Employee reactions to workspace characteristics.

We investigated the independent and joint effects of four workspace characteristics (social density, room darkness, number of enclosures, and interpersonal distance) on three employee reactions: turnover, satisfaction, and withdrawal from the office during discretionary periods. A total of 109 clerical employees from 19 offices of a large university participated in the research. Results showed that the independent and joint effects of the workspace characteristics accounted for 24% of the variance in employee turnover, 31% of the variance in work satisfaction, and 34% of the variance in discretionary withdrawal. Moreover, the four-way interaction term involving the workspace characteristics contributed significantly to each of the reaction measures, suggesting that employees were most likely to withdraw from offices and to experience dissatisfaction when the following conditions were present: the office was rated as dark, few enclosures surrounded employees' work areas, employees were seated close to one another, and many employees occupied the office. The implications of the findings for future research on workspace design are discussed. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences and reactions to job characteristics.

Evaluated 3 different methods of measuring individual differences as moderators of employee reactions to job characteristics. The 3 methods are urban vs rural background, strong vs weak belief in the Protestant work ethic, and high vs low strength for "higher order" needs. Each of these 3 methods was used as a moderator of the relationships between job characteristics on the one hand, and specific job facet satisfaction, overall job satisfaction, and job behavior on the other hand. Data were obtained from 80 newly hired female telephone operators. Based on the job satisfaction results, higher order need strength was the most useful way to measure this type of individual difference, followed by the Protestant work ethic, and lastly by urban vs rural background of the worker. There were no differences among the 3 individual differences as moderators of the job characteristics and job behavior relationship. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employee reactions to a pay incentive plan.

Examined productivity records, personnel data, and attitudinal data obtained from (a) a group of workers with an incentive plan felt to be successful by management and (b) a group in a different plant with similar jobs but with an unsuccessful incentive plan. All workers were family men, had jobs involving unskilled manual labor, and all had high seniority. An analysis of the employees' attitudes showed that they trusted management, understood the plan, and saw a close relationship between their pay and their performance. Based upon expectancy theory, it was hypothesized that because these conditions existed, the workers would respond directly to the economic payoff structure of the plan. To test this hypothesis, a mathematical model was developed to predict the productivity of the work group. The data show a high degree of fit between the model's predictions and the actual productivity of the group. The implications of this for future research and for the design of incentive systems are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employee reactions to ergonomic job design: The moderating effects of health locus of control and self-efficacy.

A field survey of 180 municipal government office employees (82% women, 21–75 years old) investigated the potential moderating effects of internal health locus of control (HLOC) and self-efficacy on employees' reactions to ergonomic job design. Internal HLOC moderated the associations between ergonomic job design and somatic complaints and turnover intentions, and, to a lesser extent, job satisfaction. Self-efficacy moderated the associations between job design and job satisfaction, somatic complaints, and, to a lesser extent, persistent pain. Employees with low self-efficacy or low internal HLOC were influenced more by their physical job conditions than those with high self-efficacy or high internal HLOC. Implications for the ergonomic design of offices are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employee drug use, demographic characteristics, work reactions, and absenteeism.

Investigated the relationships between employee use of illicit drugs, perceptions of and reactions to the work environment, and employee absenteeism and tardiness above and beyond that accounted for by demographic and work reaction variables. 162 employees in a large work organization completed demographic and background information and assessments of work perceptions and reactions and absenteeism and tardiness. Drug use was assessed with a questionnaire and urine testing. Employee drug use accounted for additional statistically significant variance in overall absenteeism and in absenteeism due to injuries and suspensions, as well as days tardy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships of perceived job design characteristics to job ability requirements and job value.

The relationships between perceived job design characteristics and both job ability requirements and job value were examined for 256 employees of a large pharmaceutical firm. Measures included the Position Analysis Questionnaire, Job Diagnostic Survey, and General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB). Correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between the perceived job characteristics scores and estimated GATB scores and between the job design scores and the job evaluation estimates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employee reactions to contextual and session components of performance appraisal.

A neglected area of performance appraisal research concerns the context within which the appraisal process occurs. For a sample of exempt employees, measures were developed that assessed system components of the appraisal context. The contribution of these variables (complexity, implementation, and follow-up) to the prediction of 2 measures of employee reactions to performance appraisal (review session satisfaction and appraisal system satisfaction) was compared with the contribution of a more frequently studied set of variables—supervisory behaviors in the review session. The relationship of a salary linkage variable to the 2 outcome criteria also was assessed. The supervisory session variables were related to session satisfaction, and the system contextual variables were primarily related to system satisfaction. Salary linkage was associated with system satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A meta-analysis of the relation of job characteristics to job satisfaction.

Determined, using meta-analysis procedures, the relation between job characteristics and job satisfaction in 28 studies. The role of growth need strength (GNS) as a possible moderator of this relation was also investigated. Results indicate a moderate relation between job characteristics and job satisfaction. This relation was stronger for employees high in GNS. It is suggested that situational characteristics were more important in determining satisfaction for employees low in GNS. A model based on these findings is proposed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of job characteristics to job involvement, satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation.

