The experimental effects of "autonomy" on performance and self-reports of satisfaction.
Though the job characteristics model proposed by Hackman and his associates has provided the impetus for a large number of correlational studies, few of any studies have involved the systematic manipulation of one or more of the five-core dimensions (job properties) while noting the performance outcomes. In this study, the autonomy dimension was experimentally varied (four levels) in a laboratory setting. Four groups of undergraduate students performed a job comprised of three tasks under varying degrees of autonomy while measures of performance, "perceptions" of task properties, and other self-reports were obtained. It was found, contrary to our hypothesis, that variations in autonomy produced a negative effect on quantity of performance and no effect on quality of performance, though subjects in the more autonomous conditions reported a higher level of autonomy. Reservations regarding the strategy of drawing causal inferences from correlational analyses are discussed.
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011590:Psychology, Industrial; D012737:Sex Factors; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis