PS63CH14-Judge ARI 31 October 2011 12:16 Job Attitudes Timothy A. Judge1 and John D. Kammeyer-Mueller2 1Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556; email: [email protected] 2Department of Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611; email: kammeyjd@ufl.edu Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2012. 63:341–67 Keywords The Annual Review of Psychology is online at job attitudes, job satisfaction, mood, emotions, personality, psych.annualreviews.org performance This article’s doi: by University of Notre Dame on 04/23/12. For personal use only. 10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100511 Abstract Copyright c 2012 by Annual Reviews. Job attitudes research is arguably the most venerable and popular topic All rights reserved Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2012.63:341-367. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org in organizational psychology. This article surveys the field as it has 0066-4308/12/0110-0341$20.00 been constituted in the past several years. Definitional issues are ad- dressed first, in an attempt to clarify the nature, scope, and structure of job attitudes. The distinction between cognitive and affective bases of job attitudes has been an issue of debate, and recent research using within-persons designs has done much to inform this discussion. Recent research has also begun to reformulate the question of dispositional or situational influences on employee attitudes by addressing how these factors might work together to influence attitudes. Finally, there has also been a continual growth in research investigating how employee attitudes are related to a variety of behaviors at both the individual and aggregated level of analysis. 341 PS63CH14-Judge ARI 31 October 2011 12:16 Contents EarlyInfluences............... 352 INTRODUCTION.............. 342 Specific Dispositions . 353 WHAT ARE JOB Core Self-Evaluations . 353 ATTITUDES?............... 343 Integration of State Link Between Job Attitudes and Trait Perspectives . 354 and Social Attitudes . 343 SITUATIONAL Definition of Job Attitudes . 344 ANTECEDENTS OF Multifaceted Nature of Job JOBATTITUDES........... 354 Attitudes................... 345 Job Characteristics . 354 Recent Emphasis on Affect. 345 Social Environment Multilevel, Experience- Characteristics . 354 Sampling Designs . 346 Leadership.................... 355 DISCRETE JOB ATTITUDES . 346 Organizational Practices . 356 Defining the Construct Space . 346 Time and Job Attitudes . 356 Global Job Attitudes . 347 OUTCOMES OF JOB Facets of Job Satisfaction . 348 ATTITUDES................ 357 Organizational Commitment . 349 Overview..................... 357 Attitudes Toward Behaviors. 350 TaskPerformance............. 358 STATES AND TRAITS IN JOB Creative Performance . 358 ATTITUDES RESEARCH . 350 Citizenship Behavior . 359 Affective Events Theory . 350 Withdrawal/ Recent Research on Counterproductivity . 359 Within-Individual Variation Organizational inJobAttitudes............ 351 Performance............... 360 DISPOSITIONAL CONCLUSION................. 360 ANTECEDENTS OF JOB ATTITUDES................ 352 INTRODUCTION attitudes research. These reviews tended to by University of Notre Dame on 04/23/12. For personal use only. treat the job attitudes literature in brief, or in Job attitudes are one of the oldest, most popu- service of another topic. In this review, we focus lar, and most influential areas of inquiry in all Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2012.63:341-367. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org exclusively on job attitudes. of organizational psychology. As of this writing, Despite this exclusive focus on job attitudes, the PsycINFO database reveals 33,348 records given the breadth and depth of job attitudes re- pertaining to “job attitudes,” “work attitudes,” search, we must place several bounds on this “job satisfaction,” or “organizational commit- review. As is the tradition of the Annual Re- ment.” Of these entries, one of those terms ap- view of Psychology, we purposely orient our re- pears in the title of 6,397 entries, and the trend view with a recency bias in that we consider appears to be accelerating. We are therefore newer and current topics to a greater degree pleased—and a bit daunted—to provide the first than older ones. Similarly, most of our citations review of this literature for the Annual Review are relatively recent works (articles published of Psychology. Previous reviewers (e.g., Brief & in the past 10 years). However, our focus on Weiss 2002, Miner & Dachler 1973, O’Reilly the current status of the job attitudes literature 1991, Staw 1984) have made reference to job does not mean that we ignore the traditional 342 Judge · Kammeyer-Mueller PS63CH14-Judge ARI 31 October 2011 12:16 contributions of job attitudes research. Fi- sufficiently segmented