1. Explain what is meant by ‘organisational commitment’, e.g. Mowday et al. (1979).

Organisational commitment involves an active relationship with the organisation so that the person
concerned is willing to give something of themselves in order to contribute to that organisation’s well-
being.
It can be characterised by at least 3 related factors: a strong belief in and acceptance of the
organisation’s goals and values; a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the
organisation; and a strong desire to maintain membership in the organisation.

2. Outline two hygiene factors identified by Herzberg (1959) in the twofactor theory of job satisfaction.

The two-factor theory says that there are separate factors causing job satisfaction as opposed to job
dissatisfaction. The ‘satisfiers’ are motivational factors and the ‘dis-satisfiers’ are the hygiene factors.
Hygiene factors include:
Salary – pay should be equal and competitive to those in same industry in comparable role as well
as appropriate and reasonable.
Job security – permanent contract or risk of unemployment is low.
Company policies – policies should include dress code, breaks, flexible working hours, vacation etc.
and be clear and fair.
Fringe benefits – company should be offering healthcare, benefits for family members, paid holidays,
insurance, etc.
Physical working conditions – Any machinery or equipment must be well maintained. Conditions
should be safe, hygienic and clean.
Interpersonal relations – no conflict or bullying. The relationships between employee with peers,
superiors and subordinates should be acceptable and appropriate

3. Explain one strength and one weakness of the two-factor theory of job satisfaction.
Strengths could include:

Theory based on research by Herzberg. He carried out over 200 interviews with engineers and
accountants in the Pittsburg area, asking them to describe when they were satisfied (or dis-satisfied)
at work and found the reasons given for satisfaction and dis-satisfaction were different rather than on
a continuum.
Useful as it tells organisations what things they could change – either increase in the case of
motivational factors or address in the case of hygiene factors to increase job satisfaction (which
could well improve performance, productivity and reduce employee turnover).
Quite comprehensive as it recognises that some organisations will be able to motivate more than
others or where hygiene factors are more important than in others, so adding to variety.
Ground-breaking in its time. It had previously been assumed that the factors leading to job
satisfaction or dis-satisfaction were the same and lay on a continuum with satisfaction at one end
and dis-satisfaction at the other end e.g. high pay is satisfying and low pay is dis-satisfying.
It does recognise a large number of both motivational factors and hygiene factors that, although they
may not all apply to every organisation, some will certainly apply to the vast majority of
organisations.
Recognises that workplaces do want employees who are satisfied with their job. This leads to
workers feeling valued
Weakness could include:
 Subsequent research has failed to replicate Herzberg’s findings on which he based his theory so it
lacks (temporal) validity or generalisability.
In some organisations it may be very challenging to address hygiene and motivational factors and
could potentially prove very costly particularly with managers who do not value satisfaction in their
workers or believe that satisfaction is unachievable.
May be culturally biased and lack generalisability because standards of living in an area may lead to
a situation where people live hand-tomouth and job satisfaction is a luxury that cannot be afforded.
May not account for individual differences. People could be motivated differently depending on need.
For some, for example, high pay does make work satisfying and is motivating because they are the
only one bringing money into a household. For a more affluent person pay is a hygiene factor as
Herzberg predicts.
Weaknesses of Hertzberg’s study – interviews of 200 engineers and accountants (e.g.
generalisability / social desirability)

4. Outline one type of job absenteeism.

Career enhancing absences – to further task and career related goals (e.g. interviews at other
companies, making links with other companies or training for a qualification to enhance career).
Medical – where there is a medical issue that the employee needs to take time off for such as an
illness, doctor’s or hospital appointment.
Normative absences – Pattern of absences would occur rather than being random. Likely to be using
personal days.
Calculative absences – taking as many excused and non-excused absences as they can ‘get away
with’ (without modifying the implicit social contract between employee and employer).
Voluntary absenteeism refers to instances where the worker has chosen to take the time off – an
extra day at the weekend or an appointment or interview.
Involuntary absenteeism refers to when the worker does not chose to be absent but something
unexpected occurs such as illness, family demands, etc.

6. Describe the Minnesota satisfaction questionnaire (Weiss et al., 1967).

There is both a short and a long version of this questionnaire. The long version has 100 items and
the short version has 20 and both measure job satisfaction.
Areas covered include supervisors, security, independence, task variety, responsibility, promotion,
etc.
The worker has to rate how much he or she agrees with the statement on a 5-point scale from ‘very
dissatisfied’ to ‘very satisfied’ (later version goes from not satisfied to extremely satisfied).
An example of one of the statements is ‘This is how satisfied I feel with the responsibility of my job.’

