JOB SATISFACTION, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, TURNOVER INTENTION, AND TURNOVER: PATH ANALYSES BASED ON META-ANALYTIC FINDINGS

Cross-study differences in the contributions of work attitudes to the turnover process led us to (a) estimate the six relations among job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention/withdrawal cognitions, and turnover using meta-analysis; (b) assess the effects of several psychometric moderators on those relations; and (c) compare the influences of satisfaction and commitment in the turnover process by applying path analysis to the meta-analytic correlations. Based on aggregations involving a total of 178 independent samples from 155 studies, results showed that (a) satisfaction and commitment each contribute independently to the prediction of intention/cognitions; (b) intention/cognitions are predicted more strongly by satisfaction than by commitment; (c) intention/cognitions mediate nearly all of the attitu-dinal linkage with turnover; and (d) attitudinal contributions to the turnover process vary with the use of single- versus multi-item scales, the 9- versus 15-item version of the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, and turnover intention versus withdrawal cognition scales.     

SCALING PERFORMANCE UTILITY TO ENHANCE SELECTION/CLASSIFICATION DECISIONS

For purposes of selection and classification there are two general reasons for scaling the mean and variance of the utility of performance across jobs. First, if differential utility across jobs does exist, then the payoff from a selection and classification system will be enhanced to the extent that accurate utility values are incorporated in the assignment system. Second, a valid utility metric would permit a more meaningful comparison of the gains achieved by alternative selection and classification procedures. It is argued in this paper that the Army context, and perhaps others, precludes using the dollar metric and estimates of SD_y in dollars. Consequently, Project A conducted a relatively long series of exploratory workshops with Army personnel to (a) define the utility issue, (b) pilot test a wide variety of possible scaling methods, and (c) evaluate the methods that seemed most appropriate. On the basis of exploratory analysis, a combined procedure incorporating both an interval estimation and a ratio estimation method was used to estimate the utility of five different performance levels for each of 276 jobs (MOS) in the enlisted personnel system. The psychometric properties of the resulting scale values are analyzed and discussed.     

MODELING JOB PERFORMANCE IN A POPULATION OF JOBS

The Army Selection and Classification Project has produced a comprehensive examination of job performance in 19 entry-level Army jobs (Military Occupational Specialties) sampled from the existing population of entry-level positions. Multiple methods of job analysis and criterion measurement were utilized in a subsample of nine jobs to generate over 200 performance indicators, which were then used to assess performance in a combined sample of 9,430 job incumbents. An iterative procedure involving a series of content analyses and principal components analyses was used to develop a basic array of up to 32 criterion scores for each job. This basic set of scores formed the starting point of an attempt to model the latent structure of performance in this population of jobs. After alternative models were proposed for the latent structure, the models were submitted to a goodness-of-fit test via LIS-REL VI. After accounting for two components of method variance, a five-factor solution was judged as the best fit. The implications of the results and the modeling procedure for future personnel research are discussed.     

Values and Recovery From Alcoholism Through Alcoholics Anonymous

This report reviews the literature on the values of alcoholics and addicts in treatment and presents data that suggest a shift in values is involved in recovery from alcoholism through participation in Alcoholics Anonymous and that values clarification and value therapy may be useful in chemical dependency treatment.     

AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE PREDICTORS OF EXECUTIVE CAREER SUCCESS

This study examined the degree to which demographic, human capital, motivational, organizational, and industrylregion variables predicted executive career success. Career success was assumed to comprise objective (pay, ascendancy) and subjective (job satisfaction, career satisfaction) elements. Results obtained from a sample of 1,388 U.S. executives suggested that demographic, human capital, motivational, and organizational variables explained significant variance in objective career success and in career satisfaction. Particularly interesting were findings that educational level, quality, prestige, and degree type all predicted financial success. In contrast, only the motivational and organizational variables explained significant amounts of variance in job satisfaction. These findings suggest that the variables that lead to objective career success often are quite different from those that lead to subjectively defined success.     

GENERALIZATION OF EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT TRAINING TO THE JOB SETTING: INDIVIDUAL AND SITUATIONAL EFFECTS

This study examined whether variables at individual, unit, and suborganization levels influence the extent to which the knowledge and skills learned in employee involvement (EI) training are generalized beyond specific EI activities. Training generalization occurs when the knowledge and skills learned in training for a specific purpose in one context (e.g., EI training for use in quality circles) are applied by trainees in another context (e.g., regular job duties). A multiple-cross-level design using data gathered from 252 employees and supervisors drawn from 88 units across 11 suborganizations provided support for both individual and situational effects. Hierarchical regression results demonstrated that characteristics at individual, unit, and suborganization levels significantly predicted the extent EI knowledge, skills, and attitudes were generalized to the core job activities. As predicted, trainees were more likely to use EI training in performing core job activities the more EI activities they participated in, the greater their commitment to the organization, and the less cynical they were about the likelihood of positive organizational change. Contrary to expectations, more generalization of EI training was found to occur in units and suborganizations with less participative climates.     

Fragmentation and Narcissism

The paper focuses on the articulation of two areas of theory: that of development of the self through fragmentation and differentiation and that of narcissism in early psychological development, and its pathology later in life. Jungian ideas concerning the self and individuation (including those developed by Fordham) are linked with psychoanalytic ideas, notably Kohut's, and related to the concepts of narcissism and ego-development. In this the focus is on a revaluation of the negative overtones of 'fragmentation' and 'narcissism' and an indication of their place in the process of individuation. It is pointed out that a varying emphasis in the analyst on what are called the biological and ethological aspects of these theories will have important implications for the treatment of patients. The theoretical position is illustrated by a lengthy clinical example involving a case of early injury to the self which suggests the pathology of narcissistic character disorder. But the case also illustrates the contribution to development of fragmentation and narcissism, which are revalued here as the 'part-for-the-whole' and as one of the 'motors' of individuation. Working within a perspective that prioritizes the importance of the drive towards relationship, it is recommended that the analyst learns to respect and value phenomenologically the contribution of fragmentation and narcissism to normal development, if true healing is to occur.