Browsing by Author "Fisher, Gwenith, advisor"
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Item Open Access Alone again, naturally? Loneliness and performance among STEM graduate students(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Stoa, Rosalyn, author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Dik, Bryan, committee member; Prasad, Joshua, committee member; Stromberger, Mary, committee memberGraduate student mental health is a trending topic of research, and rightfully so considering the growing number of graduate students, high rate of mental health concerns particularly among young adults, and the high rate of attrition from graduate programs. Qualitative research has consistently raised isolation and loneliness as concerns for many doctoral students. Not only is loneliness an issue for mental health and wellbeing, but loneliness may have serious consequences for students' motivation, satisfaction, intentions to stay in school, and the current and future productivity of these scholars. Based on the tenets of self determination theory and the model of workplace loneliness, I hypothesized that perceived loneliness in doctoral students would be negatively related to motivation, satisfaction, productivity and intent to quit. The current study extends previous research by exploring loneliness in doctoral students in a large-scale (N = 1117) quantitative survey to investigate perceptions of loneliness, motivation, engagement, satisfaction, and productivity among doctoral students in STEM fields. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test hypotheses, results demonstrated that loneliness was negatively related to satisfaction with program, motivation, and productivity, and explained 49% of the variance of intent to quit. Relationship with advisor mediated the relationship between loneliness and motivation, but not satisfaction with program or productivity. Results may inform graduate programs with students who may be at higher risk of loneliness and/or attrition and may guide future interventions to prevent or reduce loneliness in graduate students.Item Open Access Don't take that tone with me! An examination of attribution and evaluation as a consequence of incivility perceived in workplace email(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Goldman, Chloe B., author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Cleveland, Jeanette, committee member; Henle, Chris, committee member; Long, Ziyu, committee member; Prince, Mark, committee memberThis research investigated how people in the workforce interpret and react to the experience of incivility when it is perceived in workplace email. The purpose of this study was to assess relationships between perceptions of incivility in email, the fundamental attribution error, and associated judgments made about the email content and sender. Moreover, this work examined the similarity-attraction paradigm to test whether perceptions of similarity to the email sender moderated the aforementioned relationships. In this vignette-based survey, participants were asked to evaluate email content in the context of hypothetical workplace scenarios. These participants were recruited from the Amazon Mechanical Turk workforce pool (MTurk), resulting in a final sample of 219 respondents. Results indicated that people make the fundamental attribution error more often when perceptions of incivility are high, and that perceiving incivility is associated with a poorer evaluation of the email sender's communication skills and with a lower desire to work with that email sender in the future. In addition, participants who perceived themselves to be more similar to the email sender evaluated the email sender positively even when they detected incivility. Findings in this study do not support that the perception of incivility or attribution was related to email content ambiguity or cognitive load. This work contributes empirical evidence to research about email and computer mediated communication (CMC) in organizations and the pitfalls of miscommunication or misinterpretation on lean media platforms. Implications for workplace training and organizational policy change are discussed.Item Embargo Examining science/knowledge gaps within occupational health psychology, organizational training, and performance feedback(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Kunz, James, author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Graham, Daniel, committee member; Dik, Bryan, committee member; Brazile, William, committee memberIdentifying and minimizing knowledge gaps between science and practice within Industrial-Organizational (I-O) is essential to improve workers' health and wellbeing as well as their broader experiences at work by ensuring that organizations use empirically supported practices. Though the science/practice gap has been recognized and studied in some areas of I-O psychology, such as selection, the purpose of this study was to investigate the science/knowledge gap in new subfields such as occupational health psychology (OHP) and performance feedback. The current study also attempted to assess the science/knowledge gap in organizational training, which has been examined in previous research. However, our study not only examined the science/knowledge gap among practitioners, as previous research has, but also among academics for all three subtopics of OHP, performance feedback, and organizational training. This cross-sectional study examined the relationships between 218 participants' demographic variables (e.g., occupation, self-perceived expertise) and