7. Explain one similarity and one difference between the Minnesota satisfaction questionnaire and one
other questionnaire used to measure job satisfaction.
Similarity/differences could include:

Types of data collected by each questionnaire (qualitative vs quantitative data and/or likert scales vs
yes or no responses) JDI is both qualitative and quantitative and Minnesota is just quanti with likert
scales. QWL is quantitative as it also uses 1–5 scale.
Ethics of questionnaire.
Social desirability • Cultural bias • Appropriateness of questionnaire • Ease of use of questionnaire.
 Number of dimensions – Minnesota = 20, QWL = 8, JDI = 5
Likely similarities and differences will be to other questionnaires including the job descriptive index
and the quality of working life (QWL) questionnaire.

10. ‘Organisational commitment can be measured simply by looking at attendance and absenteeism.’ To
what extent do you agree with this statement? Use examples of research you have studied to
support your answer.
Syllabus: measuring organisational commitment (Mowday et al., 1979); absenteeism (Blau and Boal,
1987) Most likely (any other appropriate responses should be credited):
Can:

High attendance is an indicator of organisational commitment • Low attendance/absenteeism is an

indication of a lack of commitment.
Normative absenteeism shows a predictable pattern and low organisational commitment.
Calculative absenteeism means the worker ‘takes advantage’ and is absent the maximum number of
days before sanctions can be applied (low organisational commitment)
Cannot:
Absenteeism may be for other reasons, such as medical or family reasons.
Absenteeism statistics do not give a reason for the absence.
There are many more things that a worker can offer to show commitment: amount of non-paid
overtime; willingness to help – more than just attending.

12. Describe what psychologists have discovered about attitudes to work.

Attitudes to work, including the following: • workplace sabotage (Giacalone and Rosenfeld, 1987) •
absenteeism (Blau and Boal, 1987) • measuring organisational commitment (Mowday et al., 1979).

Workplace sabotage (Giacalone and Rosenfeld, 1987) Unionised factory workers rated reasons that
would justify the use of sabotage. Those that did accept a variety of reasons for sabotage justified all
forms except dishonesty.
Absenteeism (Blau and Boal, 1987) Used job involvement and organisational commitment to see the
effect of these on turnover and absenteeism. High involvement and commitment was predicted to
have the lowest turnover and absenteeism due as they put a great deal of effort into their jobs and
are highly valued by the organisation. Low involvement and low commitment were predicted to have
the highest levels of turnover and absenteeism due to them not putting in much effort into their job
and not valuing the organisation. In turn, these employees are not valued and would be easy for the
organisation to replace.
Measuring organisational commitment (Mowday et al., 1979) Developed the Organisational
Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) using 2563 employees from 9 different organisations. The paper
explains how the questionnaire was developed as well as it having both internal and external
reliability and validity in terms of its development and use.

14. Evaluate what psychologists have discovered about attitudes to work, including a discussion on
generalisations.

Named issue – Generalisability – the Giacalone and Rosenfeld study looked at unionised workers in
a factory. This can only be generalised to this type of setting and these type of workers. It may be
easier to sabotage at a factory where there is machinery than in an office environment. Blau and
Boal is a theory about absenteeism so could be generalised to Western employees. Mowday studied
2563 individuals so very generalizable (in nine different organisations that cover a range).
 qualitative and quantitative data with reference to the data collected in the research in this topic –
Giacalone and Rosenfeld used qualitative data to collect results. Factory workers were asked to rate
on scale.
Evaluation of methods use to collect data. – OCQ used by Mowday.
Reliability.
Validity – issues with questionnaire data.
Application to everyday life/usefulness of theories and evidence about attitudes to work. – can be
used to help improve the attitudes of employees to work or at least identify to the company those
employees they might have problems with in future

15. There are five job facets in the job descriptive index (JDI) (Smith et al., 1969). One question from the
JDI asks about the co-worker facet: Think of the majority of people with whom you work or meet in
connection with your work. How well does each of the following words or phrases describe these
people? Stimulating Intelligent Frustrating Stubborn ‘Y’ for ‘Yes’ if it describes the people with
whom you work ‘N’ for ‘No’ if it does not describe them ‘?’ for ‘do not know’ if you cannot decide.
Explain how the JDI is scored.

Each word is either positive or negative.

Each item is rated using a ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘?’ (don’t know) scale.
Positively worded items are scored 3, 1, and 0, (for Y, ?, and N) and negatively worded items are
scored 0, 1, and 3).
Scores obtained for each of the five dimensions.

