W. Roy 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 Aftermath of Criminal Victimization Race, Self-Esteem, and Self-Efficacy

Criminal victimization is associated with a cascade of negative effects on social development, but research has primarily focused on children and adolescents. Less is known about the effects of criminal victimization on psychosocial functioning of Americans age 50 and older. Relying on individual-level data from Waves 1 and 2 of a longitudinal panel study of older adults—the Americans’ Changing Lives study—the current study explored the effects of criminal victimization on self-esteem and self-efficacy separately for Whites and African Americans. Net of the effects of employment, income, depression, age, sex, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, criminal victimization reduced self-esteem and self-efficacy among African Americans but not Whites. However, Whites who had greater difficulty dealing with their victimization evinced lower subsequent self-esteem. Greater difficulty with their victimization was also modestly associated with subsequent self-efficacy for Whites and African Americans. Implications and directions for future research are provided.

The Criminal Victimization–Depression Sequela Examining the Effects of Violent Victimization on Depression With a Longitudinal Propensity Score Design

Drawing on three waves of survey data, the authors examined the effects of criminal victimization on depression. First, the authors developed a structural equation model to determine whether criminal victimization predictsdepression. Second, recognizing that victimization is contingent on background factors, they tested whether victimization, conceptualized as an assigned treatment, has significant effects on depression, using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). In structural equation modeling equations, victimization predicts initial levels of depression and change in depression across waves. In the IPTW regression models, victimization had significant effects on levels of depression. There is considerable evidence to suggest that victimization influences depression, and investigators must be cautious when examining the temporal and selection issues surrounding the effects.

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 ...

Changing Attitudes Toward Women IT Managers

Essentialism and social constructionism theories have long explained the difficulties women experience as they aspire to higher managerial positions or enter science and technology fields. In the 1970s, the Women as Managers Scale WAMS sought to determine the extent to which males perceived females as being different from their social group. Given efforts to encourage women to consider IT careers and changes in public law and education that have occurred since the early 1970s, this study revisited the WAMS to compare current attitudes of young people toward women as managers. The results suggest that through the intangible individual differences of women, perspective, overtime, via training, by awareness, and with their greater participation in the workplace, there has been gradual improvement in the perception of women as managers by men in the science and technology fields.

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.