their knowledge of I-O psychology research measured by true/false items summarizing published findings. Results indicated academics answered more true/false items correctly compared to practitioners. However, findings regarding relationships between correct responding and participants' coursework on relevant topics were mixed. Implications from these findings are discussed in light of empirical and applied contributions to the literature.Item Open Access Examining the relationship between work stressors and mental health among women in academia(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Clancy, Rebecca L., author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Crain, Tori, committee member; Prince, Mark, committee member; Henle, Chris, committee memberThis study aimed to increase our understanding of the relationship between work stressors and mental health outcomes for female faculty members in American colleges and universities. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to identify how work stressors and the work and nonwork interface (e.g., work/nonwork interference, work/nonwork enhancement) related to symptoms of depression, anxiety, and burnout for female faculty members, and sought to examine how these relationships differed amongst women who were parents and those who were not. I distributed an anonymous online survey to faculty members employed by colleges and universities across the United States. The final sample size included 216 women. Results indicated that general job stress and work interference with personal life were positively related to symptoms of depression, anxiety, and burnout, and work enhancement of personal life and personal life enhancement of work were negatively related to symptoms of depression, anxiety, and burnout. However, organizational support and nonwork social support generally did not moderate these relationships. Further, parents and non-parents had similar ratings (i.e., non-significant differences) of work stressors and mental health symptoms. The present study provides incremental information about women's experiences in academia and lends support to existing theories in the occupational health psychology literature regarding the occupational stressor-strain process. This study can be used to inform the development of interventions in academia to reduce work-related strain. Importantly, implications for preventing employee burnout and supporting psychological recovery in academia are discussed.Item Open Access Is the "grass" greener? Occupational wellness in the Colorado cannabis industry(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Walters, Kevin M., author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Dik, Bryan, committee member; Kraiger, Kurt, committee member; Reynolds, Stephen, committee memberThis study is the first occupational safety and health evaluation of the cannabis industry of Colorado from an Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) perspective. Qualitative pilot data and common OHP theories provide a framework for project development, design, and rationale. This study investigated the following among cannabis industry workers: potential stressors, perceptions and awareness of physical safety hazards, strain outcomes, and organizational supports that might buffer relations between stressors and strain outcomes. Study results provide a first glimpse at the demographics of the cannabis industry and suggest that workers generally experience low strain and high levels of organizational supports in the presence of various physical and psychological stressors and hazards. However, results also suggest heterogeneous health and safety training, awareness, and regulation in the cannabis industry. Future research directions and practical implications for cannabis industry workers are provided.Item Embargo Perceptions of supportive organizational practices and well-being among LGBQ+ employees(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Perpich, Rachel A., author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Gardner, Danielle, committee member; Graham, Daniel, committee member; Chen, Adela, committee memberThe increasing number of workers who identify with the LGBTQ+ community illuminates a pressing question regarding how organizations are navigating and implementing DEI initiatives to support minority identities. As organizational efforts to support and retain the rising population of sexual minority workers continue, it is additionally necessary to understand how these employees perceive such practices. The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationships between perceptions of supportive organizational practices, perceived organizational support, and worker well-being among LGBQ+ employees. Participants included 352 LGBQ+ individuals recruited via Prolific who completed online surveys at two time points. I hypothesized that LGBQ+ employees who reported their organization having supportive organizational practices would perceive more support from their organization, and thus have more favorable reports of well-being. Additionally, I expected sexual orientation identity centrality to moderate the relationship between perceptions of LGBQ+ supportive practices and general perceptions of organizational support. Results show support for all hypothesized relationships besides those including anxiety symptoms. Specifically, LGBQ+ employees who reported more favorable (i.e., higher) perceptions of LGBQ+ supportive practices also perceived more general support from their organization, which ultimately served as a