16. Give two ways in which job satisfaction can be measured using questionnaires, other than the JDI.

Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire MSQ (Weiss et al., 1967):

Long form: 20 aspects with 100 questions using a 5-point scale ranging from very satisfied to very
dissatisfied. Short form also used.
Quality of working life (QWL) questionnaire (Walton, 1974):
includes 8 conditions of employment, 35 questions using a five-point scale: very dissatisfied > very
satisfied.

17. Outline two job facets measured by the JDI, other than the co-worker facet.

Pay: Think of the pay you get now. How well does each of the following words or phrases describe
your present pay? Words, e.g. well paid; bad.
Supervision: Think of the kind of supervision that you get on your job. How well does each of the
following words or phrases describe this? Words, e.g. supportive; unkind.
The work itself: Think of the work you do at present. How well does each of the following words or
phrases describe your work? Words, e.g. fascinating; routine.
Opportunities for promotion: Think of the opportunities for promotion that you have now. How well
does each of the following words or phrases describe these? Words, e.g. regular promotions; very
limited.
Co-workers/people on your current job scores no marks as it is in the question stem.

18. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of measuring job satisfaction using a ‘yes/no/do not
know’ scale. You should include a conclusion in your answer.
Advantage:
 clear and unambiguous way to answer. No confusing scale, no misinterpretation.
provides quantitative data.
results in data that can be used for statistical analysis and comparisons.
Disadvantage:
perhaps too simple – not even variants of ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ just yes/no/don’t know.
no explanation for reason for answer.
may result in ceiling effects (e.g. many ‘yesses’).

20. ‘Work absenteeism is always a sign of work dissatisfaction.’ To what extent do you agree with this
statement? Use examples of research you have studied to support your answer.
Syllabus: attitudes to work: absenteeism (Blau and Boal, 1987)
For:

high levels of absenteeism are associated with work dissatisfaction.

irregular patterns of absence, such as one day here and there, suggests dissatisfaction • if a worker
is absent through stress, there is logically some dissatisfaction with work.
Against:
there are many other reasons for absenteeism, such as illness.
there are other ways in which a worker can express dissatisfaction – leaving the job, sabotage.
the worker may simply be ‘lazy’ and absenteeism is one aspect of a ‘lazy’ lifestyle.

21. Describe theories of job satisfaction.

Theories of job satisfaction, including the following: • two factor theory (Herzberg, 1959) • job
characteristics theory (Hackman and Oldham, 1976) • techniques of job design: enrichment, rotation
and enlargement.

Two factor theory (Herzberg, 1959): Job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are independent of each
other. Some factors in the job cause satisfaction while other, different factors can cause
dissatisfaction. Herzberg surveyed 200 workers at a factor in Pittsburgh, USA. Qualitative data was
collected to find out what they found good and bad about their job. From this he developed the
theory that there are two main factors at work – Motivators – content of job (recognition, content of
work, advancement, responsibility, etc.) and Hygienes – need to be present to achieve job
satisfaction, e.g. level of supervision, job security, salary, working conditions, etc.) In order to remove
dissatisfaction hygiene factors must be met, e.g. pay a good wage. Then motivating factors must be
dealt with (e.g. make promotions available to staff, give more responsibility, etc.).
Job characteristics theory (Hackman and Oldham, 1976): Core job characteristics that will appeal to
workers and improve job satisfaction include: • Skill variety • Task identity • Autonomy • Task
significance • Feedback. These together bring about three psychological states about the work.
Experience meaningfulness at work, have knowledge of the result of their work in order to enable the
worker to grow and develop in their job and experience responsibility over their work. Techniques of
job design: enrichment, rotation and enlargement These can allow for increased satisfaction at work.
Enrichment – Redesigning the job to make it more challenging and interesting for the employee.
These will usually involve more skills and a higher level of responsibility. They will feel more in
control of their job and this should lead to greater satisfaction at work.
Rotation – Change the tasks the workers are expected to do in their job on a regular basis.
Employees could rotate around jobs within the same work environment (e.g. within a factor, kitchen
or office) or they could move between departments for even more variety. This will build the skills of
the worker and make them more useful to the company who could make use of these skills as and
when required.
 Enlargement – This increases the tasks of a particular job. It increases the scope of the employee’s
duties and they perform a wider variety of tasks during their working day. This can be either
horizontal where more tasks are given to the employee or vertical which could be higher-level jobs or
more responsibility given to the employee.

22. Evaluate theories of job satisfaction, including a discussion about determinism.

Named issue – determinism – These three theories are mainly deterministic. They suggest that the
worker’s satisfaction can be directly influenced by the practices of the organisation. This suggests
the workers do not have much free will over whether they are satisfied with their jobs. It ignores
individual differences that some people like their jobs and find most types of employment satisfying
while others dislike work and it would be very difficult for an organisation to make it satisfying for this
type of person.
A range of other issues could be used for evaluation here. These include: • Generalisability •
Effectiveness and appropriateness of theories of job satisfaction • Any appropriate evaluation issue
of evidence which supports the theories of job satisfaction • Reductionism • Individual/situational
debate.

