Date of Award
Spring 1991
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Educational Policy and Leadership
Abstract
The present study examined the effectiveness of the California Psychological Inventory - Revised (CPI-R), compared with the original version (CPI), in assessing and predicting managerial potential. It investigated the linear relationships between the CPI-R (and CPI) scales and various measures of supervisory performance, as well as the curvilinear relationships. The study also explored the interaction effects on managerial performance when CPI-R scales were paired. Finally, the study analyzed the effectiveness of the CPI-Rand CPI scales in predicting whether employees were promoted during a nine year period. Subjects were 178 first-line supervisors, from a local utility, who were administered the original CPI back in 1982. They were also rated by their immediate supervisors as to their managerial performance on job related abilities and duties. Since the CPI-R wasn't developed until -1987, and because the original subject pool was not available for re-testing, the author decided to re-score the original CPI to produce a simulated CPI-R. This was appropriate because the revised CPI did not add any new items. A Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated significant linear relationships between the CPI-R scales, Psychological Mindedness, Flexibility, Communality, Achievement via Conformance, Achievement via Independence, and supervisory effectiveness. Examination of the four quadrants of the CPI-R did not support the hypothesis that better supervisors would fall into the Alpha or Gamma quadrants. Results also showed that the CPI-R scales, Tolerance, Good Impression and Self-Control had a curvilinear relationship with leadership; however, interpretation of these relationships was unclear. A multiple regression analysis found the CPI-R scales, Psychological Mindedness, Achievement via Conformance, Flexibility and Communality to be key factors in the equations predicting performance scores. Examination of the dual combinations of scales, did not support the hypothesis that they would have an interaction effect on supervisory performance. Variations of low, mid and high scores on these pairs did not show better predictive power. Finally, analyses revealed that the CPI and CPI-R were similar in their ability to assess and predict managerial effectiveness however, the CPI-R was found to be a stronger predictor of whether one would get promoted during a nine year period. The discriminant analysis found the CPI-R scales, Self-Acceptance, Capacity for status, Socialization, Sociability, Achievement via Independence and vl to be predictive.