that they are only of nally, our bibliography is selective rather than specialized interest (e.g., an attitude about exhaustive. private enterprise, about expressionist art, etc.). Job satisfaction: an In organizing this review, we first discuss the Given this multiplicity of attitude objects, why evaluative state that nature of and define job attitudes in the context is it justified to consider job attitudes as an expresses contentment of the larger social attitudes literature. We de- important and central aspect of social attitudes? with and positive vote a substantial amount of space to discussions There are three ways to answer this ques- feelings about one’s of discrete job attitudes, including job satisfac- tion. First, though it is reasonable, perhaps even job tion, organizational commitment, and other at- necessary, to view job attitudes as social atti- Organizational titudes. We then discuss states and traits in job tudes, there are important differences between commitment: an individual’s attitudes research, including emotions and dis- these research traditions; the differences may psychological bond positional influences. We examine situational tell us as much about social attitudes as they with the organization, antecedents, including a discussion of how job do about job attitudes. Though the attitudes as represented by an and organizational characteristics and the social literature has revealed many important and in- affective attachment to environment affect job attitudes. We conclude teresting insights, on the whole, the literature the organization, a feeling of loyalty by reviewing research linking job attitudes to is limited in the range of populations, settings, toward it, and an prominent work behaviors and outcomes. and content or targets of the attitudes. As Judge intention to remain as et al. (2011) have noted, the limitations are in part of it the form of what (e.g., overwhelmingly, politi- Job attitudes: WHAT ARE JOB ATTITUDES? cal or cultural attitudes or identities as opposed evaluations of one’s to contextual attitudes about one’s job, one’s job that express one’s Link Between Job Attitudes feelings toward, beliefs life, one’s family, etc.), with whom (e.g., heavy and Social Attitudes about, and attachment reliance on college undergraduates, which may to one’s job The substantive nature of job attitudes flows limit the scope and nature of the investigations), Attitude: from the broader literature on social attitudes, and how (e.g., behavior is often not studied or is a psychological so we begin our review by discussing how studied in a sterile, though well-controlled, ex- tendency that is these literatures are related. A job attitude, perimental context) attitudes are studied. That expressed by of course, is a type of attitude, and therefore the job attitudes literature provides different evaluating a particular it is important to place job attitudes research contexts, populations, and methods for studies entity with some degree of favor or in the broader context of social attitudes suggests that social attitudes researchers would disfavor (of which job research. As noted by Olson & Zanna (1993, benefit as much from reading the job attitudes attitudes are examples) p. 119), “Despite the long history of research literature as the converse. on attitudes, there is no universally agreed- Second, job attitudes are important insofar by University of Notre Dame on 04/23/12. For personal use only. upon definition.” Perhaps the most widely as jobs are important entities. Even in times of accepted definition of an attitude, however, economic duress, the vast majority of the adult Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2012.63:341-367. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org was provided by Eagly & Chaiken (1993, p. 1): population age 25–75 is employed in some ca- “A psychological tendency that is expressed pacity (most adults have a job). Although the by evaluating a particular entity with some time people spend working obviously varies degree of favor or disfavor.” Thus, the concept greatly by the person, the average person spends of evaluation is a unifying theme in attitudes more time working than in any other waking research. One problem for attitudes research activity. But the meaning of work to individu- is that individuals may form an evaluation als goes far beyond time allocation. As Hulin of (and thus hold an attitude about) a nearly (2002) noted, people’s identities often hinge limitless number of entities. Some of these on their work, as evidenced by how the typ- attitudes may border on the trivial, at least in ical person responds to the question, “What a general psychological sense (we may have do you do?” or “What are you?” Job attitudes an attitude about a famous actor, about oak are also closely related to more global measures wood, or about the color