Job Longevity as a

Situational Factor in Job

Satisfaction
Ralph Katz

This study investigates the relationships between overall

job satisfaction and the five task dimensions of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and
feedback-from-job for employees at different stages of
their careers, as measured by their length of ennployment
on their current jobs, as well as in their current organizations. Basically, the analysis shows that the strength of
the relationships between job satisfaction and each of
the task dimensions depends on both the job longevity
and organizational longevity of the sampled individuals.
For employees new to an organization, for example, only
task significance is related positively to job satisfaction,
while autonomy has a strongly negative correlation. The
study presents other significant correlational differences
and discusses the implications of its findings for task design, as well as for managing new employees. Approximately 3500 respondents from four different governments two metropolitan, one county, and one state
participated in the coHection of survey data.*
In the last decade, a variety of empirical studies have convincingly demonstrated that the manner in which jobs are
designed can significantly affect employee attitudes and
behavior (Herzberg, 1966; Walton, 1972). Specifically,
simplifying and standardizing job assignments purportedly
result in poor motivation, poor performance, and dissatisfaction.
TASK CHARACTERISTICS
Creating and maintaining a favorable workplace, however,
require a thorough understanding of how employees
respond to the various task dimensions of their assigned
jobs both over a period of time and under varied work conditions. Towards this end, job satisfaction represents an important yardstick by which researchers have tried to assess
the effects of job conditions upon individuals. In addition,
Hackman and Lawler (1971) and Hackman and Oldham
(1975) have designed the Job Diagnostic Survey Instrument
to measure the degree to which particular jobs possess the
conceptually independent task characteristics of skill variety,
task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedbackfrom-job. These dimensions presumably coincide with certain psychological states which, according to the developing
theory, are critical for achieving and sustaining high employee motivation, satisfaction, and commitment.

1978 by Cornell University.

0001-8392/7 8/2302-0204$(X) .75

The author thanks Professors Edgar

Schein, J. Richard Hackman, Chris Argyris, John Van Maanen, and several
anonymous >ASQ reviewers for their
most helpful comments.

June 1978, volume 23

Previous survey results suggest that, in general, these job

characteristics, especially autonomy and skill variety, correlate strongly with overall job satisfaction and relate only
slightly, though at times significantly, to absenteeism, overall effectiveness, and the quality of performance when
examined across respondents from a wide range of heterogeneous jobs (Hackman and Lawler, 1971; Hackman and
Oldham, 1975; Pierce and Dunham, 1976). Recent experiments also support the positive relationships between task
characteristics and job satisfaction (Locke, Sirota, and
Wolf son, 1976; Umstot, Bell, and Mitchell, 1976), although
Bishop and Hill (1971) did not find any significant main effects between job satisfaction and task changes.
204/Administrative Science Quarterly

