Interests of engineers related to turnover, selection, and management.

"Using the Strong Vocational Interest Blank, four groups of interest items were found to distinguish engineers who left the service of a particular electrical utility within the first 2 years from engineers who stayed longer. Comparing the interests of engineers who had assumed senior responsibility in relatively short time confirmed the suspicion that some of the men who were leaving might be those who were similar in interest to the leaders. Thus, those likely to leave the organization could be separated into two identifiable groups. One group it is considered relatively safe to screen out at the time of application. The other group should be encouraged to stay by efforts to change conditions in the organization so as to provide better satisfaction for their interests. It is suggested that, as well as selecting suitable people, an organization may need to adapt itself so as to satisfy the needs of the kind of people it requires." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4LI43B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Afferent mechanism of cortical myoclonus studied by proprioception-related SEPs

This questionnaire study examined perceived sources of stress and satisfaction at work among 121 mental health staff members. Five factors were derived from principal component analysis of sources of work stress items (stress from: role, poor support, clients, future, and overload), and accounted for 70% of the total variance. Four factors were derived from the items related to sources of job satisfaction (satisfaction from: career, working with people, management, and money), accounting for 68% of the variance. The associations of these factors with sociodemographic and job characteristics were examined, and they were entered as explanatory variables into regression models predicting mental health, burnout, and job satisfaction. Stress from "overload" was associated with being based outside an in-patient ward, and with emotional exhaustion and worse mental health. Stress related to the "future" was associated with not being white. Stress from "clients" was associated with the "depersonalization" component of burnout. Higher job satisfaction was associated with "management" and "working with people" as sources of satisfaction, whereas emotional exhaustion and poorer mental health were associated with less "career" satisfaction.     

A longitudinal test of the influence of congruence: Job satisfaction, competency utilization, and counterproductive behavior.

The assumption that congruence between workers and jobs results in job satisfaction is fundamental to vocational theory. Evidence that person–job congruence goes with satisfaction is mixed; correlations are often too small to be of practical value. A hypothesis that interest congruence is more closely linked with job satisfaction for workers with clearly defined interests as opposed to workers with poorly defined interests is tested. Hypotheses about other consequences of person–job incongruence—counterproductive behavior, low job involvement, and turnover—also are tested in a predictive study. The hypothesis that differentiation moderates the relation between congruence and satisfaction and other hypotheses about the consequences of incongruence did not receive support, but the results do imply that congruence is a moderately efficient predictor of satisfaction when between-occupation sources of variance are excluded by the research design. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SVIB as a predictor of job satisfaction.

A study was made of 185 graduates of professional curricula to test the hypothesis that job satisfaction in a certain occupation is related to congruent or appropriate interests in that occupation. Occupations represented were medicine, law, dentistry, mechanical engineering, accounting, and journalism. Ss were contacted by mail and asked to fill out 3 job satisfaction blanks and the SVIB. 12th grade SVIB scores were also available for each S. Only 1 of 56 relationships between interests and job satisfaction scores was significantly different from 0. The lack of relationships was true for both earlier and current testing of interests and for all 3 job satisfaction blanks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aptitudes, interests, and personality characteristics of farmers.

A group of 50 farmers were administered the DAT, the Kuder Preference Record, and the MMPI, and scores were related to two criterion measures—the Brayfield-Rothe job satisfaction index and instructor's rankings of on-the-job performance. Their personality test pattern was within the normal range, job satisfaction and job performance were unrelated, but distinctive aptitude and interest test profiles emerged. "Numerical ability and scientific interest were found to be positively and significantly related to performance on the job. Literary interest was negatively but significantly related to job satisfaction. The Depression and Social Introversion-Extroversion scales on the MMPI were negatively but significantly correlated with job satisfaction." 16 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cumulative communality cluster analysis of workers' job attitudes.

On the job what do workers indicate to be most important or to give them the most satisfaction. Using job attitude questionnaires of 100 items each on 2 groups of workers totaling 1000 workers, in 2 plants, items common to the 2 inventories used, totaling 68 questions, were divided into those marked "very unfavorable" and those "very favorable," and studied by factor analysis. "The two sets of clusters were quite similar… . It is concluded that these kinds of variation may be common to a wide variety of industrial jobs and that they do not depend strictly on the questionnaire used or on the method of analysis." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3LH23H. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychiatric versus psychological opinion regarding personality disturbances.

Results of a survey "designed to determine, at least to some extent, the degree of diversity and disunity of opinion between" psychiatrists and psychologists are presented. An objective questionnaire, consisting of 100 "declarative statements covering the nature, cause, and treatment of disturbances to the mental life and behavior of individuals, with chief emphasis on characteristics usually identified as psychotic and neurotic" which were representative of current opinion, was used. 75 psychiatrists (32 working in mental hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and 43 practicing psychiatrists in 21 states and the District of Columbia) and 60 psychologists (in 23 states and the District of Columbia) were the Ss. "Only 19 statements of opinion, out of the 100 explored in this study, reveal statistically significant differences of opinion between psychiatrists and psychologists." Psychiatrists show a higher degree of acceptance on 14 items, psychologists a higher degree of acceptance on the other 5. The specific items on which differences were indicated are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of job incentives among college students.

