A measure of a wide array of employee activities on the job was completed by employees' supervisors at two points in time; employees reported their own job satisfaction via the Job Descriptive Index. Implications of relationships much higher than typically found in the job satisfaction–performance literature are discussed.

Job Satisfaction and the Good Soldier: The Relationship Between Affect and Employee “Citizenship”

: A review of both laboratory and field studies on the effect of setting goals when learning or performing a task found that specific, challenging goals led more often to higher performance than easy goals, 'do your best' goals or no goals. This is one of the most robust and replicable findings in the psychological literature, with 90% of the studies showing positive or partially positive results. The main mechanisms by which goals affect performance are by directing attention, mobilizing effort, increasing persistence, and motivating strategy development. Goal setting is most likely to improve task performance when the goals are specific and sufficiently challenging, when the subjects have sufficient ability (and ability differences are controlled), when feedback is provided to show progress in relation to the goal, when rewards such as money are given for goal attainment, when the exerimenter manager is supportive, and when the assigned goals are actually accepted by the individual. No reliable individual differences have emerged in goal setting studies, probably because goals were typically assigned rather than self-set. Need for achievement and self esteem may be the most promising individual difference variables. (Author)

https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0033-2909.90.1.125

Goal setting and task performance: 1969–1980.

Research on employee turnover since the Porter and Steers analysis of the literature reveals that age, tenure, overall satisfaction, job content, intentions to remain on the job, and commitment are consistently and negatively related to turnover. Generally, however, less than 20% of the variance in turnover is explained. Lack of a clear conceptual model, failure to consider available job alternatives, insufficient multivariate research, and infrequent longitudinal studies are identified as factors precluding a better understanding of the psychology of the employee turnover process. A conceptual model is presented that suggests a need to distinguish between satisfaction (present oriented) and attraction/expected utility (future oriented) for both the present role and alternative roles, a need to consider nonwork values and nonwork consequences of turnover behavior as well as contractual constraints, and a potential mechanism for integrating aggregate-level research findings into an individual-le vel model of the turnover process. Employee withdrawal, in the form of turnover, has sustained the interest of personnel researchers, behavioral scientists, and management practitioners. At the macro level, economists and personnel researchers have demonstrated the relationship between turnover rates and the aggregate level of economic activity, employment levels, and vacancy levels (see, e.g., Armknecht & Early, 1972; Forrest, Cummings, & Johnson, 1977; Price, 1977; Woodward, 1975-1976). At the micro level, behavioral research has established a consistent, although generally weak, correlation between job dissatisfaction and turnover (Brayfield & Crockett, 19SS; Locke, 1976; Porter & Steers, 1973; Vroom, 1964; Herzberg, Mausner, Peterson, & Capwell,

Review and Conceptual Analysis of the Employee Turnover Process

Trois experiences mettent a l'epreuve un modele prenant en compte les differences dans les capacites cognitives, les processus auto-regulateurs de la motivation et les exigences de traitement de l'information

Motivation and cognitive abilities: an integrative/aptitude-treatment interaction approach to skill acquisition

Drawing from recent developments in social cognition, cognitive psychology, and behavioral decision theory, we analyzed when and how the act of measuring beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors affects observed correlations among them. Belief, attitude, or intention can be created by measurement if the measured constructs do not already exist in long-term memory. The responses thus created can have directive effects on answers to other questions that follow in the survey. But even when counterparts to the beliefs, attitudes, and intentions measured already exist in memory, the structure of the survey researcher's questionnaire can affect observed correlations among them. The respondent may use retrieved answers to earlier survey questions as inputs to response generation to later questions. We present a simple theory predicting that an earlier response will be used as a basis for another, subsequent response if the former is accessible and if it is perceived to be more diagnostic than other accessible inputs. We outline the factors that determine both the perceived diagnosticity of a potential input, the likelihood that it will be retrieved, and the likelihood that some alternative (and potentially more diagnostic) inputs will be retrieved. This article examines the effects of measurement operations on revealed correlations among survey measures of belief, attitude, intention, and behavior. The potential reactivity of measurement has long been of concern in psychology. Methodologists (e.g., Campbell & Stanley, 1966; Cook & Campbell, 1979; Runkel & McGrath, 1972) warn of measurement-induced distortions relating to social desirability, evaluation apprehension, and sensitization to experimental treatments. Although it is true that the problem of reactivity of measurement affects work in both the social and physical sciences, in the physical sciences, measurement effects are expressed in terms of substantive theory. For instance, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle links basic

Self-generated validity and other effects of measurement on belief, attitude, intention, and behavior.

Construct validation of an instrumentality-expectancy-task-goal model of work motivation: Some theoretical boundary conditions.

: The increased use of attitude measures in time-based studies as either predictor or criterion necessitates an assessment of these measures' stability (retest reliability). The 16 month stability of the Job Descriptive Index (Smith et al., 1969) was assessed by two administrations of the measure to a diverse sample of 847 Atlantic Coast Utility employees. Data analyzed within a Campbell and Fiske (1959) multitrait (JDI Dimensions) - multimethod (time 1 /time 2 administration) matrix revealed good stability coefficients and also indicated that the five JDI satisfaction scales retain their relative independence over time. Some problems regarding the theoretical meaning of these results are briefly discussed.

A Note on the Stability of the Job Descriptive Index (J. D. I.).

Abstract : The increased use of attitude measures in time-based studies as either predictor or criterion necessitates an assessment of these measures' stability (retest reliability). The 16 month stability of the Job Descriptive Index (Smith et al., 1969) was assessed by two administrations of the measure to a diverse sample of 847 Atlantic Coast Utility employees. Data analyzed within a Campbell and Fiske (1959) multitrait (JDI Dimensions) - multimethod (time 1 /time 2 administration) matrix revealed good stability coefficients and also indicated that the five JDI satisfaction scales retain their relative independence over time. Some problems regarding the theoretical meaning of these results are briefly discussed.

A note on the stability of the Job Descriptive Index.

A test of some assumptions underlying the path goal model of supervision: Some suggested conceptual modifications

: An overview of the literature on employee turnover is presented. The review discusses, in turn, literatures related to work (organizational, job and task), organizational impact on career, and organizational impact on family, as correlates of turnover. Little literature in the latter two areas was found, and it was suggested that few studies have concurrently investigated these three issues for their relative contribution to employee turnover intentions. To help specify the specific facets of work, career and family to be studied via survey methodology, a series of interviews was conducted. Based on the interviews and the literature review, a set of a priori factors defining each major category of interest was developed. Survey data were collected from a diverse sample of up to 1703 employees working in 140 different D.O.T. job codes, for many different organizations throughout the U.S. Respondents indicated both their perceptions and evaluations of all of the major issues. After appropriate factor-analytic data reduction strategies, correlational analyses supported the traditional findings regarding 'job' satisfaction as a correlate of employee turnover. Satisfaction with organizational impact on the career and family were also significantly related to turnover intentions, although the relationship involving satisfaction with the organization's impact on the family was weak.

H. Peter Dachler

Papers

Construct validation of an instrumentality-expectancy-task-goal model of work motivation: Some theoretical boundary conditions.

A Note on the Stability of the Job Descriptive Index (J. D. I.).

A note on the stability of the Job Descriptive Index.

A test of some assumptions underlying the path goal model of supervision: Some suggested conceptual modifications

Work, Family and Career Considerations in Understanding Employee Turnover Intentions.