Showing papers in "Journal of Applied Psychology in 1986"

Perceived organizational support.

Abstract: Deux etudes mettent a l'epreuve plusieurs hypotheses concernant la coherence des croyances des employes dans l'implication de l'organisation a son egard et le role d'un tel soutien organisationnel ainsi que de l'ideologie d'echange sur l'absenteisme

Organizational commitment and psychological attachment: The effects of compliance, identification, and internalization on prosocial behavior.

Abstract: Previous research on organizational commitment has typically not focused on the underlying dimensions of psychological attachment to the organization. Results of two studies using university employees (N = 82) and students (N = 162) suggest that psychological attachment may be predicated on compliance, identification, and internalization (e.g., Kelman, 19S8). Identification and internalization are positively related to prosocial behaviors and negatively related to turnover. Internalization is predictive of financial donations to a fund-raising campaign. Overall, the results suggest the importance of clearly specifying the underlying dimensions of commitment using notions of psychological attachment and the various forms such attachment can take. In the past decade, the construct of organizational commitment has occupied a prominent place in organizational behavior research (Mowday, Porter, & Steers, 1982; Salancik, 1977; Staw & Ross, 1978). Unfortunately, as Morrow (1983, p. 486) has pointed out, "the growth in commitment related concepts has not been accompanied by a careful segmentation of commitment's theoretical domain in terms of intended meaning of each concept or the concepts' relationships among each other." By her count, there are over 25 commitment-related concepts and measures. Staw (1977), for instance, has noted that the value of commitment as a separate construct distinct from other psychological concepts such as motivation, involvement, or behavioral intention remains to be demonstrated. What is needed are theoretical and operational definitions that clearly differentiate commitment and its components from other re

Antecedents and consequences of satisfaction and commitment in turnover models: A reanalysis using latent variable structural equation methods.

Abstract: Engagement personnel dans l'entreprise et turnover Quatre modeles de causalite sont examines A travers deux echantillons on a etudie: 1) les relations entre les caracteristiques personnel/entreprise et la satisfaction professionnelle; 2) les relations entre la satisfaction professionnelle et l'engagement personnel

A meta-analysis of the relation between personality traits and leadership perceptions: an application of validity generalization procedures

Abstract: Re-examen de la relation entre des traits de personnalite issus de theories actuelles de la perception sociale et les perceptions du leadership ou l'etendue de l'emergence d'un leader

Toward an understanding of the burnout phenomenon.

Abstract: Les auteurs decrivent les antecedents et les consequences du phenomene de «burnout» (Freudenberger, 1974) apparaissant dans certaines professions et constitue des trois composantes d'epuisement emotionnel de depersonnallisation et de sentiments d'echec personnel

Occupational stress: Its causes and consequences for job performance.

Abstract: This paper reports two studies of occupational stress and its relation with antecedent variables and job performance. The first study, in which 104 nurses participated in group discussions and 96 nurses completed a questionnaire, identified 45 stressful events for nurses. In the second study, 171 nurses who completed another questionnaire were also rated by a supervisor and/or a co-worker. Ratings of interpersonal aspects of job performance (such as sensitivity, warmth, consideration, and tolerance) and cognitive/motivational aspects (such as concentration, composure, perseverence, and adaptability) correlated significantly with self-reported perceptions of stressful events, subjective stress, depression, and hostility. Models developed through path analysis suggest that the frequency and subjective intensity of the 45 events identified in Study 1 cause feelings of stress, which lead to depression, which, in turn, causes decrements in interpersonal and cognitive/motivational aspects of job performance. Much of the literature on occupational stress emphasizes its effects on health. Dependent variables in such research include blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol level, and heart disease (Cooper & Marshall, 1976). We know relatively little, however, about the relation of stress to job performance. This article examines patterns of covariation between subjective stress and job performance and explores relations with individual characteristics, job conditions, stressful work events, and affective states.

Determinants of Perceived Fairness of Performance Evaluations

Abstract: Middle managers from three organizational samples responded to an open-ended questionnaire in which they described the determinants of particularly fair or unfair performance appraisals. By Qsort procedure, the responses were categorized and combined to yield seven distinct determinants of fairness in performance evaluations. Ratings of the perceived importance of these determinants were factor analyzed, revealing two distinct factors---procedural determinants and distributive determinants. The implications of the reported determinants are discussed with respect to existing research and theory on justice in organizations.

