My enthusiasm for industrial and organizational psychology and my work with my
advisor Dr. Dalal and PhD student Balca Alaybek helped inform the topic of my
OSCAR project. The goal of this study is to expand research on
advice-seeking by providing necessary insight into the relationship between
advice-seeking propensity and self-efficacy (self-perceived competence) at
work. My research will examine the conditions under which asking for advice
from others results in people feeling more versus less confident about their
own abilities. I hope to address the concern that habitually asking other for
advice might lead to lower perceptions of one’s own efficacy at work. My study
will examine employees in jobs of varying levels of complexity and employees
with different lengths of job experience (i.e., tenure). These two variables
are likely to have considerable moderating effects on the relationship between
advice-seeking and self-efficacy (self-perceived competence) in the
workplace.
This project is closely
related to my long-term goals in that I would love to further pursue the topic
of advice-seeking or related topics in a PhD program. Conducting this project
has allowed me to develop my passion for research and explore my specific
research interests in greater detail. I meet with my advisor to discuss my
project and go over status updates weekly. Since I am currently collecting
data, there is a lot to talk about! My daily schedule includes checking
incoming data to make sure there are no (or minimal) abnormalities and trying to
stay up to date on relevant literature. On a large scale, this project has
impressed upon me the value of organization! When conducting research, it is
important to have a name and a place for every document, paper, and data set.
Staying organized is instrumental in productive and successful research.
