Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Effect of Training Material Tone on Hypothetical Employees’ Perceptions

We combined research from the academic and business worlds to examine how a warm or neutral tone of employee training materials would impact hypothetical employees’ perceptions of their manager and the job. We hypothesized that employees who received neutral, versus warm, toned training material would have a better perception of their manager because we believed that professionalism would be valued over warmth. Participants were 56 adults with a mean age of 20.07 (SD = 1.51). The majority were women (77%), and participants were almost evenly divided between Caucasians and African Americans. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. Half encountered training materials that had a neutral tone, and the other half encountered warm-toned training materials. Participants then responded to scales to assess their perceptions of and willingness to communicate with the hypothetical manager, as well as scales to assess their anticipated job self-efficacy, entitlement, and need to belong. Results revealed that adults preferred the warm training materials, with warm materials leading to better perceptions of the hypothetical manager and the company. Training materials did not impact participants’ perceptions of their own levels of communication with the manager or job self-efficacy. We found a pattern where White adults, and those high in need to belong and self-efficacy, perceived the hypothetical manager most positively. In contrast, gender and sense of entitlement did not predict perceptions of the manager or workplace. These findings aid our understanding of young adults’ transition from college to the workplace