Perceived Job Characteristics Research Articles

Factors Contributing to Job Satisfaction of University Mid-Level Administrators

Personal, job-related, and environmental factors that might account for academic mid-level administrators’ general job satisfaction were studied with a sample of 260 administrators at a large research university. Attention was directed to personal characteristics, perceived job characteristics, perceived environment characteristics, and salary level. (ERIC ED 259 626, 32 pp, MF $.97, PC $5.34).

Alternative date entry technologies and settings: Impact on worker attitudes and behavior

Abstract Changes in technology and the movement of key entry functions into user areas are altering the traditional work environment. These changes can effect worker attitudes and associated behaviors, such as absenteeism and productivity. This study examines the effect of differences in key entry settings and technologies on perceived job characteristics and worker attitudes and behaviors. The results are based upon a study of 350 operators working in 87 key entry environments drawn from 29 organizations. It is found that new technologies and the movement of key entry into user areas affect perceived task characteristics, including task significance, autonomy, and feedback from the job. Job satisfaction, worker motivation, absenteeism, and productivity are also influenced (but to a lesser degree) by changes in key entry technology and setting. The implications of the findings for the design of key entry equipment and jobs are discussed. The conclusion is drawn that designers of key entry technologies and environments will benefit from a knowledge of the dimensions comprising meaningful work.

Alternative date entry technologies and settings: Impact on worker attitudes and behavior

Changes in technology and the movement of key entry functions into user areas are altering the traditional work environment. These changes can effect worker attitudes and associated behaviors, such as absenteeism and productivity. This study examines the effect of differences in key entry settings and technologies on perceived job characteristics and worker attitudes and behaviors. The results are based upon a study of 350 operators working in 87 key entry environments drawn from 29 organizations. It is found that new technologies and the movement of key entry into user areas affect perceived task characteristics, including task significance, autonomy, and feedback from the job. Job satisfaction, worker motivation, absenteeism, and productivity are also influenced (but to a lesser degree) by changes in key entry technology and setting. The implications of the findings for the design of key entry equipment and jobs are discussed. The conclusion is drawn that designers of key entry technologies and environments will benefit from a knowledge of the dimensions comprising meaningful work.

Job perceptions when working with data, people and things

In a national probability sample of the adult working population in the United States, 1515 Americans participated in a structured interview. This survey provided data on individual job perceptions and occupational characteristics. Occupational information was coded using the skill codes employed by the Department of Labor's Dictionary of Occupational Titles: the Data, People, and Thing hierarchies originally developed by Fine (1968). Analysis of the data indicates that perceived job characteristics are correlated with the level of data‐oriented and people‐oriented skills used in the job. Further, task characteristics such as autonomy and variety correlate more highly with the skill codes than do role characteristics such as conflict and ambiguity. Results also suggest that task characteristics are linearly related to data‐ and people‐oriented skills; but non‐linearly related to thing‐oriented skills. Based on these results, it is concluded that the type and level of skill used on the job contribute significantly to employee work experiences.

Leardership, Job Perceptions, and Influence: A Conceptual Integration

A fundamental assumption adopted by most approaches to the study of leadership is that leaders somehow influence subordinate attitudes and behavior. Unfortunately, few systematic attempts have been made to address specifically how the influence process operates. Thus, we have been left with a large amount of research reflecting relationships between leadership and subordinate outcomes, but little in the way of explanation as to how or why such results come about. This paper reviews the effects of leadership on subordinate attitudes and behavior by incorporating subordinate perceptions of the job. A perspective is offered which more clearly articulates the operation of the leadership influence process, viewing it as a contextual influence that impacts on behavior and attitudes of subordinates through their perceptions of job characteristics. This alternative perspective thus casts the integration of leadership and job perceptions in a different conceptual framework. Suggestions for testing the proposed model and implications for future research are discussed.

Perceived Job Characteristics and Job Satisfaction among Men and Women

This study analyzes relationships between intrinsic and extrinsic job characteristics and overall job satisfaction among men and women. Zero-order correlation and multiple regression analyses ascertain the relationships between eight perceived job characteristics and job satisfaction among a national probability sample of 1,533 workers. The results reveal similar patterns of relationships between perceived job characteristics and job satisfaction for men and women indicating that they require similar job characteristics to be satisfied with their jobs.

An integrated model of perceived job characteristics

A model categorizing job characteristics into action and information components was fitted to data from samples of shop, office, and management personnel. Successive iterations of a path analysis technique (LISREL) showed that the action and information components, through intervening psychological states of challenge and role clarity, explained substantial variance in global job satisfaction. Challenge consistently emerged as the primary determinant of job satisfaction, while the impact of role clarity varied among the three samples. Role clarity appeared to be a necessary precondition for perceived challenge. Differences among the three samples suggest that the effects of job characteristics on individual outcomes such as job satisfaction may be contingent upon the organizational setting.

Perceptual Measures of Task Characteristics: The Biasing Effects of Differing Frames of Reference and Job Attitudes.

The study reported here examines the extent to which variations in the perceptions of job characteristics may be associated, not with objective task characteristics, but with perceptual biases refl...

Perceptual Measures of Task Characteristics: The Biasing Effects of Differing Frames of Reference and Job Attitudes

The study reported here examines the extent to which variations in the perceptions of job characteristics may be associated, not with objective task characteristics, but with perceptual biases refl...

Changes in social density: Relationships with functional interaction and perceptions of job characteristics, role stress, and work satisfaction.

Changes in social density: Relationships with functional interaction and perceptions of job characteristics, role stress, and work satisfaction.

