In his seminal 1972 work Hirschman suggested that members of organizations have two primary alternatives when faced with conditions that they find objectionable: exit (i.e., turnover) and voice (i.e., militancy). This study examines the degree to which two key affective work consequences (job satisfaction and stress symptomology) and two of their hypothesized antecedents (role conflict and ambiguity) are likely to have the same effect on voicing and exiting intentions. A covariance structure analysis of the data produced three basic findings. First, the results of previous studies of turnover intentions in organizations other than elementary and secondary schools were not found to be generalizable to these types of educational organizations. Second, the most plausible turnover specifications were found to be different from the most plausible militancy specifications for elementary and secondary schools (primarily in terms of the direct antecedents of turnover and militancy). Finally, exit and voice processes in elementary schools were found to be different from those in secondary schools (primarily in terms of the satisfaction-stress linkage).
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bacharach, S. (1989). Organizational theories: Some criteria for evaluation. Academy of Management Review, 14, 496-515.
2.
Bacharach, S. (1990). Education reform: Making sense of it all. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
3.
Bacharach, S. , & Bamberger, P. (1990). Turnover intentions among public sector nurses and engineers: The antecedents and consequences of role stress. Working paper, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
4.
Bacharach, S. , Bamberger, P., & Conley, S. (1990a). The dimensionality of decision participation in educational organizations: The value of a multi-domain, evaluative approach. Educational Administration Quarterly, 26, 126-167.
5.
Bacharach, S. , Bamberger, P., & Conley, S. (1990b). Professionals and work place control: Organizational and demographic models of teacher militancy. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 43, 570-586.
6.
Bacharach, S. , Bauer, S., & Conley, S. (1986). Organizational analysis of stress: The case of elementary and secondary schools. Work and Occupations, 13, 7-32.
7.
Bacharach, S. , Bauer, S., & Shedd, J. (1986). The work environment and school reform. Teachers College Record, 88, 241-256.
8.
Bacharach, S. , & Mitchell, S. (1982). The quality of working life of professional, technical, and scientific employees of New York State (Report to the Joint Labor-Management Committee on Professional Development and QWL). Ithaca, NY: New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University.
9.
Bacharach, S. , Mitchell, S., & Malinowski, R. (1985). Strategic choice and collective action: Organizational determinants of teacher militancy. Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations, 2197-222.
10.
Bacharach, S. , & Shedd, J. (1989). Power and empowerment: The constraining myths and emerging structures of teacher unionism. In R. Crowson & J. Hannaway (Eds.), Politics of education yearbook (pp. 139-160). London: Falmer.
11.
Barry, B. (1974). Exit, voice and loyalty. British Journal of Political Science, 4, 79-107.
12.
Beehr, T. , & Newman, J. (1978). Job stress, employee health, and organizational effectiveness: A facet analysis model, and literature review. Personnel Psychology, 31, 665-699.
13.
Berube, M. (1988). Teacher politics: The interface of unions. New York: Greenwood.
14.
Birch, A. (1975). Economic models in political science: The case of exit, voice and loyalty. British Journal of Political Science, 5, 69-82.
15.
Bollen, K. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables. New York: Wiley.
16.
Braverman, H. (1974). Labor and monopoly capital: The degradation of work in the twentieth century. New York: Monthly Review Press.
17.
Casner-Lotto, J. (1988). Expanding the teacher's role: Hammond's school improvement. Phi Delta Kappan, 69, 349-353.
18.
Chapman, D. (1983). A model of the influences on teacher retention. Journal of Teacher Education, 34(5), 43-49.
19.
Conley, S. , Bacharach, S., & Bauer, S. (1989). The school work environment and teacher career dissatisfaction. Educational Administration Quarterly, 25, 58-81.
20.
Conley, S. , Schmidle, T., & Shedd, J. (1988). Teacher participation in the management of school systems. Teachers College Record, 90, 259-280.
21.
Corcoran, T. , Walker, L., & White, J. (1988). Working in urban schools. Washington, DC: Institute for Educational Leadership.
22.
Duncan, 0. (1975). Introduction to structural equation models. New York: Academic Press.
23.
Edwards, R. (1979). Contested terrain: The transformation of the workplace in the twentieth century. New York: Basic Books.
24.
