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The role of individual differences, task complexity, and privacy in determining performance and environmental satisfaction was explored.Greater arousal levels in a nonprivate office were predicted to decrease satisfaction expressed for nonprivate settings but to increase performance by producing a social facilitation effect. It was proposed that sex and introversion/extroversion would interact with task complexity and privacy. Research participants were 169 introductory psychology students who were randomly placed in either private or nonprivate offices. Results indicated that greater satisfaction was expressed by those working in the private offices. In addition, people working on the complex task were more satisfied in the private setting than the nonprivate one. The social facilitation hypothesis was supported, and male introverts performed best in the nonprivate office on the simple task. Implications for organizations and for future research are discussed. Organizations vary considerably in the layout and design of their offices. However, the effects of spatial characteristics on employees in the office have only recently begun to receive attention (Wineman, 1986). One concern is whether or not the open office is an asset to the organization

An index of Socially Desirable Responding (SDR) was developed to measure the extent of impression management exhibited in applicant and incumbent samples when responding to a biodata form. The sample consisted of 2,262 incumbent sales representatives and 2,726 applicants for sales positions. Greater applicant versus incumbent SDR was observed, but differences varied across a priori item content areas. Impression management was minimal in item categories such as Previous Work Experience and Economic Motivation, but it was more prevalent in categories such as Work Style and Preferences and Self‐Evaluations of Prior Sales Success. Using a smaller sample of 810 incumbents and 555 applicants, largely equated for experience, an item‐keyed biodata inventory was developed for selection. When regression procedures were used to develop final keys, no comparable items existed across the keys from the two samples. SDR was more highly related to the applicant key than to the incumbent key. Results for option‐keyed instruments developed and validated on the same samples were compared with the results associated with the item‐keyed instruments, and the conclusions were similar. Implications for the development of biodata forms for selection are discussed.

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