Perceived Job Characteristics and Job Satisfaction: An Examination of Reciprocal Causation.

Abstract

The following four assumptions were tested: (1) satisfaction with job/task events and perceptions of job challenge, autonomy, and importance are direct, reciprocal causes of each other; (2) job perceptions are also caused directly by situation attributes, although perceptual distortions resulting for individual depositions must also be considered; (3) job satisfaction is also cognitive consistent with (i.e., caused by) individual dispositions, although these individual dispositions are generally different from those associated with job perceptions; and (4) individuals rely on job perceptions, and not situational attributes for information in formulating job satisfaction attitudes. The assumptions were tested on a sample of nonsupervisory subjects (n = 642) from divergent work environments (e.g., production-lines and a computer software department). A nonrecursive, structural equation analysis, combined with tests of logical consistency, supported the assumptions above. The results were employed to recommend changes in current perspectives regarding perceptual/affective dichotomies and unidirectional causal models and moderator models that link job perceptions to job satisfaction. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1979
Accession Number
ADA068199

Entities

People

  • Allan P. Jones
  • Lawrence R. James

Organizations

  • Texas Christian University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Applied Psychology
  • Business Administration
  • Cognition
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Defense Mechanisms
  • Information Processing
  • Job Satisfaction
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Research
  • New York
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Sciences

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Organizational Psychology.
  • Theoretical Analysis.