23. Explain what is meant by ‘enlargement’ as a job design technique.

It increases the scope of the employee’s duties and they perform a wider variety of tasks during their
working day.
This can be either horizontal where more tasks are given to the employee or vertical which could be
higher level jobs or more responsibility given to the employee.

24. Describe two of the four general methods of workplace sabotage outlined by Giacalone and
Rosenfeld (1987).

Work slowdown, e.g. doing personal work on company time.

Destruction of machinery, premises or products – carving poetry on bathroom walls.
Causing chaos – setting up the foreman to get him/her in trouble.
The above three are aimed at hurting the company.
Dishonesty – stealing This can hurt the company as well as achieve personal gains for the
employees.

25. Explain one strength and one weakness of the study by Giacalone and Rosenfeld (1987) on
workplace sabotage.
Likely strengths include:

Strengths of quantitative data and self-reports.

Kept confidential – this could increase honesty in the responses.
Useful to the company and similar companies to be aware of sabotage methods and to look for
methods to reduce these in their organisation.
Asked by non-supervisory personnel so may be more honest in their response.
**Likely weaknesses include:
Lack of generalisability due to the study just using one factory and interviewing 38 of its employees.
Just quantitative data collected.
Although kept confidential the employees may not be honest about the sabotage methods used.
Only former employees who could exaggerate the sabotage methods.
26. From the key study by Giacalone and Rosenfeld (1987) on sabotage in the workplace: Describe two
ways in which ethical guidelines were followed in this study when presenting the questionnaires to
workers.

participants gave consent.

participants were asked to complete a ‘packet’ (i.e. package/ bundle) of questionnaires.
• confidentiality was maintained.
participants were told that they should not write their names or any identifying information on the
questionnaires.

27. Suggest one reason why workers in this study would not want their managers to see their answers.

the manager might discover that a worker was involved in an act of sabotage and so the worker
might lose their job.
the manager might suspect the worker in any future act of sabotage when the worker is innocent.
the manager might suspect the worker of being a ‘trouble-maker’ and a negative influence on other
workers.

28. Give two reasons why unethical studies on workers in organisations should not be conducted.
Note: question is about workers in organisations in general.

Informed consent: participants should know exactly what a study is about whatever the organisation
or job a worker is doing.
Confidentiality: if this guideline is not maintained a participant could be identified and personal
information could be seen by others (e.g. a manager who could act on that information).
Deception: a participant should not be deceived because they would be completing a study (or
assessment) for a different purpose from the one stated. In the study by Giacolone and Rosenfeld
participants were told the study was for an industrial seminar.

29. Blau and Boal’s absenteeism and organisational commitment model including types of absence,
categories of commitment.
Description: Absenteeism might be involuntary (due to illness) but it can also be voluntary (an
indicator of job dissatisfaction).
Blau and Boal outline four types or categories of absence:

medical: high job involvement/high organisational commitment.

career-enhancing: high job involvement/low organisational commitment.
normative: low job involvement/high organisational commitment.
calculative: low job involvement/low organisational commitment.

30. In the study by Giacalone and Rosenfeld (1987), the Sabotage Reasons Questionnaire asked
workers to rate each of the sabotage methods on a 7-point scale of 1 (not at all justifiable) to 7
(totally justifiable). Give one way in which this study was ethical.

informed consent: participants volunteered for the study.

confidentiality: told they should not write their names or any identifying information on the
questionnaires.
not deceived: told that management would not have access to their responses.
31. Suggest two ways in which the data from the Sabotage Reasons Questionnaire could be analysed,
including reasons for your suggestions.

Calculation of a mean, median, mode or range – summarising data. Note: if sufficient detail two of
these can be credited.
Presentation of data using a bar chart – visual and differences can be seen at a glance.
Calculation of a statistical test. Not required but is worth credit.

32. Suggest how the reliability of this questionnaire could be tested.

Test-retest: test given to workers initially and then given to the same workers again after a period of
time (e.g. 1 month) and scores compared.
Split half: half the 29(!) items into 1–14 and 15–29, or (i) Q1, Q3, Q5 etc. and (ii) Q2, Q4, Q6 etc. and
then compare the scores from the two halves.

33. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of using a 7-point scale in questionnaires given to workers.
You should include a conclusion in your answer.
Advantages:

a 7-point scale allows a wide range of responses from ‘not at all justifiable’ to ‘totally justifiable’
a 7-point scale includes a mid-point, which is neutral, so any participant who really feels neutral can
choose this option.
a 7-point scale will provide quantitative data that can be statistically analysed.
Disadvantages:
participants could ‘opt-out’ and give neutral responses (mid-point) for every answer. A participant
may do this if they fear that management will see the responses.
neutral responses do not help researchers to draw conclusions. A forced 6-point choice does not
allow an opt out and a decision, even 51/49 one way or the other must be made.

34. Describe theories of job satisfaction (two factor theory, job characteristics theory, techniques of job
design.

Two factor theory (Herzberg, 1959) Job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are independent of each
other. Some factors in the job cause satisfaction while other, different factors can cause
dissatisfaction. Herzberg surveyed 200 workers at a factor in Pittsburgh, USA. Qualitative data was
collected to find out what they found good and bad about their job. From this he developed the
theory that there are two main factors at work – Motivators – job satisfaction – content of job
(recognition, content of work, advancement, achievement, responsibility, etc.) and Hygienes – job
dissatisfaction – e.g. level of supervision, job security, salary, working conditions, company policies,
etc.) In order to remove dissatisfaction hygiene factors must be met. E.g. pay a good wage. Then
motivating factors must be dealt with (e.g. make promotions available to staff, give more
responsibility, etc.).
Job characteristics theory (Hackman and Oldham, 1976) Core job characteristics that will appeal to
workers and improve job satisfaction include – Skill variety Task identity Autonomy Task significance
Feedback These together bring about three psychological states about the work. Experience
meaningfulness at work, have knowledge of the result of their work in order to enable the worker to
grow and develop in their job and experience responsibility over their work.
Techniques of job design: enrichment, rotation and enlargement These can allow for increased
satisfaction at work. Enrichment – Redesigning the job to make it more challenging and interesting
 for the employee. These will usually involve more skills and a higher level of responsibility. They will
feel more in control of their job and this should lead to greater satisfaction at work. Rotation –
Change the tasks the workers are expected to do in their job on a regular basis. Employees could
rotate around jobs within the same work environment (e.g. within a factory, kitchen or office) or they
could move between departments for even more variety. This will build the skills of the worker and
make them more useful to the company who could make use of these skills as and when required.
Enlargement – This increases the tasks of a particular job. It increases the scope of the employee’s
duties and they perform a wider variety of tasks during their working day. This can be either
horizontal where more tasks are given to the employee or vertical which could be higher level jobs or
more responsibility given to the employee.

35. Evaluate theories of job satisfaction (two factor theory, job characteristics theory, techniques of job
design , including a discussion about reductionism versus holism.

Named issue – Reductionism versus holism – The Hertzberg theory is somewhat reductionist as it
does consider just two factors. However, before this, just the factor of income was considered to be
the primary provider of job satisfaction so it is less reductionist than this original belief. The job
characteristics theory is less reductionist and considers five factors that could increase worker
satisfaction. The job design techniques give three ways that jobs could be improved so that a
company can consider all or some of them depending on the nature of the work involved. Also if one
does not work in a particular department or with a particular employee, it could be changed to a
different one. Thus less reductionist/more holistic.
Determinism • Generalisability • Effectiveness and appropriateness of theories of job satisfaction. •
Any appropriate evaluation issue of evidence which supports the theories of job satisfaction •
Reductionism • Individual/situational debate

36. Describe what psychologists have discovered about measuring job satisfaction.

Rating scales and questionnaires: job descriptive index (Smith et al., 1969): Questionnaire measures
job satisfaction in experience of work, salary, promotion prospects, experience of supervision,
experience of co-workers. Simply scale of yes, no, or can’t decide to each item. Is compared with
standardised norms based on data from a large sample of people and updated regularly.
Minnesota satisfaction questionnaire (Weiss et al., 1967): Long version contains 100 items and short
version 20. Measures satisfaction with a range of aspects including company policies, scope for
advancement, security, independence, recognition, responsibility, variety and working conditions.
Uses a Likert scale. Original scale was very satisfied, satisfied, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied,
dissatisfied, very dissatisfied and changed because of skewed results to not satisfied, somewhat
satisfied, satisfied, very satisfied, extremely satisfied.
Quality of working life (QWL) questionnaire (Walton, 1974): Used to assess feelings employees have
towards jobs, colleagues, and companies informing how these feelings affect organisational growth
and profitability. Could also be seen to allow organisation to respond to employees’ needs. A range
of factors assessed including job security, reward systems, pay levels, and opportunity for growth.
Uses a Likert scale. Quite complex language used (e.g. remuneration, salubrity, polyvalence).

