Perceived Task Performance Research Articles

Seeking the balance in perceived task performance: the interaction of perfectionism and perceived organizational support

Seeking the balance in perceived task performance: the interaction of perfectionism and perceived organizational support

890 Surgical Multidisciplinary Team Meetings Are Enhanced by Collaboration in the Metaverse

Abstract Aim Multidisciplinary team meetings (MDT-Ms) are utilised as a clinical decision-making tool. Currently, these are in-person or remote, using screen-sharing of patient health records including clinical findings, numerical data, and imaging (2D/3D). Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) is an emerging technology allowing multiple care-providers to remotely interact with patient data in the metaverse. Our aim was to develop an IVR metaverse for MDT-M and test its feasibility and efficacy in the orthopaedic trauma setting. Method Interviews of users attending existing orthopaedic trauma MDT-Ms at a regional major trauma centre identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) for a novel platform. Iterative testing allowed feature development and curation of twenty-four simulated cases from previous admissions. User experience in pilot MDT-Ms was measured using the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and System Usability Scale (SUS). Results An IVR metaverse platform was developed and four MDT-Ms were successfully conducted with healthcare professionals (n = 13). Participants found ‘data visualisation’ and ‘clinical decision-making’ effective in IVR: median 5 (IQR 4-5); and 5 (IQR 4-5) respectively. Ratings on ‘ease of communication’ in the metaverse were varied with a median of 3 (IQR 2-4.5). Qualitative analysis highlighted the strength of IVR for collaborative interrogation of 3D anatomy and injury patterns. The NASA-TLX domain ‘task performance’ was rated consistently highly. Conclusions Healthcare professionals can conduct MDT-Ms using a novel platform on commercially available IVR headsets. Participants were able to collaboratively interrogate clinical data, facilitating enhanced discussion, decision-making, and perceived task performance. Future iterations will focus on role designation to improve communication in MDT-Ms.

Work-Life Balance as Predictor of Business Studies Teachers’ Task and Contextual Performance in Esan West, Edo State

In a society that is filled with conflict of responsibility and obligations towards personal lives, family values and aging work force, work-life balance (WLB) becomes a vital programme worthy of research. The present study was on work-life balance as predictors of business studies teachers’ task and contextual performance in Esan West, Edo State. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a correlational survey research design. The population of the study comprised all business studies’ teachers in Esan West numbering 42 business studies’ teachers. The instrument used was a questionnaire titled ‘Work-Life Balance and Performance Questionnaire (WLBAPQ).’ The instrument was validated by two experts. The cronbach alpha was used in ascertaining the reliability of the instrument and it yielded a reliability coefficient of .81 after administering the instrument to 10 business studies’ teachers in Egor, Edo State. The data collected from the respondents were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and simple linear regression analysis. The findings revealed that work-life balance is a significant positive predictor of business studies teachers’ perceived task performance (R2 = .158, F (1, 40) = 7.517, P <. 05). The findings also revealed that work-life balance is a significant positive predictor of business studies teachers perceived contextual performance (R2 = .002, F (1, 40) = .097, P >. 05). Based on the findings, it was recommended that institutions/schools should continue to put in place more work-life balance programmes that will enhance the performance of business studies’ teachers.

Personal control of correlated color temperature of light: Effects on thermal comfort, visual comfort, and cognitive performance

