th'maw—w .a-vn _.... , 4 I _ '1' ‘ ‘ , .‘ - - A, _ v I 3 q 4 ,' ,4“ 1- I -.y yum _< .qu vu -.‘ T.."r, ..- a. I ".x.‘.‘>~‘ Arr-q I.'.I'.."I'.’ .“N‘. in". I .2 . T‘ - ' “ ‘ " ‘- 1‘ < I . A - I ‘ ‘ I I '» ' I . h. .~ ,- g ,3, I TJ. .. ~ 1 :I '3 I I,‘_" . -. < A _ ‘ _ I I 3 I -. ‘ __ 1 |,, ,V , ,. I ...‘A -.,,. I<,|>I)<|.-Iv L.....AI~L I . I -. 4 .. I ..» THE IMPACT or URBAN AND RURAL CULTURAL A SETTINGS, URBAN AND RURAL SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS ON JOB SATISFACTION 0F BLACK AND WHITE EMPLOYEES IN ROUTINE - AND NON ROUTINE JOBS DIssertatIon for the Degree of Ph D MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY 1. BENJAMIN NKEM OKWUMABUA . * ' . 1974 " 1 ' ABSTRACT THE IMPACT OF URBAN AND RURAL CULTURAL SETTINGS, URBAN AND RURAL SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS ON JOB SATISFACTION OF BLACK AND WHITE EMPLOYEES IN ROUTINE AND NON-ROUTINE JOBS By Benjamin Nkem Okwumabua With the past few years, the study of job satis- faction has become important in itself as an investigation of a major aspect of the everyday life of most working human beings. Much research has been devoted to ascer- taining the way jobs are designed as an important factor in determining the satisfaction of employees at work. Previous research evidence indicates that the positive relationship between job size and job satisfaction cannot be assumed to be general but rather is dependent to a great extent on the individual background differences of the workers, when background is classified as either urban or rural. Researchers are faced with opposing views on the relationship between job satisfaction and worker back- ground. However, despite the inconsistencies in the results of job responses between urban and rural workers, virtually there has been no systematic research on the Benjamin Nkem.0kwumabua effect of ethnic background or subcultural identifications on individual response to work. The present research has been concerned primarily with the impact of individual background differences (as measured by rural-urban loca— tion of socialization and residence, and socio-economic status of parents) on job satisfaction of black and white employees performing routine and non-routine jobs. It is logical to assume that employee job satis- faction will differ and that these differences might be accounted for at least in part by individual background differences. This logical assumption led to the develop- ment of the hypotheses. Basically these hypotheses state that: 1. Workers in large urban areas will prefer routine jobs, while workers in towns or rural areas will prefer jobs permitting autonomy and self-direction. 2. Workers whose early socialization was in large urban areas will prefer routine jobs but workers who were socialized in towns or rural areas will prefer jobs per- mitting autonomy and self-direction. 3. Workers whose parents were of high socio- economic status or who held jobs permitting autonomy will prefer jobs permitting autonomy and self-direction while workers whose parents are of low socio—economic status or who held routine jobs will themselves prefer routine jobs. Benjamin Nkem Okwumabua 4. There will be a significantly higher level of job satisfaction of workers in urban location whose parents are of high socio-economic status as opposed to workers in rural plant location whose parents are of low socio-economic status . 5. Ethnic background will make a difference in job satisfaction. White workers who held jobs permitting autonomy and self-direction will have higher satisfaction than black workers who hold jobs permitting autonomy and self-direction. The subjects were 96 females who were employed by banks in urban and rural locations in the state of Michigan. A four-way analysis of variance was used. That is, a 2 X 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design was employed. In the design, the main effects were (1) location, (2) task, (3) race, (4) socialization, and (S) socio-economic status. Satisfaction with work was the dependent variable. Satis- faction was measured by the overall job satisfaction instrument developed by Turner and Lawrence (1965). Where the analysis indicated a significant F ratio, the Scheffé method of means comparison was used to test the signifi- cance between the all possible combinations of pairs of means. As a result of the hypothesis testing, Hypotheses l, 3, and 4 were rejected and Hypothesis 2 was accepted. Benjamin Nkem Okwumabua Hypothesis 5 was accepted in part since there was a ten- dency for whites to be more satisfied in non-routine jobs and blacks to be more satisfied in routine jobs. In general, the findings of this research provide some evidence to indicate the importance of individual background differences with respect to job attitudes. Although the controversy concerning the effects of worker cultural background and task structure on workers' atti- tudes is not resolved in the literature, yet this research indicated that individual cultural background differences have an impact on worker reaction to job attitudes and that non-routine tasks are associated with a higher level of job satisfaction than routine tasks. THE IMPACT OF URBAN AND RURAL CULTURAL SETTINGS, URBAN AND RURAL SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS ON JOB SATISFACTION OF BLACK AND WHITE EMPLOYEES IN ROUTINE AND NON-ROUTINE JOBS By Benjamin Nkem Okwumabua A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Management 1974 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is with sincere gratitude that I acknowledge the assistance received during the course of my graduate studies. While many people certainly warrant a "thank you," I believe that I must particularly single out sev- eral groups of people for special thanks because of the support and encouragement they gave me. I am grateful for the excellent training offered to me by the Management Department and deeply thankful for the financial support provided by the department for computer time for this dissertation. Acknowledgment is made to my fellow graduate stu- dents for providing an atmosphere of friendliness and cooperation toward me. Special thanks are due Mr. Jay Kim, Mr. Manton Gibbs, and Mr. Bill Bigoness for their sugges- tions and constructive criticisms offered during the writing of this thesis. I am deeply indebted to the members of my thesis committee for without their excellent specialty in the area, this thesis would have been impossible. I appre- ciate their ever ready assistance and guidance. I thank Dr. Stan Stark for providing me with very relevant and constructive comments during these difficult times, ii especially at the initial period of conceptualization of the dissertation ideas. I owe a tremendous debt to Dr. Clay Hamner for the design of this research and for being highly instrumental in preventing me from straying from the important details of any good dissertation. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the helpfulness for which this great scholar is famous. Many, many thanks to Dr. Winston Oberg, the com- mittee chairman, because his energy, zeal, ready availability and constant attention to my thesis really made it possible for me to achieve this goal. His willingness and dedica- tion to make this research a real learning experience for me will never be forgotten. As a student advisee of Dr. Oberg, I have been the grateful beneficiary of count- less kinds of assistance. From the beginning of my graduate studies, through the course work, and finally through the dissertation process, Dr. Oberg has been a constant mentor by his teaching, judgment, and encourage- ment. For this and much more, I deeply express my sincere and abiding thank you. I would like to extend special thanks to Dr. Randall Steve Schuler, a dear friend, whose constant direction and many constructive comments saved me from several potential "traps” I had set for myself during the writing of this thesis. iii Special appreciation is extended to my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ikeduba Okwumabua, and parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lee. Without their understanding and support this study would not have been started nor com- pleted. Their love and parental guidance have made it possible for me to fulfill this dream. Lastly, my deepest thanks to my family for their many sacrifices in my behalf. My son Benji, Jr., and daughter Obiamaka would have enjoyed having a father who was not a student in some program of academic endeavor. But despite the many drawbacks being a student places on one's family life, they have never complained. My wife Connie through over six years of our married life has borne a heavy burden as I have pursued my personal objectives for advanced degree. While at times she may have wondered about the validity of my goals, she never hesitated in backing my desire to achieve a Ph.D. degree. To her I owe a very special "thank you." It is to her I dedicate this thesis for her patience, understanding, encouragement, faith, and love which ultimately made it all come true. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES Chapter I. URBAN-RURAL BACKGROUND DIFFERENCES IN EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION . . Introduction . Literature Review . . The Impact of Urban- Rural Cultural Settings The Effect of.Race. and Socio- .Economic. Status Differences II. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY Theoretical Concepts Questions and Hypotheses Research Sample Operational Definitions . Determination of Urban- Rural Population Socio- -Economic Status Task Descriptions Measuring Instruments Statistical Methods III. RESEARCH RESULTS The Impact of Location, Task, Race and Socialization on Job Satisfaction . Hypothesis 1 Hypothesis 2 The Impact of Location, Task, Race, and. Socio- Economic Status on Job Satisfaction Hypothesis 3 . Hypothesis 4 (Exploratory) Hypothesis 5 (Exploratory) Summary . . Page vii ix MUN-“H Chapter Page IV. SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, AND CONCLUSION . . . 64 Summary of Results . . . . . . . . 65 Discussion and Conclusion . . . . . 69 Implications of the Findings for Management . . . . 79 Limitations of the Present Study and Directions for Future Research . . . . 