Predicting sales turnover from pay satisfaction and expectation.

Examined the effects of pay satisfaction (PS) and pay expectation (PE), the perceived probability of receiving more satisfying pay in another job, on withdrawal cognition (WC) and turnover. Questionnaires completed by 89 sales representatives measured affective and cognitive variables related to turnover decisions. PS and PE were correlated with WC, but PE did not contribute explanatory variance after PS. PS did, however, explain variance in WC beyond that explained by age or tenure, general (nonpay) satisfaction, amount of pay received, and PE. Only WC and PS were significantly correlated with actual turnover. After WC, no other variable explained additional turnover variance. There was no evidence of an interaction effect of PS and PE on WC or turnover. Results suggest that effects of pay on turnover are mediated primarily by PS and intentions to quit. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Causal connections among managers' merit pay, job satisfaction, and performance.

Used the frequency-of-change-in-product-moment and cross-lagged correlation techniques to analyze field study data obtained from 62 managers over 2 yrs. Results indicate that merit pay caused satisfaction and increased the correlation between these 2 variables. Satisfaction was an effect and not a cause of performance. Performance increased the correlation between performance and satisfaction. The merit-pay-causes-performance hypothesis was not supported, but results suggest the possibility of reciprocal causation. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and job performance: Test of the mediating effects of motivation among sales representatives.

Research shows consistent relations between personality and job performance. In this study the authors develop and test a model of job performance that examines the mediating effects of cognitive-motivational work orientations on the relationships between personality traits and performance in a sales job (N=164). Covariance structural analyses revealed proximal motivational variables to be influential mechanisms through which distal personality traits affect job performance. Specifically, striving for status and accomplishment mediate the effects of Extraversion and Conscientiousness on ratings of sales performance. Although Agreeableness was related to striving for communion, neither Agreeableness nor communion striving was related to success in this sales job. The importance of the proposed motivational orientations model is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autonomy and workload among temporary workers: Their effects on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, and self-rated performance.

This study investigates the role of autonomy and workload in explaining responses of temporary employees (N=189) compared with permanent employees (N=371) on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, and performance. Results based on regression analyses suggest that the effects of contract type are not mediated by autonomy or by workload. Rather, this study partially supports hypotheses on the differential reactions of temporaries and permanents to autonomy or workload; autonomy was not predictive for temporaries' job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and workload was not predictive for temporaries' life satisfaction, whereas they were predictive for permanents' responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between job satisfaction and job performance between western and tribal Black employees.

Examined the effect of westernization on the job performance/job satisfaction relationship in 132 Black male 1st-level supervisors in 15 different South African factories. When the sample was split into western and tribal subgroups, the relationship between performance and satisfaction was significantly higher among western Ss. The 2 subgroups were also compared on measures of intrinsic motivation, instrumentality, and valence of job rewards. Because the western subgroup only obtained a significantly higher score on the measure of intrinsic motivation, it is suggested that it may be because they are more concerned about performing well than that the performance–satisfaction relationship is higher among western employees. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple discrepancies and pay satisfaction.

In this study, a mail survey was used to measure pay satisfaction, current salary, 4 personal standards of comparison, and basic demographics for 169 mental health professionals. As predicted, pay satisfaction was determined by the simultaneous appraisal of current salary against several personal standards of comparison. Explained variance in pay satisfaction rose from 26.1% when only salary and demographics were used as predictors to 46.7% when discrepancy-related variables associated with 4 standards of comparison also were used. Furthermore, R–2 for the combined discrepancy-related variables associated with all 4 standards of comparison was significantly greater than R–2 for the discrepancy-related variables associated with any single standard. These discrepancy effects took both additive and nonadditive forms. Discrepancy effects were stronger when deserved salary or minimum salary was the standard of comparison than when other's salary or average salary was. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conscientiousness and performance of sales representatives: Test of the mediating effects of goal setting.

Used 91 sales representatives to test a process model that assessed the relationship of conscientiousness to job performance through mediating motivational (goal-setting) variables. Linear structural equation modeling showed that sales representatives high in conscientiousness are more likely to set goals and are more likely to be committed to goals, which in turn is associated with greater sales volume and higher supervisory ratings of job performance. Results also showed that conscientiousness is directly related to supervisory ratings. Consistent with previous research, results showed that ability was also related to supervisory ratings of job performance and, to a lesser extent, sales volume. Contrary to expectations, 1 other personality construct, extraversion, was not related to sales volume or to supervisory ratings of job performance. Implications and future research needs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The determinants of pay satisfaction.

Conducted a study to test empirically (a) the utility of a model of the determinants of pay satisfaction developed by E. E. Lawler (1971) and (b) the value of adding to this model a category of variables not previously included: perceptions of pay-system administration. The study was conducted among 180 US, 133 French-Canadian, and 79 English-Canadian managers. Results provide some support for the utility of Lawler's model and additional support for the value of adding the administrative-type variables. Results of this and other studies are used to develop a modified model of the determinants of pay satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender and the relationship between perceived fairness of pay or promotion and job satisfaction.

J. Brockner and L. Adsit (1986) found that satisfaction with an exchange relationship was more strongly related to perceptions of equity among men than women. A. Kahn (1972) reported that men were more likely than women to distribute outcomes to individuals in direct proportion to their input. The authors evaluated potential gender differences among 12,979 personnel in 30 different organizational systems in (1) correlations between fairness and job satisfaction scores and (2) standardized group differences in the perceived amounts of pay and promotion fairness and expressed levels of facet and global job satisfaction. The fairness–satisfaction relationship was not higher for men, and there were no practical differences in fairness perceptions and job satisfaction between men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of performance on managerial pay levels and pay changes.

Investigated the relationship between performance and pay in an organization with an explicit system of performance measurement and reward. Ss were 51 male department managers. Due to the possibility of unstable performance and to the influence of nonperformance factors on pay, it was expected that performance would predict pay changes better than pay levels. Results of partial correlation analysis confirm this expectation. Job level and length of service were predictive of pay levels and pay changes, respectively, but education was not. Results of multiple regression analysis indicate that the 4 independent variables accounted for approximately 50% of the variance in the dependent variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive complexity and the perceived dimensionality of pay satisfaction.

This study explored the possibility that cognitive complexity can account for differences in the number of perceived dimensions with which individuals conceptualize pay satisfaction, as measured by the Pay Satisfaction Questionnaire. Using 2 independent samples of 1,969 certified teachers, it was found that mean group differences in cognitive complexity may account for the differences previously found in the literature. It was suggested that additional basic research be performed on how individuals conceptualize pay satisfaction and that more useful measures of cognitive complexity be developed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between performance and satisfaction under contingent and noncontingent reward systems.

Investigated relationships between performance and satisfaction in 2 samples of female telephone company workers under a contingent (i.e., pay based on piece rates and promotions based on performance) and a noncontingent (i.e., rewards based on seniority) reward system. Performance levels were similar under the 2 systems but were related to satisfaction with the work itself, pay, and promotions for the contingent Ss and to satisfaction with interpersonal factors, pay, and work for the noncontingent Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and ability factors in sales performance.

A variety of personality and ability tests were utilized in a study devised to isolate effective predictors of sales success and to study the various factors in sales performance. The Ss were 65 dealer salesmen employed by a mojr petroleum company. Objective criterion measures were developed using sales figures covering a 4-year period. After cross-validation 2 tests emerged as reliable predictors. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Arithmetic subtest yielded correlations with criterion measures in the low .30s. The Tomkins-Horn Picture Arrangement Test yielded correlations in the high .50s. On the latter test measures of dependence, sociophilia, self-confidence, and happiness were found in association with successful sales performances; measures of low aggression, sociophobia, and strong superego were found in association with poor performance. From Psyc Abstracts 36:05:5LD06M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship satisfaction instability and depression.