Job Longevity

In addition to these studies, some researchers, questioning

the meaningful ness of such "averaged" relationships, have
tested for significant moderator effects to determine specific circumstances under which different kinds of employees will be most responsive to enriched jobs. A number
of studies, for example, have asserted that the higher-order
or growth need strength of employees significantly affects
the relationship between task characteristics and job satisfaction (Hackman and Lawler, 1971; Wanous, 1974; Brief
and Aldag, 1975; Hackman and Oldham, 1975; Sims and
Szilagyi, 1976). All of these studies showed, though not
always significantly, that individuals with high growth need
strength tend to react more positively, in terms of job satisfaction, to enriched tasks than do employees with low
growth need strength, although Brief and Aldag (1976) and
Stone (1976) failed to detect such a trend. In addition, Oldham (1976) and Oldham, Hackman, and Pearce (1976)
showed that the degree of employee satisfaction with the
contextual features of their work environment, such as
peers, supervisors, and organizational policies, affects the
extent to which job satisfaction will be linked positively with
challenging tasks. Evidently, employees dissatisfied with
the work context are sufficiently distracted from the "richness" of their jobs and consequently respond less positively
to the various task dimensions.
Such findings are encouraging, but still little is known about
employees' reactions to the different task characteristics as
they enter, experience, and adapt to their particular jobs. A
number of empirical studies (Crozier, 1964; Newman, 1975;
Katz and Van Maanen, 1977) have shown that job satisfaction cannot be viewed in isolation from its institutional and
sociological settings, for it is also a function of the situational surroundings accompanying the doing of work. Such
a perspective directs attention to the various aspects of the
work situation in which employees labor and not just to the
psychological predispositions, personality dimensions, or
demographic characteristics of the worker.
The Influence of Socialization
Social scientists interested in socialization processes have
always considered job longevity and organizational longevity
to be important situational factors that help shape individual
reactions and attitudes. In particular. Parsons (1951), Brim
(1966), and Schein (1967, 1971) explicitly point out that an
individual's relationship to the workplace depends upon
one's job and career stage. The purpose of this study,
therefore, is to explore the associations between job satisfaction and the assorted task dimensions at different
periods of job longevity, that is, the length of time that an
individual has been working on the same job. Will employees at different stages of their jobs and careers, in
general, display significantly different relationships between
job satisfaction and the commonly examined task characteristics?
It has been demonstrated in various work settings that employees tend to be absorbed by different issues and concerns at different stages of their early career years (Becker,
1964; Hall and Nougaim, 1968; Van Maanen, 1975). These
205/ASQ

writers argued that employees who have recently entered

an organization tend to be more preoccupied than other
employees with job safety and security and with establishing their own identities within the organization. In a similar
vein, Schein (1971) suggested that being accepted as a contributing member by others in the organization, "proving
oneself," represents a major problem faced by a newcomer.
Not only are newcomers significantly affected by organizational socialization, but employees who have been transferred or promoted to new jobs must also proceed through
an initial learning stage to become familiar with and accepted by their new surroundings. In his 3-dimensional
model of an organization, Schein (1971) emphasized that
the movement of a person across any intraorganizational
boundary results in some temporary loss of centrality for
that individual. During this short period, therefore, newly
transferred or promoted employees are also preoccupied
with establishing and understanding their new situational
and group identities.
In view of these initial concerns surrounding integration,
security, and identity, it is proposed that during the first
months of a new job, the various task dimensions will be
correlated differentially with job satisfaction. More specifically, it would seem that only after grappling with the problem of establishing a somewhat stable situational identity
can the individual in the midst of a new job comfortably
direct his attention to task features involving high achievement, challenge, and automony. In terms of job satisfaction,
therefore, the new employees may not be ready to respond
to the more challenging task dimensions of skill variety and
autonomy. At the same time, it is likely that these employees will respond to those task features that provide
them guidance, feedback, and a sense of personal acceptance and importance (Schein, 1971; Buchanan, 1974).
Based on the assumption that the task characteristics of
identity, significance, and feedback-from-job meet these
early work concerns, this study hypothesizes that these
three task dimensions will be related directly to job satisfaction during the initial job stage.
Socialization and Resocialization
As previously discussed, employees hold new jobs either
because they are new to an organization (newcomers) or
because they have recently been promoted or transferred
(veterans). Socialization refers to the former condition; resocialization denotes the latter. More importantly, the experiences associated with these two processes may not be
identical and should be examined separately (Wheeler,
1966). The newcomer must learn about and adjust to the
organization from scratch. Such a process requires that one
sift and digest large amounts of sometimes vague and ambiguous information to discover where one fits in the organization's overall scheme, that is, finding one's "niche."
To define and nourish one's existence in the new working
environment, the newcomer must build interpersonal relationships as well as learn the technical requirements of the job.
The transferred or promoted employee also undergoes an
initial learning phase to restore the temporary loss of the
206/ASQ