80 LIST OF REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 vi Table 10. ll. 12. LIST OF TABLES Subjects Involved in Classification of Black and White Female Bank Employees According to Task and Urban-Rural Locations ”Rural-Urban" Classification for Area of Socialization . Congruents and Incongruents by Area of Socialization, Present Residence and Race . Rural-Urban Differences Suggested by Mann as Adopted from Sorokin and Zimmerman . High and Low Socio-Economic Status by Cultural Settings and Race Job Description of Bookkeepers and Tellers Analysis of Variance Summary Table on Job Satisfaction With Location, Task, Race, and Socialization as Independent Variables Cell Means and Standard Deviations of the Ratings on ”Overall Job Satisfaction" Mean Satisfaction by Location and Task Scheffé Test for Two-Way Interaction Between Socialization and Task . Analysis of Variance Summary Table on Job Satisfaction With Location, Task, Race, and Socio-Economic Status as Independent Variables Cell Means and Standard Deviations of the Ratings on "Overall Job Satisfaction" vii Page 33 34 34 36 38 41 50 51 53 54 56 58 Table Page 13. Mean Satisfaction by Task and Socio—Economic Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 14. Scheffé Test for Two-Way Interaction Between Plant Location and Socio-Economic Status . . 61 15. Mean Satisfaction by Task and Race . . . . 62 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Analysis of Variance Design (With Location, Task, Race, and Socialization) . . . . . 44 2. Analysis of Variance Design (With Location, Task, Race, and Socio-Economic Status) . . 45 ix CHAPTER I URBAN-RURAL BACKGROUND DIFFERENCES IN EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION Introduction The study of job satisfaction is important in itself as an investigation of a major aspect of the every- day 1ife of most working human beings. Early studies hypothesized that the satisfied (happy) worker was a more productive worker than the dissatisfied worker. Recent research has shown that employee performance and satisfac- tion are not necessarily highly correlated. Brayfield and Crockett's (1955) review of the literature revealed that the relationship between satisfaction and produc- tivity was not strong and as a result of this, they argued that satisfaction and performance are caused by different things. On the other hand, studies suggest that employee job satisfaction does exercise an influence upon certain patterns of behavior, e.g., turnover and absenteeism (Vroom, 1964). In the last two decades, theories of job redesign have evolved as a multidisciplinary problem area requiring the attention of industrial psychologists and other behavioral scientists, trying to identify a reasonably typical set of characteristics that an average person experiences as the most important elements in job satis- faction. Many studies have focused on the nature of work itself, specifying a set of characteristics that a job should have in order to be motivating and satisfying for employees. The well-known two-factor theory of Herzberg (Herzberg, Mausner, and Snyderman, 1959; Herzberg, 1966), for example, can be used to derive general propositions regarding conditions on the job that will be motivating and satisfying to employees. In particular, the theory suggests that jobs with opportunities for achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, and growth in competence are those that will enhance employee motivation and be satisfying to workers. Although Herzberg's theory began to be widely accepted by practitioners, it came under heavy attack by most academicians. Dunnette, Campbell, and Hakel (1967) criticize the theory on the grounds that it represents an oversimplification of the relationships between motivation and satisfaction and the sources of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The problem of measuring job characteristics has been carefully dealt with by Turner and Lawrence (1965). Turner and Lawrence developed a summary measure of six "requisite task attributes": variety, autonomy, required interaction, optional interaction, knowledge and skill required, and responsibility. This operational measure was used in ascertaining the relationships between the attributes of the jobs and worker job satisfaction. They found that employees with rural cultural background on jobs high in all six attributes (RTA Index) were more satisfied and had lower absenteeism than those employees with urban cultural background on jobs low in the six attributes. Hackman and Lawler (1971) were also concerned with the motivating properties of certain task characteristics. They predicted that the nature of the relationships between job characteristics and employee reactions to their work (including satisfaction, performance, and absenteeism) would depend upon the need states of the employees. Their research defined four "core dimensions” to a job that is motivating for employees: variety, autonomy, task identity, and feedback. They argue that individuals with strong desires for higher order need satisfaction respond much more positively to high level jobs than do individuals who have weaker higher order needs. Rationalizing this concept of four "core dimensions," it implies that a job must allow a worker to feel personally responsible for his work (autonomy); it must provide intrinsically meaningful out- comes (variety and task identity) for employees; and it must provide adequate feedback about job performance (Wanous, 1973). Based on this research, it could be fair to say that attention in previous years has been directed in the area of conceptual frameworks which generate propositions about how job characteristics affect employees under vari- ous circumstances. Recently there has been growing advocacy of the need to identify the characteristics of individuals who are presently dissatisfied or satisfied with their work as factors responsible for such individual differences. It can also be recognized that efficient job design involves considerably more than the design of work content and methods and embraces such things as social arrange- ments, individual value systems, and differences in aspirations. Wild and Kempner (1972) suggest that a theory of organizational behavior which ignores the influence of workers' characteristics on job attitude and job behavior is incomplete. They argue that biographical, personality, and need characteristics should thus be recognized as important, even though the precise manner in which such characteristics affect job attitudes and/or behavior is not currently understood. The underlying area of interest in this paper is to determine the extent to which individual background differences affect job satisfaction. Prior to discussing the design of this research study and methodology which will be utilized, as well as specific propositions which will be tested, a review of the relevant literature will be presented along with statement of problem and hypotheses. Literature Review The Impact of Urban-Rural Cultural SetETngs In the past decade, there have been efforts by researchers to provide evidence to indicate the importance of individual differences with respect to job attitudes, behavior, and performance of workers. Attempts to identify these individual differences in job responses have been directed along two lines, that is, individual differences along demographic lines (e.g., race, sex, age, and white vs. blue collar), and differences with respect to job content or other job characteristics. The books Where Have All the Robots Gone (Sheppard and Herrick, 1972) and Work in America (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1973) cite considerable evidence on demographic characteristics of dissatisfied workers. The authors of these books also argue that job characteristics (such as a lack of variety and low autonomy) cause job dissatisfaction, and they identify the types of individuals who typically hold such jobs (such as minority groups, women, etc.). Contrary to the opinion expressed in Work in America, Fein (1974) contends that there can be sources of satisfaction in repetitive work if certain attractions are present and distractions minimized. He states: The blues of many workers are due less to the nature of their work and more to what their work will not bring them in their pay envelopes. Increasingly, workers also want freedom on their jobs. Some workers prefer enriched jobs with autonomy. Most workers want more freedom to act on personal things outside of their work place. Some may want the freedom to just "goof off" once in a while. In short, workers' blues are not formed solely around the work place. Blues are partly a work place reaction to non-work related problems. Divergent views and debate have arisen among researchers on the relationship between job satisfaction and worker background, when background is classified as either urban or rural. Previous and recent research find- ings on this topic (of the relationship between job satisfaction and worker background) have yielded incon- sistent results on the relationship. Some studies have shown that rural workers respond favorably to non—routine jobs (Katzell, Barrett, and Parker, 1961). Rural workers, it is felt, express satisfaction with jobs which allow individual responsibility and discretion because the com- munities in which they live value such traditional work virtues as autonomy and independence. By contrast, urban workers, it is argued (Blood and Hulin, 1967), respond less favorably to non-routine jobs because urban commu- nities are not sufficiently integrated to support and enforce traditional work values; instead, non-work related values and activities compete for the worker's allegiance. This latter response is considered most likely in anomic communities characterized by high population density, slums, low standards of living, and chronic unemployment. Shepard (1970) reported no relationship between area of socialization of the worker and relative amount of job satisfaction. Hulin and Blood (1968) and Turner and Lawrence (1965) indicated that people with rural backgrounds will report greater job satisfaction in non-routine jobs than people with urban backgrounds. Schuler (1973) contends that there is a pattern of interaction between areas of socialization and residence, which is important in deter- mining the relationship between the relative amount of job satisfaction and worker background. In short, the evidence as to the existence of a differential response between urban and rural workers is inconclusive. A number of industrial field studies have shown the importance of socio-psychological variables which determine employees' responses. These studies have pro- ceeded in several ways to identify those individuals who respond positively to task characteristics (routine and non-routine jobs) in contrast to those who do not. Research reviews on this topic have identified studies in which job satisfaction is inversely related to the degree of urbanization of the community. Whyte's (1955) descriptions of rate busters and quota restricters stressed the importance of the worker's cultural backgrounds. In an observational study in a plant, Whyte reported that workers who were likely to be rate busters (i.e., produce above the group standards) were workers with rural or small-town backgrounds, while quota restricters were more likely to have been reared in large cities. This relationship is attributed to differences in needs and expectancies of the employees in various environ- ments. 1e also indicated wide individual differences in workers' values concerning the virtue of work. He contends that at one extreme, we have the middle class norms of the positive value of hard work, while at the other extreme, we have those who place little or no value on hard work. Worthy (1950) described the results of a pro- gram of research conducted in the Sears Roebuck organiza- tion which, among other things, demonstrated that employee morale tended to be lower in establishments located in large industrialized metropolitan centers. Turner and Lawrence (1965) observed that for blue- collar male workers, the lack of association between job design and satisfaction could be explained by separate examination of the responses of two subpopulations, i.e., the rural, small-town residents and those from urban areas. Their results indicated that urban workers were more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, the company, and supervision when employed on jobs making low demands on their capabilities, while small-town workers were more likely to express high job satisfaction when engaged upon jobs making high demands. The influence of community characteristics on job satisfaction has been documented empirically by Cureton and Katzell (1962), Katzell, Barrett, and Parker (1961), and Kendall (1963). Katzell g£_al. and Cureton and Katzell were interested in the possible use of community characteristics as moderator variables, i.e., variables which would serve to moderate the direction and strength of the relationship between job satisfaction and certain behavioral variables. Cureton and Katzell concluded that the nonfurban culture pattern may be best thought of as being made of two positively correlated aspects, one reflecting a small-plant and small-community syndrome and the other reflecting a female syndrome. Both of these factors were related to the job satisfaction of the work groups. Their explanation for this finding was that in small-town cultures the needs and expectations of the workers are such that the workers view high productivity as a means to the desirable end of high rewards. In con- trast to this View is the argument that with increased urbanization, needs and expectancies rise and there is less satisfaction from any specific return (Hulin, 1966). 10 Kendall (1963) was concerned with using community characteristics to index frames of reference of the workers and the alternatives available to them in the community. Using data collected from male and female employees, he found that measures of satisfaction with various aspects of the job bear no relationship to measures of performance and absences even under conditions designed to maximize such relationship. He concluded that overall job satis- faction, satisfaction with pay, and satisfaction with the work done were related to community variables--high satis- faction being associated with attractive community features. Along the same line of thought, Davis (1945) examined the relationship between community size and community satis- faction (the latter operationally defined by a multi-item index considered unidimensional) and noted that in his college student sample size of present residence is positively correlated with satisfaction. Jesser (1963) also found the same positive relationship in his Michigan sample of professionals. Both popular impressions and long-standing theory challenge this generalization: the notion of rural tranquility versus urban turmoil. Johnson and Knop (1970) found also that urban residents will be more satisfied than rural residents with services and opportunities available to them in such areas as salary scales, employment opportunity, leadership and faith in the future,enuirecognition of merit. Rural residents, on 11 the other hand, were expected to be more satisfied with their communities than urban residents concerning such traditional rural community attributes as cooperativeness, democratic decision making, and natural setting. Hulin (1963) presented a model which utilized both plant characteristics (i.e., size, union-management rela- tionships, wages, etc.) and community characteristics (urban-rural dimensions, unemployment, etc.) as variables which should serve to moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and job behavior. In his model it was hypothesized that community characteristics and the per- sonal characteristics of workers would exert their strongest affect on the relationship between satisfaction and behavior directed toward leaving the situation (turnover, absences, lateness) while plant characteristics would exert their strongest affect on the relationship between satisfaction and behavior in the situation. In a similar study, Wild and Kempner (1972) examined the relationships of the job attitudes of female manual workers with the population characteristics of the 10 communities in which they were employed, and evaluated causes of job attitude -community relationships, in particular, the effect of certain plant characteristics. They found that workers from urban—type communities are better disposed to accept rationalized and paced work than those from rural areas and argued that several of the attitude-population relationships obtained 12 are affected by within-plant characteristics. Hulin (1966) also contends that overall job satisfaction of female clerical workers is related to variables reflecting the prosperity, industrialization, and employment situation of a community. Studies by Katzell et_a1. (1961) and Blood and Hulin (1967) defined rural and urban worker population only by plant location to account for individual differences in worker responses to job characteristics. This definition raises the question of whether current residence influences work attitudes more than the place where primary socializa- tion occurred. Dalton (1947) implies that childhood residence has a stronger influence than plant location on expectation toward work. Whyte (1955), discussing the work of Dalton (1947), supports Worthy (1950) in suggesting that the differing American religious and political ideologies correlate closely with the urban and rural present residence and affect both job attitudes and per- formance. A hypothesis which incorporates several of these arguments has been advanced and supported by Blood and 1 Hulin (1967) and Hulin and Blood (1968). The question raised by HulinanuiBlood is, What environmental circum- stances lead to alienation or integration with respect to middle-class work norms? Their answer lies in associ- ating rural-urban location with the likelihood of 13 subscribing to the middle-class work ideology. Blood and Hulin (1967, p. 285) state: It is postulated that alienation from middle-class norms results from lack of socialization to middle- class norms. That is, where a segment of society exists which holds non-middle—class norms and which is large enough to sustain its own norms, the members of that subculture will become social- ized to the norms of that subculture. A handful of industrial workers in a small community could not be expected to sustain a separate set of norms, but persons separated from middle-class identification by low educational attainment or low occupational status and living in ghettos, slums, and highly industrialized communities could develop and sustain a distinct norm system. Aliena- tion from middle—class norms, then, is fostered by industrialization, socially heterogeneous, metro- politan conditions. By implication, Blood and Hulin argue that workers' responses to their jobs can be predicted by means of a continuum running from integration with middle-class norms to alienation from middle-class norms. They hypothesized and provided some evidence to support the suggestion that workers from communities which foster integration with middle-class norms, unlike alienated workers, will report higher satisfaction on skilled jobs. A resulting proposi- tion also is that rural workers are likely to be integrated into middle-class work norms, while workers in urban areas are likely to be alienated from middle-class work values. Turner and Lawrence (1965) report a positive rela- tionship between non-routine tasks attributes and job satisfaction among a sample of rural workers but not among urban workers. They offer some indirect evidence in this l4 regard. Of the 226 rural workers in their study, 161 were Protestant and 65 were CAtholic. According to Turner and Lawrence, the response to job attributes among the rural Catholics was more similar to that of other rural workers than to Catholics in urban areas. This suggests that a rural environment may have an effect overriding religious training and beliefs. Similarly, rural-urban environments may have a stronger effect than other factors brought by people to either type of social setting, including values internalized as a result of socialization. Shepard (1970) argues that the fact that all of the urban workers in the Turner and Lawrence study were Catholic may have biased their results. In an attempt to account for their findings, Turner and Lawrence discuss some possible explanations. They conjecture that urban environment may foster a lack of personal involvement in work. The job may be relatively low in the hierarchy of values among workers in urban areas. In contrast to the views of Turner and Lawrence (1965), Siegel and Ruh (1972) assert that the correlation between participation and personal involvement in work was sig- nificantly greater for the more urban individual than for the less urban individual. Lodahl and Kejner (1965) hypothesized tflun: job involvement is mainly determined by a value orientation toward work which is learned early in the socialization process and is not easily influenced by 15 the immediate job environment. They interpreted their data, however, as indicating that job involvement is affected by organizational variables, especially social variables, as well as by value orientations learned early in the socialization process. While the influence of individual and cultural variables on workers' responses to job characteristics is not denied, this position has been criticized on both methodological and theoretical grounds by those who explain variations in job satisfaction by factors outside the job itself. Mackinney, Wernimont, and Galitz (1962) assert that worker responses are best accounted for by reference to individual differences. Goldthrope (1966) maintains 'that the prevalence of an instrumental orientation toward work can be attributed to prior work attitudes brought into the job rather than to the nature of work's fostering an instrumental orientation. Kennedy and O'Neill (1958) and Kilbridge (1961) found in their studies that factors other than the job content accounted for variations