The purpose of this research was to construct and test a causal model of the accident process. Data were gathered on 362 chemical industry workers. The causal model was analyzed and cross-validated using LISREL vi. It was proposed that social maladjustment traits, some characteristics of neurosis, cognitive ability, employee age, and job experience would have independent causal effects on the accident criterion, even when the effects of accident risk and involvement in counseling were controlled. Two rationally derived, content-validated scales based on MMPI items were created to measure social maladjustment and the aspects of neurosis that result in a state of distractibility. The results showed the causal model as a whole to be viable in the initial and cross-validation analyses, and the social maladjustment and distractibility variables were found to be significant causal parameters of accidents. This study developed a new direction for future accident research by its use of causal modeling and by the creation of two new scales for the assessment of employee accident potential.

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SummaryFeedback from 360 degree ratings based on competency principles and used for developmental purposes was investigated for interrelationships among the ratings and for its relationships with performance and selection data. Relationships among: (1) feedback ratings from supervisors, peers, and self; (2) feedback ratings and selection test data; and (3) feedback ratings and performance appraisals on about 2000 employees of a Midwestern insurance company were examined. The 360 ratings by peers and managers were related to performance appraisals. All signi®cant correlations of manager and peer ratings with selection tests were positive, but signi®cant correlations of 360 degree self-ratings with selection tests were negative.

The glass ceiling refers to the difficulty of women trying to be promoted into the top management levels. The present study examined managers' potential explanations, implicit or explicit, for why women rarely reach the top hierarchical levels in their own organization. Among 685 managers at a large Midwestern insurance company, a model was supported in which beliefs about interpersonal and situational variables in the organization were related to the perception that men and women were treated differently overall, which, in turn, was related to the belief that a glass ceiling existed. The model was not different for male and female managers, but women tended to perceive that each element of the model existed to a greater extent than men did.

The glass ceiling refers to the difficulty of women trying to be promoted into the top management levels. The present study examined managers' potential explanations, implicit or explicit, for why women rarely reach the top hierarchical levels in their own organization. Among 685 managers at a large Midwestern insurance company, a model was supported in which beliefs about interpersonal and situational variables in the organization were related to the perception that men and women were treated differently overall, which, in tum, was related to the belief that a glass ceiling existed. The model was not different for male and female managers, but women tended to perceive that each element of the model existed to a greater extent than men did.Women have a disproportionately low presence in top levels of management, and the term "glass ceiling" has been often used to describe this phenomenon in the past. Hillary Clinton, while withdrawing from the 2008 race for U.S. president, used the term, arguing that the glass ceiling regarding the presidency had at least been cracked (Lochhead, 2008). Even with the inroads women have made into management (Joy, 2008), the glass ceiling phenomenon has not been eliminated. With increasing awareness of the glass ceiling in business, it is important to know how managers see it. Managers are the people most directly involved with the glass ceiling; They affect it through their personnelrelated decisions and they are affected by it, especially the women managers whose own careers are directly affected. The present study examines beliefs that managers have about the presence of a glass ceiling and the interpersonal and situational factors that may influence it.