Effects of job enrichment and task goals on satisfaction and productivity: Implications for job design.

A 2-phase research project investigated the effects of job enrichment and goal setting on employee productivity and satisfaction in a well-controlled, simulated job environment. In the 1st phase, 2 conditions of goal setting (assigned goals vs no goals) and 2 conditions of job enrichment (enriched vs unenriched) were established, producing 4 experimental conditions in which 42 part-time workers took part. Job enrichment had a substantial impact on job satisfaction but little effect on productivity. Goal setting, on the other hand, had a major impact on productivity and a less substantial impact on satisfaction. In the 2nd phase (after 2 days' work), Ss with unenriched jobs worked under the enrichment conditions and Ss originally without goals were assigned goals. Again, job enrichment had a positive effect on job satisfaction, while goal setting had a positive effect on performance. Results are discussed in terms of the current theoretical approaches for understanding employee motivation on the job. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey.

Describes the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) which is intended to (a) diagnose existing jobs to determine whether (and how) they might be redesigned to improve employee motivation and productivity and (b) evaluate the effects of job changes on employees. The instrument is based on a specific theory of how job design affects work motivation, and provides measures of (a) objective job dimensions, (b) individual psychological states resulting from these dimensions, (c) affective reactions of employees to the job and work setting, and (d) individual growth need strength (interpreted as the readiness of individuals to respond to "enriched" jobs). Reliability and validity data are summarized for 658 employees on 62 different jobs in 7 organizations who responded to a revised version of the instrument. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job enrichment versus social cues: A comparison and competitive test.

41 part-time student employees were randomly assigned in a 2–2 factorial design (2 types of social cues and 2 levels of job enrichment) to investigate the effects of the independent variables on perceptions of job enrichment, job ambiguity, job satisfaction, and productivity. All Ss worked in a simulated organizational setting involving a routine clerical task. Results show that both the cues given by co-workers as well as the physical properties of the task had an effect on employee perceptions of job enrichment and job ambiguity. In addition, Ss receiving positive social cues from co-workers were more satisfied and more productive than Ss receiving negative social cues from co-workers. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance for current theories of job motivation. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job-person dynamics: An extension of longitudinal research.

Relationships between personality change and characteristics of jobs held during a 7.44-yr period were examined in 176 engineers, scientists, and managers employed by a petroleum products firm. Data on job characteristics were collected using the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS). The Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey (GZTS) was utilized to collect longitudinal personality data. Results of partial correlational analyses indicated that changes on 9 of the 10 standard GZTS scales occurring during the period between test administrations are related to one or more of the JDS job characteristics. Implications for a dynamic model of job–person relationships are discussed. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurement of job characteristics: Comparison of the original and the revised Job Diagnostic Survey.

This study contrasted the original version of the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS; Hackman & Oldham, 1975) with the revised version recently proposed by Idaszak and Drasgow (1987). A total of 224 dairy workers completed both versions of the JDS. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis showed that the revised JDS job characteristics items conformed more closely to the hypothesized five-factor structure than did the original JDS items. However, results of {lisrel} analyses indicated that the revised items did not improve the usefulness of the JDS in predicting several outcomes (e.g., satisfaction, internal motivation, and productivity). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A revision of the Job Diagnostic Survey: Elimination of a measurement artifact.

The dimensionality of the original Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and a revision were investigated. Factor analyses of two data sets identified six dimensions underlying the original JDS. Five of the factors correspond to the pattern expected for the JDS items; the sixth was identified as a measurement artifact. Five of the JDS items were subsequently rewritten to eliminate the artifact. The revised survey was administered to employees of a printing company (N?=?134) and the a priori five-factor solution was obtained with no artifact factor. Scale–factor correlations were also computed. The resulting coefficients suggest that the revised JDS scales are measuring their underlying constructs with reasonable accuracy. As a result of the measurement artifact in the original JDS, it is recommended that the revised JDS should be used in future research concerned with task characteristics. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The measurement and dimensionality of job characteristics.

