Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-2004

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Major Professor

Robert T. Ladd

Committee Members

Michael C. Rush, David J. Woehr, J. Elaine Seat

Abstract

Development programs have become popular among today's managers. These programs generally involve various assessments aimed at providing participants with a broad overview of their own characteristics and performance levels in various categories. The goal of this feedback is to prompt developmental activity. In essence, a chief objective is to increase participant awareness of individual strengths and weaknesses and encourage them to enhance and exploit those areas in which they excel and improve upon areas of deficiency. In spite of that, some individuals enrolled in these types of development-oriented programs fail to actively engage in development and may simply expend time and energy refuting feedback or the benefits of such activities. The present study served as an initial step in an attempt to delineate reasons for differences in participant behaviors in developmental programs - why some pursue development and others fail to participate in developmental activity. Specifically, the roles of performance and personality were examined.

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