We agree with Landers and Behrend's (2015) proposition that Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) may provide great opportunities for organizational research samples. However, some groups are characteristically difficult to recruit because they are stigmatized or socially disenfranchised (Birman, 2005; Miller, Forte, Wilson, & Greene, 2006; Sullivan & Cain, 2004; see Campbell, Adams, & Patterson, 2008, for a review). These groups may include individuals who have not previously been the focus of much organizational research, such as those of low socioeconomic status; individuals with disabilities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) individuals; or victims of workplace harassment. As Landers and Behrend (2015) point out, there is an overrepresentation of research using “Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic” participants. It is important to extend research beyond these samples to examine workplace phenomena that are specific to special populations. We contribute to this argument by noting the particular usefulness that MTurk can provide for sampling from hard-to-reach populations, which we characterize as groups that are in the numerical minority in terms of nationwide representation. To clarify, we focus our discussion on populations that are traditionally hard to reach in the context of contemporary organizational research within the United States.

The present research examined the relation between authentic identity expression and transgender employees' work-related attitudes and experiences. Drawing on Kernis' (2003) theoretical conceptualization of authenticity and expanding on current workplace identity management research, we predicted that employees who had taken steps to reduce the discrepancy between their inner gender identities and their outward manifestations of gender would report more positive job attitudes and workplace experiences, in part because the reduction of this discrepancy is related to greater feelings of authenticity. In Study 1, we found that the extent to which one has transitioned was related to higher job satisfaction and perceived person-organization (P-O) fit and lower perceived discrimination. In Study 2, we replicate and extend these results by showing that the extent to which employees felt that others at work perceived them in a manner consistent with how they perceived themselves (relational authenticity) mediated the relations between extent of transition and all 3 of these outcomes. However, perceptions of alignment between one's felt and expressed identity (action authenticity) only mediated this link for job satisfaction. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our results, as well as avenues for future research on authenticity in the workplace. (PsycINFO Database Record

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of service providers’ attractiveness in service jobs and examine the underlying psychological mechanisms that may explain consumers’ different attitudes and potential behavior. Design/methodology/approach An experimental design was used in this paper. Study 1 used a scenario depicting a front-desk agent performing check-in procedures and Study 2 used a scenario depicting a restaurant server. Data were analyzed using Hayes’ (2013) PROCESS macro. Findings Study 1 demonstrated the mediating effect of perceived interpersonal skills in the relations between front desk agent attractiveness and participant positive word-of-mouth and service satisfaction. Study 2 reaffirmed this finding and showed that the attractiveness of servers positively impacted participants’ perceptions of the servers’ interpersonal skill and participants’ tipping behavior. Furthermore, the relation between attractiveness and interpersonal skills was moderated by servers’ genders and participants’ levels of self-esteem, such that the effect was stronger in response to female servers for participants with relatively low self-esteem. In addition, the effect of the three-way interaction among server gender, server’s level of attractiveness, and participant’s level of self-esteem on tipping was mediated by participant’s perceived interpersonal skills. Originality/value This paper investigated the under-researched constructs of participants’ self-esteem and service providers’ gender and their moderating roles within the service context. These results suggest that responses to service providers can be impacted by the attractiveness and gender of the provider and customers’ self-esteems, despite equivalent objective performance of the provider.

The average weight of employees in the United States workforce is increasing. Importantly, relatively heavier employees are often subject to stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination based solely on their weight. These biases may be further influenced by factors such as employee gender and the specific nature of the job. Thus, we employ the stereotype content model (SCM) to examine the multiplicative effects of weight and gender and argue that perceptions of employee warmth are more salient than perceptions of employee competence in customer service contexts. In support of our hypotheses, we found that weight and gender interacted to influence warmth, such that heavy women were perceived to be higher in warmth relative to less heavy women (with no effect for men). Furthermore, perceptions of warmth predicted service satisfaction, whereas perceptions of competence did not. Finally, perceptions of warmth (but not competence) explained the relations between weight and gender and service satisfaction for female (but not male) customer service agents. We end with a discussion of the theoretical implications related to the SCM along with practical implications for service industry organizations and employees.

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Objective: Evidence is currently lacking for guidance on ultrasound transducer configuration (shape) when imaging muscle to measure its size. This study investigated measurements of lumbar multifidus with curvilinear and linear ultrasound transducers.Method: Fifteen asymptomatic, males (aged 21-32 years) had their right lumbar multifidus imaged at L3 by an experienced ultrasound imager. Two transverse images were taken with two transducers (5MHz curvilinear and 6MHz linear) and linear/CSA measurements were made offline. Reliability of image interpretation between days was assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Muscle measurements using the two transducers were compared using Bland and Altman plots and paired t-tests. Relationships between CSA and linear measurements were examined using Pearson's Correlation Coefficients.Results: There were no significant differences ( >0.05) in the measurements of the two transducers. Thickness and CSA measurements had small differences between transducers, with mean differences of 0.01cm (SDdiff=0.21cm) and 0.03cm 2 (SDdiff=0.58cm 2 ) respectively. Width measures had a mean difference of 0.14cm, with the linear transducer giving larger measures.Significant correlations (p <0.001) were found between all linear measures and CSA, with both transducers ( =0.78-0.89). Interpretation of images was generally reliable between days, with thickness measures being the most repeatable (ICC>0.93) and CSA the least repeatable using the linear transducer (ICC=0.78). Conclusion:Measurements of multifidus at L3 were not influenced by the configuration of transducers of similar frequency. For the purposes of image interpretation, the curvilinear transducer gave better reflection of the lateral muscle border than the linear transducer, suggesting it as the preferable for imaging lumbar multifidus.