Administered questionnaires to 291 scientists working in research and development laboratories. Results of a factor analysis indicate that job-involvement attitudes, higher order need-satisfaction attitudes, and intrinsic-motivation attitudes should be thought of as separate and distinct kinds of attitudes toward a job. These 3 types of attitudes related differentially to job design factors and to job behavior. Satisfaction proved to be related to such job characteristics as the amount of control the job allowed the holder and the degree to which it is seen to be relevant to the holder's valued abilities. Satisfaction was not related to either self-rated effort or performance. Job involvement, like satisfaction, bore a significant relationship to certain job characteristics; unlike satisfaction, however, involvement was positively related to self-rated effort. Intrinsic motivation was less strongly related to the job characterisitcs measured, but was more strongly related to both effort and performance than was either satisfaction or involvement. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between field dependence and reactions to changes in job attributes.

Hypothesized that field-independent technical personnel would report longer lasting satisfaction or dissatisfaction in response to changes in specific job attributes than their more field-dependent peers and that their reported responses would be better predicted by the rod-and-frame test as a measure of cognitive style than by the Hidden Figures Test. Both hypotheses were confirmed in a sample of 30 male engineers and technicians. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative importance of job characteristics.

1311 managerial-supervisory, 3653 salaried, and 6192 hourly employees rated 68 job characteristics for importance. Considerable agreement was found in the ratings, in particular, as to the most and least important characteristics. Disagreements largely seem related to the nature of the work by a particular employee group. Another facet of the study showed that different methods of measuring importance yield different results. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Production uncertainty as a contextual moderator of employee reactions to job design.

A number of authors in the job design field have proposed production uncertainty, the degree to which a qualified incumbent faces unexpected problems in the course of job performance, as a possible moderator of the effectiveness of job design. However, empirical support for this view is limited and has not been explicitly recognized within mainstream job design theory. This study of production operators in a waste water treatment setting provides further empirical support for production uncertainty as a contextual variable influencing job design outcomes, demonstrating that the relationship between job control and affective outcomes (job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation) varies with the level of production uncertainty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rational selective exploitation and distress: Employee reactions to performance-based and mobility-based reward allocations.

Prior research (e.g., M. R. Carrell; see record 1979-02464-001) demonstrated that allocators distribute greater rewards to persons with high professional and geographic mobility than to persons with constrained mobility, especially among the very competent. This phenomenon is termed rational selective exploitation. Do recipients of such allocations experience this distribution rule as unjust and distressing, or is it a misnomer to refer to this phemomenon as exploitation? Two studies explored this question. Study 1 manipulated relative performance level, relative mobility level, and allocation standard: performance based vs mobility based. Study 2 surveyed employees who reported the degree to which performance and mobility were the basis for pay decisions at their places of employment, as well as the degree to which they perceived each standard to be fair. Both studies demonstrated that people regard mobility-based allocations as less fair and more distressing than performance-based allocations. The degree of distress resulting from mobility-based allocations is greater among persons with constrained mobility who perform at high levels. Findings support the assertion that rational selective exploitation is distressing to employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and job satisfaction: The mediating role of job characteristics.

This study tested a model of the relationship between core self-evaluations, intrinsic job characteristics, and job satisfaction. Core self-evaluations was assumed to be a broad personality concept manifested in 4 specific traits: self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and low neuroticism. The model hypothesized that both subjective (perceived) job characteristics and job complexity mediate the relationship between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction. Two studies were conducted to test the model. Results from Study 1 supported the hypothesized model but also suggested that alternative models fit the data well. Results from Study 2 revealed that core self-evaluations measured in childhood and in early adulthood were linked to job satisfaction measured in middle adulthood. Furthermore, in Study 2 job complexity mediated part of the relationship between both assessments of core self-evaluations and job satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A field study of job applicants' reactions to personality and cognitive ability testing.

Eighty job applicants were screened through 1 of 3 job-selection conditions depending on the job for which they were applying: interviews only; interviews plus a personality inventory (the NEO Personality Inventory); or interviews, personality inventory, and cognitive ability testing. Applicants' reactions were generally favorable in all conditions but were significantly less positive in the interview plus personality test condition. The condition of a battery of both personality and ability tests (in addition to the interview) was perceived as positively as the no-test control condition. These results suggest that personality inventories can be included in employee-selection procedures without creating adverse reactions among job applicants as long as they are used in conjunction with ability tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The job characteristics approach to task design: A critical review.

Reviews the development of the job characteristics approach of J. R. Hackman and E. E. Lawler (see record 1971-29858-001) and of Hackman and G. R. Oldham (see PA, Vols 54:02031 and 57:02075) to task design and evaluates subsequent research relevant to that model. Theoretical statements of the model are not considered entirely clear, the associated empirical work is seen to frequently fail to test the relations discussed, and adequate multimethod instruments were not found for the assessment of several constructs. It is suggested (1) that future task design research should attend to alternative theoretical perspectives that distinguish between situational attributes of tasks and incumbent cognitions about those attributes and (2) that tasks and employee responses to both types of task-relevant constructs should be examined in the organizational contexts in which they occur. (150 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)     

Black-white differences in attitudes toward job characteristics.

Used data from 2 recent national opinion surveys to compare the job preferences of a total of 89 Black and 756 White workers. It was found, largely in contrast to previous findings, that Blacks were more likely to prefer high income and less likely to prefer work which is important and gives a feeling of accomplishment. These differences were consistent within a number of subgroups. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)