Recent studies have suggested that thermal and visual comfort are correlated, although the causality underlying this correlation is unclear. Personal control of correlated color temperature (CCT) provides individual visual comfort, but its effects on other parameters such as thermal comfort and cognitive performance remain underexamined. Therefore, we investigated if personal control of CCT can, on top of visual comfort, enhance thermal comfort and cognitive performance in office scenarios while exposed to mild cold (17 °C) using a 2x2 within-subject design. Sixteen participants were initially exposed to CCT of either 2700 K or 5700 K for 70 min. In the subsequent 70 min, participants either had free control of CCT or no control. As expected, personal control of CCT improved visual comfort and mitigated perceived eye-related symptoms. However, it did not significantly affect thermal comfort for either antecedent CCT. When the antecedent CCT was 5700 K, personal control of CCT increased alertness and physiological arousal, improved the planning and verbal cognitive performance, but, unexpectedly, decreased performance on mental spatial manipulation tasks. Additional analyses then explored the role of the psychological and personalization effects of personal control by controlling for the actual CCT. These suggest that control benefited visual comfort, eye-related symptoms, perceived task performance, pleasure, alertness and physiological arousal. This study is one of the first studies to demonstrate that visual comfort does not causally affect thermal comfort. Personal control of CCT benefits visual appraisals and eye-related symptoms, sometimes improves alertness, but differentially influences cognitive performance depending on the task type.

Causality of the Satisfaction-Performance Relationship: A Task Experiment.

Despite the common belief among practitioners that a happy worker is a productive worker, researchers have been struggling to understand the causality between satisfaction and performance for decades. This study attempts to bring clarity to current understanding through an experiment with repeated measures of satisfaction and performance. A total of 143 participants repeatedly performed a task based on the Stroop test, with their objective performance and task satisfaction measured each time. Two different types of feedback (high/low performance) were randomly assigned to participants in order to manipulate perceived performance. The data were analyzed using a path analysis. The results support the hypothesized influence of task satisfaction on task performance and of perceived task performance on task satisfaction.

The Effect of Job Stress and Feeling of Entrapment on Perceived Task Performance and the Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction in the Scope of Organizational Sustainability

Purpose: Increasing productivity in organizations is also an important function for organizational sustainability. It is seen in the literature that organizational development issues such as job stress, task performance and job satisfaction are intensively examined. However, the deterioration of work and private life balance in recent years has also created some negative effects on business life. Design/Methodology/Approach: The concept of entrapment emerges as a concept of increasing importance in this period. The trap, which we encounter mostly in the studies conducted in the field of psychology in the literature, is also an important concept in the field of organizational development. Especially in this recent period, it is understood that issues such as the lack of direct control over the employees and the negative impact of the work/private-life balance of the employees trigger the concept of being trapped. In this study, the concepts of job stress, task performance, job satisfaction and entrapment are examined from a different perspective within the scope of corporate sustainability. With the statistical study on call center employees, some raw data were obtained from 699 people representing different demographic structures. Findings: Then, the obtained data were subjected to statistical analysis and the relationships between them were determined. Discussion: As a result of the statistical analysis, it was determined that there was a positive relationship between the concepts examined. It is thought that this study will contribute to the literature, especially in terms of revealing the relationship of the concept of entrapment with other related topics and how it affects other issues.

Task performance and job satisfaction under the effect of remote working: Call center evidence

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire world and caused radical changes in conducting business. During the pandemic, some companies adopted hybrid working, and some requested their employees to work entirely from their homes or workplace. This study is performed to determine the differences in the perceived task performance of employees working from home compared to those operating from their workplace and the possible mediating effect of job satisfaction due to such distinction. The study sample is limited to one call center to prevent the interference of other organizational variables such as management style, human resources practices, organizational culture, and to only call center agents to prevent any interference of the position-related factors. All the call center agents (n=421) participated in this study. The data obtained was examined by a path analysis with the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results show that the employees who work from home full-time or on certain days of the week have better general task performance perception compared to those who work only from the workplace. The work location has not been found to affect job satisfaction significantly.

