impact of Individual Differencea on Employee Affective Responses to Y’aak Ckaracterbtics

Ramon J. Aldag, U&e&y of Wisconsin Arthur P. Brief, University of Iowa

Numerous studies have considered the relationships between task !

dimensions and employee affective responses. However, the results of these investigations generally have been inconclusive (see [S] ) and have led to a more recent focus on the need to consider moderators of task dimension-satisfaction relationships. While a number of studies have examined the impact of moderator variables, the results remain unclear [2,3,7,8,9,10,11,13,14,15].

Several causes of th2 existing ambiguity of the moderator-focused studies are evident. First, an adequate comparison across studies of the relative effects of various moderator candidates is essentially pre- cluded by inconsistencies in measurement of task dimensions, of satis- faction, and of moderator variables. Further, the literature tends to confuse the moderating roles of certain variables with their roles as independent variables; for instance, the implications for task design of those studies simply relaticg job satisfaction to rural-urban dif- ferences or to adherence to Protestant Work Ethic ideals are unclear.

Finally, few studies have simultaneously considered the relative impact of alternative potential moderators. A recent exception is the study by Wanous [16] which examined the moderating effects on task characteristic-job response relationships of high vs. low higher- order need strength, rural vs. urban background, and strong vaO weak agreement with Protestant Work Ethic ideals. Wanous found higher- order need strength to have the greatest moderating effect, while area of socialization was least effective. Adherence to Protestant Work Ethic ideals played an intermediate moderating role. Wanous ex- plained these findings iu terms of a developme:.ltal sequence-hat is, environment of socialization is seen as influencdng work values which, in turn, affect higher-order need strength. Subsequently, higher-order

Volume 3, Number 4 October, 1975

312 Journal of Busirxess Research

need s,trength is viewed as a key determinant of responses to enriched jobs. &msequently, as variables are increasingly “close” to ultimate reactions,, they should play a greater moderating role. Interestingly, however, Wanous’ data showed no signifjcant relationship between area of socialization and the Blood [z] “proProtestant Ethic” score. Further, the correlstion of area of socialization to that score was lower than the correlation between area of socialization and higher- order need strength.

The present study attempts to clarify and extend findings of pre- vious research by considering the impact of several moderator vari- ables on a sample differing in relevant characteristics from those already examined. Using previous studies as a guide, variables selected as moderator candidates are educational level, authoritarianism, job tenure,, area of socialization, congruence of area of socialization witb area of current residence, and two measures of higher-order need strength. Given the exploratory nature of the study, the tentative nature of findings of previous research, and the desire to interpret all findings, specific hypotheses concerning directionality of moderating effects are not formulated. However, for purposes of comparison, the term “predicted direction” is used to denote the direction of differences suggested by the bulk of previous literatur+i.e., literature implying that relationships of task dimensions to affective responses would be strongest for subgroups characterized by:

1. high education ;

2. high tenure; 3. rural area of socialization; 4. congruence 0.f area of socializati(,bn with area of current

residence ;

5. low authoritarianism; 6. high higher-order need strength measure A scores; and, 7. high higher-order need strength measure B scores.

Method

Subjects of the study were 104 employees of a midwestern state’s Division of Corrections. Subjects were participants in a division- sponsored training program and occupied a variety of jobs having the ultimate purpose of rehabilitating the inmates. Among job titles represented were correctional officer, social worker, supervisor, and recreational leader. Data were collected at the beginning of the training program. Participation was voluntary, but was readily offered. Responses were anonymous.

The que&onn&e included a shortened and slightly revised ver- sion of the .Yale Job Inventory (YJI) used by Hackman and Bawler

Impact of Individual Differences on Affective Responses 313

[7]. This revised version has been used by Lawler, Hackman, and Kaufman [S), and reported on by Hackman [6].

Job dimensions gauged by the revised version are skill variety (5 items with an internal scale reliability for the current study of 62) 9 task identity (4 items with an internal scale reliability of .63), autonomy (4 items with an internal scale reliability of .69), task sig nificance (4 items with an internal scale reliability of .63), and feedback from the job itself (3 items with an internal scale reliability of .63). The YJI also includes measures of affective responses (level of internal work motivation, general job satisfaction, and job in- volvement) and of higher-order need strength. The higher-ordor need strength measure A is a summation of employee responses, on a 7-point scale, indicating how much of several higher-order need sat- isfactions they would like to have. Higher-order need strength measure B requires that respondents indicate the degree to which they would prefer one or the other of a pair of jobs-one of which is relevant to growth need satisfaction, the other of which may satisfy other needs. Thus, while measure A is an absolute gauge of higher-order need strength, measure B is a gauge of higher-order need strength relative to lower-order need strength.