Impact of job experience and ability on job knowledge, work sample performance, and supervisory ratings of job performance

Abstract: Une etude se fonde sur les donnees de 4 recherches independantes concernant 1474 sujets et sur une analyse de piste pour examiner l'impact causal de l'experience professionnelle sur la connaissance du travail, les capacites professionnelles et les evaluations par les superviseurs de la performance professionnelle

A Cumulative Study of the Effectiveness of Managerial Training

Abstract: The published and unpublished literature on the effectiveness of managerial training has produced conflicting results and left more unanswered questions than definitive statements concerning the effectiveness of managerial training. In the present study, meta-analysis procedures were applied to the results of 70 managerial training studies to empirically integrate the findings of the studies. The metaanalysis results for 34 distributions of managerial training effects representing six training content areas, seven training methods, and four types of criteria (subjective learning, objective learning, subjective behavior, and objective results) indicated that managerial training is, on the average, moderately effective. For 12 of the 17 managerial training method distributions, the 90% lower bound credibility values were positive, and thus the effectiveness of these training methods, at least at a minimal level, can be generalized to new situations. It is stressed that although this meta-analysis assisted in clarifying what we have learned about managerial training, a great deal of empirical research on managerial training is needed before more conclusive statements can be made.

Coping with job stress: Measures and future directions for scale development.

Abstract: For researchers studying how people cope with job stress, a major empirical concern is the development of coping measures. This article presents construct validity evidence for three measures of coping behavior related to job stress: control, escape, and symptom management. The psychometric properti

Goal setting: A meta-analytic examination of the empirical evidence.

Abstract: Article de synthese et tour d'horizon de la litterature sur les relations entre l'etablissement des objectifs et la performance. Les differences de point de vue methodologiques entre les etudes recensees induisent l'auteur a preconiser un coefficient de moderation des resultats observes et publies

A case study of eyewitness memory of a crime.

Abstract: Vingt et un temoins ont observe un echange de coups de feu au cours duquel une personne a ete tuee et une seconde gravement blessee. L'incident s'est produit a un grand carrefour en plein midi. Treize des temoins ont accepte de se preter a des entretiens cinq mois apres l'evenement; qualite du rappel des elements visuels apres ce delai

Employee responses to formal performance appraisal feedback

Abstract: Author(s): Pearce, JL; Porter, LW | Abstract: The present study investigates the attitudinal impacts of the receipt of formal performance appraisal feedback. It is suggested that the feedback that one is "satisfactory" will be disconfirming for many feedback recipients. Therefore, it is hypothesized that (a) attitudes toward the performance appraisal systems and (b) organizational commitment will decrease and remain lower for those receiving "satisfactory" ratings, whereas the attitudes of those receiving higher appraisal ratings will remain unchanged. The hypotheses are tested on panels of management and nonmanagement employees (these latter receiving new appraisals 12 months after their managers) in two federal agencies over a 30-month period using perceived and actual performance ratings. There was a significant and stable drop in the organizational commitment of satisfactory employees after the introduction of formal appraisals, with mixed results for attitudes toward the appraisal system. The findings suggest that potentially negative consequences of implicitly comparative formal performance appraisals can occur for those performing at a satisfactory, but not outstanding, level. This study also provides an empirical check on the accuracy of self-reported appraisal ratings. © 1986 American Psychological Association.

Turnover functionality versus turnover frequency: A note on work attitudes and organizational effectiveness