Yedekleme Planı ve Kariyer Yönetim Sisteminin, Çalışanın Algıladığı Görev Performansına Etkisi (The Effect of the Succession Plan and the Career Management System on the Perceived Task Performance of the Employee)

Purpose - This study aims to determine the effects of the career management system and succession plan practices of organizations on the general and specific task performance perceptions of the employees, and to contribute to the literature in this direction, and draw the attention of the practitioners to these subjects. Design/methodology/approach - This study, which invesitgates the effects of the career management system and succession plan practices of organizations on the general and specific task performance perceptions of the employees, was carried out with 556 participants from call center employees operating in Istanbul by adopting a convenient sampling method. First, call center company managers were contacted, and questionnaires were sent in the electronic form to those managers who accepted to participate in the study and distributed to the participants by them. The collected data were subjected to validity, reliability and confirmatory factor analyzes using the SmartPLS Structural Equation Model (SEM) program. For the hypothesis tests, the findings obtained by path analysis were interpreted. Findings - Statistical analysis shows that career management system practices play a positive and significant role in employees’ perceptions of both job and specific task performance. It was observed that the implementation of the backup plan negatively affected the specific task performance perception of the employees. Specific job performance perception plays a partial mediating role in the effect of career management on the perception of general task performance and a fully mediating role in the effect of the succession plan. Discussion - The results of this study reveal that career management system practices are welcomed as they increase both general and specific job performance perceptions of employees, while succession plan applications are not welcomed by employees due to the negative impact.

Anticipation of and response to exercise in adolescents with CFS: An experimental study

BackgroundUsing a laboratory-based exercise task, this study investigated objective exercise performance as well as expectations, anxiety and perceived task performance ratings in adolescents with CFS compared to healthy controls and illness controls. MethodTrials of a sit-stand exercise task (SST) were undertaken (CFS: n = 61, asthma (AS): n = 31, healthy adolescents (HC): n = 78). Adolescents rated their expectations, pre- and post-task anxiety, and perceived task difficulty. Their parents independently rated their performance expectations of their child. ResultsThe CFS group took significantly longer to complete the SST than the AS group (MD 3.71, 95% CI [2.41, 5.01] p < .001) and HC (MD 3.61, 95% CI [2.41, 4.81], p < .001). Adolescents with CFS had lower expectations for their performance on the exercise task than AS participants (MD -11.79, 95% CI [−22.17, −1.42] p = .022) and HC (MD -15.08, 95% CI [−23.01, −7.14] p < .001). They rated their perceived exertion as significantly greater than AS (MD 3.04, 95% CI [1.86, 4.21] p < .001) and HC (MD 2.98, 95% CI [1.99, 3.98], p < .001). The CFS group reported greater anxiety pre-task than AS (MD 14.11, 95% CI [5.57, 22.65] p < .001) and HC (MD 11.19, 95% CI [2.64, 19.75], p. = 007). Parental group differences showed similar patterns to the adolescents’'. ConclusionsLower expectations and greater anxiety regarding exercise may reflect learning from previous difficult experiences which could impact future exercise performance. Further examination of pre-exercise expectations and post-exercise appraisals could improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which fatigue is maintained.

Örgütsel Kısıtların Görev Performansı ve Bağlamsal Performans Üzerindeki Etkisinde Örgütsel Özdeşleşmenin Aracılık Rolü (The Mediating Role of Organizational Identification in the Relationship Between Organizational Constraints, Task Performance and Contextual Performance)

