Psychological Climate and Work Attitudes: The Importance of Telling the Right Story

In this field study, the authors explore how choosing one context over another influences both research results and implications. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, the authors examine context from both an organizational and a business-unit perspective by studying relationships between five psychological climate variables and outcomes of job satisfaction, affective commitment, and intent to leave. Results show different contextual influences between the organization and two business units, suggesting that different bundles of psychological climate variables yield similar outcomes depending on the context studied. These results bolster the contention that researchers need to identify the right context in field research

Measuring adaptation to non-permanent employment contracts using a conjoint analysis approach

This study attempts to uncover the ‘real’ impact of temporary contracts on workers’ perceived job quality, prior to the psychological phenomena of adaptation, coping and cognitive dissonance coming into play. This is done by using a novel conjoint analysis approach that examines the ex ante preferences over different contract statuses of a newly generated sample of low-skilled employees from seven European countries. Other things equal, it is shown that the anticipated psychological ‘costs’ of moving from a riskless permanent contract to the insecurity of a temporary job or no work at all appear to be quite significant. In contrast, temporary employees, who have presumably already adapted to the circumstances surrounding a non-permanent contract, are found to be statistically indifferent between permanent and temporary employment, and request much smaller wage premiums in order to switch from one status to the other. The well-documented distress associated with joblessness is also confirmed in our data. The methodology developed here can provide policymakers with an alternative and relatively inexpensive method of quantifying the immediate impact of any shift in their employment policies.European Commissio

Do Job Disamenities Raise Wages or Ruin Job Satisfaction?

This study investigates the role of adverse working conditions in the determination of individual wages and overall job satisfaction in the Finnish labour market. The potential influence of adverse working conditions on self-reported fairness of pay at the workplace is considered as an alternative, indirect measure of job satisfaction. The results show that working conditions have a very minor role in the determination of individual wages in the Finnish labour market. In contrast, adverse working conditions substantially increase the level of job dissatisfaction and the perception of unfairness of pay at the workplace.compensating wage differentials, job satisfaction, working conditions

The Theory of Relational Cohesion: Review of a Research Program

In this paper we analyze and review the theory of relational cohesion and attendant program of research. Since the early 1990s, the theory has evolved to answer a number of basic questions regarding cohesion and commitment in social exchange relations. Drawing from the sociology of emotion and modem theories of social identity, the theory asserts that joint activity in the form of frequent exchange unleashes positive emotions and perceptions of relational cohesion. In turn, relational cohesion is predicted to be the primary cause of commitment behavior in a range of situations. Here we outline the theory of relational cohesion, tracing its development through the present day, and summarize the corpus of empirical evidence for the theory’s claims. We conclude by looking ahead to future projects and discussing some of the more general issues informed by our work

Job disamenities, job satisfaction, and on-the-job search: is there a nexus?

This study explores the potential role of adverse working conditions at the workplace in the determination of on-the-job search in the Finnish labour market. The results reveal that workers currently facing adverse working conditions have greater intentions to switch jobs and they are also more willing to stop working completely. In addition, those workers search new matches more frequently. There is evidence that adverse working conditions consistently increase the level of job dissatisfaction and, in turn, it is job dissatisfaction that drives workers’ intentions to quit and intensifies actual job search.working conditions, job satisfaction, on-the-job search, quit intentions

The Nostalgia Effect: A Field Investigation of Satisfaction among IS/IT Professionals in India

Satisfaction is a key indicator of system success, and so it has been the subject of much Information System (IS) research. The nostalgia effect, whereby individuals feel satisfied or dissatisfied when thinking about past goal attainment or failure, has been observed to influence analysts’ decisions with respect to ongoing systems development. The Yield Shift Theory (YST) of Satisfaction explains the nostalgia effect as a function of changes in yield for an individual’s active goal set. This paper reports on an exploratory field investigation of the nostalgia effect among 105 working IS/IT professionals in India reflecting on past collaboration experiences. The study demonstrates empirically a measurable nostalgia effect, and reveals a strong association between satisfaction responses and the antecedents proposed by Yield Shift Theory

Does Work Time Flexibility Work? An Empirical Assessment of the Efficiency Effects for German Firms

In this paper we assess the impact of flexible work time schedules on firm efficiency using representative establishment data for Germany. Following the approach by Battese and Coelli (1995), we estimate a stochastic production frontier and the determinants of technical efficiency simultaneously. The innovation of our study is that we draw on technical efficiency instead of productivity to appraise the success of flexible working hours. The results indicate that while the use of work time schedules with moderate flexibility is positively related to technical efficiency, highly flexible work time arrangements seem to be negatively correlated with an efficient organization of the work flow. However, these efficiency losses should not be interpreted as causal effects, because highly flexible work time schedules are most likely to be introduced in struggling firms. --Stochastic production frontier,flexible work hours,efficiency

Towards a more refined insight in the critical motivating features of choice : an experimental study among recreational rope skippers

Objective: The question whether choice is a motivation and engagement-enhancing practice is a much debated subject, both theoretically as well as in practice. Therefore, the present study examined the impact of different types of choice on engagement and intended perseverance. Design: and method: In a sample of Belgian rope skippers (n = 159; M-age = 17.17; SDage = 8.43) an experimental field design was implemented, in which three different choice conditions were compared to a no-choice comparison group. Results: Results indicated that being offered choice with regard the type of exercises (i.e. option choice) were mixed, with choice yielding a clear engagement and perseverance-enhancing effect compared to a no choice control group in cases the offered options differed clearly from one another (i.e., high contrast option choice), while no benefits were observed in case choice options leaned closely to one another (i.e. low contrast option choice). Athletes' involvement in the order of exercises during a training session (i.e. action choice) tended to enhance athletes' engagement, but not their intentional perseverance, compared to a no choice control group. Finally, all experimentally offered choices yielded a positive effect on two aspects of autonomy need satisfaction, that is, perceived choice and felt volition. These two variables functioned as a chain of mechanisms through which different types of choice related to athlete engagement and intended perseverance. These effects emerged irrespective of rope-skippers' dispositional indecisiveness. Conclusion: The discussion highlights the importance of a nuanced discussion regarding the topic of choice, thereby contrasting the different pros and cons associated with each type of choice