In this study, we explored whether the degree of temporal instability in relationship satisfaction might add to our understanding of the well-documented association between relationship quality and depression. We hypothesized that greater relationship satisfaction instability would be associated with higher depressive symptoms, controlling for mean satisfaction levels. We conducted 12 weekly assessments of relationship satisfaction and depressive symptoms in a sample of 131 cohabiting and married women, and used intraindividual standard deviations of scores over the 12 weeks as an index of instability. Results indicated that, as hypothesized, relationship satisfaction instability predicted variance in depressive symptoms beyond that predicted by mean satisfaction; women whose weekly relationship satisfaction fluctuated more widely tended to have higher depressive symptoms. In comparison, temporal instability in depressive symptoms did not predict variance in relationship satisfaction beyond that predicted by mean depressive symptoms. Prospective analyses tentatively suggested that satisfaction instability may precede rather than follow elevated depressive symptoms. Results suggest the utility of assessing relationship satisfaction instability in future studies exploring links between marital quality and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cognitive style on perceived satisfaction and performance among students and teachers.

Examined the influence of matched or mismatched cognitive styles on perceived satisfaction and performance among students and teachers in 8 classrooms with 192 9th–12th graders. Field-dependence/independence was assessed using the Group Embedded Figures Test; both satisfaction and performance were assessed with Likert-type questionnaire items. ANOVA revealed the predicted interaction effect (favoring matched styles) on student perceptions of satisfaction and a similar trend on perceptions of teacher effectiveness. Although field-independent students scored higher on standardized measures of academic ability, classroom grades were unrelated to student cognitive style. Field-dependent students, however, were perceived as exerting greater effort in class, thus indicating that teachers award grades according to a combination of student ability and perceived effort. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reward structure as a moderator of the relationship between extraversion and sales performance.

The proposition that the relationship between extraversion and sales performance is moderated by reward structure was investigated. Specific hypotheses were tested with data obtained from 152 sales representatives. One group of sales representatives was rewarded primarily for obtaining new sales and another primarily for retaining customers. Data pooled across the 2 groups showed that extraversion did not correlate significantly with either new sales or customer retention. However, moderator analysis revealed that extraversion was positively associated with the dimension of performance that was explicitly rewarded but not with the nonrewarded dimension. A significant correlation between conscientiousness and new sales, but not between conscientiousness and customer retention, was found with the pooled data. As expected, relationships between conscientiousness and sales performance were not moderated by reward structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal examination of a merit pay system: Relationships among performance ratings, merit increases, and total pay increases.

Although considerable research has addressed the relationship between performance ratings and pay increases, this literature has been criticized for 2 reasons. First, most researchers have ignored the fact that performance ratings may have not only a direct effect on pay but also an indirect effect through promotions and market adjustments. Second, almost all of the research has been cross-sectional. We studied the relationships between performance ratings and salary raises by using longitudinal data and found that performance ratings correlated more with total pay increases than with merit pay increases. Compared with the average cross-sectional correlation, the use of aggregated data (over time) resulted in a larger performance rating–merit pay increase relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between measures of effort and job performance.

Effort expended and job performance are considered to be different, although not independent, constructs in the industrial environment. The relationship between these 2 variables was investigated using the multitrait-multimethod and multitrait-multirater approaches. 202 engineers completed self-ratings and were rated by their supervisors (n = 41), using global and dimensional rating methods. Convergent validity was found for the measures of effort and the measures of performance, but only the measures of performance demonstrated discriminant validity when compared with the measures of effort. Raters demonstrated convergent validity for each variable, but only some discriminant validity on the performance measures. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of appropriateness of the dimensional measure of effort. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interrelationships among measures of job satisfaction and general satisfaction.

For a sample of 41 male and 52 female civil service employees, correlations were determined among 2 measures of job satisfaction (SRA Employee Inventory and Brayfield-Rothe Job Satisfaction Index) and 2 measures of attitudes toward life in general (Weitz General Satisfaction Test and Rundquist-Sletto Morale Scale). All the intercorrelations were moderately positive and significant for the males, but only the intercorrelation between the two general satisfaction measures was significant for the females. 15 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivation in managerial levels: Relationship of need satisfaction to job performance.

Compared the need satisfaction of 87 1st line supervisors with 123 top and middle managers and related need satisfaction to job performance. A questionnaire was used to collect the data from managers in a steel mill. Findings support the E. Lawler and L. Porter (see pa, vol. 42:3043) model relating need satisfaction to performance, but only partially support the hypothesis that satisfaction of higher order needs is more closely related to performance of top managers than of lower managerial personnel. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)