Purpose – The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of organizational identification in the impact of organizational constraints on task performance and contextual performance. Design/methodology/approach – The research was carried out by collecting data from 592 graduates from universities working in public institutions in Ankara. SPSS and SmartPLS programs were used in the analysis of the data. Structural equation modeling method was used to test the hypotheses. Findings – According to the findings, organizational constraints do not have a significant effect on perceived task performance and contextual performance. However, organizational constraints affect organizational identification negatively and significantly. Organizational identification also affects task performance and contextual performance positively and significantly. Even if organizational constraints do not affect task performance and contextual performance, it was observed that this effect occurred indirectly when evaluated according to the approach of Zhao, et al. (2010). Therefore, according to the study results, organizational identification plays a mediating role in the effect of organizational constraints on performance. Discussion – One important thing to note is that the level of constraints, as measured by the Organizational Constraints Scale, is not the degree to which the mentioned constraints exist but rather the degree to which the mentioned constraints make it difficult or impossible to do one’s job. According to the results of the analysis, it has been revealed that the organizational constraints for the participants create problems on average once or twice per month. Considering that the research is conducted in public institutions, the factors among the scale items that are high in average and seen as more constrained than others are “interruptions by other people, other employees and conflicting job demands”. It is seen that employees consider the reasons arising from individuals rather than a public institution as a constraint. According to the results of the research, the organizational identification levels of the participants are high and this positively affects the task performance and contextual performance. Since a study examining the relationship between organizational constraints and identification has not been found in the literature, another contribution of the research to the literature is that organizational identification decreases as the organizational constraints increase. Another conclusion that arises in the research is that organizational identification has more impact on contextual performance than on task performance. In this case, it is necessary to investigate which factors can explain why organizational identification has an impact on contextual performance rather than task performance. Since the research model has not been tested before, it is thought that it will contribute to the literature.

Business Travel

Abstract. Control over business trips has been considered an important resource for frequent business travelers. Building on past research and conservation of resources theory, this two-wave study among 210 frequent business travelers investigated whether work meaning moderates the relationship between two kinds of control, job control and trip-scheduling control, and two important work outcomes, work satisfaction and perceived task performance. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that when work meaning was lower, trip-scheduling control was negatively related to work satisfaction and perceived task performance 6 months later. However, there were no significant interactions between job control and work meaning on the two outcomes. Findings support the reasoning that trip-scheduling control is of specific importance in the context of business travel and that this particular kind of control is not per se positive but contingent on work meaning and thus the larger context.

Workload Alerts—Using Physiological Measures of Mental Workload to Provide Feedback During Tasks

Feedback is valuable for allowing us to improve on tasks. While retrospective feedback can help us improve for next time, feedback ‘in action’ can allow us to improve the outcome of on-going tasks. In this article, we use data from functional Near InfraRed Spectroscopy to provide participants with feedback about their mental workload levels during high-workload tasks. We evaluate the impact of this feedback on task performance and perceived task performance, in comparison to industry standard mid-task self-assessments, and explore participants’ perceptions of this feedback. In line with previous work, we confirm that deploying self-reporting methods affect both perceived and actual performance. Conversely, we conclude that our objective concurrent feedback correlated more closely with task demand, supported reflection in action, and did not negatively affect performance. Future work, however, should focus on the design of this feedback and the potential behaviour changes that will result.

Social Media Usage of Students, Role of Tie Strength, and Perceived Task Performance

The extensive use of social media has encouraged university teachers to consider employing social media as new e-learning platforms. This study explored the relationship between social media usage and constructive learning performance (perceived group task performance). Specifically, this work focused on the mediating role of communication in group and the moderating role of tie strength in online social networking. Survey data were collected from students in a senior-level business course. Students were asked to express their opinions on Facebook usage, communication in group, tie strength, and group performance. SmartPLS was used as the major data analysis tool. Results revealed that frequent social media usage of students led to increased communication among group members and that communication in group enhanced the perceived group task performance of students. Finally, tie strength negatively moderated the relationship between social media usage and communication in group.

The effect of superstitious thinking on psychosocial stress responses and perceived task performance

Previous research on superstitious belief, a subset of paranormal belief (Irwin, ), has suggested that people tend to invoke luck‐related superstitions in stressful situations as an attempt to gain an illusion of control over outcomes. Based on this, the current study examined whether luck‐related superstition, in the form of a “lucky” pen, could influence the psychological response to a psychosocial stressor. Participants (N = 114), aged between 17 and 59 years (M = 22.98, SD = 4.57) from James Cook University Singapore, were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (a) no‐stress with no lucky pen; (b) no‐stress with a lucky pen; (c) stress with no lucky pen or; (d) stress with a lucky pen. The results revealed that participants provided with a lucky pen experienced lower state anxiety when exposed to the stressor. Further, participants provided with a lucky pen perceived their performance to be better than those without it. However, superstitious belief did not significantly change following exposure to stress. Taken together, the present findings add some support to the suggestion that belief in transferable luck may facilitate coping with a stressor. However, further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms behind the potential benefits of superstitious belief.