mechanism for higher reports of job satisfaction and work-life balance and lower reports of depressive symptoms. Additionally, the relationship between perceptions of LGBQ+ supportive organizational practices and perceptions of general organizational support was stronger for employees who identified their sexual orientation as more central to their identity. The present study contributes to a growing body of literature on sexual orientation and work by providing empirical support for the relationship between LGBQ+ employees' perceptions of workplace practices, overall perceptions of support, and important indicators of worker well-being, including job satisfaction, mental health, and work-life balance. Theoretical and practical implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.Item Open Access Telework, work ability, and well-being among workers with chronic health conditions(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Beckel, Julia L., author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Prasad, Joshua, committee member; Stallones, Lorann, committee member; Rosecrance, John, committee memberIn the current study, I investigate the relationship between telework, work ability (i.e., job-related functional capacity), and well-being among workers with chronic health conditions (CHCs). Specifically, I address four research questions: 1) how does the utilization of telework relate to work ability and well-being in workers with CHCs, 2) do job control and flexibility mediate the relationships between telework, work ability, and wellbeing among workers with CHCs, 3) does the type of work activity performed moderate the relationship between telework, work ability, and well-being via perceptions of flexibility and job control, and 4) does the relationship between telework, wellbeing, and ability change when employees work more hours via telework arrangements? Using an experience sampling design, I demonstrate how the relationship between telework and daily perceptions of work ability and well-being among workers with CHCs' is primarily driven through perceptions of job control workers experience when teleworking versus attending their central organization. This relationship is also related to the nature of one's work, such that when individuals' jobs require high levels of educating or training others (i.e., remote learning), they experience less job control within the teleworking context, and subsequently report poorer work ability and well-being. Considering these findings, organizations might better define instances in which telework may be used an effective accommodation practice for workers with chronic health conditions.Item Open Access The development of a measure of work-related underload(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Naude, Megan N., author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Byrne, Zinta, committee member; Steger, Michael, committee member; Henle, Chris, committee memberThis study outlines the development of the construct of work-related underload as well as a scale to measure underload. Underload has been given limited attention in the stress literature but could be a significant source of stress and other negative outcomes in the workplace. After reviewing the literature and the theoretical background related to underload, a clear definition of underload was established based on employees' perceptions, expectations, and desires related to workload. This definition informed the development of a three-factor scale to measure underload. Data from two development samples was collected in order to evaluate the reliability and validity of the scale. The results provide evidence of the internal consistency and construct validity of the three-dimensional scale. The work-related underload scale may be used in the future to explore the antecedents and consequences associated with the experience of underload at work.Item Open Access The student affairs burnout epidemic: relationships among LMX, racial identity, and burnout(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Lynner, Brittany, author; Prasad, Joshua, advisor; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Shore, Lynn, committee member; Graham, Daniel, committee memberAccording to the Job Demands-Resources Theory (JD-R Theory; Bakker & Demerouti, 2017; Demerouti et al., 2001), job demands predict burnout whereas job resources buffer the impact of job demands on burnout. Campus student affairs professionals are prone to burnout given their unique job demands, of which telepressure (i.e., preoccupations with and urges for responding quickly to workplace communication; Barber & Santuzzi, 2015) and workload are of particular concern. In alignment with Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory (Grain et al., 1982a), student affairs professionals' expression of burnout may differ depending on their relationship with their supervisor (i.e., a potential job resource). Specifically, a subordinate's perception of supervisor-subordinate relationship quality, or LMX relationship quality, may influence their engagement in self-interested voice (i.e., speaking up on issues relevant to one's own interest; Duan et al., 2020) and surface acting (i.e., engaging in emotional displays that are inconsistent with one's felt emotions; Grandey, 2000). Moreover, pursuant to Social Information Processing Theory (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978), racial identity may also play a role in student affairs professionals' experiences of job demands and burnout, and their engagement in self-interested voice and