in job satisfaction. As the preceding review illustrates, researchers are faced with opposing views on the relationship between job satisfaction and worker background, when background is classified as either urban or rural. Even greater uncertainty surrounds the precise way to measure the urban vs. rural difference (Schuler, 1973; Hulin, 1973; Shepard, 16 1973). The basic issue is whether work site location or location of socializing experiences while growing up should be dichotomized into rural vs. urban and used to moderate the relationships between task characteristics and employee reactions. Shepard (1970) provided further evidence in light of this apparent uncertainty when he found that workers socialized in urban communities did not respond differ- ently from those reared in rural communities. The interpretations Shepard offered for this divergent results are that the workers who were classified as urban may not be from large enough metropolitan areas to make them suf- ficiently different from those socialized in rural places; and it is conceivable that present place of residence exerts more influence on the response to job attributes than does community size where socialization took place. He also asserts that intrinsic job content does not, by itself, constitute an explanatory variable. He argues that many interrelated factors influence attitudes toward work. Herzberg (1957) enumerates non-job related factors impinging on work attitudes. Blauner (1960) attributes variations in job satisfaction to four variables, one of which relates to job content. Turner and Lawrence (1965) introduce a number of intervening variables in examining relationships between the nature of industrial jobs, work attendance, and job satisfaction. Some advance 17 the viewpoint that to be of value, research bearing on work attitudes should include but also look beyond intrin- sic job attributes. Since the intrinsic nature of the job is correlated with many other work related factors, it is difficult to isolate its contribution to variation in work attitudes vis-a-vis other factors like social rela- tions at work, pay, job security, supervision, working conditions, mobility opportunities, and union-management relations. Shepard (1970) contends that as marked a negative relationship was obtained among those who were highly instrumentally orientated toward work as among nonalienated workers. Wanous (1973) observed that one of the earliest determinants of an individual's work needs is the environ- ment of his socialization. In the context of a rural or urban (white-collar) environment, an individual is more likely to adopt a set of work values similar to what has been called the Protestant Ethic or middle-class work values. As a result of such upbringing, an individual tends to develop a general value orientation toward work which emphasizes the importance of work in one's total self-esteem and reinforces the belief that work can hold intrinsic satisfaction. Wanous argues that the ineffec— tiveness of urban-rural differences was due to the location of socialization, not location of work site, which was urban. In his study, he found no difference between rural l8 and urban groups in terms of both global job satisfaction and specific job facet satisfaction with each of the (20 M80) items. He concluded that urban-rural background did not show much usefulness as a moderator of individual differences because each is increasingly farther "removed from on-the-job attitudes and behavior." The plant location versus early socialization issue raises questions concerning the pervasiveness of the urban alienation described by Turner and Lawrence, and Blood and Hulin. Susman (1973), reporting the results of his study, did not confirm the hypothesis that only rurals react favorably to job enlargement while urbans react unfavorably. He argues that current residence has a stronger influence on responses to job enlargment than does childhood residence as the responses of urbans and transitionals, who were both current urban residents but differ in childhood background, are similar and the responses of both are different from rurals. In summary, based on the preceding ideas, it may be logical to assume that the work that one person views as interesting or satisfying may appear boring and dis- satisfying to another. There are significant differences among workers, and their needs vary. Some workers prefer to work by rote without having to be bothered with deci- sions. Some workers prefer more complicated work. It is 19 really a matter of individual preference. These prefer- ences may have cultural or demographic origins. The Effect of Race and Socio- Economic Status Differences Based on the evidence presented in the last sec- tion, no significant research study has dealt specifically with the impact of race differences in preference for routine as opposed to enlarged/enriched jobs. Attempts will be made below to summarize some relevant research bearing on race and socio-economic status differences. Hypotheses will be developed from the research review and utilized to test the effect of race and socio-economic status on job attitudes. There are ways in which socio-economic status has been related to psychological predispositions of indi- viduals. Authors (Rainwater, 1966; Coopersmith, 1967; Banfield, 1970) have reported that membership in a given social class is said to make it more or less likely that an individual will be exposed to certain life experiences. These experiences are said to directly affect self- evaluation. In particular, membership and socialization in the lower class is said to have negative effects on self-conception. Social class has also been related to psychological predispositions in the relative prestige accorded to various social positions. A concomitant of "high" material placement (regarding education, income, 20 occupation) is the positive evaluation from others which tend to follow. Similarly, positions of "low" material placement tend to bring relatively negative evaluation from others. I These propositions can be applied to predict psychological predispositions for blacks and whites. A number of writers suggest that being black exacerbates the negative effects of lower socio-economic status (Rohrer and Edmondson, 1960; Pettigrew, 1964; Rainwater, 1966). Blacks of low socio-economic status, then, are thought to have lower self-esteem and higher levels of symptoms of psychosomatic stress than whites of the same status. This may account for the repetitious types of task that characterize the image of these individuals with lower socio—economic status. There are several reasons to believe that those brought up in a middle-class environment have more freedom and experience with self-direction than individuals from low class. The results of a series of studies indicate that the parental values of the middle class stress self- directedness, while those of the low class stress conformity to external standards (Kohn, 1969; Kohn and Schooler, 1969). Without consistent focus upon blacks of both middle and lower socio-economic status, it is unclear whether this 21 literature suggests the hypothesis that the relationship between socio-economic status and psychological predispo- sitions toward jobs should be of equal magnitude among whites, or that the relationship should be of equal mag- nitude within each group and that similar differences should be found at each level of socio-economic status. In its simplest form, the relative evaluation argument predicts relationships of similar magnitude with consistent differences (between races) at each level of socio-economic status. McCarthy and Yancey (1971) have pointed out, however, that this simple application of the relative evaluation argument does not take into account the various mechanisms a man employs to counter negative evaluations of his social group. It was suggested that (l) blacks are more likely than whites to find themselves in lower socio-economic status categories, thus they are more likely to associate with other blacks in similar positions and to use them, rather than whites, as standards of comparison in developing psychological dispositions (psychological stress and self—esteem); (2) lower status blacks are more likely to be members of a distinctive subculture which provides alternative and achievable cri- teria of success;and (3) blacks at lower socio-economic status levels are more likely to see their relatively disadvantaged position as a result of "system bias" and, therefore, are less likely than whites of the same status 22 to interpret their position as a reflection of personal worth. If we assume that similar processes are less likely to hold for blacks of higher status, these arguments lead to the expectation that the relationship between socio-economic status and psychological dispositions should be stronger among whites than blacks. The review of the literature presented above documents the controversy currently existing pertaining to effects of individual background differences in worker job attitudes. By adopting a somewhat different methodo- logical framework than earlier studies, it is hoped that a more comprehensive understanding of individual background differences in job satisfaction will be gained through this study. In Chapter II the methodology utilized in this study and hypotheses to be tested will be presented. Chapter III will present the statistical findings obtained from the analysis of data collected in this study. Summary, discussion, and conclusions will be presented in Chapter IV. CHAPTER II RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY This study is designed to examine the impact of urban or rural cultural settings and socio-economic status on job satisfaction of black and white employees in routine and non—routine jobs. The purpose of this chapter is to explain the general procedures which will be utilized to measure this impact and the specific relationship among these variables. In this chapter the underlying theoretical con- cepts of the research are developed and the questions and/ or hypotheses generated by these concepts are presented. Finally, the research sample, operational definitions, measuring instruments, and statistical methods employed in the research are discussed. Theoretical Concepts The extent to which the individual worker is satisfied in this work continues to be questioned (e.g., WOrk in America, 1973). Feelings of job satisfaction are not merely a function of the task performed or task per- ception but are related to more general factors (biographic, socio-economic) involving differences among the individuals. 