Gloria Jones Johnson

Perceived Overqualification and Dimensions of Job Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract The present study is an investigation of the effects of perceived overqualification on dimensions of job satisfaction. The data for this study came from a two-wave panel study of members of a midwestern American Postal Workers Union local. Job satisfaction was operationalized with 4 subscales from the Job Descriptive Index (R Smith, L. Kendall, & C. Hulin, 1969). The following three hypotheses were tested: (a) Perceived overqualification will be negatively related to facets of job satisfaction; (b) there is stability in the test-retest correlations of facets of job satisfaction; and (c) the effects of perceived overqualification on facets of job satisfaction will not change from Time 1 to Time 2 because of adaptation. The cross-sectional results supported the hypotheses and suggested that perceived overqualification has a negative effect on job satisfaction. However, the relationships varied by dimension of perceived overqualification and dimension of job satisfaction. Future researchers of overqualification and dimensions of job satisfaction should consider relative deprivation as a source of work-related deprivations.

An Evaluation of a Perceived Overqualification Scale Across Work Settings

Abstract The authors extended and evaluated the dimensionality of the L. J. Khan and P. C. Morrow (1991) subjective underemployment scale. They used data from 3 independent samples to assess the measurement properties of the scale. The results of confirmatory factor analyses supported 2 dimensions and indicated that the measurement model parameters partially generalized across samples. Correlational and additional confirmatory factor analytic results rendered empirical support for most of the postulated relationships of the 2 overqualification dimensions with the somatization, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment variables. The findings indicate that the scale of perceived overqualification needs to be further developed and validated in different samples. The implications of the findings for person–job fit are discussed.

The Road to Murder: The Enduring Criminogenic Effects of Juvenile Confinement Among a Sample of Adult Career Criminals

In the juvenile justice literature, deep-end interventions such as commitment to a confinement facility are reserved for the most severe delinquents but unfortunately have been shown to have negative consequences. The current study repurposes juvenile confinement within a criminal career context to empirically examine its role in homicide offending based on data from a sample of 445 male, adult habitual criminals. Poisson regression models indicated that juvenile confinement— measured both dimensionally and categorically—predicted murder arrests despite controls for juvenile homicide offending, juvenile violent delinquency, juvenile felony adjudications, juvenile non-compliance violations, juvenile arrest charges, onset, age, three racial/ethnic classifications, career arrests, career violent index arrests, and career property index arrests. Receiver operating characteristics—area under the curve (ROC-AUC) graphs showed that juvenile confinement predicted murder significantly but modestly better than chance although career violent offending was the strongest predictor of murder perpetration.

The Effects of Union Membership on Multiple Work Commitments Among Female Public Sector Employees

The effects of union membership on union, organizational, and dual commitment among 245 clerical employees at a midwestern state university represented by a Local of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) were investigated. Based on the similarity hypothesis of the social identity theory, it was hypothesized that union membership would be positively related to union and dual commitment and negatively related to organizational commitment. The results of the regression analyses supported the similarity hypothesis, and union membership explained a significant amount of variance in union and dual commitment but not in organizational commitment. These findings are discussed in the context of applying social psychological approaches to understand attitudes toward unionization; industrial conflict; and union, organizational, and dual commitment.

Perceived skill underutilization and distributive justice: The role of perceived supervisor support

Based on referent cognition theory (Folger 1986), the present study investigated the effects of perceived skill underutilization on distributive justice or equity, and the effect of perceived supervisor support on this relationship. Data were collected during the summer of 1989 among salaried blue‐collar employees of a unionized manufacturing plant in the southeastern United States. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relationships. The results supported the hypothesized negative relationship between perceived skill underutilization and distributive justice or equity. Thus, the greater the perceived skill underutilization, the less the distributive justice or equity. Although the interaction between skill underutilization and supervisor support was not significant, there was a main effect of supervisor support on distributive justice. The greater the supervisor support, the greater the distributive justice or equity. The implications of supervisor support for the distributive‐procedural ...

Underemployment, Underpayment, Attributions, and Self-Esteem among Working Black Men

This study examines the relationship between underemployment, underpayment, attributions, and self-esteem among Black men. The data for the study were available from Black males sampled in the National Survey of Black Americans (Jackson et al., 1980). The sample consisted of 794 males, 500 of whom were currently employed full time and were used to investigate the relationships of this study. Because secondary data were used, this is an objective, not subjective assessment of the relationships between underemployment, underpayment, attributions, and self-esteem. The results showed that underemployment and underpayment did not lower the self-esteem of Black men. In addition, the attributional effects of underemployment and underpayment on self-esteem were not significant, but in the expected directions. Future studies should measure the self-esteem of men and women, both Blacks and Whites, and should relate it to their employment status and their subjective feelings of underemployment.

Book reviews : Flemming Just (ed.), Co-operatives and Farmers' Unions in Western Europe. Esbjerg, Denmark: South Jutland Press, 1990, pp. 184

This edited volume is a collection of papers presented at the third seminar of the European Network for Research into Professional Organizations in Agriculture. The primary objective of the research group was to analyze post-war agriculture developments in the various countries of Western Europe and the political and organizational consequences of that development. The papers in this volume are devoted to the

The Effect of Normative Influence on Union Loyalty: A Regional Comparison

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between normative influence and union loyalty for two separate locals of a national tire and rubber manufacturing company in the United States. Parallel hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. The data support the hypothesized positive relationship between normative influence and union loyalty in each sample. The greater the normative influence, the greater the union loyalty. The findings suggest that Knoke’s (1990) normity conformity and affective bonding models are applicable to normative influence in the union context. In addition, unions should identify and develop both the socialization process and effective agents of union socialization. The need for cross-cultural comparisons are discussed. The effectiveness of unions in organizing, bargaining, and retaining members is directly related to the level of commitment, particularly loyalty, among current and potential members (Leicht, 1989). In recent years, research based on the identification approach to commitment has distinguished instrumental and normative attachment to an organization (Buchanan, 1974; Kidron, 1978). Instrumental attachment involves assessment of the costs and benefits associated with remaining a member of the organization, whereas, normative commitment is a value based attachment to an organizational (Alutto, Hrebiniak, & Alonso, 1973; Becker, 1960). Normative commitment is the process through which members acquire organization-related values, and come to identify with an organization (Buchanan, 1974; Kidron, 1978). In the context of a union organization, this process suggests that positive instrumental experiences appear crucial for the reinforcement of early member identification with the union’s values. For a specific union, actual instrumental experiences may serve to reinforce previously held normative beliefs. This is consistent with Knoke’s (1990) normative conformity model which suggests that individuals conform their behaviors to norms because they internalize them as right and proper to the organization’s functioning (Knoke, 1990). Most research guided by the identification approach in the context of union commitment, has examined generalized affect toward unionism. This generalized affect may include general attitudes toward unions and feelings of trust in unions (Fullagar & Barlin, 1989). Similarly, the affective bonding model proposed by Knoke (1990) stresses emotional attachment to others as a basis for purposeful behavior. That is, normative variables are operationalized with explicit reference to others (e. g. , family members) which are found to be important influences on norms and behavioral intentions (Knoke, 1990). Greater understanding of the normative effect of union leaders on union members’ loyalty toward the union will facilitate a union’s ability to retain and recruit members, and to more effectively negotiate desired work outcomes. * This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and Iowa State University. ** Department of Sociology, Iowa State.