37. Evaluate what psychologists have discovered about measuring job satisfaction, including a
discussion about psychometrics.

Named issue – psychometrics - Strengths – reliable as standardised self-reports given to

employees, JDI is valid as it is based on standardised norms, easy to administer and gives a
quantitative score so comparisons can be made (e.g. between different departments in an
 organisation or before and after a restructuring of management. Weaknesses – can lack reliability if
different employees have a different understanding of the questions asked. For example, the QWL
has complex language in some of the questions which will be understood differently by respondents.
Other weaknesses include – lack of validity due to social desirability – employees may wish to
appear to be satisfied or due to recent conflicts at work the employee may report being dissatisfied
but if the same test was taken after the conflict had been resolved, the employee might report a
much higher level of satisfaction. No qualitative data is collected so lacks depth and limited answers
available (e.g. JDI has three possible answers).
Strengths and weaknesses of quantitative data (if not discussed in named issue). Reductionist or
holistic measures.
Reliability(if not discussed in named issue). Usefulness / application to everyday life. Cultural bias

Blau and Boal (1987) proposed a model to explain how job involvement and organisational commitment
could interact to affect turnover and absenteeism in workers. Each interaction of job involvement and
organisational commitment produces different worker behaviours. Each interaction is represented by a
letter (W, X, Y, Z) in Fig. 4.1.

38. Explain what is meant by the term 'job involvement’.

Blau (1985b) defines job involvement as the extent to which the individual identifies psychologically
with their job.
Also included in the Blau and Boal article: the degree of importance of one's job to one's self-image;
the degree to which an individual is actively participating in their work;
the degree to which an individual's self-esteem or self-worth is affected by their perceived
performance level.

39. Explain what Blau and Boal’s model predicts about workers’ behaviour in ‘Z’. Do not refer to
absenteeism in your answer.

Z = low job involvement and low organisational commitment.

Apathetic employees. Work is not important, so low effort. Do not care about the organisation or its
aims.

40. Explain what Blau and Boal’s model predicts about workers’ behaviour in ‘X’. Do not refer to
absenteeism in your answer.

X = low job involvement and high organisational commitment.

corporate citizens: for these workers work is not personally important to them, but they identify with
the organisation and its goals

41. Outline two of the four categories of absence identified by Blau and Boal.
Medical:

(high JI and high OC): response to various infrequent and uncontrollable events such as illness,
injury, funeral leave, and family demands (sick spouse or child). For the organisation this is
sporadically occurring, excused absence.
Career-enhancing:
 (high JI and low OC): absence is depicted as a mechanism that allows the employee to further task-
and career-related goals.
Normative:
(low JI and high OC): absence is viewed less as a motivated behaviour and more as a habitual
response. Rather than absenteeism being random, as with the medical category, definite patterns
will emerge and be predictable.
Calculative:
(low JI and low OC): absence would be (for the most apathetic worker) the maximum permitted
amount of excused and unexcused absences by the organisation before sanctions (such as
warnings or termination of employment) are applied.

42. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using absenteeism to measure organisational
commitment. You should include a conclusion in your answer.
Strengths:

absenteeism is an objective measure, clearly and easily recorded.

management can keep records of absence over time.
the individual worker decides to be absent, it is not a subjective management opinion
Weaknesses:
high absenteeism may not be a valid measure of OC.
absenteeism is just one measure; a range of measures are needed.
absenteeism is a behaviour which needs an explanation; OC is an attitude (extent to which an
individual identifies with an organisation)

43. ‘Job satisfaction can only be assessed effectively using open-ended questions.’ To what extent do
you agree with this statement? Use examples of research you have studied to support your answer.
Agree (it can):

asking open questions can reveal reasons why a worker might be satisfied at work.
taking the time to ask open-ended questions indicates to the worker that their opinion matters; that
the company cares.
open questions can be a part of closed questions and can support any quantitative data.
Disagree (it cannot):
open questions providing qualitative data have no quantitative data so comparisons between
workers are more difficult.
it could be argued that only quantitative data is necessary; gathering it is far less time consuming
that asking open-ended questions.
open questions need to be analysed which may result in researcher bias or misinterpretation. Inter-
rater judgments are needed.

44. Explain what is meant by ‘enrichment’ as a job design technique.

Redesigning the job to make it more challenging and interesting for the employee.
These will usually involve more skills and a higher level of responsibility.