23 24 Based on the issues raised in the literature review, an obvious but important point should be made about satis- faction as a response to work. Any person's level of satisfaction with a particular circumstance depends not only on the rewards available to him in that situation, but also on his needs and wants. Or, as Morse states, The greater the amount the individual gets, the greater his satisfaction and, at the same time, the more the individual still desires, the less his satisfaction (Morse, 1953). This formulation serves as a useful concept that background differences in satisfaction with the same kind of job attributes will imply a difference in what is wanted or expected at work. Unless this difference in wants or expectations is understood, we cannot understand the difference in response. Davis (1954) points out how the behavior of the underprivileged worker is learned from the socio-economic and cultural environment in which he lives and how he must be trained to work for increasing rewards. According to Guthrie (1944), the systems of habit that make up identifiable personality traits are imposed on the individual through his learned adaptation to his family, his calling, his culture--in general, the exigencies of his environment. It can be seen that statements like those in the preceding paragraph are consistent with a set of assump- tions which imply that attitudes toward work and values in relation to it are essentially culturally determined, as 25 Hearnshaw (1954) argued in an interesting cross-cultural survey of the problem. Lenski's (1961) detailed study of the relationship between religious background and attitudes toward political and economic issues is equally relevant. Lenski found (in a 1958 survey in the Detroit metropolitan area) that positive attitudes toward work are more fre- quent among upper middle-class white Protestants and lower working-class white Catholics, whereas negative attitudes toward work are more frequent among lower working-class white Protestants and middle-class white Catholics [Lenski '(1961), Table 10, p. 87]. Based on the evidence as presented in the review of the literature, there is strong indication that there are inconsistencies in the results of job satisfaction responses between rural and urban workers. It should also be noted that with the exception of Rosen (1959) and Lenski (1961), there has apparently been little systematic research on the effect of "ethnic background" or subcul- tural identifications on response to work, although a number of case studies have been pointed in this direction. Several studies involving very small numbers of workers such as the article by Whyte (1944) on attitudes toward unionism, and the characterization by Dalton (1948) of the nine outstanding "rate-busters," have directed us to the difference that ethnic and urban or rural background might make in relation to job satisfaction. Based on 26 this, one might hypothesize that racial background dif- ferences should have an important bearing on differential job satisfaction responses between employees. Blacks and other members of minority groups have responded to their socio-economic and cultural environment where job oppor- tunities have been relatively scarce. They have seen little use in carrying on their responsibilities and education when they would be limited mostly to menial tasks. Asaaconsequence of this, when the nature of the work is not in line with motivational predisposition, these minorities will show dissatisfaction with their job. An individual's cultural background will affect the degree to which he conforms to group norms or deviates from them. The background of an individual will also affect his readiness to respond positively or negatively to certain job attributes. This study is structured to build on and extend the work of others. Some of them have included in their work consideration of the role and influence of individual differences in human reactions to job characteristics. A number of such studies and their findings have been dis- cussed in the section of literature review. Most of them have surveyed relatively generalized populations for attitudinal responses and value preferences. Some of these studies seemed so inconsistent in their findings that one could not be at all confident of extracting dependable 27 generalization from them. This research makes an intensive study of a selected group, drawn from racial groups in service firms. The research will be delving into relatively unexplored aspects of ethnic background differences. Racial background differences, we suppose, should be an important variable in the individual background differences that can affect the way employees respond to different job attributes. Because of the exploratory nature of this research, limited practical objectives will be established as follows: a. To examine the moderating effects of indi- vidual worker background differences on the relationship between certain task character- istics and worker job satisfaction. b. To explore the influence of workers' ethnic and social background differences on such relations, and c. To seek possible reasons for any relation- ship obtained between employee job content and job satisfaction in terms of the back- ground differences and socio-economic status. The related questions and specific hypotheses are set forth below. The testing of the hypotheses on an a priori basis with measures specifically focusing upon the variables in urban-rural cultural settings, and the inclu- sion of race and social class, should aid in the under- standing of the influences of individual background differences on job satisfaction. 28 Questions and Hypotheses The major question in this research is whether there is a differential amount of job satisfaction due to worker background differences, as measured by rural-urban location of socialization and/or residence and socio- economic status of parents, taking into account the influ- ence of ethnic differences. More specific questions to be answered by the analysis will seek to formulate an answer to the more general question cited above. The questions will be related to the influence of biographical, socio-economic, and ethnic characteristic differences on job satisfaction of urban-rural workers. These will include such questions as follows: a. Will employees socialized, and residing, in rural locations prefer non-routine jobs as opposed to employees who are socialized, and residing, in urban locations, if the urban and rural employees have the same level of education, the same length of service, comparable age, and are of the same sex? b. Will ethnic or social class differences have an influence in terms of employees' preference for routine or non-routine jobs? Based on the relevant literature as presented in Chapter I, it can be concluded that there are at least three alternative hypotheses which would lead to somewhat different conclusions. 29 Essentially, it is hypothesized that: (1) There will be a significant interaction effect between plant location and the nature of the task such that: Satisfaction with work will be higher among workers from urban plants doing repetitive tasks and workers from rural plants doing non-repetitive tasks, than among workers from urban plants doing non-repetitive tasks and workers from rural plants doing repetitive tasks. (2) There will be a significant interaction effect between workers' area of socialization and the nature of the tasks such that: Satisfaction with work will be higher among workers whose area of socialization was in urban centers and who are now doing repetitive tasks and also among workers socialized in rural areas who are doing non-repetitive tasks, than it will be among workers whose socialization was in urban centers who are doing non- repetitive tasks and workers socialized in rural areas who are doing repetitive tasks. (3) There will be a significant interaction effect between the socio-economic status of the parents of workers and the nature of the task such that: Satisfaction with work will be higher for workers whose parents are of high socio-economic status and who are doing non-repetitive tasks and for workers whose parents are of low socio- economic status who are doing repetitive tasks, than it will be for workers whose parents are of high socio-economic 30 status who are doing repetitive tasks and workers whose parents are of low socio-economic status who are doing non-repetitive tasks. More specifically, it is hypothesized that: l. WOrkers in large urban areas will prefer routine jobs, while workers in towns or rural areas will prefer jobs permitting autonomy and self- direction. 2. Workers whose early socialization was in large urban areas will prefer routine jobs but workers who were socialized in towns or rural areas will prefer jobs permitting autonomy and self-direction. 3. WOrkers whose parents were of high socio- economic status or who held jobs permitting autonomy will prefer jobs permitting autonomy and self-direction while workers whose parents are of low socio-economic status or who held routine jobs will themselves prefer routine jobs. 4. There will be a significantly higher level of job satisfaction of workers in urban location whose parents are of high socio-economic status as opposed to workers in rural plant location whose parents are of low socio-economic status. 5. Ethnic background will make a difference in job satisfaction. White workers who hold jobs 31 permitting autonomy and self-direction will have higher satisfaction than black workers who hold jobs permitting autonomy and self-direction. Research Sample Subjects for the research were 96 females: 48 were employed by a major bank in an urban location and 48 were employed by several banks in rural locations in the state of Michigan. To control for as many extraneous variables as possible, the study was limited to females with a high school diploma or with a diploma and one year of college who were in the 20-to-24-years age group and who had 3 years of company service. Personnel files were examined by this researcher in both urban and rural locations to find and select the sample of 12 black female employees performing routine jobs and 12 black female employees performing the non- routine jobs. (Routine and non-routine jobs will be described below.) Each black employee was matched with a white female employee with the same length of service on the job and the same educational background. (As indicated, educational qualification was a high school diploma and/or only one year of college education. Length of service was three years for each of the subjects.) In other words, a sample of 48 employees--24 blacks and 24 whites, half doing routine and half non-routine jobs, respectively--was selected in urban area and the same 32 procedure was adopted in rural location. The urban sample worked in banks which were located in or near a large city. Almost all the working population lived in a large urban community. The rural sample worked in plants which were not located near a large city and which recruited their work force almost entirely from surrounding farm country or small rural towns. Difficulties were initially encountered in meeting the requirements of selection mentioned above. As a result of high turnover among these bank employees, repeated visits were made to the organizations to reselect new employees and match the new employees in order to meet the conditions stipulated. Table 1 indicates the procedure adopted in select- ing the female bank employees according to task and urban—rural locations. Operational Definitions Determination of Urban- Rural Population Worker residence (plant location) was determined and classified by clearly identifying two locations: one in the greater metropolitan area of Detroit and the other in rural communities of southwestern Michigan. The urban or rural background of an individual (location of socialization) was obtained by questionnaire. The subjects were asked to "indicate the name of the place 33 TABLE l.