Stella Barenholz
WORK PSYCHOLOGY QUESTIONS
1: What were the important events that shaped the field of I/O psychology?
What role will changes in demographics play in how we hire and manage employees?
If you wanted to pursue a career in I/O psychology, what would you need to do between
now and graduation to make this career possible?
How are theories and hypotheses different?
Is a random sample really better than a convenience sample? Why or why not?
When would you use a quasi-experiment rather than an experiment?
Why don’t correlations between two variables indicate that one caused the other?
2: Why is job analysis so important?
What are the main sections of a job description?
Would a job analyst expect to find gender and race differences in the way employees
perform the duties of their jobs? Why or why not?
How should a task statement be written?
Why are there so many job analysis methods?
Research indicates that the average salary for women in the United States is about 80%
of the average salary for men. Why is this?
Is external pay equity more important than internal pay equity? Why or why not?
3: What would make an employment practice a BFOQ?
Is affirmative action still needed? Why or why not?
Why do public employees have more privacy rights than private employees?
If a male employee asks out a female coworker, is this sexual harassment? Would your
answer be different if the male were a supervisor rather than a coworker? Why or why
not?
Would a color-blind person be considered disabled under the ADA? Why or why not?
4: Why are employee referrals an effective means of recruitment?
Describe the principles one should follow to write an effective help-wanted ad.
If the unstructured interview is so bad, why is it still used so often?
Is the key-issues approach to scoring interview questions better than the typical-answer
approach? Why or why not?
What psychological principles of impression formation are important to consider when
writing a resume?
5: Should an organization provide reference information for former employees? Why or
why not? What should be the most important factors in choosing a selection method?
Explain your answers.
What selection methods are most valid?
Should employers test employees for drugs? Why or why not?
Are integrity tests fair and accurate? Explain your answer.
6: What is the difference between reliability and validity?
What method of establishing validity is the best?
Why is the concept of test utility so important?
What is the difference between single-group and differential validity?
Why should we use anything other than top-down selection? After all, shouldn’t we
always—hire the applicants with the highest score?
, Stella Barenholz
7: What do you think is the most important purpose for performance appraisal? Why?
What problems might result from using a 360-degree feedback system?
The chapter mentioned a variety of ways to measure performance. Which one do you
think is the best? Why?
What do you think is the best way to communicate performance appraisal results to
employees?
Is the employment-at-will doctrine a good idea? Why or why not?
8: In what type of situations is training most useful? Least useful?
What motivates employees to learn during training session?
What would be the best training technique for teaching computer skills? And customer
service skills?
Do all new employees model the behavior of more experienced employees? Why or why
not?
Why would measures of employees’ attitudes about a training program and measures of
actual learning be different?
9: Does getting paid for a task that one enjoys performing reduce intrinsic motiva- tion?
Why or why not?
If the right techniques are used, can everyone be motivated to perform well? Why do you
think that?
Which of the individual incentive plans is best? Why?
Which of the theories in the chapter would be most useful for managers? Why?
Is the threat of punishment an effective motivator? Why or why not?
10: Are some employees “destined” to always be dissatisfied with their job? Why or why not?
What do most employees value and need in a job?
Is it possible to treat all employees equitably? Why or why not?
What is the best way to improve employee attendance?
Which measure of job satisfaction is best? Why?
11: Why do people hate to communicate bad news?
When is email an inappropriate method of communication?
What is the best way to stop a rumor?
Which is most important: nonverbal cues, paralanguage, or the actual words chosen to
communicate? Why?
Can people be taught to be effective listeners? Explain your answer.
12: Do those who seek leadership roles, those who emerge as leaders, and those who are
successful leaders share similar traits?
Which of the situational theories seems to provide the best explanation for successful
leadership?
Hogan identified three main reasons for unsuccessful leadership. Are there others that
he did not mention?
Can effective leadership actually be taught?
How can a leader be more persuasive?
13: How can you use the knowledge of why people join groups to increase group
effectiveness?
When are interacting groups better than nominal groups or individuals?
Why does the presence of others cause increased performance in some situations and
decreased performance in others?
