Rating of Importance of Job Factors by Office Employees as a Function of Internal-External Control Scores

Abstract

30 office workers completed two questionnaires including (a) the Internal-External Control Scale and (b) a 10-item survey asking for ratings of importance assigned to job-satisfaction issues written to portray internally-and externally-oriented factors. Subjects were assigned to two equal groups (internal and external) based on their Control Scale scores. The two average ratings (internally- and externally-oriented job-satisfaction issues) were used as dependent measures in a two-factor analysis. Over-all, subjects rated internally-oriented issues more important than externally-oriented issues. There was also a significant interaction between locus of control and the orientation of the job-satisfaction issue rated on importance. The highest ratings of importance were obtained for internal subjects rating internally-oriented items and external subjects rating externally-oriented items. These data clearly indicated that perception of a job characteristic, the importance of a job-satisfaction issue, was a function of general perception of contingency.