Absence from work and personal characteristics.

Abstract

The literature on the relationship between absence and two biographical variaables, age and length of service, is reviewed in terms of differences between results for various absence types, sex of employee, and research design. Results from a cross-sectiona l survey of 1,222 blue-collar production workers, in 16 organizations drawn from four contrasting technologies, both consolidate and augment these findings. Correlational data and analyses of critical ranges for high and low absence confirm the hypothesis that inverse relations are common between the two biographical variables and absence frequency, and that these are especially prevalent among male workers. They show further that inverse relationships are more stable and reliable for age than for tenure. Interpretation of the results is sought in terms of progressive changes in employee attachment and attendance motivation with age, and further systematic research of changing organizational cultures and organizational socialization is urged. Almost every psychological field study of blue-collar workers at some point gathers data on employee age and length of service, and yet the relationship between these measures of personal characteristics and other variables rarely commands concentrated attention or serious attempts at explanation. This has been true of absence studies, in which the state of knowledge on its relationships with these two variables is confused and conflicting, largely because of inadequate reviewing of the available evidence and casual theorizing. This article seeks to correct this state of affairs, first by reviewing the relevant literature separately for age and absence and for tenure and absence and second by presenting and discussing some fresh evidence from a cross-technolo gy survey of British blue-collar workers.