The Role of Performance Feedback and Job Autonomy in Mitigating the Negative Effect of Role Ambiguity on Employee Satisfaction

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The job demands-control (JDC) model suggests that job demands and job control (job autonomy) combine interactively in predicting job-related outcomes. While the model has been widely tested, studies using it have often failed to demonstrate the predicted interaction effects of job demands and job control on measures of a wide range of outcomes. The current study proposes performance feedback as a different situational variable that could relate to job demands and job control, and examines the three-way interaction effects among role ambiguity, performance feedback, and job autonomy in predicting employee satisfaction. Analyzing data from the 2012 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, the study finds that performance feedback mitigates the negative effect of role ambiguity on employee satisfaction, but is significantly stronger in the high job autonomy condition. This study contributes to theoretical knowledge of the way job demands and job autonomy interact in producing motivational outcomes by offering a plausible explanation for the lack of consistency of the interaction effect of job demands and job control in the JDC model.