired proportions of time at the associated location. These variables capture the major elements previously hypothesized to influence telecommuting preference (including work, family, independence, and commute stress reduction drives as well as manager and job suitability constraints) in a parsimonious fashion. The model explained 55% of the theoretical maximum amount of information in the data, and did not violate the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives (IIA) assumption.

A comparison of two motion analysis devices used in the measurement of lumbar spinal mobility

Objective. The aim of the study was to compare lumbar range of motion determined using two computerised dynamic motion analysis devices. Background. Measures of spinal motion are currently used in biomechanical, epidemiological and clinical studies of the low back. It is essential that the various devices used to measure mobility yield similar results, particularly when the absolute values are to be used to assess job suitability, the extent of injury or the need for rehabilitation. Methods. Eleven volunteers took part. The ranges of lumbar flexion, extension, lateral bending and axial rotation were measured using the CA6000 Spine Motion Analyser and the Polhemus Fastrak system, using standardised protocols. Results. Each device showed good test-retest reliability in itself ( R > 0.82). The absolute values for range of flexion in a standing posture were significantly higher with the CA6000 than with the Fastrak (though well correlated); those recorded in sitting were comparable for the two devices. Values for lateral bending using the two devices were well correlated, although small (but significant) differences in the absolute values were found. For extension and axial rotation, the devices gave significantly different values that were also poorly correlated. The ‘limits of agreement’ for the two devices (calculated to examine whether they could be used interchangeably) were rather wide, especially for extension and axial rotation. Conclusion. The two devices do not always yield comparable measures for spinal mobility. The accuracy of each, in relation to true angular movements of the vertebrae, remains unknown. Relevance The two computerised motion analysis devices can each be used reliably in longitudinal studies. However, if ‘normal’ values for spinal mobility are to be established, they must be considered device-specific.

Analyzing the preference for non-exclusive forms of telecommuting : Modeling and policy implications

This study examines three models of the individual's preference for home- and center-based telecommuting. Issues concerning the estimation of discrete models when the alternatives are non-exclusive are discussed. Two binary logit models are presented, one on the preference to telecomnmte from a center versus not telecommuting from a center (adjusted p2 = 0.24), and the other on the preference to telecommute from a center over telecommuting from home (adjusted 2 =0. 64). A nested lo git model is als o est imated on thefoll owing four alternatives: preferring not to telecommute, preferring either form of telecommuting, preferring to telecommute from home, and preferring to telecommute from a center (adjusted p: = 0.35). The results of the models illustrated the importance of attitudinal measures in measuring an individual's preference to telecommute. Oblique factor scores representing workplace interac- tion, stress, workaholism, internal control, and commute stress were staustically significant in some or all of the models. Other explanatory variables which were found to be consistently significant were education, job suitability, and age. Most respondents preferred either to telecom- mute from home or were indifferent between either form of telecommuting, which raises the question as to whether there really is a sizeable market niche to be filled by telecommutmg centers, and hence whether they may make a significant contribution to transportation demand reduction.

Modeling the desire to telecommute: The importance of attitudinal factors in behavioral models

This paper begins to operationalize a previously published conceptual model of the individual decision to telecommute. Using survey data from 628 employees of the City of San Diego, hypothesized drives to telecommute and constraints on/facilitators of telecommuting are measured. A binary logit model of the preference to telecommute from home is estimated, having a ϱ 2 of 0.68. The explanatory variables include attitudinal and factual information. Factor analysis is performed on two groups of attitudinal questions, identifying a total of 17 (oblique) factors which can be classified as drives and constraints. Additional measures are created from other data in the survey, usually objective sociodemographic characteristics. Variables representing at least four of the five hypothesized drives (work, family, independence/leisure, and travel) are significant in the final model. Variables from four of the ten groups of constraints (Job suitability, social/professional and household interaction concerns, and a perceived benefit of commuting) are significant, primarily representing internal rather than external constraints. The results clearly demonstrate the importance of attitudinal measures over sociodemographic ones, as the same demographic characteristics (such as the presence of children, commute time) will have different effects on preference for different people.

Modeling the Choice of Telecommuting: 3. Identifying the Choice Set and Estimating Binary Choice Models for Technology-Based Alternatives

In previous papers in this series we have presented a conceptual model of the individual decision to telecommute and explored relationships among constraints, preference, and choice. In a related paper we developed a binary model of the preference for home-based telecommuting. Noting that there is a wide gap between preferring to telecommute (88% of the sample) and actually telecommuting (13%), in this paper we develop binary logit models of telecommuting adoption. Two approaches to dealing with constraints are compared: incorporating them directly into the utility function, and using them to define the choice set. Models using the first approach appear to be statistically superior in this analysis, explaining 63–64% of the information in the data. Variables significant to choice include those relating to work and travel drives, and awareness, manager support, job suitability, technology, and discipline constraints. The best model was used to analyze the impact of relaxing three key constraints on the 355 people in the sample for whom telecommuting was previously identified to be a preferred impossible alternative (PIA). When unawareness, lack of manager support, and job unsuitability constraints are relaxed, 28% of the people in the PIA category would be expected to adopt telecommuting. The importance of behavioral models to forecast telecommuting adoption accurately is emphasized and is suggested to have wider implications for predicting technology-based activity changes.

The Employment Interview Context: Social and Situational Influences on Interviewer Decisions1

The employment interview context is broad and multifaceted, and it includes a number of social, situational, and affective influences which generate from the interviewee, interviewer, nature of the job in question, and interactions among these factors. The employment interview is proposed to be influenced by nonverbal and self‐promotion behaviors of the applicant, interviewer training, and the requirements of the job. These variables then influence the intermediate variables of applicant similarity to the interviewer, perceived competence of the applicant, and interviewer affect toward the applicant. The intermediate variables then influence the perceived job suitability of the applicant. The present study tested and found support for modeling the employment interview context and how it affects interviewer decisions. The contributions and limitations of the present study are discussed, in addition to directions for future research.