Abstract: Recent arguments by Dalton, Todor, and Krackhardt (1982) have highlighted the need to distinguish between turnover frequency (i.e., the number of separations) and turnover functionality (i.e., the nature of separations). Turnover functionality, which considers both turnover frequency and the performance level of leaven and stayers, is more critical to organizational effectiveness than is turnover frequency. We test whether work attitudes, widely praised as predictors of turnover frequency, are also useful predictors of turnover functionality. The results of our study, using a sample of 112 retail salespersons, indicate that (a) the traditional measure of turnover frequency overstates the detrimental effects of turnover on organizational effectiveness, in that 53% of the turnover was, in fact, functional, and (b) turnover functionality, which emphasizes the performance levels of stayers and leaven, is unrelated to work attitudes. The practical implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright ©; 1986 American Psychological Association. This is a post-print version of an article originally published in Journal of Applied Psychology, 1986 Volume 71, Issue 4. The version of record is available through the American Psychological Association. "This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record." 2 During the past 40 years, a substantial amount of evidence in the field of applied psychology has refuted the notion that satisfaction leads to performance (Iaffaldano & Muchinsky, 1985; Lawler & Porter, 1967; Schwab & Cummings, 1970). As a result, applied psychologists have frequently justified the study of work attitudes by claiming that these attitudes are significantly related to turnover. Steers's (1984) statement that “Job attitudes affect organizational effectiveness to the extent they influence turnover” (p. 442) is common among textbook treatments of this issue. Indeed, a large volume of research supports this position (Mobley, Griffeth, Hand, & Meglino, 1979; Steel & Ovalle, 1984). A major assumption in the turnover-attitude literature is that turnover is an inherently bad occurrence and that turnover can be reduced by affecting attitudes toward the job. Hulin (1968), for example, was able to reduce turnover among clerical workers from 30% to 12% by increasing the level of job satisfaction. Recently however, many authors (Abelson & Baysinger, 1984; Dalton, Krackhardt, & Porter, 1981; Dalton & Todor, 1979, 1982; Dalton, Todor, & Krackhardt, 1982; Mobley, 1982; Muchinsky & Tuttle, 1979; Porter & Steers, 1973; Staw, 1980) have suggested that the traditional treatment of turnover overstates the negative consequences associated with this behavior. Dalton and Tudor (1979), for example, argued that in many cases the individuals who leave an organization are poor performers, and that the separation of these individuals actually provides the organization with an opportunity to replace poor performers with more effective workers. Dalton and Tudor (1979), therefore, stressed the importance of distinguishing between functional turnover (i.e., among low performers) and dysfunctional turnover (i.e., among high performers). Based on retrospective supervisor ratings of employee quality, Dalton et al. (1982) found that 42% of the voluntary turnover among bank tellers was actually functional, as poorer performers left the bank. Similarly, but in a different area of research, Boudreau (1983) and Boudreau and Berger (1985) have argued that utility models, which emphasize the tenure (the opposite of turnover) of single groups or cohorts on utility (Schmidt, Hunter, McKenzie, & Muldrow, 1979), should instead focus on the flow of employees who enter and leave the organization. Boudreau and Berger's (1985) utility model of employee separations and acquisitions considers the number of newly hired employees (i.e., replacements), the number of separated employees (i.e., turnover), and mean level differences in performance between separations and replacements. The arguments of both Dalton and Boudreau speak convincingly to the need for organizational researchers to address not just the frequency of turnover (i.e., the number), but the flow or functionality (i.e., the nature) of turnover. Both of these perspectives go beyond a consideration of the replacement costs of separations, which is the primary reason to reduce turnover frequency, and try to assess the costs (or benefits) associated with the performance differences between leavers, stayers, and replacements. For example, assume that we standardize sales volume across salespersons in a retail organization, such that the mean is 0.0 and the standard deviation is 1.0. It could occur that in one instance, 10 low performers (i.e., z = −1.0) separate, whereas in another, 10 high performers (i.e., z = +1.0) Copyright ©; 1986 American Psychological Association. This is a post-print version of an article originally published in Journal of Applied Psychology, 1986 Volume 71, Issue 4. The version of record is available through the American Psychological Association. "This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record." 