The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) was included in the question- naire to measure satisfaction with pay, promotion, supervision, type of work, and people on the job [ 121. Selection of the JDI was based upon its wide use and careful construction.

Also included was a forced choice F-scale [l]. This F-scale ver- sion was chosen in order to alleviate acquiescence effects of the original F-scale, while retaining certain desirable characteristics which are less evident with reversed or counterbalanced scales.

Other measures obtained included educational level, tenure, urbani- zation of area of socialization, and urbanrzation of area of current residence. The latter two measures were scored as rural, suburban, or urban.

Variable means, variances, and potential ranges are presented in Table 1. In general, it is evident that jobs were perceived as being relatively high on the core task dimensions, especially skill variety and task significance. Consequently, there was some restriction of range.

For purposes of analysis of moderating effects, authoritarianism, tenure, level of education, and each measure of higher-order need strength were dichotomized as close to median values as possible- Area of socialization was split into urban and rural subgroups, while the fit of area of socialization ti:h area of current residence was classified as congruent or incongruent. Respondents were considered congruent if urbanization of area of socialization and of home location

314 Jsu~nul of Business Research

Table I: Variable &learns, Variances, and Potential Ranges

Variable Potential

Meall Variance Range -

Affective responses

general eatisfaction

job involvement

internal work motivation

satisfaction with work=

satisfaction with supervisiona

satisfaction with co-workersa

Batiefaction with paya

satisfaction with promotional opportunitiesa

Moderator candidates

authoritarianism

educational level

tenure in organization

need streng:h measure A

need strength meesure R

urbanization of area of

congruence'

Task dimensions

skfll variety

task iden,tity

task signfficance

autonomy

feedback from job

eacializationb

4.81 1.12 l-7

4.36 1.19 l-7

4.62 0.46 l-7

1.97 0.23 o-3

2.04 0.57 o-3

2.21 0.55 O-3

1.28 0.62 o-3

1.17 0.71 o-3

44.56 93.94 12-84

4.69 4.71 l-9

7.14 22.06 o-13

8.54 1.16 4-10

4.47 0.56 1-7

0.92 1.00 o-2

0.66 0.22 o-1

5.62 1.08 l-7

4.53 1.87 l-7

6.13 0.90 l-7

4.99 1.74 l-7

4.63 1.86 .

1-i .f

aAverage item scores are presented.

b Rural area of socialization is scored as zero, suburban as one, urban as two.

'Congruence 18 8COred a8 one, tncongruence as zero.

were identical (e.g., rural-rural) and incongruent if a complete urban to rural or rural to urban shift occurred. Others were excluded from the analysis.

For each subgroup on each moderator variable, correlations were computed between perceptions of core task dimensions and level of internal work motivation, job involvement, general job satisfaction, and .?DI specific satisfactions. Consistent with the recommendations of Zedeck [17-J, ‘gn’f’ 91 1 rcance of differences between subgroup cor- relations wals examined to assess moderating effects. Since specific directional hypotb.eses were not formulated, a two-tailed test was applied to these differences.

Impact of Individual Differences on Affective Responses 315

Results

Table 2 presents correlations between all measures. Urbanization of area of socialization does not significantly relate to bigber-order need strength. While Wanous [16] 1 a so reported no relationship be- tween these measures, Hackman and Lawler [7] found slight dif- ferences in higher-order need strength between rural an,d urban subgroups. Authoritarianism is negatively related to educational level, to both measures of higher=order need strength, and to the congruence index. While significant, the relationship between the measures of higher-order need strength is relatively low. Further, while higher- order need strength measure B is significantly positively correlated with level of education, measure A is not. Tenure is unrelltted to the need strength indices.

Both perceived skill variety and autonomy are significantly nega- tively correlated with authoritarianism. Perceived feedback from the job is positively correlated with authoritarianism but negatively cor- related with educational level. Nine of 10 correlations of the need strength measures to perceptions of core dimensions are positive, with that between measure A and task significance being significant. Individuals with urban area of socialization perceive their jobs as pro- viding higher task identity than do those with rural area of sociali- zation.

Only four of 42 correlations between moderator candidates and affective responses are significant. None exceed .25. Consequently, these relationships should do little to confound apparent moderating effects of candidate variables.

Thirty-three of 40 relationships between core task dimensions and affective responses are significant. Impact on affective responses ap pears to be weakest for task identity, strongest for autonomy. Further discussion of these relationships for the current sample is provided by Brief and Aldag [4]. Findings generally are consistent with those pra iented by Hackman and Lawler [7].

