For a sample of police personnel, a longitudinal design was employed to examine the relationships between leader role clarification behaviors and subordinate job satisfaction and attitudes toward citizenry as well as the role of perceived skill variety as a potential moderator of those relationships. Further, both the relationships of perceived skill variety to employee responses and the potential moderating role of job longevity on those relationships were considered. Only weak support was provided for the contention that leader role clarification behaviors are favorably associated with subordinate responses. Contrary to the findings of previous studies, relationships of skill variety to responses were weak and inconsistent and neither perceived skill variety nor job longevity played a meaningful moderating role on focal relationships. Relevant differences between the current and past studies, implications of findings of the current study, and suggestions for future research are presented.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ALDAG, R. J., BARR, S. H., & BRIEF, A. P.Measurement of perceived task characteristics. Psychological Bulletin, in press.
2.
ALDAG, R. J., & BRIEF, A. P.Moderators of relationships of job behaviors to perceptions of core task dimensions. Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference of the American Institute for Decision Sciences, 1977, 8, 327-329.
3.
ALDAG, R. J., & BRIEF, A. P.Supervisory style and police role stress. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 1978, 6, 362-367.
4.
ALDAG, R. J., & BRIEF, A. P.Task design and employee motivation. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman & Co., 1979.
5.
BITTNER, E.The police on skid-row: A study of peace keeping. American Sociological Review, 1967, 32, 699-715.
6.
BRIEF, A. P., ALDAG, R. J., & WALLDEN, R. A.Correlates of supervisory style among policemen. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 1976, 3, 263-271.
7.
BRIEF, A. P., & ALDAG, R. J.The Job Characteristic Inventory: An examination. Academy of Management Journal, 1978, 21, 659-671.
8.
BROWN, M. K.The impact of alternative forms of citizen control on police organization and police discretion. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Voluntary Action Scholars, San Diego, 1977.
9.
CICOUREL, A. V.The social organization of juvenile justice. New York: Wiley, 1967.
10.
CORDNER, G. W.Open and closed models of police organizations: Traditions, dilemmas, and practical considerations. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 1978, 6, 22-34.
11.
CRONBACH, L. J.Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 1951, 16, 297-334.
12.
DUNHAM, R. B., ALDAG, R. J., & BRIEF, A. P.Dimensionality of task design as measured by the Job Diagnostic Survey. Academy of Management Journal, 1977, 20, 209-223.
13.
HACKMAN, J. R., & LAWLER, E. E.Employee reactions to job characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology Monograph, 1971,55, 259-286.
14.
HEISE, D. R.Causal inference from panel data. In E. F. Borgatta & G. W. Bohrnstedt (Eds.), Sociological methodology: 1970. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1970.
15.
HEISE, D. R.Causal Analysis. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1975.
16.
HOUSE, R. J.A path goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1971, 16, 321-328.
17.
HOUSE, R. J., & DESSLER, G.The path-goal theory of leadership: Some post hoc and a priori tests. In James G. Hunt and Lars L. Larson (Eds.), Contingency approaches to leadership, Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1974.
18.
JERMIER, J. M., & BERKES, L. J.Leader behavior in a police command bureaucracy: A closer look at the quasi-military model. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1979, 24, 1-23.
19.
JOHNSON, T. A.The application of organization theory to the problem of police resistance to police community relations. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 1975, 3, 85-94.
20.
KATZ, R.Job longevity as a situational factor in job satisfaction. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1978, 23, 204-223.
21.
KELLY, R. M., & FARBER, M. G.Identifying responsive inner-city policemen. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1974, 59, 259-263.
22.
KENNY, D. A.Cross-lagged panel correlation: A test for spuriousness. Psychological Bulletin, 1975, 82, 887-903.
23.
KENNY, D. A., & HARACKIEWICZ, J. M.Cross-lagged panel correlation: Practice and promise. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1979, 64, 372-379.
24.
KERR, S.Substitutes for leadership: Some implications for organizational design. Organization and Administrative Sciences, 1977, 8, 135-146.
25.
MARCH, J. G., & SIMON, H. A.Organizations. New York: Wiley, 1958.
26.
MOORE, M. D.A normative model for law enforcement in the criminal justice system. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 1976, 4, 71-81.
27.
PERROW, C.A framework for the comparative analysis of organizations. American Sociological Review, 1967, 32, 194-208.
28.
PIERCE, J. L., & DUNHAM, R. B.Task design: A literature review. Academy of Management Review, 1976, 1, 83-97.
29.
PIERCE, J. L., & DUNHAM, R. M.An empirical demonstration of the convergence of common macro- and micro-organization measures. Academy of Management Journal, 1978, 21, 410-418.
30.
REAMS, R., KUYKENDALL, J., & BURNS, D.Police management systems: What is an appropriate model. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 1975, 3, 475-481.
31.
SANDLER, G., & MINTZ, Z.Police organizations: Their changing internal and external relationships. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 1974, 2, 458-463.
32.
SCHRIESHEIM, C. A. Development, validation, and application of new leadership behavior and expectancy research instruments. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 1978.
33.
SCHRIESHEIM, C. A.The similarity of individually directed and group directed leader behavior descriptions. Academy of Management Journal, 1979, 22, 345-355.
34.
SCHRIESHEIM, C., & VON GLINOW, M. A.The path goal theory of leadership: A theoretical and empirical analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 1977, 20, 398-406.
35.
SIMS, H. P., SZILAGYI, A. D., & KELLER, R. T.The measurement of job characteristics. Academy of Management Journal, 1976, 19, 195-212.
36.
SKOLNICK, J. H.Justice without trial. New York: Wiley, 1966.
37.
STOGDILL, R. M.Manual for the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire-Form XII. Columbus: Ohio State University Bureau of Business Research, 1963.
38.
SWANK, C. V.The police in 1980: Hypothesis for the future. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 1975, 3, 294-300.
39.
TOFFLER, B. L. Creating an occupational role: A longitudinal study of the role development process. Unpublished manuscript, Boston University, 1979.
40.
VAN DE VEN, A., DELBECQ, A. L., & KOENIG, R.Determinants of coordination modes within organizations. American Sociological Review, 1976, 41, 322-338.
41.
VAN MAANEN, J.Police socialization: A longitudinal examination of job attitudes in an urban police department. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1975, 20, 207-228.
42.
VAN MAANEN, J., & KATZ, R.Individuals and their careers: Some temporal considerations for work satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 1976, 29, 601-616.