How Change Agents’ Motivation Facilitates Organizational Change: Pathways Through Meaning and Organizational Identification

ABSTRACTThis longitudinal field study adds to research on organizational change implementation by examining two facets of change agents’ motivation as predictors of organizational change. To explain effects, this article examines change agents’ experience of meaningful project work and their organizational identification as underlying mechanisms. Change agents were 51 university teachers who implemented change initiatives in teaching climate. They completed questionnaires before and after project implementation, with a time lag of one year. As predicted, results from hierarchical regression and bootstrapping analyses showed an indirect effect of intrinsic motivation on change agents’ project-related perceived task performance through the experience of meaning. Moreover, there was an indirect effect of motivation to benefit others on change in teaching climate through organizational identification. Results highlight the role of different facets of change agents’ motivation in successfully implementing change and provide insights for the design of change programmes in organizations.

RSAP is pleased to announce the winning author for its Annual Best Paper Award among articles published in 2013, Stephen Carter et al, for their paper titled “Consumers' willingness to use a medication management service: The effect of medication-related worry and the social influence of the general practitioner” appearing in Volume 9, Issue 4 of the journal. The following is

Workload has been described both objectively (e.g., number of prescriptions dispensed per pharmacist) as well as subjectively (e.g., pharmacist's perception of busyness). These approaches might be missing important characteristics of pharmacist workload that have not been previously identified and measured.To measure the association of community pharmacists' workload perceptions at three levels (organization, job, and task) with job satisfaction, burnout, and perceived performance of two tasks in the medication dispensing process.A secondary data analysis was performed using cross-sectional survey data collected from Wisconsin (US) community pharmacists. Organization–related workload was measured as staffing adequacy; job-related workload was measured as general and specific job demands; task-related workload was measured as internal and external mental demands. Pharmacists' perceived task performance was assessed for patient profile review and patient consultation. The survey was administered to a random sample of 500 pharmacists who were asked to opt in if they were a community pharmacist. Descriptive statistics and correlations of study variables were determined. Two structural equation models were estimated to examine relationships between the study variables and perceived task performance.From the 224 eligible community pharmacists that agreed to participate, 165 (73.7%) usable surveys were completed and returned. Job satisfaction and job-related monitoring demands had direct positive associations with both dispensing tasks. External task demands were negatively related to perceived patient consultation performance. Indirect effects on both tasks were primarily mediated through job satisfaction, which was positively related to staffing adequacy and cognitive job demands and negatively related to volume job demands. External task demands had an additional indirect effect on perceived patient consultation performance, as it was associated with lower levels of job satisfaction and higher levels of burnout.Allowing community pharmacists to concentrate on tasks and limiting interruptions while performing these tasks are important factors in improving quality of patient care and pharmacist work life. The results have implications for strategies to improve patient safety and pharmacist performance.

Peer Mastery in Addition to Direct Instruction Post-Stroke: A Single-Subject Design

ABSTRACTObjective. Observational learning has been suggested as a potential strategy for improving task performance and self-efficacy with stroke survivors. The present study explored the effectiveness of the use of peer mastery in addition to verbal instructions, to improve the task performance and self-efficacy, of a stroke survivor learning to exit a car. Method. A single-subject A-B-C design including a baseline observation phase (A) followed by two subsequent intervention phases, direct instruction (B) and peer mastery modeling (C), was used. Outcome measures, guided by Zimmerman's self-regulation of learning model, were obtained for task performance, perceived task performance, self-satisfaction, and self-efficacy. Results. While no improvement in task performance followed either intervention, improvements in perceived task performance, self-satisfaction, and self-efficacy were found following direct instruction. Peer mastery significantly strengthened the participant's self-efficacy. Conclusion. Perceived performance and self-satisfaction may be important factors to consider when investigating self-efficacy. Further investigations are needed to study the influence of these self-regulatory processes on task performance with stroke survivors.