Changes in social density: Relationships with functional interaction and perceptions of job characteristics, role stress, and work satisfaction.

Changes in social density: Relationships with functional interaction and perceptions of job characteristics, role stress, and work satisfaction.

Perceptual Measures of Task Characteristics: The Biasing Effects of Differing Frames of Reference and Job Attitudes.

The study reported here examines the extent to which variations in the perceptions of job characteristics may be associated, not with objective task characteristics, but with perceptual biases reflecting individuals' frames of reference and general job attitudes. Results show that perceptual assessments of task characteristics vary with the individual's frame of reference and job attitudes.

Perceptions of job characteristics and affective work outcomes for women and men

One hundred twenty-three men and women participated in a study designed to assess their attitudes about job dimensions and affective work outcomes. This study found that very few differences existed between women's and men's perceptions of job dimensions and work outcomes. It was also shown that little difference existed between men's and women's perceptions of positive relationships between job dimension and affected work outcomes. The authors concluded that differences that exist in work attitudes are artifacts of hierarchical position and sex-role stereotyping and will disappear when women are allowed to move into jobs that are characterized by the presence of high levels of intrinsic job dimensions.

The Relationship Between Objective and Perceived Job Characteristics.

Data from 309 workers on a wide variety of industrial jobs show that significant relationships exist between objectively measured job properties and perceived job characteristics. As expected, perceived job characteristics, however, show much stronger correlations with effective responses. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for job diagnosis procedures.

The Relationship between Perceived Job Characteristics and Job Satisfaction among Occupational Status Groups

This study analyzes the relationship between perceived job characteristics and job satisfaction among a national probability sample of 1,533 workers in five occupational-status groups. Multiple regression analyses determine the relative importance of several perceived job characteristics in relation to job satisfaction among workers in different occupational groups. Self-expression, role strain, and financial rewards-promotion are related to job satisfaction in all occupational groups although their relative importance varies among groups. The results indicate that both intrinsic and extrinsic job characteristics contribute to overall job satisfaction.

Research Notes. THE MEASUREMENT OF PERCEIVED JOB CHARACTERISTICS: THE JOB DIAGNOSTIC SURVEY VERSUS THE JOB CHARACTERISTIC INVENTORY.

The article compares the job diagnostic survey and the job characteristics inventory as a measure of perceived job characteristics. The four a priori dimensions of the job characteristics inventory...

The Measurement of Perceived Job Characteristics: The Job Diagnostic Survey Versus The Job Characteristics Inventory

The Measurement of Perceived Job Characteristics: The Job Diagnostic Survey Versus The Job Characteristics Inventory

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LEADER BEHAVIOR VARIABILITY INDICES AND SUBORDINATE RESPONSES1,2

The relationships of leader behavior variability indices to a variety of subordinate affective responses and experienced psychological states were examined for two samples differing in perceived job characteristics. In the sample facing routine task demands, little relationship was evident between leader behavior variability indices and subordinate responses. In the sample characterized by greater variability in task demands, correlations between responses and leader variability indices were generally significant and stronger than those between responses and absolute levels of leader behaviors. For both samples, leader behavior variability was negatively related to subordinate responses. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are presented.

Work Values and Job Rewards: A Theory of Job Satisfaction

This paper attempts to develop a theory of job satisfaction which incorporates differences in work values and perceived job characteristics as key explanatory variables. It empirically examines the relationship between job satisfaction and the work values and job rewards associated with six dimensions of work-intrinsic, convenience, financial, relations with co-workers, career opportunities and resource adequacy. It is found that work values have independent-effects on job satisfaction. The extent to which workers are able to obtain perceived job rewards is conceptualized to be a function of their degree of control over their employment situations. The paper also seeks to develop a framework which links the variation in the job satisfactions of workers to the factors that influence the degree of their control over the attainment of job rewards in American society. The analyses in this paper are based on data from the 1972-73 Quality of Employment Survey. The concept of job satisfaction traditionally has been of great interest to social scientists concerned with the problems of work in an industrial society. Many have been interested in job satisfaction, for example, as a result of a personal value system which assumes that work which enables satisfaction of one's needs furthers the dignity of the human individual, whereas work without these characteristics limits the development of personal potential and is, therefore, to be negatively valued. Thus, it is important to examine these issues in order, hopefully, to improve the work experiences of individuals as an end in itself. Other social scientists have been interested in this concept because of evidence that has linked the degree of satisfaction with work to the quality of one's life outside the work role-especially one's physical and mental health. Still others were motivated to study job satisfaction out of a desire to improve productivity and organizational functioning by improving the quality of work experiences of employees. While these concerns have their bases in different perspectives, they share the recognition of the importance of the job in the total life experience of the individual and the desirability of a

Job characteristic relationships: individual and structural moderators

This research investigated the question of how characteristics of the individual moderated the relationships between perceptions of job characteristics and employee expectancies, satisfaction, and performance. The results generally confirmed the previous conclusions of Hackman and Lawler (1971) that individuals who have higher self-actualization need strength are potentially better candidates for job enrichment. In addition, this research found that locus of control ( Rotter, 1966) generally did not moderate the job characteristic and satisfaction/performance relationships. Also, the influence of occupational level was investigated as a moderator of the job characteristic relationships. The lower occupational levels generally indicated lower levels of the job characteristic measures and a stronger relationship between variety and satisfaction. The highest occupational level indicated higher role ambiguity, and weaker relationships between variety and satisfaction, but stronger relationships between feedback and satisfaction. The nature of task requirements at different occupational levels and the influence on job characteristic relationships were discussed.