Industrial/Organizational Psychology and HRM MCQs 2026

The selection ratio is calculated as what?

1. A Interviewers divided by applicants ✓
2. B Number hired divided by number of applicants ✓
3. C Applicants divided by total population ✓
4. D Test validity divided by reliability ✓

In job analysis, a task-oriented method primarily identifies what?

1. A Observable duties performed on the job ✓
2. B General personality traits of workers ✓
3. C Salary grades across departments ✓
4. D Organizational culture symbols ✓

Criterion-related validity of a selection test is most directly shown by what?

1. A A correlation between test scores and later job performance ✓
2. B Agreement between interviewers about candidate appearance ✓
3. C The number of items included in the test booklet ✓
4. D The popularity of the test among applicants ✓

The critical incident technique is used to collect which type of job information?

1. A Employee demographic summaries ✓
2. B Examples of especially effective and ineffective work behavior ✓
3. C Average salaries in competing organizations ✓
4. D Legal definitions of employee benefits ✓

A structured employment interview improves reliability mainly by using what?

1. A Different questions tailored entirely to each applicant ✓
2. B A single interviewer with no scoring guide ✓
3. C Standard job-related questions and anchored rating scales ✓
4. D Only informal conversation with each applicant ✓

Under the four-fifths rule, adverse impact is suggested when a group selection rate is below what level?

1. A 80 percent of the highest group selection rate ✓
2. B 50 percent of the total applicant pool ✓
3. C 25 percent of the supervisor approval rate ✓
4. D 100 percent of the previous year's hiring rate ✓

Person-organization fit refers mainly to compatibility between a person and what?

1. A The organization's values, norms, and culture ✓
2. B The physical office layout ✓
3. C The exact wording of the job advertisement ✓
4. D The payroll processing cycle ✓

In Herzberg's two-factor theory, which item is a motivator rather than a hygiene factor?

1. A Working conditions ✓
2. B Recognition for achievement ✓
3. C Company policy ✓
4. D Basic salary administration ✓

Halo error in performance appraisal occurs when a rater does what?

1. A Rates all employees near the midpoint ✓
2. B Compares employees against clear standards ✓
3. C Lets one general impression influence several ratings ✓
4. D Uses only objective production data ✓

An assessment center most commonly evaluates candidates through which method?

1. A Multiple job simulations such as in-basket tasks and role plays ✓
2. B A single unscored personality essay ✓
3. C A medical fitness certificate only ✓
4. D Random allocation to work groups ✓

Utility analysis in personnel selection estimates what?

1. A The economic value gained from using a selection procedure ✓
2. B The applicant's preferred benefit package ✓
3. C The number of vacancies announced by HR ✓
4. D The average age of new employees ✓

Affective organizational commitment means an employee remains mainly because of what?

1. A Lack of alternative employment ✓
2. B Emotional attachment to the organization ✓
3. C Fear of formal punishment ✓
4. D A temporary payroll error ✓

Job enrichment is designed to increase which feature of work?

1. A Administrative paperwork unrelated to the job ✓
2. B Dependence on external rewards only ✓
3. C Autonomy, responsibility, and meaningfulness ✓
4. D Routine supervision and narrow task repetition ✓

Behaviorally anchored rating scales are distinctive because they combine ratings with what?

1. A Concrete behavioral examples at scale points ✓
2. B Unrelated personality labels ✓
3. C Only attendance records ✓
4. D Secret supervisor rankings ✓

Criterion contamination occurs when a performance measure includes what?

1. A Factors unrelated to true job performance ✓
2. B All important elements of the job ✓
3. C Only validated work samples ✓
4. D A representative job analysis ✓

Criterion deficiency means a performance measure does what?

1. A Measures no outcomes at all ✓
2. B Fails to capture important parts of job performance ✓
3. C Includes too many irrelevant personality traits ✓
4. D Always overpredicts performance ✓

In the job characteristics model, autonomy refers to what?

1. A Task identity alone ✓
2. B Skill variety in training only ✓
3. C Freedom and discretion in scheduling and doing work ✓
4. D Feedback from supervisors only ✓

Maslow's theory suggests that when lower-level needs are unmet, they tend to be what?

1. A More salient motivators than higher-level needs ✓
2. B Irrelevant to workplace behavior ✓
3. C Automatically satisfied by praise ✓
4. D Replaced by job analysis methods ✓

Leader-member exchange theory focuses on the quality of what?

1. A Dyadic relationships between leader and follower ✓
2. B Formal job descriptions ✓
3. C Written salary contracts only ✓
4. D National labor statistics ✓

Mentoring in organizations typically provides career support and what else?

1. A Mandatory legal arbitration ✓
2. B Payroll deductions for training ✓
3. C Psychosocial support such as encouragement and role modeling ✓
4. D Randomized selection without feedback ✓

General cognitive ability tests are valued in selection because they often show what?

1. A Strong prediction of performance across many jobs ✓
2. B No relationship with training success ✓
3. C Only physical endurance assessment ✓
4. D Perfect freedom from adverse impact concerns ✓

Compared with structured interviews, unstructured interviews usually have what?

1. A Lower reliability and weaker validity ✓
2. B Higher standardization and scoring consistency ✓
3. C No interviewer judgment at all ✓
4. D Identical legal defensibility in every case ✓

Procedural justice refers to fairness of what?

1. A Only the employee's work output ✓
2. B Processes used to make decisions ✓
3. C Only the final pay amount ✓
4. D The building's location ✓

Work engagement is commonly described by vigor, dedication, and what?

1. A Emotional suppression ✓
2. B Selection ratio ✓
3. C Absorption ✓
4. D Role ambiguity ✓

Training needs analysis is typically conducted at which levels?