surface acting. This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between the aforementioned variables – job demands, LMX relationship quality, racial identity, surface acting, self-interested voice, and burnout – via the administration of online self-report surveys. Student affairs professionals were primarily recruited through student affairs professional associations and student affairs-related Facebook pages. Using structural equation modeling to test hypotheses (SEM), results demonstrated that subordinate LMX positively related to self-interested voice and negatively related to both surface acting and work-related burnout. Additionally, surface acting positively related to burnout (i.e., personal, work-related, student-related burnout), whereas self-interested voice was positively correlated with student-related burnout. Furthermore, the relationship between job demands and burnout was not moderated by racial identity nor subordinate LMX, and there was no significant difference in surface acting nor self-interested voice between student affairs professionals of color and their White colleagues. Findings suggest the central importance of cultivating high-quality LMX relationships and optimizing job resources to mitigate personal burnout, work-related burnout, and student-related burnout.Item Open Access What motivates healthcare workers? Using latent profile analysis to understand healthcare workers' motives and their relationships with work outcomes(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Ospina, Javier H., author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Gibbons, Alyssa, advisor; Henry, Kimberly, committee member; Sarason, Yolanda, committee memberHealthcare workers (HCWs) are an integral part of the U.S. healthcare system. Despite their importance, healthcare organizations often struggle to attract, retain, and manage these workers due to various challenges inherent in this type of work. Human resource management interventions that target HCWs' motivation have been proposed as a means to help address these issues. However, HCW motivation is complex and multifaceted and prior work has not thoroughly accounted for how multiple motives influence HCWs' work. The current research seeks to understand how various HCW motives identified in the literature relate to each other and to important work outcomes. Specifically, I used latent profile analysis to identify distinct HCW motive profiles, evaluated the degree to which each profile was characterized by extrinsic or intrinsic motivation or amotivation, and then examined whether these profiles were differentially related to client-related burnout, work-related burnout, turnover, job satisfaction, meaning in life, and job performance. My results revealed three latent profiles: an incentive-driven profile, an altruism-driven profile, and a broadly-driven profile. The incentive-driven profile displayed low intrinsic motivation and was associated with the worst outcomes. The altruism-driven profile displayed moderate intrinsic motivation and was associated with better outcomes than the incentive-driven profile but worse outcomes than the broadly-driven profile. The broadly-driven profile displayed high intrinsic motivation and was associated with the best outcomes. All profiles displayed high extrinsic motivation and low amotivation. This study's results demonstrated that HCWs who reported multiple motives for engaging in their work fared better than those who reported only one or two motives, and that a higher degree of internalization (i.e., intrinsic motivation) was associated with better outcomes. This study also found, counterintuitively, that being driven solely by altruistic motives was detrimental to HCWs. Implications for research and practice as well as future direction are discussed.Item Open Access Work and retirement factors related to the timing of retirement notice(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Chaffee, Dorey S., author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Cleveland, Jeanette, committee member; Davalos, Deana, committee member; Shore, Lynn, committee memberThe aging workforce has made retirements increasingly common in organizations. However, research is scant on how retiring employees separate from their organization. That is, what occurs after employees have made the decision to retire but before they leave their jobs. One important issue centers around the timing of retirement notice, which is important if organizations are to predict and plan for the departure of their older workforce. In this study, I used extant research and theory on the employee-organization relationship and the push-pull model of retirement to argue that the quality of employee-organization relationships, at the organization and supervisor level, and the conditions under which people retired relate to the timing of retirement notice. To test the hypotheses, I sampled 105 individuals who retired within the last two years or planned to retire within the next year. Results showed that perceived organizational support was positively related to retirement notice, whereas push reasons for retirement (i.e., retiring under negative conditions) were negatively related to retirement notice. I did not find a significant relationship between retirement notice and leader-member exchange or pull reasons for retirement (i.e., retiring under positive conditions). Results are discussed in relation to previous research and theory on employee resignation, retirement, and employee-organization relations as well as future research and practical implications.