45. Describe the study on workplace sabotage by Giacalone and Rosenfeld (1987).

38 Unionised factory workers in an electrical factory volunteered and rated reasons that would justify
the use of sabotage.
 Given list of 29 sabotage methods and asked to rate them on a scale of 1–7 (totally justifiable)
Highreason acceptors justified production slowdowns more than low-reason acceptors.
High-reason acceptors also justified destruction (machinery, premises, etc.) more than low-reason.
All (high and low) did accept a variety of reasons for sabotage justified all forms except dishonesty.
Methods of sabotage included slowdowns, destructiveness, dishonesty and causing chaos.

46. Explain two weaknesses of the study by Giacalone and Rosenfeld.

Generalisability (38 Unionised factory workers in an electrical factory).

Quantitative data collected so does not give the reasons for the worker’s response.
Reasons for sabotage and types of sabotage were created by an ex-employee. The reasons may
have changed since the employee left the factory or this employee may not have been aware of all
of the reasons for sabotage. Lowers validity.
A split was done at the median point to create the two groups – those closest to this median point
may not have been high-reason or low-reason acceptors. Lowers validity. Reductionist management
of the individual’s disorder.
Self report measure so could suffer from social desirability. The workers may have been concerned
about who would see their responses and may not have been entirely honest about whether they
think the types/reasons for sabotage are justified.

47. Job design involves matching work processes to improve a worker’s interest in the task and to
improve productivity. It can involve job rotation, job enrichment and job enlargement. Explain what is
meant by the term ‘job rotation’.

job rotation keeps the worker at the same level of responsibility; there is simply a change in task to
be done.
There is variation and so reduces boredom, but it is unlikely to improve job satisfaction.
Unlikely to involve change in skill level. Rotation done variably.

48. Suggest one similarity and one difference between job enrichment and job enlargement.

49. Suggest one way in which worker satisfaction can be measured using a psychometric test.

the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) measures satisfaction with work environment. The
long version takes 15–20 minutes to complete, using 100 satisfaction items. Weiss et al. (1967) say
it is both reliable and valid. It can be completed as a postal questionnaire or in an interview setting. 5
point scale: very dissatisfied to very satisfied.
the Quality of Work Life evaluation scale (QWL scale, Walton, 1974): 35 questions over 8 categories
using a 5 point scale very satisfied to very dissatisfied.
the Job Description Index (JDI) Smith et al. (1969) workers rate 5 facets: pay, promotions, co-
workers, supervision and the work itself using a yes/no/don’t know scale. Scoring positive 3, 1, 0 and
negative 0, 1 and 3.
50. Suggest one way in which worker satisfaction can be measured, other than using a self-report.

observation of worker behaviour: behaviour towards job (e.g. meeting targets); behaviour towards
co-workers, involvement in work-related activities, etc.
recording attendance/absenteeism, recording punctuality.

51. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of measuring job satisfaction using an interview. You should
include a conclusion in your answer.
Strengths:

interviews allow people to present their side of the study in full detail.
interviews can be done in a safe and private environment.
an interview could be unstructured, allowing free interaction; it could be structured allowing
management to cover ‘essential’ questions.
the interview can be recorded providing evidence of what was said should it be needed.
Weaknesses:
people may be reluctant to be interviewed about their job satisfaction.
people may not tell the truth, hiding information or modifying it.
people may not tell the truth for fear of management intimidation.
people think they will be perceived as weak, inferior or inadequate by management.

52. Explain what is meant by ‘organisational commitment’, e.g. Mowday et al. (1979).

Organisational commitment involves an active relationship with the organisation so that the person
concerned is willing to give something of themselves in order to contribute to that organisation’s well-
being.
It can be characterised by at least 3 related factors: a strong belief in and acceptance of the
organisation’s goals and values; a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the
organisation; and a strong desire to maintain membership in the organisation.

53. Outline two hygiene factors identified by Herzberg (1959) in the two factor theory of job satisfaction.

The two-factor theory says that there are separate factors causing job satisfaction as opposed to job
dissatisfaction.
The ‘satisfiers’ are motivational factors and the ‘dis-satisfiers’ are the hygiene factors.
Hygiene factors include: • Salary – pay should be equal and competitive to those in same industry in
comparable role as well as appropriate and reasonable • Job security – permanent contract or risk of
unemployment is low • Company policies – policies should include dress code, breaks, flexible
working hours, vacation etc. and be clear and fair • Fringe benefits – company should be offering
healthcare, benefits for family members, paid holidays, insurance, etc. • Physical working conditions
– Any machinery or equipment must be well maintained. Conditions should be safe, hygienic and
clean • Interpersonal relations – no conflict or bullying. The relationships between employee with
peers, superiors and subordinates should be acceptable and appropriate

