An investigation of the relationship between job characteristics and the gender wage gap

This paper re-examines gender wage differences, taking into account notonly worker characteristics but also job characteristics. Considerationof a wide set of job quality indicators can explain a fraction of thewage gap that would otherwise be attributed to pure wage discrimination.In any case, the fraction of the wage gap that remains associated todifferential rewards for identical factors across sexes is stillsubstantial. Our results suggest that in order to avoid overestimationof the fraction of the wage gap attributable to discrimination, it isnecessary to control for job characteristics.

Sense of coherence and job characteristics in predicting burnout in a South African sample

Orientation: Research that considers the effects of individual characteristics and job characteristics jointly in burnout is necessary, especially when one considers the possibility of curvilinear relationships between job characteristics and burnout. Research purpose: This study examines the contribution of sense of coherence (SOC) and job characteristics to predicting burnout by considering direct and moderating effects. Motivation for this study: Understanding the relationships of individual and job characteristics with burnout is necessary for preventing burnout. It also informs the design of interventions. Research design, approach and method: The participants were 632 working adults (57% female) in South Africa. The measures included the Job Content Questionnaire, the Sense of Coherence Questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The authors analysed the data using hierarchical multiple regression with the enter method. Main findings: Job characteristics and SOC show the expected direct effects on burnout. SOC has a direct negative effect on burnout. Job demands and supervisor social support show nonlinear relationships with burnout. SOC moderates the effect of demands on burnout and has a protective function so that the demands-burnout relationship differs for those with high and low SOC. Practical/managerial implications: The types of effects, the shape of the stressor-strain relationship and the different contributions of individual and job characteristics have implications for designing interventions. Contribution/value add: SOC functions differently when combined with demands, control and support. These different effects suggest that it is not merely the presence or absence of a job characteristic that is important for well-being outcomes but how people respond to its presence or absence.

Test of Hockman and Oldham's job characteristics model in a post-secondary educational setting

One hundred and seventy-two subj ects participated in this quantitative, correlational survey which tested Hackman and Oldham's Job Characteristics Model in an educational setting. Subjects were Teaching Masters, Chairmen and Deans from an Ontario community college. The data were collected via mailed questionnaire, on all variables of the model. Several reliable, valid instruments were used to test the variables. Data analysis through Pearson correlation and stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that core job characteristics predicted certain critical psychological states and that these critical psychological states, in turn were able to predict various personal and work outcomes but not absenteeism. The context variable, Satisfaction with Co-workers, was the only consistent moderating variable between core characteristics and critical psychological states; however, individual employee differences did moderate the relationship between critical psychological states and all of the personal and work outcomes except Internal Work Motivation. Two other moderator variables, Satisfaction with Context and Growth Need Strength, demonstrated an ability to predict the outcome General Job Satisfaction. The research suggests that this model may be used for job design and redesign purposes within the community college setting.

Work values and the job characteristics - job outcome relationship

The importance and achievement of work values were found to be significant variables in the job characteristics-job outcome relationship when investigated with a sample of 117 correctional nurses. Data collected via mailed questionnaires were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression. The results indicated that the achievement of intrinsic work values was found to mediate the relationship between job characteristics and internal work motivation and satisfaction, adding considerable explained variance to each of the job outcomes. In addition, the importance of the same intrinsic work values moderated the overall relationship as well as the relationship between job characteristics and achievement of work values. The importance of work values did not, however, moderate the achievement of work values-job outcome relationship as predicted. The practical implications for correctional administrators and nurses, as well as implications for further research were discussed.

The Impact of Job Characteristics on Social and Human Service Workers

The work environment characteristics of job stress, job variety, job autonomy, and supervision are theorized to affect the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of social and human service workers. Most research to date has focused upon the impact of these variables on job satisfaction, with little attention being paid to organizational commitment. To determine the effects these characteristics have on both job satisfaction and organizational commitment, data from a survey of social and human service employees across Northwest Ohio were examined. In Ordinary Least Squares regression, all four job characteristics had a significant impact on job satisfaction, while only job variety and supervision had statistically significant effects on organizational commitment.

Psychosocial job characteristics as predictors of overall health: Results from a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in southeast Texas in 2001 and 2002

Stress at the workplace exposes people to increased risk for poor physical and/or mental health. Recently psychological and social disadvantages have been proven to place the worker at risk for mental or physical health outcomes. The overall purpose of this study was to study full time employed study subjects and (1) describe the various psychosocial job characteristics in a population of low income individuals stratified by race/ethnicity residing in Houston and Brownsville, Texas and (2) examine the associations between psychosocial job characteristics and physical, mental, and self rated health. It was observed that having a low level of education is associated with having very little or no control, security, and social support at the workplace. Being Mexican American was associated with having good job control, job security, job social support and having a less demanding job. Furthermore, the psychosocial job characteristics were associated with mental health outcomes but not with physical and self rated health. ^

The impact of the introduction of visual display terminals on the job characteristics, job satisfaction and well-being of users in government offices