3 leave. Clearly, most organizations would view the loss of 10 high performers as more detrimental to organizational effectiveness than the loss of 10 low performers, despite the fact that the frequency of turnover is identical in both cases. This distinction between the performance levels of stayers and leavers, for purposes here, defines turnover functionality. Although turnover functionality emphasizes the performance differences between stayers and leavers, turnover flow (Boudreau, 1983; Boudreau & Berger, 1985) emphasizes the performance difference between leavers and replacements. For example, in a situation where 10 low performers (i.e., z = −1.0) leave, and are replaced by 10 individuals at the mean on performance (i.e., z = 0.0), flow is more favorable than in a situation where these same separations are replaced by individuals who are even lower in performance (z = −1.5), despite the fact that both turnover frequency and turnover functionality are identical in both cases. Under certain conditions, the distinction between flow and functionality becomes negligible. For example, if one assumes that (a) turnover, historically, has been neither markedly functional nor dysfunctional (i.e., performance levels of stayers and leavers are similar), (b) the applicant pool is constant from year to year, (c) the organizational selection or recruitment strategy is constant from year to year, and (d) learning curves are short, it is unlikely that the expected performance levels of replacements selected in a particular year will differ substantially from the performance levels of individuals selected in previous years (i.e., the job incumbent population). Therefore, under these conditions, the mean performance levels of job incumbents (0.0) serves as an acceptable estimate of the mean performance of replacements. When this occurs (i.e., replacements can be assumed to exhibit performance levels approaching the mean of current incumbents), turnover functionality and flow become isomorphic, in that functional turnover results in a favorable flow and dysfunctional turnover results in unfavorable flow. Boudreau and Berger (1985) discussed a similar assumption with respect to variability of performance for replacements, and stated that “virtually all existing research uses the variability among incumbents as a proxy for variability among applicants” (p. 597). Changing the perspective from turnover frequency to turnover functionality has important implications for job attitude research. Just as researchers have overstated the importance of turnover, it could be the case that the importance of job attitudes, at least with respect to turnover frequency, has also been overstated. That is, although a large volume of research (cf. Mobley et al., 1979) shows that job attitudes are predictive of turnover frequency, there is no evidence to suggest that these attitudes influence turnover functionality. In fact, there are reasons to believe that attitudes are not related to turnover functionality. Given the attitude-turnover frequency relation, attitudes would be expected to be associated with turnover functionality (i.e., a composite variable reflecting turnover frequency and performance) only if one of two conditions were true. First, if attitudes were positively correlated with performance, then attitudes would be associated with both elements of the composite, and an attitude-turnover functionality relation should ensue. However, results from recent meta-analyses and reviews of the literature show that measures of these attitudes do not correlate with measures Copyright ©; 1986 American Psychological Association. This is a post-print version of an article originally published in Journal of Applied Psychology, 1986 Volume 71, Issue 4. The version of record is available through the American Psychological Association. "This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record." 4 of performance (Mowday, Porter, & Steers, 1982; Rabinowitz & Hall, 1977; Steel & Ovalle, 1984). Second, an attitude-turnover functionality relation would also be expected if turnover frequency was associated with performance. For example, if it was generally the case that those who left tended to be high performers, then positive attitudes that reduce turnover frequency would also be beneficial for turnover functionality. The evidence, however, does not support the link between turnover frequency and performance. In a qualitative review of the literature on the turnover-performance relation, Jackofsky (1984) uncovered eight studies suggesting a negative relation, five studies finding a positive relatio

