PERCEIVED JOB CHARACTERISTICS AND JOB SATISFACTION: AN EXAMINATION OF RECIPROCAL CAUSATION

The following four assumptions were tested (a) satisfaction with job/task events and perceptions of job challenge, autonomy, and importance are direct, reciprocal causes of each other; (b) job perceptions are also caused directly by situation attributes, although perceptual distortions resulting for individual dispositions must also be considered; (c) job satisfaction is also cognitively consistent with (i.e., caused by) individual dispositions, although these individual dispositions are generally different from those associated with job perceptions; and (d) individuals reply on job perceptions, and not situational attributes, for information in formulating job satisfaction attitudes. The assumptions are tested on a sample of nonsupervisory subjects ( n = 642) from divergent work environments (e.g., production-lines and a computer software department). A nonrecursive, structural equation analysis, combined with tests of logical consistency, supported the assumptions above. The results were employed to recommend changes in current perspectives regarding perceptual/affective dichotomies and unidirectional causal models and moderator models that link job perceptions to job satisfaction.     

SOURCE-RELATED DETERMINANTS OF PERCEIVED JOB SCOPE

The effect of manipulating source competence, locus of control, and social cues on perceived job scope was examined in an experimental study. A total of 185 business students participated in a 2×2×2×2 factorial research design. The design partitions were: task level (enriched versus unenriched), social cues (positive versus neutral), source competence (high versus low), and locus of control (high versus low). Subjects were screened on a locus of control measure such that those either in the upper or lower third score range were eligible to participate. A three-way interaction was found, involving source competence × social cues × locus of control on perceived job scope. The results of this study are discussed in terms of the Social Information Processing Approach (SIPA) to task design.     

EFFECT OF TEMPORARY CONTRACTS ON PERCEIVED WORK CHARACTERISTICS AND JOB STRAIN: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY

This longitudinal study investigates differences in perceived work characteristics and job strain as a function of employment status. The study examines the effects of a change from involuntary temporary to permanent status ( N = 75) compared to staying permanent ( N = 257), as well as comparing temporary contract and permanent contract employees at Time 1 and a second-wave comparison that included new temporary contract employees ( N = 92) and new permanent contract employees ( N = 34). Results suggest that temporary employment status is associated with negative and positive consequences. On the negative side, temporary status reduced perceptions of job security and participative decision making, which had deleterious effects on job strain. On the other hand, temporary employees had fewer strain-inducing role demands (in particular, lower role overload). The net effect was that temporary employees had lower job strain, which analyses suggested was due to indirect effects of the lower role demands.     

JOB ORIENTATION OF BLACK AND WHITE COLLEGE GRADUATES IN BUSINESS

Differences in job orientation between black and white male and female business college graduates were examined. Significant race differences were found on 10 of 25 job characteristics, with blacks rating 9 of these more important than whites. Significant race by sex interactions exist on four characteristics, while sex differences were found on nine. Factor analysis indicates that blacks value long-range career objectives and structure considerably more than do whites, while their preference for intrinsic and extrinsic factors was less pronounced. Methods by which organizations can satisfy the greater importance placed on many job characteristics by blacks are explored.     

THE PERCEIVED IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS ON WOMEN UNDERGRADUATES' PURSUIT OF SCIENCE

Using a survey of women science majors, we tested the assumption that women mentors and other women guides help women students pursue the sciences. The survey explicitly distinguished among three types of guides: mentors (who provide psychosocial support), sponsors (who provide instrumental support), and role models (who act as examples) encountered before and during college. We found that over 90% of the women had a guide of one type or another, that mentors were most influential to women's pursuit of science, and that guides during college were more influential than guides prior to college. Participants reported having more female than male guides overall, but that some of the most influential guides were men.     

THE INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNEE: THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF FACTORS PERCEIVED TO CONTRIBUTE TO SUCCESS

The present study sought to empirically identify what factors are important for international assignee perceived success along with their relative importance. Subjects were 338 international assignees from diverse countries (nationality) and organizations, assigned to diverse countries, and performing diverse jobs. Five factors were identified and in a descending order of importance, these were Family Situation, Flexibility/Adaptability, Job Knowledge and Motivation, Relational Skills, and Extra-Cultural Openness. Although importance ratings were not influenced by job type (managerial/nonmanagerial status), they were influenced by organizational type. In general, the pattern of importance ratings for service organization international assignees was different from those of international assignees from other organizational types. Furthermore, service organization international assignees ascribed more importance to relational and psycho-social factors. The perceived relative importance of psycho-social factors reported by the study's participants tends to suggest that more attention should be paid to these factors in the selection and training of international assignees.     

EFFECTS OF HANDICAP AND JOB CHARACTERISTICS ON SELECTION EVALUATIONS

An experiment was conducted using 211 upper division and graduate business administration students who evaluated hypothetical job applicants. The applicant was either an amputee, an epileptic, or "normal." The job either involved public contact or it did not; and, it either involved supervisory responsibilities or it did not. Generally, handicapped applicants were evaluated no differently than normal applicants. Epileptic applicants, however, were expected to establish better relationships with clients and customers as well as with other employees than were normal applicants. Further, amputees were offered a smaller salary than normals. Implications for future research and unfair discrimination are discussed.     

THE EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED JOB AVAILABILITY FOR WOMEN ON COLLEGE WOMEN'S ATTITUDES TOWARD PRESTIGIOUS MALE-DOMINATED OCCUPATIONS

This study investigated the effects of perceived job availability for women and sex role orientation on college women's evaluations of highly prestigious male-dominated occupations. In a mixed design, feminine, androgynous, and masculine women (as determined by the Personal Attributes Questionnaire) evaluated two professions described as providing good opportunities for women, two described as providing average opportunities, and two described as providing poor opportunities. Subjects were most likely to want to pursue occupations with good job availability for women and to expect the most intellectual stimulation and approval from others as a result of pursuing these occupations. In addition, sex role orientation was related to expectations concerning intellectual stimulation and approval from others but did not interact with level of job opportunity on any of the dependent measures.     

CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE AND PERCEIVED WRONGDOING ASSOCIATED WITH WHISTLE-BLOWING DECISIONS

The potential explanations of why some observers report organizational wrongdoing, whereas others do not, are considered in this study. Nearly 8,600 randomly selected employees of 15 organizations completed questionnaires concerning whistle-blowing. Archival data and aggregate measures of organizational climate were also used. Discriminant analysis revealed that organization members who had observed alleged wrongdoing were more likely to blow the whistle if they had convincing evidence of wrongdoing, if the wrongdoing was serious, and if it directly affected them. Further, where the organization appeared to be dependent on the wrongdoing and threatened retaliation, whistle-blowers were more likely to report it to someone outside the organization. Implications for management practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF JOB APPLICANTS AND SUCCESS IN SCREENING INTERVIEWS

Although there is substantial evidence that personality constructs are valid predictors of job performance, there is less systematic evidence of how personality characteristics relate to success in the interviewing process. Measures of the Big Five personality markers were obtained from a sample of graduating college seniors (n = 83) who were engaged in a job search. At a later time these students reported the strategies used in the job search and success in generating follow-up interviews and job offers. Extraversion, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness were positively related to the use of social sources (e.g., talking to others) to prepare for interviews. Conscientiousness was positively related to the use of non-social preparation. Use of social sources for preparation for initial interviews was positively related to the likelihood of receiving follow-up interviews and job offers. The results suggest that personality is related to interviewee's success in part through actions taken well before the interviewing process begins and in part through the interviewers' inferences of the applicants' personality during the interview.     

THE VALIDITY OF THE JOB CHARACTERISTICS MODEL: A REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

The validity of Hackman and Oldham's Job Characteristics Model was assessed by conducting a comprehensive review of nearly 200 relevant studies on the model as well as by applying meta-analytic procedures to a large portion of the data. The evidence indicated that the available correlational results are reasonably valid in light of the issues examined. Results tended to support the multidimensionality of job characteristics, but there was less agreement on the exact number of dimensions. The corrected correlational results of the meta-analysis indicated that job characteristics related both to psychological and behavioral outcomes. Concerning psychological states, the results tended to support their mediating (e.g., intervening) role between job characteristics and personal outcomes. The pattern of correlations between the job characteristics and psychological states was less supportive of the model. Meta-analytic results demonstrated that most of the cross-study variance was due to statistical artifacts. True variance across studies was found for the job characteristics-performance relationship, however, and subsequent analyses suggested that growth-need strength moderates this relationship. Implications for potential revisions of the model and for practice are discussed.