A binary performance measure (high school graduation) is examined as a function of motivation (educational goal), ability (scores in an intelligence test), and their interaction. The interaction was positive when a logistic model was used and negative when a linear probability model was used. The reason for the difference in the results of the two models is examined, and the conditions under which this difference occurs are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abelson, M. (1987). Examination of avoidable and unavoidable turnover, Journal of Applied Psychology, 72, 382-386.
2.
Aldrich, H. H., & Nelson, F. D. (1984). Linear probability, logit and probit models. London: Sage.
3.
Blau, G. J., & Boal, K. B. (1987). Conceptualizing how job involvement and organizational commitment affect turnover and absenteeism. Academy of Management Review, 12, 288-300.
4.
Bobko, A. (1986). A solution to some dilemmas when testing hypotheses about ordinal interaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 323-326.
5.
Caldwell, D., & Oreilly, C. (1985). The impact of information on job choice and turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 28, 934-943.
6.
Campbell, J. P., & Pritchard, R. D., (1976). Motivation theory in industrial and organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 84-95). Chicago: Rand McNally.
7.
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral science. London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
8.
Cortina, J. M. (1993). Interaction, nonlinearity, and multicollinearity: Implications for multiple regression. Journal of Management, 19, 915-922.
9.
Dawes, R. M., & Corrigan, B. (1974). Linear models in decision making. Psychological Bulletin, 81, 95-106.
10.
Dunlap, W. P., & Kemery, E. R. (1988). Effects of predictor intercorrelations and reliabilities on moderated multiple regression. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 41, 248-258.
11.
French, E. G. (1958). The interaction of achievement motivation and ability in problem-solving success. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 57, 306-309.
12.
Ganzach, Y. (1997). Misleading interaction and curvilinear terms. Psychological Methods, 3, 235-247.
13.
Ganzach, Y. (1998) Nonlinearity, multicollinearity and the probability of type II error in detecting interaction. Journal of Management, 24, 615-622.
14.
Gerhart, B., & Rynes, S. (1990). Determinants and consequences of salary negotiations by male and female MBA graduates. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 256-262.
15.
Greenland, S. (1994). Basic problems in interaction assessment. Environmental Health Perspectives, 101 (Suppl. 4), 59-66.
16.
Herrnstein, R., & Murray, C. (1996). The bell curve. New York: Simon & Schuster.
17.
Hogan, M. D., Kupper, L. L., Most, B. M., & Hasmean, J. K. (1978). Alternatives to Rothman’s approach for assessing synergism (or antagonism) in cohort studies. American Journal of Epidemiology, 108, 60-67.
18.
Huselid, M. A., & Day, N. E. (1991). Organizational commitment, job involvement, and turn-over: A substantive and methodological analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 380-391.
19.
Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (1989). Motivation and cognitive abilities: An integrative/aptitude-treatment interaction approach to skill acquisition. Journal of Applied Psychology—Monograph, 74, 657-690.
20.
Kipnis, D. A. (1962). Noncognitive correlates of performance among lower aptitude men. Journal of Applied Psychology, 46, 76-80.
21.
Korman, A. K., Greenhaus, J. H., & Badin, I. J. (1977). Personnel attitudes and motivation. Annual Review of Psychology, 28, 175-196.
22.
Landerman, R. L., George, L. K., Campbell, R. T., & Blazer, D. G. (1989). Alternative models of the stress buffering hypothesis. American Journal of Community Psychology, 17, 625-642.
23.
Lawler, E. E. (1966). Ability as a moderator of the relationship between job attitudes and job performance. Personnel Psychology, 19, 153-164.
24.
Lee, T., & Mowday, R. (1987). Voluntarily leaving an organization: An empirical investigation of Steers and Mowday’s model of turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 30, 721-743.
25.
Locke, E. A. (1965). Interaction of ability and motivation in performance. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 21, 719-725.
26.
Locke, E. A. (1982). Relation of goal level to performance with a short work period and multiple goal levels. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67, 512-514.
27.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Engelwood, NJ: Prentice Hall.
28.
Locke, E. A., Mento, A. J., & Katcher, B. L. (1978). The interaction of ability and motivation in performance: An exploration of the meaning of moderators. Personnel Psychology, 31, 269-280.
29.
Lubinski, D., & Humphreys, L. G. (1990). Assessing spurious “moderator effects”: Illustrated substantively with the hypothesized (“synergistic”) relation between spatial and mathematical ability. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 385-393.
30.
MacCallum, R. C., & Marr, C. M. (1995). Distinguishing between moderator and quadratic effects in multiple regression. Psychological Bulletin, 118, 405-421.
31.
Maddala, G. S. (1983). Limited-dependent and qualitative variables in econometrics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
32.
McClelland, G. H., & Judd, C. M. (1993). Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 376-390.
33.
Mowday, R., Koberg, C., & McArthur, A. (1984). The psychology of Withdrawal Process: A cross-validation test of Mobley’s intermediate linkage model of turnover in two samples. Academy of Management Journal, 27, 79-94.
34.
Oldham, R. & Fried, Y. (1987). Employee reactions to workplace characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology, 72, 75-80.
35.
Pedhazur, E. J. (1982). Multiple regression in behavioral science. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
36.
Pindyck, R., & Rubinfeld, D. (1981). Econometric models and economic forecasts. New York: McGraw-Hill.
37.
Rothman, K. J., Greenland, S., & Walker, A. M. (1980). Concepts of interaction. American Journal of Epidemiology, 112, 467-470.
38.
Rusbult, C., Farrell, D., Rogers, G., & Mainous, A. (1988). Impact of exchange variables on exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect: An integrative model of responses to declining job satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, 31, 599-627.
39.
Saracci, R. (1977). Asbestos and lung cancer: An analysis of the epidemiological evidence on the asbestos-smoking interaction. International Journal of Cancer, 20, 323-331.
40.
Sommers, M. J., & Birnbaum, D. (1999). Survival versus traditional methodologies for studying employee turnover: Differences, divergences and directions for future research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20, 273-284.
41.
Spencer, D. G., & Steers, R. M. (1981). Performance as a moderator of the job satisfaction—turnover relationship. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66, 511-514.
42.
Tubbs, M. (1994). Commitment and the role of ability in motivation: Comment on Wright, O’Leary-Kelly, Cortina, Klein, and Hollenbeck (1994). Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 804-811.
43.
Tziner, A., & Eden, D. (1985). Effects of crew composition on crew performance: Does the whole equal the sum of its parts? Journal of Applied Psychology, 70, 85-93.
44.
Vroom, V. (1964). Work and Motivation. New York: Wiley.
45.
Walter, S. D. (1976). The estimation and interpretation of attributable risk in health research. Biometrics, 32, 829-849.
46.
Werbel, J., & Gould, S. (1984). A comparison of relationships of commitment to turnover in recent hires and tenured employees. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69, 687-690.