54. Explain one strength and one weakness of the two-factor theory of job satisfaction.
Strengths could include:

Theory based on research by Herzberg. He carried out over 200 interviews with engineers and
accountants in the Pittsburg area, asking them to describe when they were satisfied (or dis-satisfied)
 at work and found the reasons given for satisfaction and dis-satisfaction were different rather than on
a continuum.
Useful as it tells organisations what things they could change – either increase in the case of
motivational factors or address in the case of hygiene factors to increase job satisfaction (which
could well improve performance, productivity and reduce employee turnover).
Quite comprehensive as it recognises that some organisations will be able to motivate more than
others or where hygiene factors are more important than in others, so adding to variety.
Ground-breaking in its time. It had previously been assumed that the factors leading to job
satisfaction or dis-satisfaction were the same and lay on a continuum with satisfaction at one end
and dis-satisfaction at the other end e.g. high pay is satisfying and low pay is dis-satisfying.
It does recognise a large number of both motivational factors and hygiene factors that, although they
may not all apply to every organisation, some will certainly apply to the vast majority of
organisations.
Recognises that workplaces do want employees who are satisfied with their job. This leads to
workers feeling valued
Weakness could include:
Subsequent research has failed to replicate Herzberg’s findings on which he based his theory so it
lacks (temporal) validity or generalisability.
In some organisations it may be very challenging to address hygiene and motivational factors and
could potentially prove very costly particularly with managers who do not value satisfaction in their
workers or believe that satisfaction is unachievable.
May be culturally biased and lack generalisability because standards of living in an area may lead to
a situation where people live hand-tomouth and job satisfaction is a luxury that cannot be afforded.
May not account for individual differences. People could be motivated differently depending on need.
For some, for example, high pay does make work satisfying and is motivating because they are the
only one bringing money into a household. For a more affluent person pay is a hygiene factor as
Herzberg predicts.
Weaknesses of Hertzberg’s study – interviews of 200 engineers and accountants (e.g.
generalisability / social desirability)

55. ‘Quality of working life can only be measured effectively using fivepoint rating scales.’ To what extent
do you agree with this statement? Use examples of research you have studied to support your
answer.
Measured effectively:

a five-point scale allows a wide range of responses from ‘very dissatisfied’ to ‘very satisfied’
a five-point scale includes a mid-point, which is neutral, so any participant who really feels neutral
can choose this option.
a five-point scale will provide quantitative data that can be statistically analysed
Not measured effectively:
Some participants may provide socially desirable responses; not give truthful answers; respond to
demand characteristics.
Closed/fixed choice questions may force people into choosing answers that do not reflect their true
opinion and therefore may lower the validity.
Researchers have to be careful about use of leading questions; it could affect the validity of the data
collected

56. Describe what psychologists have discovered about attitudes to work.

 Workplace sabotage (Giacalone and Rosenfeld, 1987): 38 unionised factory workers in an electrical
factory rated reasons that would justify the use of sabotage. Given list of sabotage methods and
asked to rate them on a scale of 1–7 (totally justifiable). High-reason acceptors justified production
slowdowns more than low-reason acceptors. Highreason acceptors also justified destruction
(machinery, premises, etc.) more than low-reason. All (high and low) did accept a variety of reasons
for sabotage justified all forms except dishonesty. Methods of sabotage included slowdowns,
destructiveness, dishonesty and causing chaos.
Absenteeism (Blau and Boal, 1987) Used job involvement and organisational commitment to see the
effect of these on turnover and absenteeism. High involvement and commitment was predicted to
have the lowest turnover and absenteeism due as they put a great deal of effort into their jobs and
are highly valued by the organisation. Low involvement and low commitment were predicted to have
the highest levels of turnover and absenteeism due to them not putting in much effort into their job
and not valuing the organisation. In turn, these employees are not valued and would be easy for the
organisation to replace.
Measuring organisational commitment (Mowday et al., 1979) Developed the 15 item Organisational
Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) using 2563 employees from 9 different organisations. The paper
explains how the questionnaire was developed as well as it having both internal and external
reliability and validity in terms of its development and use.

57. Evaluate what psychologists have discovered about attitudes to work, including a discussion of
practical applications.

Named issue – practical applications Can be used to help improve the attitudes of employees to
work or at least identify to the company those employees they might have problems with in future via
the OCQ. Can identify if involvement is high or low and work with the employee to help them to feel
more involved in the organisation and therefore reduce absenteeism and turnover. Can identify high
acceptors of sabotage and work with these employees to help make them low acceptors. Can alert
companies to the possibility that all employees may be dishonest as this was seen as acceptable
form of sabotage.
Qualitative and quantitative data with reference to the data collected. • Evaluation of methods use to
collect data. • Reliability • Validity • Generalisability