Ralph Katerberg

Effects of job complexity on the reactions of part-time employees

Abstract This study examined several situational moderators of the relationship between job scope and responses among part-time organizational members. Measures of job scope, job attitudes, withdrawal intentions, and reenlistment decisions were collected from 395 National Guardsmen. The moderator effects by job contextual factors on the relationships between job complexity and dependent measures were investigated. Complexity of the job was positively and strongly related to all dependent variables, and little evidence for moderators was found using subgroup analysis and moderated regression. Implications for these results are discussed in terms of recent research on moderator effects.

AGREEING RESPONSE SET: STATISTICAL NUISANCE OR MEANINGFUL PERSONALITY CONCEPT?

Two different perspectives on agreeing response set exist in the literature. Based upon one perspective, agreeing response set is seen primarily as a statistical nuisance which must be controlled or suppressed by appropriate mathematical techniques. The second perspective conceptualizes agreeing response set as a manifestation of the respondents personality. Building upon research which conceptualizes agreeing response set as a personality variable, two predictions were tested using a sample of 203 Air Force trainees, (a) nay-sayers maintain more belief consistency than do yea-sayers and (b) nay-sayers are more intellectually-oriented while yea-sayers are more emotionally-oriented. Results of the study supported both predictions. Implications of the results are briefly discussed.