The proliferation of visual display terminals (VDTs) in offices is an international phenomenon. Numerous studies have investigated the health implications which can be categorised into visual problems, symptoms of musculo-skelctal discomfort, or psychosocial effects. The psychosocial effects are broader and there is mixed evidence in this area. The inconsistent results from the studies of VDT work so far undertaken may reflect several methodological shortcomings. In an attempt to overcome these deficiencies and to broaden the model of inter-relationships a model was developed to investigate their interactions and Ihc outputs of job satisfaction, stress and ill health. The study was a two-stage, long-term investigation with measures taken before the VDTs were introduced and the same measures taken 12 months after the 'go-live' date. The research was conducted in four offices of the Department of Social Security. The data were analysed for each individual site and in addition the total data were used in a path analysis model. Significant positive relationships were found at the pre-implementation stage between the musculo-skeletal discomfort, psychosomatic ailments, visual complaints and stress. Job satisfaction was negatively related to visual complaints and musculo-skeletal discomfort. Direct paths were found for age and job level with variety found in the job and age with job satisfaction and a negative relationship with the office environment. The only job characteristic which had a direct path to stress was 'dealing with others'. Similar inter-relationships were found in the post-implementation data. However, in addition attributes of the computer system, such as screen brightness and glare, were related positively with stress and negatively with job satisfaction. The comparison of the data at the two stages found that there had been no significant changes in the users' perceptions of their job characteristics and job satisfaction but there was a small and significant reduction in the stress measure.

Age, job characteristics and coronary health

Background: Workplace demographics are changing in many European countries with a higher proportion of older workers in employment. Research has shown that there is an association between job strain and cardiovascular disease, but this relationship is unclear for the older worker. Aims: To investigate the association between job strain and a coronary event comparing younger and older male workers. Methods: Cases with a first-time coronary event were recruited from four coronary/intensive care units (1999-2001). Matched controls were recruited from the case's general practitioner surgery. Physical measurements were taken and self-administered questionnaires completed with questions on job characteristics, job demands and control. Unconditional logistic regression was carried out adjusting for classical cardiovascular risk factors. Results: There were 227 cases and 277 matched controls. Age stratified analyses showed a clear difference between younger (= 50 years) workers with regard to the exposure of job strain (job demands and control) and the association between these factors and cardiovascular disease. Older workers who had a coronary event were four times as likely to have high job strain [OR = 4.09 (1.29-13.02)] and more likely to report low job control [ OR = 0.83 (0.72-0.95)]. Conclusions: Job control emerged as a potential protective factor for heart disease and this evidence was stronger in the older male worker. Nevertheless, they were significantly more likely to have job strain. These results suggest that older workers may be more susceptible to job strain.

Compensating wage differentials and voluntary job changes: Evidence from West Germany

Does the labor market place wage premia on jobs that involve physical strain,job, insecurity or bad regulation of hours? This paper derives bounds on themonetary returns to these job disamenities in the West German labor market.We show that in a market with dispersion in both job characteristics andwages, the average wage change of workers who switch jobs voluntarily and optfor consuming more (less) disamenities,provides an upper (lower) bound on themarket return to the disamenity. Using longitudinal information from workersin the German Socio Economic Panel, we estimate an upper bound of 5% and alower bound of 3.5% for the market return to work strain in a job.

Personality and job stress: a comparison of direct effects on parenting

The impact of personality and job characteristics on parental rearing styles was compared in 353 employees. Hypotheses concerning the relationships between personality and job variables were formulated in accordance with findings in past research and the Belsky’s model (1984). Structural equation nested models showed that Aggression-hostility, Sociability and job Demand were predictive of Rejection and Emotional Warmth parenting styles, providing support for some of the hypothesized relationships. The findings suggest a well-balanced association of personality variables with both parenting styles: Aggression-Hostility was positively related to Rejection and negatively to Emotional Warmth, whereas Sociability was positively related to Emotional Warmth and negatively related to Rejection. Personality dimensions explained a higher amount of variance in observed parenting styles. However, a model that considered both, personality and job dimensions as antecedent variables of parenting was the best representation of observed data, as both systems play a role in the prediction of parenting behavior.

Job Satisfaction of Spanish University Graduates

This paper investigates the determinants of job satisfaction of university graduates in Spain. We base our analysis on Locke"s discrepancy theory [Locke (1969)] and decompose subjective evaluation of job characteristics into surplus and deficit levels. We also study the importance of overeducation and over-skilling on job satisfaction. We use REFLEX data, a survey of university graduates. We conclude that job satisfaction is mostly determined by the subjective evaluation of intrinsic job characteristics, with an asymmetric impact of surpluses and deficits. Over-skilling is much more important than over-education in explaining the job satisfaction of university graduates, although the latter is also significant.

Changes in situational and dispositional factors as predictors of job satisfaction

Arguably, job satisfaction is one of the most important variables with regard to work. When explaining job satisfaction, research usually focuses on predictor variables in terms of levels but neglects growth rates. Therefore it remains unclear how potential predictors evolve over time and how their development affects job satisfaction. Using multivariate latent growth modeling in a study with 1145 young workers over five years, we analyzed how well job satisfaction is predicted a) by levels of situational (i.e., job control) and dispositional (i.e., Core Self-Evaluations (CSE)) factors and b) by growth per year of these predictors. Results showed both intercepts and slopes to be related to each other, suggesting a joint growth of job control and CSE during early careers. Job satisfaction after five years was best predicted by the slopes of job control (β = .31, p < .001) and CSE (β = .34, p < .01). These findings provide further longitudinal evidence for the role of situational as well as dispositional factors for predicting job satisfaction. In addition, growth rates per year were better predictors than initial levels. Furthermore, a lack of change in job control or CSE went along with a drop in job satisfaction, implying that young workers need to perceive things to be improving in order to increase, or at least maintain, their level of job satisfaction. In terms of theory, the relative importance of levels versus changes deserves more attention. In terms of practical implications, our results suggest a double emphasis on job design (i.e., granting sufficient, and increasing, control) and on personal development (e.g., through training) so that people experience a match between both. Finally, negative associations between initial levels and growth rates suggest that people are quite successful in achieving a reasonable fit between their job characteristics and their needs and goals.