Design and Validation of Situational Judgment Test of Critical Social Thinking of Managers of Iran alloy Steel Company

SHAKERI, Iman; Mehdad, Ali; Farhadi, Hadi

doi:10.22055/psy.2023.44211.3072

Design and Validation of Situational Judgment Test of Critical Social Thinking of Managers of Iran alloy Steel Company

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Iman SHAKERI ¹

Ali Mehdad ²

hadi farhadi ²

¹ PhD student, Department of Psychology, Isfahan (khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

² Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Isfahan(khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.

10.22055/psy.2023.44211.3072

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to design and validate the situational judgment test of critical social thinking of managers in the Iranian Alloy Steel Company. This study is descriptive-survey and applied in terms of purpose. The research sample includes 196 people (for exploratory factor analysis and reliability) and 210 separate people (for confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity) from the management level employees of the Iranian Alloy Steel Company, who were selected by stratified sampling method. In order to formulate the situations and answer options of the test, the opinions of subject experts were used, and the validity of the test was examined using correlation methods, goodness of fit study, factor analysis, and reliability analysis. The results showed that three factors with eigenvalues greater than one explained 57% of the total variance of the scores, and Cronbach's alpha coefficients for each of the components and the total scale were above 0.7. Also, the results of confirmatory factor analysis were obtained in all cases above 0.5 and the convergent validity of the test with critical social thinking scores in the assessment center showed a moderate correlation. The evidence of this study showed that using the Grossman et al. conceptual model and also using the situational judgment method as a valid tool for measuring employees' communication competencies can effectively measure employees' critical social thinking in complex organizational social situations and potentially be a suitable starting point for designing educational and human capital development interventions in this field.

Keywords

Situational judgment test

Critical social thinking

Factor analysis

Assessment center

Alanazi, S., Shabbir, M., Alshammari, N., Alruwaili, M., Hussain, I., & Ahmad, F. (2023). Prediction of Emotional Empathy in Intelligent Agents to Facilitate Precise Social Interaction. Applied Sciences, 13(2), 1163. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13021163

Ashford, S. J., & Tsui, A. S. (1991). Self-regulation for managerial effectiveness: The role of active feedback seeking. Academy of Management Journal, 34(2), 251-280. https://doi.org/10.2307/256442

Bahrami, F., Ashayeri, H., Rahmani, S., & Jadidi, H. (2024). The Effect of Online Education of Social Emotional Competences Based on CASEL interventionl on Psychological Capital and Improvement of Social Skills Primary School Students. Psychological Achievements, Ready to publish. Doi:10.22055/psy.2024.45693.3254 [Persion]

Bedwell, W. L., Fiore, S. M., & Salas, E., (2013). Developing the future workforce: An approach for integrating interpersonal skills into the MBA classroom. Academy of Management Learning & Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2011.0138

Blair, A., Hoffman R., & Ladd, T. (2016). Assessment centers vs situational judgment tests: longitudinal predictors of success, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 37(7), 899 – 911. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-12-2014-0235

Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 41, 237-358. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0061470

Gibb, S. (2014). Soft skills assessment: theory development and the research agenda. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 33(4), 455-471. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2013.867546

Grossman, R. Thayer, A. Shuffler, M. Burke, & Salas, E. (2015). Critical social thinking: A conceptual model and insights for training. Organizational Psychology Review, 5(2), 99-125. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041386614535423

Hilton, R., Shuffler, M., Zaccaro, S., Salas, E., Chiara, & Ruark, G. (2009). Critical social thinking and response training (Critical START): A conceptual framework for a critical social thinking training program (ARI Research Report). Arlington, VA: US Army Research for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041386614535423

Joseph, D. L., & Newman, D. A. (2010). Emotional intelligence: An integrative meta-analysis and cascading model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1), 54–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0017286

Lacerenza, C. N., Reyes, D. L., Marlow, S. L., Joseph, D. L., & Salas, E. (2017). Leadership training design, delivery, and implementation: A metaanalysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(12), 1686. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000241

Libbrecht, N. & Lievens, F. (2012). Validity evidence for the situational judgment test paradigm in emotional intelligence measurement. International Journal of Psychology, 47(6), 438-447. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2012.682063

Reiser, S., Schacht, L., Thomm, E., Figalist, C., Janssen, L., Schick, K., Dörfler, E., Berberat, P., Gartmeier, M., & Bauer, J., (2022). A Video-Based Situational Judgement Test of Medical Students’ Communication Competence in Patient Encounters: Development and First Evaluation. Patient Education and Counseling, 105(5), 1283-1289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.08.020

Riggio, R. E. (1992). Social interaction skills and nonverbal behavior. Applications of nonverbal behavioral theories and research, 3-30. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1992-98330-001

Saif, A. A., (2015). Constructing measurement instruments for research variables in psychology and education: Test and questionnaire. Tehran: Didar Publications. [Persion]

Schlegel, K. & Mortillaro, M. (2018). The Geneva Emotional Competence Test (GECo): An ability measure of workplace emotional intelligence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(4), 559–580. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000365

Shehni, M., Shojaie, A., Behroozi, N. & Maktabi, G. (2011). The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Social Skills and Psychological Well-being in Female Students' of Shahid Chamran University. Psychological Achievements, 18(1), 73-92. https://psychac.scu.ac.ir/article_11691.html?lang=fa [Persion]

Shakeri, I. (2016). Validation of Traditional Performance Appraisal and MultiSource Appraisal of Competences through Assessment Center. Journal of Industrial and Organizational Psychology Studies 3(1), 57-70. https://jiops.scu.ac.ir/article_13383.html [Persion]

Navas, S., Vijayakumar, M. & Sulthan, N. (2022). A Review on Employees Emotional Intelligence at the Workplace. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 6(8), 5665-5672. https://journalppw.com/index.php/jpsp/article/view/10832

Tabakhnick B. G., Fidell L. S.(2007). Using multivariate statistics.5th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bocon. https://www.scirp.org/reference/ReferencesPapers?ReferenceID=1887285

Waltz C. F., Bausell R. B.(1981). Nursing research: design, statistics, and computer analysis. Illustrated ed. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co. https://archive.org/details/nursingresearchd0000walt

Zaccaro, S. Green, J. Dubrow, S. & Kolze, M. (2018). Leader individual differences, situational parameters, and leadership outcomes: A comprehensive review and integration. The Leadership Quarterly, 29(1), 2–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.10.003