--Subjects Involved in Classification of Black and White Female Bank Employees According to Task and Urban-Rural Locations. Task Number of Location Race Dimension Employees Selected Urban Black Bookkeeper 12 Urban Black Teller 12 Urban White Bookkeeper 12 Urban White Teller 12 Subtotal 48 Rural Black Bookeeper 12 Rural Black Teller 12 Rural White Bookkeeper 12 Rural White Teller l2 Subtotal _§§_ Total 96 where you spent the majority of your life during your 'growing up' years or your first 18 years or when you were in elementary and high school." Those indicating small rural town or medium city of less than 50,000 population were classified as rural and those who indicated a large city of above 50,000 population were classified as urban. . A detailed breakdown of urban-rural area of socialization is shown in Table 2, and Table 3 shows the breakdown of the sample by urban bred-urban resident, rural bred-rural resident (congruents) and urban bred-rural resident, rural bred-urban resident (incongruents). 34 TABLE 2.——”Rura1-Urban" Classification for Area of Socialization. Rural Urban Population Small Rural Towns Medium City Large City Under 50,000 43 3 50,000 - 99,999 19 100,000 - 499,999 12 500,000 and above 19 Total 43 3 50 *Rural area of socialization: Urban area of socialization: Less than 50,000. Above 50,000. TABLE 3.--Congruents and Incongruents by Area of Socializa- tion, Present Residence and Race. Socialization Present Urban Rural Location Black White Black White Urban N = 16 N a 17 N = 11 N = 6 Rural N = 7 N = 8 N = 13 N = 18 35 The distinction between urban and rural dimension adopted for the purpose of this research is based on Mann's (1965) analysis of the fundamental differences between urban and rural types in terms of eight charac- teristics: (l) occupation, (2) environment, (3) size of community, (4) density of population, (5) heterogeneity and homogeneity of population, (6) social differentiation and stratification, (7) population and social mobility, and (8) systems of social interaction. This kind of "ideal type" analysis offers the best way of highlighting the distinctive characteristic of urban-rural communities. Table 4 indicates the concepts provided to show in detail the characteristic features of urban-rural dimensions. It could be argued, based on statements in this table, that the metropolitan area of Detroit and the southwestern Michigan locations meet the requirements of urban-rural dichotomy. Socio-Economic Status In this research study, a multi-dimensional index of class was used, based on three dimensions of stratifi- cation that appear to be the most important in contemporary American society-—education, occupational position, and income. This conception of social class follows closely that of Williams (1960) as defined in American Society: 36 =.omouvvu: cm was :uonaasz m on vmuomumucfi mu cm: .oaouummou mo huwamauow vouavuvaMum can mufiHmonu unease .nomavaomficma .huwxmaasoo wouwouo .mco«umdmu vu>ualuuonm van .Hosmmo .Hmcomuoeaa mo oocmaaaovoum .ouumouwwa you was awe you Bowman cowuowumusa mo mmoum umvas .nuomuaou muoumasc who: “coauomuwucH mo Eoumwm .muuo «a» Ou auucaoo any aouw amnu usummum huucsou unu ou huwo can aouu couumuwaa ago we annouummumo Hufioom no qufiumn mnu :« haze .kumamuuoo >Hw>auwmoa one huwawnoa vow muasmnus .o>«mcoua« who: mNMMmemm .huwcmpu: cuu3 coaumamuuoo o>fiuwmoa 302m coaumoawfiumuum vcm :oHumHu Iaouomwfin "couumowmaumuum was aofiumaucmumwwwa Hmwoom .vmumamuuou ham>auwwom mum hufimsmw Ioumumn cam muflcmnua .AmBAu mass may um paw huucsoo mama anu :fiv mmfiuwcaano Amway cmnu maomcmwououon ouoz "coaumaamdm wsu mo mwwocmmmaom new NuHmGUMOumuwm cum“ Imamuuou ham>wuumom mum muwmsmv can huacmnu: .mmfiufis Isaaoo amusu cw cmnu noumouo "cofiumasmom mo mufimcwo .vmumH Iowuoo xHo>HuHmoa mum mafiaaaaou mo mufim paw muwcmnu: .mvuos nonuo :H .muaaaeaoo anus» may :mnu umwuma nose ad muacsaaoo cmnus mo swam onu .voauma wamw mnu um can huucaou 08mm ecu ca .oasu m m< "wuwcsESOU mo onwm .uam umuoom Iaaovoum .musuma um>o usoacoua>cw mvmancme mo moan: .oHSumc Eouu sofiumaomfi noumouo "ucmscouw>cm .mcowumasooo HmMSuazowuwmco: umnuo can .wcficum>ow .mcoamwmmoua .ooumaaou .mvmuu .ouasmusm Hmowcmnooa mcausuommscma aw adamaaocqua vmwmmam cameos mo zufiamuoa wmmwwmmmwwm mo>Humuawmmuamu sow Adamsma mum huH::EEoo mnu :H :.comuma amass m mm vmuom lumucu ma amt: .mcowumaou mo muwuoocwm can huwuwaaawm o>wumumasoo .msowumamu manmusv aam>wumaou use Hmcom Iuoa mo oocmcwaopmum .muomucoo xumaaum an vmfiaauoo ma uumq ucmcHEOHQ who: .mumwmuwmm oaoca mnu 1cm muonEwE new no Ewumhm coauomuoucfi mag mo mwum uwsouumz .cme use muomucoo snowman: mmmq "cowuomumucH mo Eoumwm .zuwo ecu cu huucaoo mnu Eouw mfimsvu>wvca whoa pofiuumo ucwuuao coaumuwaa may .maamEpoz .omcmuc« mmoa >Hm>fiumummEoo mum cowumHsaoa wzu wo >uwaanoa Howoom mo mauow umSuo new .Hmcowumnsouo .Hmwuouwuuoh mNMMHMmmm .cmnu: cmsu mmwa cowumoHWflumuum vcm coaumwucwumw Imwp Hausa "cowumofiwaumuum cam cofiumwucwpmwmwa Hmwoom .AxuwocmwOHOumz Saws cowumHmuuoo m>Humwmsv mafimuu Hmwoomlonowmm cam Hmwomu cw msomsmwoeoc whoa mum moauHG=EEoo amusu msu mo mcoaumasdoa wnu .mcowumaznoa swan: nuw3 pmnma I800 “cowumdmmom mcu mo Nufimcmono: paw thoCoMOumumm .voumaouuoo mam>fiumwwc mum mufiHmuzu paw xuwmcmp haamuwcmo .muwc Iaaaoo cmnu: cw cmnu umon ma muwmcoo ego moaned mama ecu us can huucnou mama may CH "GOwumasaom mo mufimcmo .nmumamuuoo %Hm>au Imwoc mum xufic:EEoo mo onwm paw :Emfiamusuasuwuwm: Ilmmwuwcaeaoo HHmEm uo mEumw ammo uNwWCDEEoo mo mmwm .musumc Ou afinmcoflumaou Bowman .mufismuso amusuasoauwmcoc Hmum>mm mo .wQHH Iaamm HHwSu can muOum>fiuaso mo quHMuOH "cowummsooo "ucoEcouH>cm zany: Hausa "NI’ I‘l‘ .cmeuossz can saxouom aoum pwumov< mm saw: me voumowwsm mmucmuwwmwo cmauslamusmII.q m4m<8 37 In principle, we can show with great precision the distribution of power, privilege, and prestige among the individual or other social units within any given social system. It can be expressed in objective, statistical terms once we know what the relevant privileges are. Groupings or strata derived from such measurements are not necessarily real social groups, however, but may represent simply the more or less arbitrary classification of the investigator. We shall use the term "social class" to refer to an aggregate of individuals who occupy a broadly similar position in the scale of prestige . . . . There is no doubt that the several major bases for stratification tend to go along together. As a matter of fact, some of the most interesting problems in the analysis of stratifica- tion have to do precisely with the relations among the various types of rank-orders. Williams' definition allows a certain necessary flexibility for variation, though it emphasizes that all relevant dimensions must be fairly consistent, if the stratificational system is to hold together. Implicit in the foregoing are the ideas of Kohn (1969) that class is an abstraction from a complex reality; that in all probability power, privilege, and prestige are continuously distributed in society; and that it is an oversimplification to speak of any given number of social classes. It is often useful, nevertheless, to deal in oversimplifications. The family social class position of the respondents were indexed, weighted,and classified on the basis of the combination of occupational position, education, and income of their parents. Two independent observers tested for the validity of the classification. Socio-economic class was then dichotomized into low socio—economic status and 38 high socio-economic status. Table 5 shows high and low socio-economic status of the subjects' parents by cultural settings and race. TABLE 5.--High and Low Socio-Economic Status by Cultural Settings and Race. High SES Low SES Urban Black 10 14 Urban White 16 8 Rural Black 7 17 Rural White _13_ _11_ Total 46 50 Task Descriptions The measurement of job characteristics has been dealt with by Turner and Lawrence (1965). These authors developed operational measures of six "requisite task attributes (RTA Index)": Variety, autonomy, required interaction, Operational interaction, knowledge and skill required, and responsibility. Scores on each attribute for each of 47 different jobs were obtained from field observations and interviews by the researchers. Examina- tion of the relationships among the six requisite task attributes for the 47 jobs, as the authors contend, revealed that the attributes were very closely related to one another. Therefore they developed the "RTA Index" by 39 formulating a linear combination of the six separately measured attributes. This summary index was then used in ascertaining the relationships between the attributes of the jobs and worker job satisfaction. As a result of these operational measures of the six "requisite task attributes (RTA)," an a priori concep- tual framework was predicted by Turner and Lawrence; i.e., employees on jobs high in all six attributes (RTA Index) would be more satisfied than those employees low in the six attributes. Berlyne (1966) has also suggested that attributes of stimuli containing novel, complex, variable, and uncer- tain properties may be more inherently reinforcing than stimuli whose attributes lack such properties. He further suggested that repeated exposure or orientation to stimuli can reduce the quality and effect of their inherently reinforcing potential. It seems appropriate for the present study that two tasks can best be differentiated on the basis of Turner and Lawrence (1965) high and low (RTA Index), and the stimulus attribute properties that Berlyne has noted. Two job dimensions called routine and non-routine are used in this study. The conceptualization and measurement of task attributes employed by this research identified two job characteristics which were similarly regarded by bank 40 officials as relevant determinants of routine (bookkeepers' jobs) and less routine jobs (tellers' jobs). Bookkeepers' jobs are universally regarded as highly routine while tellers' jobs are equally universally regarded as involving autonomy and self-determination. Job descriptions of bookkeepers' and tellers' jobs were analyzed and are presented in Table 6. Based on the activitities of bookkeepers and tellers as described in this table, it can easily be determined that there are dissimilarities among the two jobs. Tellers' activities are more non-routine, involving autonomy and self- determination, while bookkeepers' jobs show highly repetitious functions. Measuring Instruments The data were collected from questionnaires dis- tributed to the sample of 96 bank employees. Participation was voluntary and the anonymity of the respondent was guaranteed. The development of the measures included items on individual background differences (in regard to urban-rural cultural settings and urban and rural socialization), race, social class, task structure, and job satisfaction. In general, items were drawn from existing instru- ments. However, some measures (i.e., location of the plant, race, and task structure) were designed for this study. 