The impact of variability in candidate profiles on rater confidence and judgements regarding stability and job suitability

Two studies assessed the hypothesis that heightened variability in the presentation of job candidate profiles would lead raters to judge ratees as less stable and suitable, and to feel less confident in their decision. In a simulation of recruitment for bank tellers, corporate employees were given 12 graphic profiles of candidate performance on 12 characteristics, and asked to rate candidate stability and suitability, along with feelings of confidence. Profiles reflected differing mean standings as well as degrees of between‐trait variability. In Study 1 (N = 128), it was found that variability influenced only the evaluation of stability. In Study 2 (N = 126), trait labels were removed from the profiles. Here, results indicated that variability influenced stability, suitability and confidence ratings. Discussion focused on implications of decision making in situations of inconsistency.

At first glance: Accessibility of the physical attractiveness stereotype

This research investigated two related questions. First, do stereotyped attribute judgments emerge based on attractiveness information presented under severely restricted viewing conditions? Second, will similar biased judgments be obtained for the same targets when subjects are permitted unrestricted viewing time? Experiment 1 found that male and female Caucasian college students were able to differentiate between levels of attractiveness of both males and females on the basis of cue information contained in a single brief glance (100 ms) at a target. Subjects made stereotyped attribute judgments of targets' femininity/masculinity, job suitability, and cooperativeness based on this information under restricted and unrestricted (Experiment 2) conditions. Subjects' eye fixation patterns, recorded during the second experiment, revealed that men and women differed in the way they explored targets, but their differing search strategies had no significant effect on physical attractiveness stereotyping. Results suggest that perception of differential attractiveness occurs automatically with the initial encoding of sensory data.

Testing hypotheses about the self: Assessments of job suitability1

This investigation examined the strategies employed by individuals when testing hypotheses about the self. Participants known to possess masculine, feminine, or androgynous sex role identities tested hypotheses about their suitability for one of two jobs: either a job characterized in terms of the attributes and aptitudes typically associated with a “masculine” personality, or one characterized in terms of those typically associated with a “feminine” personality. When testing these hypotheses about themselves, participants preferentially reported those aspects of themselves that would suggest their suitedness rather than their unsuitedness for the job under consideration regardless of their sex role identity. Moreover, subsequent judgments of job suitability were positively related to the amount of suitedness evidence reported, but unrelated to the amount of unsuitedness evidence reported. Some consequences of these strategies for testing hypotheses about the self are discussed.

Accent and lexical diversity as determinants of impression formation and perceived employment suitability

The prime aim of this empirical investigation was to determine whether individuals' speech styles would affect their perceived suitability for various jobs. Four versions of a stimulus tape were recorded of a candidate in a supposed job interview. Using the matched-guise technique in a 2×2 factorial design, a bidialectal speaker taped essentially the same passage in a (standard) RP and (nonstandard) Welsh accent, while showing either high or low lexical diversity. Four groups of undergraduates, acting as personnel consultants, each heard only one of these tapes, rated the personality of their speaker, and made assessments of his suitability for each of four jobs varying from medium to low status. Personality ratings of accented speakers confirmed previous work whereas, quite unexpectedly, low rather than high diversity speakers were perceived as more agreeable and goodnatured. The three lowest status jobs were seen as significantly more suitable for nonstandard- than standard-accented speakers and those using low rather than high diversity. In a follow-up study, where judgments related to higher status jobs, RP speakers were rated as more suitable than their nonstandard-accented counterparts. The pragmatic significance of these findings are highlighted and discussed in the context of related North American data.

Testing hypotheses about other people: The use of historical knowledge

Three experiments were conducted to examine the use of historical knowledge to test contemporary hypotheses about the personal attributes of other people. In the first and second experiments, participants read an extensive account of events in one week of the life of a woman named Jane. Two days later, they used this previously learned information to test hypotheses about Jane's suitability for one of two jobs: either the rather extraverted job of real estate salesperson, or the rather introverted job of research librarian. In their hypothesis-testing activities, participants first reported all those previously learned facts that they regarded as relevant to assessing Jane's suitability for the job under consideration, and then reported their judgments of her job suitability. Participants reported greater amounts of hypothesis-confirming than hypothesis-disconfirming factual material. Moreover, having tested hypotheses about Jane's suitability for one job, participants judged her to be better suited for that job than for the other job. In the third experiment, participants framed hypotheses for assessing job suitability and defined the task of testing these hypotheses. Participants framed hypotheses in terms of those attributes whose presence would confirm the hypotheses and defined the hypothesis-testing task as one of preferentially collecting hypothesis-confirming evidence. The nature and consequences of confirmatory hypothesis-testing strategies are discussed.

Demonstration of the Effect, “Similar to Me,” in Simulated Employment Interviews

Simulated video-taped employment interviews were constructed in which a black and a white applicant presented, in addition to job-related statements, biographical background information which was either similar or dissimilar to that of the white interviewer. 160 subjects were selected as interviewers who demonstrated extreme scores on the variables of need for affiliation and racial prejudice. The results indicated that biographical similarity of interviewer and applicant led to higher ratings of the candidate's job suitability and other personal characteristics. Racially prejudiced interviewers were generally more negative in their evaluations of all candidates regardless of the applicant's race. Neither race of the applicant nor affiliation need of the evaluators showed significant main effects. Implications of the so-called effect, “similar to me,” were discussed in relation to the employment interview.

A Job Suitability Scale

A Job Suitability Scale