Job goals at graduation were described, and 8 selected job incentive statements were ranked by college Ss. Factor analysis of intercorrelations among the ranked incentives yielded 3 factors tentatively identified as: need achievement vs. fear of failure, interest in the job vs. the job as an opportunity for acquiring status, and job autonomy of supervision vs. supervisor dependency. "A content analysis of incentive statements contributed by 29% of the ranking Ss (N = 267) gave three major categories: opportunity to help others, job satisfaction, and job interest and variety." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role satisfaction of psychologists in state hospitals.

"All midwestern, state employed, institutional psychologists listed in the 1960 APA Directory (N = 131) were requested to return an anonymous questionnaire. Seventy-one persons responded from the nine states included." As years of state employment increase the actual satisfaction and abstract expectation levels both rise. Master's level psychologists "tend to respond with a somewhat greater job satisfaction than do PhD staff members… . Psychologists who reported working in institutions with a frankly organic orientation express a lesser percentage of satisfaction on the PA [Professional Activities] scale than do psychologists reporting a psychologic orientation." State employed clinical psychologists "as a group are reasonably well satisfied spending almost 80% of their time in gratifying activities." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3AL23M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The measurement of vocational interests by a stereotype ranking method.

An interest test based on the assumption that interests reflect steretoypes is described. Employing job titles to be checked, it is intended for use as the basis for an interview but can be used with norms. "It can be administered to groups or individuals, is relatively quick and has been shown to have promising reliability and validity, though more evidence on these aspects is required." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autonomy and job satisfaction in task-oriented groups.

Ss were placed in apparent 3-person communication structures in which written notes were used to create illusions of centrality (or peripherality) and of autonomy (or dependence). A simple task was given requiring coordination of the Ss' activities. Results indicate that "positional autonomy is a major determinant of job satisfaction in task-oriented groups." The relationship between autonomy and job satisfaction seems to be mediated by satisfaction of a need for autonomy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The scalability of estimated worker requirements.

Construction of rating scales and check lists in job analysis can be done with the help of people who make judgments about dimensions for the categories. Can this scalability be made acceptable, and is doing it a general ability or one that is highly specific to the requirement? "Seven experienced and trained job analysts of the United States Employment Service rated 50 jobs on 33 requirements grouped into three classes: (a) aptitudes, (b) interests, and (c) personality. Analysts were provided with definitions of each requirement, together with 'bench mark' jobs to serve as guiding examples." Most of (a), ? of (b), and about ? of (c) were scalable. "… analyst sensitivity is not a general ability but is highly specific to the requirement." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job satisfaction: Environmental and genetic components.

Monozygotic twins reared apart from an early age were used to test the hypothesis that there is a significant genetic component to job satisfaction. 34 monozygotic twin pairs who had been reared apart completed the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire as part of a comprehensive work-history assessment. Three subscales were formed from the job satisfaction items to reflect intrinsic, extrinsic, and general satisfaction with the current (or major) job. Intraclass correlations were computed to estimate the proportion of observed variability resulting from genetic factors for all job satisfaction items and for the 3 subscales. Resulting values indicated that approximately 30% of the observed variance in general job satisfaction was due to genetic factors. Additional analysis indicated that these results obtained even when job characteristics such as complexity, motor skill requirements, and the physical demands were held constant via partialing methods. Finally, the data indicated significant heritabilities for several of these job characteristics, which is consistent with the hypothesis of a genetic disposition to seek and remain in similar environments (jobs). Implications of these findings for theories of job satisfaction, selection, and job enrichment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How important are dispositional factors as determinants of job satisfaction? Implications for job design and other personnel programs.

According to recent research, stable dispositional factors may result in considerable consistency in attitudes such as job satisfaction across time and situations. If true, this finding may have important implications. For example, Staw and Ross (1985) argued that "many situational changes such as job redesign… may not affect individuals as intended." Such personnel programs "may be prone to failure because they must contend with attitudinal consistency" (p. 478). The present article has two purposes. First, methodological and conceptual problems with the Staw and Ross assessment of the impact of situational and dispositional factors on job satisfaction are discussed. Second, given Staw and Ross's focus on job redesign, this article examines the impact on job satisfaction of changes in two very different measures of job complexity. Findings indicate that changes in situational factors such as job complexity are important predictors of job satisfaction, consistent with Hackman and Oldham's (1975, 1976) job design model. In contrast, measurement problems preclude accurate assessment of the predictive power of dispositional factors. Contrary to the concern raised by Staw and Ross (1985) and Staw, Bell, and Clausen (1986), it does not appear likely that the success of personnel programs will be significantly constrained by the influence of attitudinal consistency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pay, equity, job gratifications, and comparisons in pay satisfaction.