41 TABLE 6.--Job Description of Bookkeepers and Tellers. Bookkeeper Activities Teller Activities a. Forwards holds from previous day by comparing amount of hold with item listed on Daily Transactions Journal, and places amount of item held on Trial Balance Report if item is still outstanding. Computes uncollected funds, listing them on form Np, from deposits posted and manually adjusts the uncol- lected funds figure on both the Trial Balance Report and Exceptions Journal to agree with computations. Verifies credits to Daily Transactions Journal, check- ing account number and dollar amount. Completes analysis work cards for personal accounts. The commercial and savings teller activities are divided into three primary segments. 1. Operations: a. In performing customer orientated operational duties, C&S teller will cash checks, accept checking account and savings account deposits, open and close savings accounts, and accept applications. b. The internal operational duties of the C&S teller include balancing their daily work and other miscellaneous work, the counting and proof of cash,. assisting in on-the-job-training of new tellers and assisting man- agement as required. Customer Service Activities: The C&S Teller is expected to serve each customer completely and in the same cordial manner regardless of the nature of the transaction, handle customer complaints cheer- fully and diplomatically, direct customers clearly and courteously to any other department or con- tact individual he may seek. Sales Oriented Duties: The C&S teller is expected to study staff Sales Manual and other pertinent bank literature in order to keep abreast of bank services and sell- ing techniques, be alert for indications of customer banking needs and inform and invite the customer to use the applicable bank service, personally refer prospective customers to manage- ment for additional assistance as needed, and suggest possible sales Opportunities for follow-up to bank management and contact per- sonnel. 42 Location of the plant was determined and classified as urban or rural by clearly identifying two locations: one in the greater metropolitan area of Detroit and the other in rural communities of southwestern Michigan. Eggg; Employees were identified as black or white. Task structure: Two sets of job dimensions were identified and equally regarded by bank officials as relevant determinants of routine "bookkeepers'" jobs and non-routine "tellers'" jobs. Socialization measures were derived from the ques- tionnaire to reflect both urban and rural area of socialization of the employees. The subjects were asked to "indicate the name of the place where you spent the majority of your life during your 'growing up' years or your first 18 years or when you were in elementary or high school." Socio-economic status: Employees completed five questionnaire items designed to reflect the social class of their parents. The family social class position (high or low) of the respondents were indexed, weighted, and classified on the basis of the combination of occupational position, education and income of their parents. (See Appendix.)‘ For example, some of the items were: Please check the highest level of education your parents had. a. Father: 1. some grammar school 2. completed grammar school (Grade 8) 43 some high school or equivalent completed high school or equivalent some college or equivalent other: some grammar school completed grammar school (Grade 8) some high school or equivalent completed high school or equivalent some college or equivalent U unbthohqunpw» Job satisfaction: The instrument chosen to measure overall job satisfaction was developed by Turner and Lawrence (1965). The items in their instrument were designed to measure the degree of overall positive affect which the individual feels for his job situation. The employees completed five questionnaire items designed to tap overall job satisfaction. Each individual's score was then used as the measure of the dependent variable, job satisfaction. (See Appendix.) Statistical Methods Two statistical analyses used for the research are the analysis of variance and Scheffé's post hoc method for comparison of means. Analysis of variance was used because such analysis provides a method for the simultaneous com- parison of many means in order to determine if some sta- tistical relation exists among the variables involved. A 2 X 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design with unequal cell sizes was employed for the experimental manipulations. The design is portrayed in Figures 1 and 2. A major advantage of this statistical method is that reasonable departures from the statistical assumptions of normality and homogeneity will 44 .cwfimma mosmfium> mo mfimzama mo mam%HNG¢II.N muswfim NNNN HNNN NHNN Mama NNHN HNHN NHHN HHHN Hausa NNNH HNNH NHNH HHNH «was HNHH NASH HHHH swan: GO moo udm mmm mmm mmm mmm mam mmm mmm mmm AMumucwsfimmwA nwsm 304 am“: son awfim sou swam so; as . V Aw. muse: Roman muss: semen some .ws 000 0% xmme osflusomlcoz xmme ocwusom /&AV 0 46 not seriously affect the validity of the inferences drawn from the data. Factorial experiments permit the experi- menter to evaluate the combined effect of two or more experimental variables when used simultaneously. Informa- tion obtained from factorial experiments is more complete than that obtained from a single-factor experiment, in the sense that factorial experiments permit the evaluation of interaction effects. If the analysis of variance indicates a signifi- cant F ratio for an interaction term, interpretation of the data requires a comparison of pairs of means (Scheffé, 1970). The difference between some pairs may be significant, while the differences between others may not be significant. The research design used in this research calls for this type of data interpretation. Accordingly, the Scheffé method of means comparison will be used when significant F ratio is found. The Scheffé method was selected because it handles situations of unequal N's, and results are not seriously affected by moderate violations of the assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance. Finally, the Scheffé method is more conservative; therefore, signifi- cant differences found by the Scheffé method will be significant by any other test of mean difference (Kirk, 1972). All combination of means were subjected to the 47 Scheffé test; however, only those means with significant differences are reported. This chapter has presented the methodology which will be utilized in this study as well as hypotheses to be tested. Information relating to operational definition of independent variables and dependent variables, sample selected, and proposed statistical treatment of data have all been discussed. Chapter III will report the quanti- tative findings obtained from a statistical analysis of the survey data. CHAPTER III RESEARCH RESULTS Relevant research relating to the effect of indi- vidual background differences on job attitudes was pre- sented in Chapter I, while research methodology and hypotheses were discussed in Chapter II. The objective of this research study is to deter- mine the extent to which individual background differences affect job satisfaction of employees. In Chapter II, certain effects on individuals were examined, and these were hypothesized to be different as a function of worker background and his reponse to task attributes. To test the hypotheses, a four-way analysis of variance was per- formed. The independent variables were urban-rural plant location, urban-rural socialization of the worker, tasks (routine and non-routine), race, and socio-economic status of the parents. The dependent variable was job satis- faction. This chapter reports the quantitative findings obtained from a statistical analysis of the survey data. More extensive discussion and interpretation of the research results follow in Chapter IV. 48 49 In this section, two major tables present the results of the analysis of variance concerning the rela- tionship between the dependent variable, job satisfaction, and the main effects of location, task, race, socialization, and socio-economic status. Also shown in other tables are the cell means and standard deviations of the ratings for the dependent variables, "overall job satisfaction." Where a significant F ratio occurs, the Scheffé comparison of means is used to determine which difference between all combinations of means is significant. The Impact of Location, Task, Race and Socialization on Job Satisfaction Table 7 reports the ANOVA results with respect to job satisfaction (work scale), examining the relationship between the dependent variable, satisfaction with work, and the main effects of location, task, race, and socialization. For this analysis, data were available from the 96 subjects who completed the job satisfaction questionnaire. As indicated in Table 7, one personal characteristic was found to have a significant main effect: race (F = 8.238; p < .005). The category means in Table 8 indicate that black tellers and bookkeepers were significantly less satisfied with their jobs than the white tellers and bookkeepers. This finding is consistent with other studies made by Weaver (1974) and Breannan (1974). TABLE 7.--Ana1ysis of Variance Summary Table on Job Satisfaction With Location, Task, Race, and Socialization as Independent Variables. 50 Source DF Mean Square F Sign Location 1 41.3437 .8560 ns Task 1 6.5104 .4497 ns Race 1 119.2604 .2385 .005 Socialization 1 25.3779 .7531 ns L X T 1 6.3134 .4361 ns L X R 1 7.8254 .5406 ns L X Soc 1 5.7816 .3994 ns T X R 1 39.0646 .6986 ns T X Soc 1 64.0068 .4216 .039 R X Soc 1 .4321 .0298 ns L X T X R 1 12.2158 .8439 ns L X T X Soc 1 3.7892 .2618 ns L X R X Soc 1 8.3088 .5740 ns T X R X Soc 1 3.0578 .2112 ns L X T X R X Soc 1 10.1175 .6989 ns Error 80 14.476052 51 oo.H~ om.mH os.mH 4H.oa o~.aa om.o~ mh.ma oo.mH z z z z z z z 2 Hanna om.m Hm.H om.N sm.m ms.m NH.