Relationships between job evaluation ratings and self-ratings of job characteristics

Self-ratings by 308 shop workers of their job variety, autonomy, task identity, and skill challenge correlate significantly with ratings by observers of the jobs' skill requirements. Self-ratings, however, are unrelated to observers' estimates of the physical demands of the jobs or to environmental conditions of the work. The self-ratings and observer measures provide complementary, not substitute, information. Self-ratings can signal person-job dysfunctions, and more objective job measures can identify possible sources of the dysfunctions. Modifications to job characteristics measures are discussed and suggestions are made to begin a new phase of programmatic job characteristics research.     

Multiple component agraphia in a patient with atypical cerebral dominance: an error analysis

A 52-year-old man with atypical cerebral dominance (left-handed for writing but mixed handedness for other tasks) suffered an extensive right hemisphere stroke, resulting in a combination of deficits that has not been previously reported. There were profound visual constructive and visual perceptual disturbances and a spatial agraphia, which were consistent with a nondominant hemisphere lesion. There was also a severe apraxic agraphia, which is typically associated with a dominant hemisphere lesion, but no other signs of dominant hemisphere dysfunction such as linguistic disturbance or limb-motor apraxia were present. This case serves to highlight the functional and anatomical relationship between handwriting and other forms of praxis; the various sources of error in letter formation; the need to be specific in labeling and describing agraphias ; and the role of a detailed analysis of writing errors in delineating the neuropsychological processes involved in handwriting.     

Manual performance asymmetries and motor control processes: Subject-generated changes in response parameters

Performance asymmetries between the hands have recently been explained in terms of differences in the nature of motor control processes between the hands. If performance asymmetries between the hands on a serial tapping task are due to differences in motor control processes, the degree of asymmetry should be sensitive to changes in the manipulated response parameter, speed of tapping. The results strongly supported this prediction. The differences in control processes observed here seem to be explained by the feedback model proposed by Flowers. Alternate models to that of Flowers (1975) are, however, presented.     

The declining job satisfaction of white-collar women in sex-segregated and mixed-sex occupations

The declining job satisfaction of women white-collar workers reported by J. Veroff, E. Douvan, and R. A. Kulka (1981, The Inner American: A self-portrait from 1957 to 1976, New York, Basic Books) is explored through secondary analyses of their data from two national cross-sectional surveys conducted in 1957 and 1976. Analyses were done using data from 258 women in 1957 and 372 women in 1976 in white-collar jobs. Multivariate contingency table analyses were used first to explore the separate effects of type of white-collar employment, whether or not the job was sex segregated, age, birth cohort, and education on job satisfaction declines. The decline in job satisfaction was found to be greater for women in sex-segregated occupations that in mixed-sex ones. In addition, while all white-collar women express increased dissatisfaction with ego-involving aspects of work, those in sex-segregated fields showed the greatest increases in job dissatisfactions in affiliative and achievement spheres. Neither type of white-collar employment nor birth cohort related to differential job satisfaction declines though age and education changes did. The final multivariate analysis demonstrated that the changing age and educational characteristics of job holders in sex-segregated fields accounted for the greater job satisfaction declines for these women, and that sex segregation did not appear to affect job satisfaction beyond changes related to these demographic factors.     

On the inconclusiveness of “crucial” cognitive tests of dissonance versus self-perception theories

Several recent experiments are claimed to have tested conflicting predictions of cognitive dissonance and self-perception theories. It is argued that these claims fail to take into account the capacity of each formulation to account adequately for results “predicted” by the other. This argument is then continued, at a metatheoretical level, to reach the conclusion that the two theories are not capable of producing unequivocally contradictory predictions of cognitive consequences of experimental procedures.     

The relation of esteem and social class to self-occupational congruence

The relation of self-esteem and social class to congruence with chosen occupation (the incorporation score) was analyzed by ANOVA and a priori contrasts. Fifty-four accounting majors were differentiated from 58 non-accounting, business majors on the basis of their ideal-self-accounting congruence (p < .01) and their self-accountant congruence (p < .05). Both high- and low-esteem accounting majors' congruence scores for accountant were higher than other S's accountant congruence, and high-esteem accounting majors had the highest congruence (p <.05). Working class accounting majors had higher congruence than middle class accounting students (p <.05). The implications of the findings for theory development and counseling were discussed.