WORK PSYCHOLOGY QUESTIONS
1: What were the important events that shaped the field of I/O psychology?
What role will changes in demographics play in how we hire and manage employees?
If you wanted to pursue a career in I/O psychology, what would you need to do between
now and graduation to make this career possible?
How are theories and hypotheses different?
Is a random sample really better than a convenience sample? Why or why not?
When would you use a quasi-experiment rather than an experiment?
Why don’t correlations between two variables indicate that one caused the other?
2: Why is job analysis so important?
What are the main sections of a job description?
Would a job analyst expect to find gender and race differences in the way employees
perform the duties of their jobs? Why or why not?
How should a task statement be written?
Why are there so many job analysis methods?
Research indicates that the average salary for women in the United States is about 80%
of the average salary for men. Why is this?
Is external pay equity more important than internal pay equity? Why or why not?
3: What would make an employment practice a BFOQ?
Is affirmative action still needed? Why or why not?
Why do public employees have more privacy rights than private employees?
If a male employee asks out a female coworker, is this sexual harassment? Would your
answer be different if the male were a supervisor rather than a coworker? Why or why
not?
Would a color-blind person be considered disabled under the ADA? Why or why not?
4: Why are employee referrals an effective means of recruitment?
Describe the principles one should follow to write an effective help-wanted ad.
If the unstructured interview is so bad, why is it still used so often?
Is the key-issues approach to scoring interview questions better than the typical-answer
approach? Why or why not?
What psychological principles of impression formation are important to consider when
writing a resume?
5: Should an organization provide reference information for former employees? Why or
why not? What should be the most important factors in choosing a selection method?
Explain your answers.
What selection methods are most valid?
Should employers test employees for drugs? Why or why not?
Are integrity tests fair and accurate? Explain your answer.
6: What is the difference between reliability and validity?
What method of establishing validity is the best?
Why is the concept of test utility so important?
What is the difference between single-group and differential validity?
Why should we use anything other than top-down selection? After all, shouldn’t we
always—hire the applicants with the highest score?
, Stella Barenholz
7: What do you think is the most important purpose for performance appraisal? Why?
What problems might result from using a 360-degree feedback system?
The chapter mentioned a variety of ways to measure performance. Which one do you
think is the best? Why?
What do you think is the best way to communicate performance appraisal results to
employees?
Is the employment-at-will doctrine a good idea? Why or why not?
8: In what type of situations is training most useful? Least useful?
What motivates employees to learn during training session?
What would be the best training technique for teaching computer skills? And customer
service skills?
Do all new employees model the behavior of more experienced employees? Why or why
not?
Why would measures of employees’ attitudes about a training program and measures of
actual learning be different?
9: Does getting paid for a task that one enjoys performing reduce intrinsic motiva- tion?
Why or why not?
If the right techniques are used, can everyone be motivated to perform well? Why do you
think that?
Which of the individual incentive plans is best? Why?
Which of the theories in the chapter would be most useful for managers? Why?
Is the threat of punishment an effective motivator? Why or why not?
10: Are some employees “destined” to always be dissatisfied with their job? Why or why not?
What do most employees value and need in a job?
Is it possible to treat all employees equitably? Why or why not?
What is the best way to improve employee attendance?
Which measure of job satisfaction is best? Why?
11: Why do people hate to communicate bad news?
When is email an inappropriate method of communication?
What is the best way to stop a rumor?
Which is most important: nonverbal cues, paralanguage, or the actual words chosen to
communicate? Why?
Can people be taught to be effective listeners? Explain your answer.
12: Do those who seek leadership roles, those who emerge as leaders, and those who are
successful leaders share similar traits?
Which of the situational theories seems to provide the best explanation for successful
leadership?
Hogan identified three main reasons for unsuccessful leadership. Are there others that
he did not mention?
Can effective leadership actually be taught?
How can a leader be more persuasive?
13: How can you use the knowledge of why people join groups to increase group
effectiveness?
When are interacting groups better than nominal groups or individuals?
Why does the presence of others cause increased performance in some situations and
decreased performance in others?
