Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Charles L. Thompson

Committee Members

Marla Peterson, Ken Newton, John Lounsbury

Abstract

A criterion-related validity study was conducted using a newly developed instrument, the Resident Assistant Style Inventory (RASI), designed to assess the customer service orientation of individuals applying for a university resident assistant (RA) position. Exploratory principal component analysis uncovered a twelve-item, one-factor solution which focused on an individual's customer service orientation. Customer service orientation was defined as the degree to which the RA placed the student's (customer) needs before his or her own needs and the degree of helpfulness, courteousness, and tact an RA displays when dealing with resident concerns.

Criterion for the study were supervisor-rated customer service orientation and job performance. Also, student ratings of presently employed resident assistants served as a criterion. Construct validity of the newly designed instrument was assessed by examining the relationship of the instrument to the "Big Five" personality dimension of agreeableness as measured by the NEO-PI.

Participants were 124 resident assistants, 11 supervisors (hall directors) and 320 students who resided in university residence halls at a large, southeastern university. The resident assistant sample was 54% female with an average age of 20.85 years and 2.6 semesters of experience as a resident assistant. Survey questionnaires were completed by supervisors who were asked to assess the customer service orientation, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors of their RAs. Students completed a survey questionnaire designed to assess the customer service orientation of their RA.

The RASI was significantly and positively related to agreeableness, supervisor rated customer service orientation, and job performance. Also, the researcher found that the RASI was useful in discriminating between the top 25 and bottom 25 percent of RAs as rated on customer service orientation by their supervisors. However, organizational citizenship behavior and student ratings of customer service orientation were positively but not significantly related to the RASI. Lastly, supervisor-rated customer service orientation, job performance, and organizational citizenship behavior were positively and significantly related.

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