Organizational Psychology: A Scientist-Practitioner Approach Jex, S. M Organizational Psychology: A Scientist-Practitioner Approach Jex, S. M., & Britt, T. W. (2014) Prepared by: Christopher J. L. Cunningham, PhD University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Kelsey-Jo Ritter Bowling Green State University Kristen S. Jennings Clemson University

Chapter 8: Beliefs and Attitudes About Work and the Organization Establishes a link between personal evaluation of their work organization and their feelings of satisfaction and commitment toward that organization. Also discusses additional work beliefs of perceived organizational support, organizational identification, and job embeddedness

Job Satisfaction An overall evaluation of a job, including components that are: Affective Behavioral Cognitive

Measurement of Job Satisfaction Critical issue given the widespread interest in this topic As with all measures, validity is important With job satisfaction measures, construct validity is especially important Convergent versus discriminant forms Nomological networks

Common Measures Faces Scale (Figure 8.2) Job Descriptive Index (Table 8.1 and Comment 8.2) Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Table 8.2) Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire Job Satisfaction Survey (Table 8.3)

Predictors of Job Satisfaction Three main approaches: Job characteristics Social information processing Personal dispositions Some combination of these factors is likely the root cause

Job Satisfaction Across Cultures New area of investigation, influenced by differences in cultural values (Hofstede) Individualism/collectivism Masculinity Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Across cultures there may be differences in employee wants, but also social information processing and actual job conditions

Outcomes of Job Satisfaction Attitudinal variables (commitment, job involvement, positive mood, frustration) Strongest correlation with satisfaction when measured as an attitude Unclear why and how these variables are associated Absenteeism Indicator of employee withdrawal Theory of Planned Behavior may explain the typically weak relationship with satisfaction Low base rate information limits this research More recent longitudinal research is more supportive

Outcomes of Job Satisfaction (Cont.) Employee turnover (see Mobley’s process model, Figure 8.3) Important issue for organizations (cost and image) Importance of job and organizational conditions Job performance Happy worker effect and its moderators (rewards, affective-cognitive consistency of job satisfaction, job complexity) Unclear causal relationship Relationship with contextual performance

Organizational Commitment Represents feelings and behavioral tendencies of employees toward their organization Meyer and Allen’s (1991) three-component model presented (Figure 8.4): Affective Continuance (sacrifices involved in leaving the job or lack of perceived alternatives) Normative

Measurement of Organizational Commitment Prominence of self-report scales Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) Allen and Meyer, 1990; Becker, 1992 Recent trend in commitment profiles Need to consider multiple dimensions and foci (targets) of commitment

Development and Predictors of Organizational Commitment Challenging area for research given the complexity of the commitment construct Tendency is to address Meyer and Allen’s three dimensions separately Relationships with rewards, work culture, work characteristics, employee needs, and psychological contracts Recent attention is on commitment across different cultures

Consequences of Organizational Commitment Attitudinal Affective commitment is most strongly associated with other attitudes Less research on continuance and normative Absenteeism Little consistent evidence for a strong relationship between any dimension of organizational commitment and absenteeism (perhaps affective commitment plays a role)

Consequences of Organizational Commitment (Cont.) Turnover All forms of commitment are negatively associated with turnover Different components of commitment may predict turnover at different time points Is this always good for the organization?

Consequences of Organizational Commitment (Cont.) Job performance Affective commitment linked to performance, perhaps in terms of improved employee effort Stronger relationships with OCB instead of task performance are common Influence of unit-level commitment as a predictor of job performance

Predicting Performance With Commitment and Satisfaction May be value in considering satisfaction and commitment together as a sort of “overall job attitude” variable Initial research shows a strong relationship between this general attitude and general indicators of performance

Practical Applications To improve employee commitment: Realistic information to applicants Proper socialization (i.e., investiture) Internal promotion Compensation and benefits

Perceived Organizational Support Employees’ beliefs concerning the extent to which the organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being Influenced by stress, justice perceptions, autonomy, rewards, and personality Relationships with outcomes such as health, well-being, and performance

Organizational Identification The degree of oneness an employee feels toward an organization Distinguished from commitment Primary motives for identification To reduce social uncertainty To boost self-esteem Related to increased commitment, job satisfaction, job involvement, and OCB

Job Embeddedness Factors that link employees to their current job as well as to the community in which they live Developed to predict why employees stay in current job Overall embeddedness and specific organization (on-the-job) and community (off-the-job) measures Predictive of turnover

Organizational Justice People’s perceptions of fairness in organizations Three primary forms Distributive Procedural Interactional Related to job attitudes, task performance, contextual performance, and CWB