In an investigation of the determinants of pay satisfaction, we held telephone interviews with 248 fully employed men in Dane County, Wisconsin, asking about their income, job satisfaction, and other economic and demographic matters. The social and industrial-organizational psychology literature suggests that pay satisfaction could be influenced by at least four major considerations: the economic benefits received on the job, the extent to which earnings are regarded as fair or deserved, comparisons with other people's pay, and noneconomic job satisfactions. Measures of these possible determinants were established by a factor analysis of 29 items, and the index of pay satisfaction was based on another factor analysis of 8 items. Using these factors and several demographic variables in a multiple regression analysis, we found that three of our four types of psychological determinants made major contributions to predicting pay satisfaction, with the most powerful set of predictors being equity considerations, although material benefits associated with living standards and intrinsic job satisfaction were also major predictors. Social comparisons contributed virtually nothing. Small, significant effects were found for age, occupation, education, and past unemployment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Status, job satisfaction, and factors of job satisfaction of state institution and clinic psychologists.

"In this report we will compare psychologists with other mental hygiene professionals—psychologists in state schools and hospitals with psychologists in clinics." Ss were 80 psychiatrists, 80 psychologists, 80 social workers, 80 teachers, 80 nurses (40 of each group in state institutions and 40 in nonstate institutions) and, in addition, 59 upper middle class and 51 lower middle class Ss. There is "limited support for the hypothesis which states that status and job satisfaction are related." The hypothesis that "the status of state institution psychologists is lower than that of clinic psychologists, is generally substantiated." The hypothesis that "there are differences in the job satisfaction of the two groups of psychologists finds some support." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on Thorndike's preference blank for psychologists.

The 50 items comprising the 5 Thorndike clusters were rated by 2 experienced job analysts in terms of the Methods Groups and Worker Functions factors. It was discovered that the ratings grouped themselves into functional areas. "It is suggested that the judgment of trained job analysts working within a conceptual framework of the world of work… can arrive at such decisions of classification and clustering without the involved and prolonged statistical treatment used by Thorndike. Moreover, it provides a device for generating and presenting this type of item in a meaningful manner." Four stages in the application of the "functional technique" are indicated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Criteria for what?

Criteria are in the key position of determining how tests are to be interpreted and used. Many different kinds of validity can be and are classified in varying ways. "Validity for industrial psychology has largely consisted of… 'utility' and has been banned from the validation universe entirely." Psychologists have not yet paid enough attention "to the processes by which we use our criteria to establish predictive relationships. The difficulties of defining criteria for the many hypothetical attributes of factors found in our test files today and of setting up situations in which they can be observed are admittedly great. However, the attempt might, in and of itself, have a healthy effect upon the thinking of many of our test constructors." Knowledge "of the validity of a test for 1 criterion in 1 job aids us little, if at all, in building a predictor for another job or even a different criterion in the same job." Apparently "industrial psychology, particularly as it relates to selection, appraisal, and training procedures, is approaching Armageddon." We must expand our thinking about criteria and validity beyond the point of utility alone. The "answer to the question 'Criteria for What?' must always include—for understandingp" (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocational psychology, vocational adjustment, and the workforce: Some familiar and unanticipated consequences.

Vocational psychology, the psychological study of calling or "life work" (which for many is their work life), grew out of the vocational guidance movement. From the beginning, vocational guidance was founded on the Parsons formula of person analysis, job (or occupation) analysis, and the matching of the two. Vocational psychology, as a special case of the psychology of individual differences, has provided vocational guidance with an empirically validated technology (and accompanying theory) with which to assess the vocationally significant attributes of persons (abilities and interests, in particular), to describe occupations in person-attribute terms, and thereby to enable the matching of person and occupation on an actuarial basis. This technology has been amply validated for the prediction of both worker satisfaction and worker satisfactoriness. With the dramatic consequences for individuals and society of even modest increases in worker satisfaction and satisfactoriness, it is regrettable that vocational psychology is still unknown or unavailable to most of those who could benefit from it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job satisfaction and job survival.

Using a job satisfaction questionnaire constructed on previous samples, mail questionnaires were sent to 2,710 insurance agents, of whom 990 made a return. From these, matched samples of 99 survivors and 99 terminated agents were compared. The results "indicated that certain attitudes held by agents are significantly related to the criterion of survival-termination. It was also found that the proportion of agents expressing dissatisfaction with a particular item was not related to whether or not that item was predictive of the criterion. The data show that the validation of signed job satisfaction questionnaires leads to a much different kind of interpretation of the responses than is obtained from anonymous questionnaires." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)