Date of Award

7-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Xinxuan Che

Second Advisor

Patrick Converse

Third Advisor

Heidi Edwards

Fourth Advisor

Lisa Steelman

Abstract

People are different in their capacities in adapting and adjusting to dynamic workplaces. Previous literature lacks the distinction between the two constructs, which results in a lack of understanding in how adaptation and adjustment influence other organizational variables such as performance. In the current study, I first summarize the current literature on these two constructs from a few different fields in psychology, discuss the theoretical distinctions of these two constructs, and propose that they should be defined as separate constructs. Then, I establish construct validities for both concepts by developing nomological networks for both adaptation and adjustment based on the newly proposed framework and previous empirical evidence. Next, in three separate studies, an adaptation and adjustment scale were developed, pilot tested, and used for hypothesis testing, respectively. In the first study, the scale is created and evaluated for content validity. The second study pilot tests and evaluates the psychometric properties of the scale. The third study uses a healthcare provider sample to establish parts of the adaptation and adjustment nomological networks. Results provide evidence for two separate constructs.

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