Objective and Social Factors as Determinants of Task Perceptions and Responses: An Integrated Perspective and Empirical Investigation.

Abstract

The study of the design of work has come to occupy a prominent position in organization science over the last decade and a half. Building from the pioneering work of Turner and Lawrence (1965), Hulin and Blood (1968), and Hackman and Lawler (1971), task design researchers have focused considerable attention on task perceptions and the relationships between these perceptions and various affective and behavioral responses. Moreover, task design issues continue to be addressed in the pages of organizational science Journals with a regular frequency. At present, there are two countervailing theoretical perspectives dominating the area. One perspective, which has grown from the research cited above, is usually referred to as the task attributes model. This model suggests that task perceptions and responses are primarily determined by objective facets of the individual's Job (of., Hackman & Oldham, 1976). The alternative perspective, presented by Salancik and Pfeffer (1978), argues that task perceptions and attitudes, are instead socially-constructed realities that evolve from informational cues in the workplace. This perspective is generally called the social information processing model.The purpose of the study reported here was to test the efficacy of each of the two models as well as that of an integrated framework derived from the two divergent perspectives. First, the literature pertaining to each of the two models will be briefly reviewed. The integrated framework will then be described. The results of a complex * * .:Ui *, .

Successful Postgraduate Placement Experiences: What is the Influence of Job and Supervisor Characteristics?

“…The theory that task attributes determine professional development and placement satisfaction ignores the fact that cues from the social environment influence individual work‐related attitudes and behaviours (Ferris & Gilmore, ; Griffin, Bateman, Wayne, & Head, ). According to social information processing theory (Salancik & Pfeffer, ), the social environment influences employee work‐related perceptions and attitudes.…”

Perception of boys’ mother-son social interactions: Disruptive boys’ behaviors and involvement in learning tasks

“…Experimental manipulation of task difficulty levels provided important clues on children's task perception and subsequent performance (see MacAuley, 1990 for a review). These experiments were followed by investigations to study interactions between objective properties of the tasks (e.g., difficulty levels), social clues present in the learning context and children's performance (Griffin, Bateman, Wayne, & Head, 1987). Research designs were proposed to validate a Social Processing Model conceptualized by Pfeffer (1981).…”

“…Research has relied mainly on observations (i.e., behaviors) and concrete tasks characteristics. However, several researchers suggest that we need to include variables defining internal processes in research designs to advance knowledge on this topic (Kazdin, 1987;Griffin et al, 1987).…”

Social information processing and job characteristics..

“…Information cues (either all positive or all negative) were provided in written form in the instructions (e.g., Kilduff & Regan, 1988;O'Reilly & Caldwell, 1979;White & Mitchell, 1979), with reinforcement cards (O'Connor & Barrett, 1980), with sample evaluation forms (e.g., Griffin, Bateman, Wayne, & Head, 1987;O'Reilly & Caldwell, 1979), through confederates (e.g., Vance & Biddle, 1985;White & Mitchell, 1979;), and verbally by the researcher during the experiment (e.g., Adler, Skov, & Salvemini, 1985;Griffin, 1983;Kilduff & Regan, 1988). The experimental design used in all of these lab studies was a 2 x 2 factorial design.…”