Farrell, D. (1983). Exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect as responses to job satisfaction: A multidimensional scaling study. Academy of Management Journal, 26, 596-607.
25.
Freeman, R. , & Medoff, J. (1984). What do unions do?New York: Basic Books.
26.
Hirschman, A. (1972). Exit, voice and loyalty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
27.
House, R. , Schuler, R., & Levannoni, E. (1983). Role conflict and ambiguity scales: Reality or artifacts?Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 334-337.
28.
Jackson, S. (1983). Participation in decision making as a strategy for reducing job-related strain. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 3-19.
29.
Jackson, S. , & Schuler, R. (1985). A meta-analysis and conceptual critique of research on role ambiguity and role conflict in work settings. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 36, 16-78.
30.
Jackson, S. , Schwab, R., & Schuler, R. (1986). Toward an understanding of the burnout phenomenon. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 630-640.
31.
James, L. , Mulaik, S., & Brett, J. (1983). Causal assumptions, models and data. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
32.
Johnson, S. (1989). Schoolwork and its reform. In J. Hannaway & R. Crowson (Eds.)., The politics of reforming school administration. New York: Falmer.
33.
Jöreskog, K. (1978). Structural analysis of covariance and correlation matrices. Psychometrika, 43, 443-477.
34.
Jöreskog, K. , & Sörbom, D. (1985). Lisrel VI. User 's guide (2nd ed.). Mooresville, IN: Scientific Software.
35.
Kemery, E. , Bedeian, A., Mossholder, K., & Touliatos, J. (1985). Outcomes of role stress: A multi-sample constructive replication. Academy of Management Journal, 28, 363-375.
36.
Kemery, E. , Mossholder, K., & Bedeian, A. (1987). Role stress, physical symptomology, and turnover intentions: A causal analysis of three alternative specifications. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 8, 11-23.
37.
Kerchner, C. , & Mitchell, D. (1986). The changing idea of teachers' unions. London: Falmer.
38.
Litt, M. , & Turk, D. (1985). Sources of stress and dissatisfaction in experienced high school teachers. Journal of Educational Research, 78(3), 178-185.
39.
Locke, E. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In M. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 1297-1349). Chicago: Rand McNally.
40.
Long, J. (1983). Covariance structural models: An introduction to Lisrel. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
41.
Mayes, B. , & Ganster, D. (1988). Exit and voice: A test of hypotheses based on fight/flight responses to job stress. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 9, 199-216.
42.
McDonnell, L. , & Pascal, A. (1981). A case-study analysis of teacher collective bargaining. In D. Lewin, P. Feuille, & T. Kochan (Eds.), Public sector labor relations: Analysis and readings (2nd ed., pp. 194-210). Sun Lakes, AZ: Horton.
43.
Miskel, C. , Fevurly, R., & Stewart, J. (1979). Organizational structures and processes, perceived school effectiveness, loyalty and job satisfaction. Educational Administration Quarterly, 15, 97-118.
44.
Rizzo, J. , House, R., & Lirtzman, S. (1970). Role conflict and ambiguity in complex organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 15, 150-163.
45.
Rusbult, C. , Farrell, D., Rogers, G., & Mainous, A. (1988). Impact of exchange variables on exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect: An integrating model of responses to declining job satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, 31, 599-627.
46.
Russell, D. , Altmaier, E., & Van Velsen, D. (1987). Job-related stress, social support, and burnout among classroom teachers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 72, 269-274.
47.
Schaubroeck, J. , Cotton, J. & Jennings, K. (1989). Antecedents and consequences of role stress: A covariance structure analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 10, 35-58.
48.
Schuler, R. (1982). An integrative transactional process model of stress in organizations. Journal of Occupational Behavior, 3, 5-19.
49.
Schuler, R. , Aldag, R., & Brief, A. (1977). Role conflict and ambiguity: A scale analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 20, 111-128.
50.
Schwab, R. , Jackson, S., & Schuler, R. (1984, April). Educator burnout: Sources and consequences. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans.
51.
Shirom, A. (1976). Union militancy: Structural and personal determinants. Industrial Relations, 16, 152-162.
52.
Withey, M. , & Cooper, W. (1989). Predicting exit, voice, loyalty and neglect. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34, 521-539.
