Attitudes and Performance: An Analysis of Russian Workers

This paper investigates the relationship between locus of control and performance among Russian employees, using survey data collected at 28 workplaces in 2002 in Taganrog and at 47 workplaces in 2003 in Ekaterinburg. We develop a measure that allows us to categorize the Russian employees participating in our survey as exhibiting an internal or external locus of control. We then assess the extent to which there are significant differences between “internals” and “externals” in work-related attitudes that may affect performance. In particular, we focus on (1) attitudes about outcomes associated with hard work, (2) level of job satisfaction, (3) expectation of receiving a desired reward, and (4) loyalty to and involvement with one’s organization. In each case we identify where gender and generational differences emerge. Our main objective is to determine whether Russian employees who exhibit an internal locus of control perform better than employees with an external locus of control. Our performance measures include earnings, expected promotions, and assessments of the quantity and quality of work in comparison to others at the same organization doing a similar job. Controlling for a variety of worker characteristics, we find that (1) individuals who exhibit an internal locus of control perform better, but this result is not always statistically significant; (2) even among “internals,” women earn significantly less than men and have a much lower expectation of promotion; (3) even among “internals,” experience with unemployment has a negative influence on performance.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40144/3/wp758.pd

Internal-External Attitudes, Sense of Efficacy, and Labor Market Experience: A Reply to Duncan and Morgan

The paper studies direct evidence on reservation wages reported in Great Britain in 1982 to assess (1) whether such asking prices are `high' and (2) whether variations in these reservation wages are related to differences in measures of the subjective ...

Job Preferences, College Major, and the Gender Gap in Earnings

Work preferences and preparation (college major) are included in an analysis of the gender differential in earnings among recent college graduates, using data from the National Longitudinal Studies of the High School Class of 1972. The results indicate a tendency for the young men and young women in the sample to prefer different occupational roles and to major in different fields of study in college. Together, these differences account for about one-third to two-thirds of the gender gap in hourly earnings three years after college graduation. This indicates that omission of work preferences and college major leads to an overestimation of the degree of current labor market discrimination against young female college graduates.

Work attitudes and work experience : the impact of attitudes on behavior /

Based on Work attitudes and labor market experience by P. J. Andrisani.Mode of access: Internet