Few relationships are found to be significantly moderated.’ Of 35 pairs of correlations of core dimensions to general satisfaction (5 pairs of correlations x 7 moderators), only one is significantly moderated. Corresponding numbers for job involvement and for in- ternal work motivation are, respectively, six of 35 and two of 35. In the case of all but one moderator, no more than three of 25 rela- tionships of core dimensions to JDI measures are significantly mod-

erated. Of those that are, several are not in the direction suggested by previous studies. For the two higher-order need strength measures, only six of the 13 significantly ,moderated relationships are in the predicted direction,

Differences in magnitude of correlations between subgroups are

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Impact of Individual Diff erences on Affective Responses 317

presented in Table 3. Application of a sign test yields similarly dis- appointing results. For correlations of JDI measures to task dimen- sions, the number of higher correlations is significantly greater in the predicted direction only :for tenure. For both educational level and area of socialization the opposite is true, while for other moderators the pattern is insignificant.

However, when specific satisfactions are individually examined, some semblance of a pattern appears to emerge. For instance, while moderating effects of candidate variables are predominantly in the predicted direction for the most clearly intrinsic JDI measure- i.e., satisfaction with work itself-they show an opposite tendency for such extrinsic measures as satisfaction ,with pay and satisfaction with promotional opportunities. For higher-order need strength measure B, moderating effects on the correlations between satisfaction with work 5tself and the core dimensions are in the predicted direction for each of the five cases. For satisfaction with pay and satisfaction with promotional opportunities, moderating effects are higher in the pre- dicted direction in only one of the 10 cases. For measure A, cor- responding signs are five of five in the predicted direction for satisfac- tion with work itself, and only four of 10 in the predicted direction for satisfaction with pay and satisfaction with promotional opportunities.

Discussion

Results of the current study appear to complicate task design issues. Contrary to previous findings, relationships of specific satisfactions to core dimension perceptions are stronger for individuals with urban area of socialization than for those with rural area of socialization. Similarly, the direction of moderating effects of level of educational attainment generally is opposite to that expected on the basis of pre- vious research. Further, except for tenure and congruence, dissimilar patterns of moderating effects are apparent for intrinsic and extrinsic specific satisfactions; in particular, lower correlations were found between core dimensions and specific extrinsic satisfactions for sub- groups with high higher-order need strength .than for subgroups with low higher-order need strength, while an opposite pattern was evident for satisfaction -cGth work itself.

However, consideration of this last issue reveals no compelling argument for the unidirectionality of moderating effects across satis- faction measures. AS depicted in Figure 1, it would seem that only relationships of task dimensions to satisfaction with intrinsic rewards should be directly moderated by higher-order need strength. Relation- ships of task dimensions to satisfaction with extrinsic rewards should be moderated by lower-order need strength. Thus, direction of mod- erating effects of higher-order need strength on core dimension-

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lrnpact of lndividd Diff erences on Affective Responses 319

extrinsic satisfaction relationships would seem to depend upon both the relationship of higher-order need strength to lower-order need strength and the extent to which extrinsic rewards are related to the core dimensions.

Figure It A Model of the Relationship of Job Characteristics to Job Satisfaction

Extrinsic Need

Extrinsic Rewards

Characteristics

-

It seems reasonable to expect a generally negative relationship between higher- and lower-order need strengths. Further, the Hack- man and Lawler need strength measure B is, by its design, a gauge of higher-order need strength relative to lower-order need strength. Thus, it is at once a relative measure of both high higher-order need strength and low lower-order need strength. As a result, to the extent that jobs perceived as being high on the core dimensions simultane- ously provide high extrinsic rewards, specific extrinsic satisfactions should be most closely related to core dimension scores for those individuals low on higher-order need strength. Consequently, a pos- sible explanation for the differences in findings between the current study and those of Hackman and Lawler [7] and of Wanous [16] could lie in differing core dimension-extrinsic reward relationships in the samples considered.

Other potential sources of these differences also should be noted. The a&man and Lawler analyses includ-: comparisons both within jobs and across jobs; they concluded:

320 Journal of Business Research

. the median within-job correlations generally are consistent with ;Ik correlations computed across all employees and jobs. . . l The order

of ma@&? of ths within-job correlations, also as expected, is lower than that of the correlations based on data from all employees. These results suggest, therefore, that employees’ perceptions of their jobs are of central importance in affecting job attitudes and behaviors, but that the major determinant of such perceptions is the objective make-up

of the. $E itself [7 2751.

Given these fi&ings, Hackman and Lawler considered correlations computed across all jobs in assessing moderating effects of higher- order need strength.