Toward effective supervision: An operant analysis and comparison of managers at work.

Abstract: En depit de l'importance d'une definition reconnue de ce qui constituerait la supervision efficace (du travail par les cadres d'entreprise), ce qui constitue cette derniere reste une enigme. Utilisant l'instrument: Operant Supervisory Taxonomy and Index, des observateurs ont classe en categories les comportements de deux groupes de managers (tres motivants et non motivants)

Private and public sector managers: An empirical investigation of job characteristics and organizational climate.

Abstract: Recherche empirique comparant les caracteristiques des emplois et le climat d'entreprise dans les secteurs publics et prives. Les impressions et le degre de satisfaction de 240 directeurs d'entreprises israeliens, venant de firmes publiques et privees, ont ete compares

Employee participation in a Quality Circle program: Impact on quality of work life, productivity, and absenteeism.

Abstract: The impact of participation in a Quality Circle (QC) program on employee quality of work life (QWL) attitudes and on productivity and absenteeism behaviors was studied among direct labor employees in a manufacturing firm. Participants (n = 46) and nonparticipants (n = 46) were surveyed before and after implementation of the QC program. Multiple regression analysis revealed a positive relation between QC participation and changes in QWL perceptions in areas directly involved in QC activities but not in more general work life areas. Given that participants' QWL scores tended not to change and nonparticipants tended to report decreases in QWL from before to after the QC program implementation, the results suggest QC involvement acted more to provide social support to buffer participants from negative contextual factors than to enhance equality of work life. Organizational records also were assessed from 6 months before to 24 months after adoption of the QC program and showed that QC participation led to improvements in employee productivity and absenteeism rates.

Participative goal-setting: Social, motivational, and cognitive factors.

Abstract: This study examined three explanations of why participation in goal setting may lead to increased performance—the social factor of group discussion, the motivational factor of involvement in goal setting, and the cognitive factor of information. A 2 X 2 X 2 experimental design (low and high levels of group discussion, involvement, and information) was used to study a sample of 96 white collar employees who worked on a personnel selection task. Results indicated that the social and motivational factors of participation increased performance quantity, incidental learning, goal acceptance, group commitment, and satisfaction. The motivational and cognitive factors significantly contributed to performance quality, but the cognitive factor did not significantly affect performance quantity and work attitudes. Extensive research on participation in goal setting and decision making (PDM) has revealed that numerous factors, both cognitive and motivational, are inherent in the process of participation but that different studies have emphasized different factors in this process. (Beehr & Love, 1983; Campbell & Gingrich, in press: Coch & French, 1948; Earley, 1985; Erez, Barley, & Hulin, 1985; Erez & Kanfer, 1983; Latham & Steele, 1983; Lewin, 1943, 1951; Locke & Schweiger, 1979). The present study distinguishes between three different factors evolving from the studies reviewed; a social factor of group discussion, leading to a decision, a motivational factor of involvement in goal setting, and a cognitive factor of information sharing.

Confirmatory Analytic Tests of Three Causal Models Relating Job Perceptions to Job Satisfaction.

Abstract: : Three alternative models of causal relations between job perceptions and job satisfaction were tested using confirmatory analytic techniques. The three causal models are: (a) a postcognitive-nonrecursive model in which job satisfaction occurs after job perceptions in the causal order, and job perceptions and job satisfaction are reciprocally related; (b) a precognitive-recursive model in which job perception occur after job satisfaction in the causal order and are effects but not causes of job satisfaction; and (c) a precognitive-nonrecursive model in which job satisfaction occurs prior to job perceptions, and job satisfaction and job perceptions are reciprocally related. Results of confirmatory analyses indicated disconfirmation of all but the postcognitive-nonrecursive model. (Author)

A Field Experimental Test of the Moderating Effects of Growth Need Strength on Productivity

Abstract: The literature on growth need strength (GNS) as a moderator in organizational research, particularly the job characteristics model of work motivation, is reviewed. This review reveals a preponderance of inappropriate cross-sectional surveys and few appropriate experimental tests in the field on the GNS moderator hypothesis. Next, an incremental model of growth opportunity is contrasted with that of the general level of motivating potential. It is proposed that one should manipulate growth opportunities (increments) being offered to employees in an experimental design to test GNS as a moderator in a theory of motivation. A field experiment using this approach is described. Growth opportunities were manipulated by a vertical collaboration offer based on the leader-member exchange (LMX) model. Results of this experiment demonstrated statistically significant interaction effects between GNS and growth opportunity. As predicted, only high GNS employees responded to the growth opportunity (a 55% increase in quantity produced). This increase in quantity was not made at the expense of quality; the number of errors per week also decreased for this group. The implications of these results for future research on the moderating effects of GNS are discussed. The job characteristics model (Hackman & Lawler, 1971; Hackman & Oldham, 1976) hypothesizes that employee growth need strength (GNS) will moderate the relationship between job characteristics and work outcomes. Growth needs are denned as strong needs for personal challenge and accomplishment, for learning, and for professional development. The model assumes that not all employees appreciate jobs high in motivating potential. Only employees having strong growth needs are predicted to develop strong internal motivation when working on complex, challenging jobs. Others, with less strong needs for growth, will be less likely to take advantage of opportunities for professional development provided by a job high in motivating potential. The concept of growth need strength (GNS) is crucial to the theory of work motivation underlying the job characteristics