The association of subjective workload dimensions on quality of care and pharmacist quality of work life

Workload has been described both objectively (e.g., number of prescriptions dispensed per pharmacist) as well as subjectively (e.g., pharmacist's perception of busyness). These approaches might be missing important characteristics of pharmacist workload that have not been previously identified and measured. To measure the association of community pharmacists' workload perceptions at three levels (organization, job, and task) with job satisfaction, burnout, and perceived performance of two tasks in the medication dispensing process. A secondary data analysis was performed using cross-sectional survey data collected from Wisconsin (US) community pharmacists. Organization-related workload was measured as staffing adequacy; job-related workload was measured as general and specific job demands; task-related workload was measured as internal and external mental demands. Pharmacists' perceived task performance was assessed for patient profile review and patient consultation. The survey was administered to a random sample of 500 pharmacists who were asked to opt in if they were a community pharmacist. Descriptive statistics and correlations of study variables were determined. Two structural equation models were estimated to examine relationships between the study variables and perceived task performance. From the 224 eligible community pharmacists that agreed to participate, 165 (73.7%) usable surveys were completed and returned. Job satisfaction and job-related monitoring demands had direct positive associations with both dispensing tasks. External task demands were negatively related to perceived patient consultation performance. Indirect effects on both tasks were primarily mediated through job satisfaction, which was positively related to staffing adequacy and cognitive job demands and negatively related to volume job demands. External task demands had an additional indirect effect on perceived patient consultation performance, as it was associated with lower levels of job satisfaction and higher levels of burnout. Allowing community pharmacists to concentrate on tasks and limiting interruptions while performing these tasks are important factors in improving quality of patient care and pharmacist work life. The results have implications for strategies to improve patient safety and pharmacist performance.

Community pharmacists’ subjective workload and perceived task performance: A human factors approach

ObjectiveTo measure the association of three categories of community pharmacists’ subjective workload with perceived performance in pharmacists’ tasks. DesignCross-sectional descriptive study. SettingWisconsin, September 2009. Participants224 Wisconsin community pharmacists. InterventionWeb-based or mailed survey. Main outcome measuresSelf-reported workload in task-, job-, and organization-related categories and their association with perceived performance on completing a profile review, checking the accuracy of a prescription, and providing a patient consultation for a new medication. ResultsMultivariate regression analysis showed that performing a profile review was positively associated with monitoring demands (reacting quickly to prevent problems) and significantly negatively associated with external task demands (interruptions, rushing). The task of verifying prescription accuracy was positively associated with monitoring demands and negatively associated with volume demands (having enough time to get work done). Patient consultation performance was positively associated with cognitive (using skills and knowledge) and monitoring demands and negatively associated with external demands. ConclusionThese findings revealed the importance of measuring workload demands after separating the demands into categories and that different work demands are associated with performance of different tasks. As a result, no one solution will improve performance, and specific work environments must be considered when crafting solutions.

Post-event Processing in Children with Social Phobia

In the aftermath of a distressing social event, adults with social phobia (SP) engage in a review of this event with a focus on its negative aspects. To date, little is known about this post-event processing (PEP) and its relationship with perceived performance in SP children. We measured PEP in SP children (n=24) and healthy controls (HC; n=22), aged from 8 to 12 years, after the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C). Children also rated their performance immediately after the TSST-C and 2.5 h later. SP children reported more negative and less positive PEP than controls. Regression analyses indicated that negative PEP was associated with social anxiety and perceived task performance independent of comorbid depression. The SP group rated their performance immediately after the TSST-C as worse compared to HCs and ratings remained stable over the following 2.5 h. Results are discussed in relation to current theories of SP.