While the current study similarly included a variety of jobs, the

Wanous 116) research considered only telephone operators. Although examination of within-job correlations may be useful as a gauge of the role of percept&s, such an examination obviously captures-to the extent that no ;ibjective differences exist within jobs-only in- dividual differences; consequently, consideration of moderating ef- fec& of individual differences results in relating individual differ- ences to individual differences, and says nothing about the actual role of task dimensions. On the other hand, a danger in examination of correlations across jobs is that differences in factors other than the core task dimensions may influence percsptions of dimensions, as well as affective responses; for example, one such difference-as noted previouzly-could lie in organizational reward systems.

Employee tenure also differed between this and the Wanous study. The Wanocs sample consisted of employees with only one monthgs tezmre in the organization while respon.dents in the current study had an average job tenure of over six years. Consequently, individuals in the cTJ.rrent study would be likely to have greater familiarity with their own jobs and with comparable jobs in the organization than would those in the Wanous study. In addition, they would be likely to have more stable expectations concerning job requirements and rewards, fear of termination, and other factors.

Further, the Wanous study included only females, while both the cm-rent study and that of Hackman and Lawler included individu;:tls of both sexes. Only about one-third of the Hackman and Lawler sample and one-quartez of the sample of the current study were female.

Finally, while employees represented in the current study were participants in a training program, it is unlikely that the program had any appreciable impact on responses. The training program was, one irk which all employees were to participate. Questionnaires were ad- ministered prior to introduction aIf program content, with the exph-

nation hat hey were not related to the program and would not be seen by Division of Corrections personnel.

impact of Individd Diff erences on Affective Responses 321

Conclusions

The findings of this study, if supported by subsequent research, would have important implications for task design. While the Hackman and Lawler [TJ f’ d’ g m In s suggest that job enrichment efforts are of rela- tively little consequence to individuals low on higher-order need strength, results of the current study indicate that this assumption is unsafe unless such efforts leave extrinsic factors essentially unchanged. Consequently, the present study highlights the need to consider changes in extrinsic rewards accompanying enrichment attempts.

Research implications are apparent. Along with the need for longi- tudinal analyses to more fully consider hypothesized causal linkages, future studies are required to examine how extrinsic rewards vary as a function of core dimensions. If such relationships differ between studies, comparisons in the absence of that knowledge could be con- faunded. Further, to the extent that changes in core dimensions may be accompanied by changes in extrinsic rewards, a focus solely on higher-order need strength appears untenable. Rather, measurement of the constellation of employee needs is necessary.

322 Journal of Business Research

Footnote

ll‘ables presenting tFIe moderating effects of each candidate variable are available

from the authors upon request.

Reyerences

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2. Rlood, M. R. “Work Values and Job Satisfaction.” Journal of Applied Psychology 53 (1%9) : 456-59.

3. Blood, M. R. and H&n, C. L. “Alienation, Environmental Characteristics, and Worker Responses.” Journal Q/ Applied Psychology 51 (1%7) : 234-90.

4. Rrief, A. P. and Aldag, R. J. “Employee Reactions to Task Characteristics: A Con- structive tiep~~catioc ” I ournal of Applied Psychology 60 (1975) : 132%.

5. Filley, A. C. and House, R. J. Managerial Process and Organizational Behavior. G lenriew, Ill. : Scott, Fcresman, 1969.

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7. Hackmar, J. R. and Lawl+~ E. E. “Employee Reactions to Job Characteristics.” Journal of Applied Psychology Monograph 55 (1971) 1 259.86.

8. Lawler, E. E.; Hackman, J. R.; and Kaufman, S. “Effects of Job Redesign: A Field Experiment.” Journal oj Applied Social Psychology 3 (1973) : 49-62.

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Il. Shepard, 9. RI. “Fuuct~o-- 1 Specialization, Alienation, and Job Satisfaction.” .Yndustrial and Labor Relations Revs :u 23 (1970) : 207.19.

12. Smith, P.; Kendall, L.; and Hulin, C. The Measure of Satisjaction in Work and Retirement. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969.

13. Susman, G. 1. “Job Enlargement: Effects of Culture on Worker Responses,” In- dustrial Relations 12 f1973) : l-15.

14. TO& H. “A Reexamination of Personality as a Determinant of Effects of Participa- tion.” Personnel Psychology 23 (1970) : 91.99.

15. Vroom, V. Some Personality Determinants of the Ejjects of Participation. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1960.

‘t.6. ‘Wanous, J. P. “Individual Differences and Reactinns to Job Characteristics.” Journal of Applied Psychology 59 (1974) : 616.22.

17. &deck, S. “Problems with the Use of ‘Moderator’ Variables.” Psychological Bulletin 76 (1971) : 2%.310.