Social Information and Employee Anxiety About Organizational Change

Abstract

Studies of job attitudes hove traditionally been conducted on the correspondence between individuol needs and objective job chorocterisiics. A recently developed theory, however, suggests thotjob ottitudes may be o function ofsocialinformotion received (Soloncik & Pfeffer, 1978). This investigation used social informotion processing theory as the bosis for ostudy of antecedents to employee onxiety about o move to on open office environment. The structural equation model developed from social information processing theoryprovedto be ogoodfit to the doto, and o revised version of the modelprovided an even better occouniing for the vorionce in the doto. Anxiety about orgonizotionol change was determined by social informotion, individuol needs, ond job characteristics, with need for privacy having the lorgesi impact on onxieiy. The model is discussed in terms of its support for informotion processing iheory, its individuol sign$cont linkages. and the implications for need satisfaction models of job attitudes ond other reseorch on outcomes in orgonizoiions. Although it has thus far been applied sparingly by organizational communication scholars, a theoretical framework that makes an important link between communication and individual and organizational outcomes is the social information processing theory of job attitudes (Salancik& Pfeffer, 1978). This theory, a response to weaknesses of the traditional need-satisfaction models, proposes that job attitudes are a function of the communicative activities of employKatherine I. Miller is a doctoral candidate, and Peter R. Monge (Ph. D., Michigan State University, 1972) is Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School of Communications, University of Southern California. We would like to thank Mary Zalesny and Julia Crystler for assistance in the study and Vince Farace, Gerald Miller, Judee Burgoon, and Jim Stiff for comments on earlier drafts of this article.0

Adapting to change: The value of change information and meaning-making

“…Timely and detailed information seems a critical element of any change endeavor. This may be due to the anxiety/uncertainty reducing effect that information about the pending changes may have on employees (Ashford, 1988;Miller & Monge, 1985). We expect that change information will facilitate adaptive attitudes (willingness to change) as well as behavioral change (adaptive behavior).…”

A Longitudinal Study of Employee Adaptation to Organizational Change: The Role of Change-Related Information and Change-Related Self-Efficacy.

“…For example, Miller and Monge (1985) found that the provision of information was associated with lower levels of anxiety for 146 employees about to relocate to a new building that would have significant implications for their work practices. Brockner, DeWitt, Grover, and Reed (1990) found that better reactions to job redundancies were observed when information about why resources were allocated in particular ways was provided to employees.…”

Service Climate, Employee Identification, and Customer Outcomes in Hotel Property Rebrandings

“…The change literature has also emphasized the psychological discomfort associated with uncertainty. For instance, Miller and Monge (1985) found that uncertainty was related to anxiety. Schweiger and Denisi (1991) found that uncertainty had a moderate correlation with stress, averaging around .30 across several time periods.…”