~ mo.s mm.~ am am am am am am am am os.a~ Am.sH oo.ma -.ma om.AH os.AH os.sa sH.mH z z z z z z z : swan: ho.m mo.m oo.m Na.s ma.m N~.m Ho.~ no.m am am am am am am am am amusm amen: Assam amen: Hausa can“: amusm amen: :ofiumooq uamam Q .HO MUQOUflmwm O s manna Roman mugs: somam umvwsm No xmme msHuaOMIsoz xmme mafiusom 3» =.coauumm Imfiumm now Hamum>o: co mwcfiumm mau mo msowumw>mm chapcmum mam msmwz HHmUII.m mammh 52 All logical interactions among the main effects were tested by multiple factor analysis of variance. The only significant interaction as indicated in Table 7 includes task by socialization (F = 4.42; p < .039). Based on the results of Table 7, analysis of the results of the hypotheses as mentioned in Chapter II are presented below. Hyppthesis l It was hypothesized that workers in large urban areas will prefer routine jobs, while workers in towns or rural areas will prefer jobs permitting autonomy and self- direction. The results of the analysis of variance (Table 7) indicated no significant interaction between plant location and the nature of the task. As shown in Table 7, there was no significant main effect for either plant location or the nature of the task. The cell means for the analysis of variance given in Table 9 show the small disparity between the means of the combinations of high and low levels of the two independent variables. The results of Table 9 do not offer support for the hypothesis as indicated above. This result is then in contrast to the findings of Hulin and Blood (1967). The Hulin and Blood study used plant location to determine worker background, inferring that an urban plant had urban workers and a rural plant had rural workers. As a result of their findings, it was indicated 53 TABLE 9.--Mean satisfaction by Location and Task. Location of Plant Routine Task Non-Routine Task 17.00 ' 18.17 Urban (N = 24) (N = 24) 18.96 13.33 Rural (N = 24) (N = 24) that people with rural backgrounds will report relatively greater job satisfaction than people with urban back- grounds. The lack of a significant interaction between nature of the task and location of plant, however, supports the findings of Shepard (1970). Hypothesis 2 It was hypothesized that workers whose early socialization was in large urban areas will prefer routine jobs but workers who were socialized in towns or rural areas will prefer jobs permitting autonomy and self- direction. As shown in Table 7, there was a significant interaction between the nature of the task and area of socialization (F = 4.42; p < .039). The Scheffé test for mean differences is necessary, however, in order to determine what caused the significant interaction. The result of the Scheffé tests in Table 10 54 TABLE 10.--Scheffé Test* for Two-Way Interaction Between Socialization and Task. Socialization Task Cell Means for Satisfaction 1. Urban Routine 18.00 2. Urban Non-Routine 17.07 3. Rural Routine 17.96 4. Rural Non-Routine 20.33 *These Scheffé tests used the alpha level of .05. show that there was only partial support for the hypothesis. That is, individuals from rural backgrounds significantly preferred non-routine jobs to routine jobs (20.33 vs. 17.96,p < .05), but individuals from urban backgrounds did not respond significantly differently whether the task was routine or non-routine (18.00 vs. 17.07; n.s.). The results for both urban and rural groups were in the pre- dicted direction. The above result is in contrast to the findings of Shepard (1970) and Schuler (1973) who reported no relation- ship between worker background and relative amount of job satisfaction. Other studies, however, offer partial sup- port for this finding (Weaver, 1974; Turner and Lawrence, 1965). These studies found that workers from a rural area were more satisfied with jobs that are autonomous and self-governing than jobs which are routine and repetitious. 55 The results, therefore, of the first two hypotheses pro- vided mixed support for the hypothesized relationships and previous research findings. These results will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter IV. The preceding section has dealt with the results of two main hypotheses concerning the relationship between employee work satisfaction and main effects of location, task, race, and socialization. The following section will report the results of the third main hypothesis and two exploratory hypotheses concerning the relationship between the dependent variable, job satisfaction with work, and the main effects of loca- tion, task, race, and socio-economic status. The Impact of Location, Task, Race, and Socio-Economic Status on Job Satisfaction Table 11 reports the ANOVA results with respect to job satisfaction (work scale), examining the relationship between the dependent variable, satisfaction with work, and the main effects of location, task, race, and socio-economic status of the parents of the bank workers. The results of the analysis of variance in Table 11 did not show a sig- nificant four-way interaction. Data were also available for the 96 subjects who completed the job satisfaction questionnaire. Three personal background characteristics were found to have significant main effects: location 56 TABLE 11.--Analysis of Variance Summary Table on Job Satisfaction With Location, Task, Race, and Socio-Economic Status as Independent Variables. Source DF Mean Square F Sign Location 1 41.3437 3.948 .050 Task 1 6.5104 .627 ns Race 1 119.2604 11.388 .001 Socio—Economic Status 1 332.6874 31.767 .0001 L X T 1 10.0104 .956 ns L X R 1 1.8145 .173 ns L X SES 1 51.1831 4.887 .030 T X R 1 38.1041 3.638 .060 T X SES 1 7.5261 .719 ns R X SES 1 .1296 .012 ns L X T X R 1 7.1736 .685 ns L X T X SES 1 8.0822 .772 ns L X R X SES 1 30.6875 2.930 ns T X R X SES 1 14.5134 1.386 ns L X T X R X SES 1 4.6344 .443 ns Error 80 10.472857 57 (F = 3.948; p < .050), race (F = 11.388; p < .001), and 333 (F = 31.767; p < .0001). For location as a significant main effect, the category means in Table 12 indicate that workers residing and working in the rural location (population =I< 50,000) had significantly higher job satisfaction than those residing and working in urban location (population = > 50,000. Carrell and Elbert (1974) support this finding. In their study of job satisfaction of postal clerks, they found that clerks from smaller location (population = 100,000) were significantly more satisfied on their jobs than those from the larger location (population = 800,000). On race as a significant main effect, black bank tellers and bookkeepers were significantly less satisfied than their white counterparts, irrespective of the fact that both groups held identical jobs, had the same length of service, and had basically comparable educational qualifictions. Other studies (Weaver, 1974; Brennan, 1974) are consistent with this finding. Socio-economic status of the parents of the workers in this study also showed a significant main effect. The result indicated that workers whose parents had high socio- economic status were significantly less satisfied with their jobs than those whose parents had low socio-economic status. 58 m~.wfl oo.m~ oo.oa sm.mH ~e.ma oo.HN oo.mH mm.ma z z z z z z z z . Hausa m~.m 0H.N Ho.m mm.m sm.m om.a HN.N sm.H am am am am am am am am om.mH m~.- os.HH «H.ma 4H.ma oo.o~ oo.mH Am.wa z z z z z z z 2 camp: ms.~ H¢.~ mm.~ om.H so.s H4.~ sq.m om.~ am mm mm mm am am am am mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm as amwuwwmw ummam m Re m Re m Re m so as s“ mm e as a a a: a a as q a a: a A» 0 usage sumam mafia: somam wows xmme unaudomlaoz xmma mcausom 3 o aOfiUUmM Imwumm now Hamum>o: so mwafiumm ozu mo maOfiumH>mn pumpCMum mam mammz HHQUII.~H maml\JI---'| 3. Please check a. Father: 1. 2. 1. 20 24 2. 25 29 3. 3O 34 4. 35 39 5. 40 44 6. 45 49 7. Over 50 the highest level of education your some grammar school completed grammar school (grade 8) some high school or equivalent completed high school or equivalent some college or equivalent some grammar school completed grammar school (grade 8) some high school or equivalent completed high school or equivalent some college or equivalent. below the occupation of your parents. prof. & bus. white collar 92 93 3. farmers 4. manual (blue collar). b Mother 1. prof. & bus. 2. white collar 3. farmers 4. manual (blue collar). 4. Check below the average total family annual income during your "growing up" years or your first 18 years or when you were in elementary and high school. 1 $15,000 & over 2 $10,000 - $14,999 3. $7,000 - $9,999 4. $5,000 - $6,999 5 $3,000 - $4,999 6 Under $3,000. 5. Please write below the name of the place in which you spent the majority of your life during your "growing up" years or your first 18 years or when you were in elementary and high school. The name of the place is (fown, city; (state). General Job Attitude. (The purpose of the following group of questions is to indicate your over-all attitude towards your job.) 6. Place a check mark in front of the statement which best tells how good a job you have. The job is an excellent one, very much above the average. , The job is a fairly good one. The job is only average. The job is not as good as average in this kind of work. The job is a very poor one, very much below the average. 7. Place a check mark in front of the statement which best describes your feelings about your job. I am very satisfied and happy on this job. I am fairly well satisfied on this job. 94 I am neither satisfied nor dissatisfied--it is just average. I am a little dissatisfied on this job. I am very dissatisfied and unhappy on this job. 8. Check one of the following statements to show how much of the time you are satisfied with your job. Most of the time A good deal of the time About half of the time Occasionally Seldom. 9. Check one of the following statements which best tells how you feel about changing your job. I would quit this job at once if I had any- thing else to do. I would take almost any other job in which I could earn as much as I am earning here. This job is as good as the average and I would just as soon have it as any other job but would do so if I could make more money. I am not eager to change jobs but would do so if I could make more money. I do not want to change jobs even for more money because this is a good one. 10. On the line below, place a check mark to show how well satisifed you are with this job. You may place your mark anywhere on the line either above one of the statements or between them. I I I I I Completely More About half More Completely dissatisfied dissatisfied and half satisfied satisfied than than satisfied dissatisfied MICHIGAN STATE UNIV. 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