Paul E. Spector

Method Variance in Organizational Research Truth or Urban Legend

It has become widely accepted that correlations between variables measured with the same method, usually self-report surveys, are inflated due to the action of common method variance (CMV), despite a number of sources that suggest the problem is overstated. The author argues that the popular position suggesting CMV automatically affects variables measured with the same method is a distortion and oversimplification of the true state of affairs, reaching the status of urban legend. Empirical evidence is discussed casting doubt that the method itself produces systematic variance in observations that inflates correlations to any significant degree. It is suggested that the term common method variance be abandoned in favor of a focus on measurement bias that is the product of the interplay of constructs and methods by which they are assessed. A complex approach to dealing with potential biases involves their identification and control to rule them out as explanations for observed relationships using a variety of design strategies.

Development of Four Self-Report Measures of Job Stressors and Strain: Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale, Organizational Constraints Scale, Quantitative Workload Inventory, and Physical Symptoms Inventory

Despite the widespread use of self-report measures of both job-related stressors and strains, relatively few carefully developed scales for which validity data exist are available. In this article, we discuss 3 job stressor scales (Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale, Organizational Constraints Scale, and Quantitative Workload Inventory) and 1 job strain scale (Physical Symptoms Inventory). Using meta-analysis, we combined the results of 18 studies to provide estimates of relations between our scales and other variables. Data showed moderate convergent validity for the 3 job stressor scales, suggesting some objectively to these self-reports. Norms for each scale are provided.

Measurement of human service staff satisfaction: Development of the Job Satisfaction Survey

The development of the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), a nine-subscale measure of employee job satisfaction applicable specifically to human service, public, and nonprofit sector organizations, is described. The item selection, item analysis, and determination of the final 36-item scale are also described, and data on reliability and validity and the instruments norms are summarized. Included are a multitrait-multimethod analysis of the JSS and the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), factor analysis of the JSS, and scale intercorrelations. Correlation of JSS scores with criteria of employee perceptions and behaviors for multiple samples were consistent with findings involving other satisfaction scales and with findings from the private sector. The strongest correlations were with perceptions of the job and supervisor, intention of quitting, and organizational commitment. More modest correlations were found with salary, age, level, absenteeism, and turnover.

Perceived Control by Employees: A Meta-Analysis of Studies Concerning Autonomy and Participation at Work

Perceived control by employees is a variable that has been heavily researched in two popular areas, job design (as autonomy) and participative decision-making. A meta-analysis was conducted of studies relating perceived control variables to 19 employee outcome variables. For all studies combined, it was found that high levels of perceived control was associated with high levels of job satisfaction (overall and individual facets), commitment, involvement, performance and motivation, and low levels of physical symptoms, emotional distress, role stress, absenteeism, intent to turnover, and turnover. A similar pattern was found for the autonomy and participation studies analyzed separately, with one exception. Participative decision-making was not associated with absenteeism in the single study available.

Behavior in Organizations as a Function of Employee's Locus of Control

Locus of control is an important variable for the explanation of human behavior in organizations . The nature of the concept, its measurement, and general evidence for its validity are discussed. Several hypotheses are presented involving the locus of control in an organizational context, and supporting evidence from applied studies is reviewed. Specifically, it is suggested that locus of control is related to motivation, effort, performance, satisfaction, perception of the job, compliance with authority, and supervisory style. Furthermore, locus of control may moderate the relation between incentives and motivation and between satisfaction and turnover. Little attention has been given to individual personality in research on job motivation and satisfaction. For the most part, the major theories in organizational psychology assume that the same basic processes account for behavior across all individuals and that situational characteristics cause predictable behavior across people.1 This article attempts to demonstrate the usefulness of personality in explaining human behavior in organizations and focuses on locus of control as it relates to behavior in organizational settings. The general theory of locus of control arose from observation and research in clinical psychology. Both the measurement and theory have been refined so that the concept is heuristically useful. Over two dozen studies of locus of control have been related specifically to attitudinal, motivational, and behavioral variables in organizational settings. One major task of this article is to integrate the general theory with the organizational findings.

An emotion-centered model of voluntary work behavior: Some parallels between counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship behavior

Abstract We present a model that integrates findings from several areas to explain in parallel the voluntary acts of counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). CWB is behavior, such as aggression or sabotage, intended to hurt the organization or its employees. OCB is prosocial behavior intended to help. A variety of job/organizational conditions (constraints on performance, job stressors, injustice, or violation of psychological contract) will elicit emotional reactions. Negative emotion will tend to increase the likelihood of CWB and positive emotion will increase the likelihood of OCB. CWB is associated with the personality characteristics of trait anger and anxiety, locus of control, and delinquency. OCB is associated with empathy and perceived ability to help. We discuss how management of emotion-eliciting conditions and events can help control voluntary behavior in a way that leads to both employee and organization well-being.

Unemployment, job satisfaction and employee turnover: A meta-analytic test of the Muchinsky model

We conducted a meta-analysis to determine the relation between satisfaction-turnover correlations across studies and unemployment rates at the time those studies were conducted. On the basis of theoretical work by Muchinsky and Morrow (1980), we hypothesized that low relations would be found in stud

Causes of employee turnover: A test of the Mobley, Griffeth, Hand, and Meglino model.

This study was a test of the Mobley, Griffeth, Hand, and Meglino turnover model. Data from employees of a mental health facility were collected on several variables contained in the model, including perceived job characteristics, personal employee characteristics, job satisfaction, perceived alternative employment opportunities, intention of quitting the job, and turnover. Two variables were added to those in the model—confirmation of preemployment expectancies and organizational commitment. The results of path analyses were consistent with the model, although with some modifications. Specifically, perceived alternative employment opportunities added nothing to the model as a direct cause of intention to quit or turnover, or as a moderator.

Using the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS) to investigate affective responses to work stressors

Prior research linking job stressors to psychological strains has been limited to a small number of emotional reactions. This article describes research linking job stressors to a wide range of affective states at work. In Study 1, a multidimensional scaling procedure was used on a matrix of similarity judgments by 51 employees of 56 job-related affective statements to support a 2-dimensional view of affective well-being. In Study 2, ratings of the affect statements by 100 employees further supported the contention that the dimensions were pleasure-displeasure and degree of arousal. In Study 3, 114 full-time university employees responded to the Job-Related Affective Well-Being Scale, which was found to be related to measures of job stressors as well as job satisfaction and physical symptoms.

Methodological Urban Legends: The Misuse of Statistical Control Variables

The automatic or blind inclusion of control variables in multiple regression and other analyses, intended to purify observed relationships among variables of interest, is widespread and can be considered an example of practice based on a methodological urban legend. Inclusion of such variables in most cases implicitly assumes that the control variables are somehow either contaminating the measurement of the variables of interest or affecting the underlying constructs, thus distorting observed relationships among them. There are, however, a number of alternative mechanisms that would produce the same statistical results, thus throwing into question whether inclusion of control variables has led to more or less accurate interpretation of results. The authors propose that researchers should be explicit rather than implicit regarding the role of control variables and match hypotheses precisely to both the choice of variables and the choice of analyses. The authors further propose that researchers avoid testing models in which demographic variables serve as proxies for variables that are of real theoretical interest in their data.