Investigated the dimensionality of measures of perceived job characteristics and models for combining these dimensions to account for affective responses. 3,610 exempt personnel from a large retail merchandising organization responded to the Job Diagnostic Survey and a measure of work satisfaction. Results show that measures of task variety and autonomy are not empirically different and that a single dimensional representation of job characteristics may be most parsimonious. It is suggested that an additive, compensatory model for combining elements of task characteristics should be considered along with complex, noncompensatory models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responses to the original and revised Job Diagnostic Survey: Is education a factor in responses to negatively worded items?

The original and revised versions of the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) were administered to 3,044 public sector employees in a range of jobs, and results confirm earlier findings that a revised version of the JDS using only positively worded items better fits the 5-factor structure underlying the instrument. Evidence was obtained that respondents' education level is not the reason for the problems experienced with negatively worded items, nor does it appear that less educated workers are inherently less able to distinguish between job characteristics. Recommendations are made for the use of the revised JDS in future research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alternative opportunities and withdrawal decisions: Empirical and theoretical discrepancies and an integration.

Data reported in labor market studies in which unemployment rates in a geographical area, industry, or time period are correlated with voluntary termination rates from work organizations support the hypothesized role of available alternatives in the satisfaction–quit process. Studies conducted at the individual termination-decision level support neither the theoretical propositions nor generalization of the results of analyses of aggregated data to individuals' decision to leave a job or organization. Three explanations for these inconsistencies are offered: (1) Different economies produce different work forces. (2) Job opportunities influence job satisfaction directly. (3) Job opportunities, not intentions, influence turnover directly. An integrated explanation based on the direct influence of economic/unemployment conditions of job affect, which is consistent with theoretical models of social attitudes and job affect formation as well as with empirical evidence, is presented. It is suggested that statements about the rationality of job-termination decisions must be made in view of the full range of factors that affect job utilities and utilities of alternative activities, including the utilities associated with being unemployed. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective and cognitive factors in soldiers' reenlistment decisions.

Tested 3 alternative models of causal relationships between satisfaction—expectancy about the consequences of quitting, expectancy about the consequences of staying, and intention to quit or stay—in the context of approximately 755 soldiers' reenlistment decisions. All 3 models presume that perceptions of the job and organization directly influence both satisfaction and expectancy about consequences of staying and that intention is the most immediate antecedent of actual reenlistment. Affective and cognitive variables in these models were measured by self-report questionnaires. Results of hierarchical multiple regression and path analysis disconfirm 2 of the models but not the 3rd model. The model found to be consistent with the pattern of observed correlations presumes that satisfaction has causal effects on the expectancy variables and that it influences intention only through its effects on expectancies. Thus, beliefs about future affective states may be biased by present affective states. Implications for management strategies are discussed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structure of Job Diagnostic Survey for public sector occupations.

Investigated the factor structure of the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) for 1,632 public sector employees. The JDS measured skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback for state and county government employees who were administrators, professionals, technicians, paraprofessionals, clericals, and service and technical workers. In general, matrices supported the dimensionality of the JDS. However, for technicians and service and maintenance workers, 2 items designed to tap autonomy had higher loadings on the feedback, task identity, task significance, and skill variety factors. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test of the measurement equivalence of the revised Job Diagnostic Survey: Past problems and current solutions.

Studied the measurement equivalence of the revised Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) across samples from 5 worker populations: workers at a printing plant, engineers, nurses and nurses' aides, dairy employees, and part-time workers. Data were analyzed according to J?reskog's model for simultaneous factor analysis in several populations ({sifasp}), revealing the 5 factors contained in Hackman and Oldham's theory of job characteristics. A 6th factor appeared that apparently resulted from the 2 different formats used. When data from each group were analyzed separately by principal axes factor analysis, 3-, 4-, and 5-factor solutions appeared. A Monte Carlo simulation was conducted. Matrices representing the a priori JDS factor loadings and a hypothetical, lengthened JDS with twice the number of items/factor were used with 3 sample sizes (Ns?=?75, 150, and 900). Results suggest that for scales like the JDS, sample sizes larger than those typically recommended are needed to consistently recover the true underlying structure. Simulation results indicate that the {sifasp} solution is preferable to the principal axes solution and that the JDS provides measurement equivalence across worker populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)