1. A Organization, task, and person ✓
2. B Weather, transport, and housing ✓
3. C Payroll, tax, and pension only ✓
4. D Family, school, and neighborhood ✓

Role ambiguity exists when an employee lacks what?

1. A Clear expectations about duties and responsibilities ✓
2. B Any coworkers in the organization ✓
3. C Access to a salary account ✓
4. D A formal job title only ✓

Criterion-related validity evidence connects a predictor with what?

1. A Applicant preferences about location ✓
2. B A relevant outcome criterion such as job performance ✓
3. C Office attendance policy only ✓
4. D The number of HR staff ✓

Management by objectives usually involves what?

1. A Random assignment of bonuses ✓
2. B Ignoring performance feedback ✓
3. C Jointly set measurable goals and review of results ✓
4. D Trait ratings with no goals ✓

Human factors or ergonomics aims primarily to do what?

1. A Fit work systems, tools, and environments to people ✓
2. B Replace all psychological assessment with intuition ✓
3. C Measure only wage inflation ✓
4. D Remove all job performance standards ✓

Diversity climate refers to employees' perceptions that the workplace does what?

1. A Values inclusion and treats demographic groups fairly ✓
2. B Uses only one recruitment source forever ✓
3. C Eliminates all performance appraisal ✓
4. D Avoids formal HR policies ✓

360-degree feedback gathers performance information from whom?

1. A Multiple sources such as supervisors, peers, subordinates, and self ✓
2. B Only customers who complain ✓
3. C Only the payroll department ✓
4. D One anonymous stranger outside the organization ✓

A competency model describes what?

1. A Capabilities linked to effective or superior job performance ✓
2. B Only the organization's tax status ✓
3. C A random list of interview questions ✓
4. D The color scheme of HR forms ✓

Equity theory proposes that employees compare what with others?

1. A Office furniture quality ✓
2. B The number of holidays in a year ✓
3. C Their input-outcome ratio ✓
4. D Only personality profiles ✓

Organizational climate is best defined as shared perceptions of what?

1. A Individual childhood experiences ✓
2. B Policies, practices, and procedures in the organization ✓
3. C National economic growth rates ✓
4. D Formal court judgments only ✓

Work sample tests usually have strong content validity because they do what?

1. A Closely mirror tasks performed on the job ✓
2. B Avoid measuring job tasks ✓
3. C Measure only general attitudes ✓
4. D Depend on chance guessing ✓

In job specifications, KSAOs stands for what?

1. A Knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics ✓
2. B Key salary and accounting outputs ✓
3. C Known safety audit observations ✓
4. D Kinetic standards and office assignments ✓

A situational interview differs from a behavior description interview because it focuses on what?

1. A Medical history unrelated to work ✓
2. B Random personal preferences ✓
3. C Hypothetical future responses to job situations ✓
4. D Only past actions in previous jobs ✓

Leniency error in appraisal means a rater tends to do what?

1. A Use only peer rankings ✓
2. B Give unduly high ratings to many employees ✓
3. C Rate employees too harshly ✓
4. D Ignore all positive behavior ✓

Empirically keyed biodata is based on which information?

1. A Past experiences statistically linked to later performance ✓
2. B Supervisor intuition alone ✓
3. C Random hobbies selected by applicants ✓
4. D Unverified rumors about candidates ✓

Cronbach's alpha is most often used as an estimate of what?

1. A Internal consistency reliability ✓
2. B Applicant withdrawal rate ✓
3. C Criterion contamination ✓
4. D External labor demand ✓

Job crafting occurs when employees proactively change what?

1. A The organization's founding date ✓
2. B The validity coefficient of a test ✓
3. C Their tasks, relationships, or perceptions of work ✓
4. D Only statutory labor law ✓

The classic dimensions of burnout include emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and what?

1. A Increased job enrichment ✓
2. B Reduced personal accomplishment ✓
3. C Elevated spatial reasoning ✓
4. D Improved sleep quality ✓

A situational judgment test usually asks applicants to do what?

1. A Choose effective responses to realistic work scenarios ✓
2. B Memorize the company policy manual ✓
3. C Report only their family background ✓
4. D Complete a purely physical endurance task ✓

Transactional leadership is characterized mainly by what?

1. A Avoidance of performance standards ✓
2. B Contingent rewards and management by exception ✓
3. C Unconditional employee autonomy ✓
4. D A focus only on personal friendships ✓

A psychological contract is best described as what?

1. A A clinical diagnosis made at work ✓
2. B A formal payroll classification ✓
3. C Perceived unwritten obligations between employee and employer ✓
4. D A legally notarized appointment letter ✓

Validity generalization argues that a predictor can show what across settings?

1. A Consistent validity for similar jobs and criteria ✓
2. B No relationship with performance in any setting ✓
3. C Only face validity in one organization ✓
4. D Validity without any statistical evidence ✓

A realistic job preview can reduce turnover because it does what?

1. A Gives accurate positive and negative information before entry ✓
2. B Promises rapid promotion to all applicants ✓
3. C Hides stressful aspects of the job ✓
4. D Eliminates the need for selection testing ✓

Training transfer is most likely when training includes identical elements and what else?

1. A Supervisor support for applying learned skills ✓
2. B No opportunity to use the skill ✓
3. C Only abstract lectures without practice ✓
4. D Delayed feedback after several years ✓

Organizational citizenship behavior refers to what?

1. A Absence from work without permission ✓
2. B Discretionary helping beyond formal job requirements ✓
3. C Mandatory duties written in the contract ✓
4. D Strict compliance with minimum output only ✓

Distributive justice concerns perceived fairness of what?

1. A The politeness of the supervisor only ✓
2. B The office seating arrangement only ✓
3. C Outcomes such as pay, rewards, or promotions ✓
4. D The decision-making procedure only ✓