Job Longevity

familiar. In contrast to the newcomer, however, a veteran

employee in a new position has already acquired sizable
knowledge about the organization, established contacts
within it, and developed some sort of personal reputation.
As a result, the veteran is probably more concerned with
mastering the actual tasks of the new job than with building
social relationships. Hence, it is reasonable to posit that
while newcomers will respond primarily to social issues
("getting on board"), veterans will be more sensitive to task
performance issues ("doing a good job").
Accordingly, it is hypothesized that newcomers' and veterans' job satisfaction-task dimension relationships will differ
significantly during the first months of a new job. Specifically, the job satisfaction-feedback-from-job relationship may
be more positive for veterans than for newcomers during
the initial period. On the other hand, newcomers' job satisfaction may be more directly related to task significance and
task identity. Although autonomy was not assumed to be
related to job satisfaction during the early months of a new
job, it is likely that newcomers, concerned with defining
and interpreting their new organizational environments, may
find high amounts of early autonomy particularly disturbing;
in fact, autonomy may be inversely associated with job
satisfaction during the initial socialization period.
After this initial job stage, however, employees probably can
concentrate more fully on their respective task assignments. The passage from the socialization or resocialization
stage, therefore, is probably marked by a shift in the individual's immediate job concerns, from an initial emphasis
on job safety and identity to a concern for achievement and
accomplishment (Hall and Nougaim, 1968; Van Maanen,
1975). As a result, it is hypothesized that only after the
socialization or resocialization periods will all of the task dimensions correlate significantly and positively with job
satisfaction.
Effects of Job Longevity
Argyris (1957) has argued that using designs and procedures
associated with classical management theory can produce
work conditions which conflict with the concerns and demands of mature adults. As a result, employees may eventually adjust to their purportedly impoverished job settings
by becoming indifferent toward their tasks, perhaps placing
greater value on lower-order needs and less value on
higher-order needs, or simply redefining their overall work
situations. There is also little reason to believe that even
the most challenging jobs will not eventually become
routinized and habitual as employees become increasingly
proficient at their everyday assignments. Given such a
premise, it is possible that with considerable job longevity
and stability, various psychological defenses will succeed in
allowing individuals to adapt to their job environments by
becoming nonresponsive to the task characteristics of their
jobs. Thus, it is hypothesized that the five task dimensions
will not be associated significantly with job satisfaction for
those employees who have considerable job longevity.
The critical implication of the preceding hypotheses is that
employees' job satisfaction may be related significantly to
207/ASQ

the tasks they perform only at particular stages of their jobs

and careers a fact of obvious significance for both
theorists and practitioners of job design. The crux of the
argument, therefore, is not that satisfaction deteriorates
with job tenure, but that job longevity affects the importance with which other features of the work environment,
including job, interactional, and organizational features (see
Katz and Van Maanen, 1977), combine to influence employees' overall satisfaction. As a result, the task
dimension-job satisfaction hypotheses are tested for overall
job satisfaction and not for any particular facet of satisfaction.
In formulating their theory, Hackman and Lawler (1971) asserted that a multiplicative or noncompensatory model
would best represent the combined relationship between
the task dimensions and various outcomes, including job
satisfaction. The implication is that job satisfaction would be
high only when all of the task dimensions are relatively
high. However, a number of other studies have consistently
shown an additive model more appropriate for combining
the task dimensions, thereby, suggesting that satisfying
jobs may not have to be simultaneously high on all task
dimensions (Hackman and Oldham, 1975; Dunham, 1976).
The present study hypothesizes that certain task features
can also differ in importance at particular job and career
junctions. Task significance, for example, may influence
general job satisfaction more during the initial months of
socialization while feedback-from-job may be more influential during resocialization.
METHOD
Sample
A survey was undertaken in four distinct governmental organizations as part of a project designed to examine job
satisfaction in the public sector. The organizations were two
municipal, one county, and one state government, together
representing the western, midwestern, central, and northeastern regions of the United States. Each government represents a loose confederation of service departments, including police and fire departments, public utilities, hospitals, social agencies, sanitation departments, and planning
departments. Within each organization, a stratified random
sample was drawn from the full range of jobs and employees. The stratification design was based on the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) occupational
categories: administrative, professional, technical, protective
service, paraprofessional, clerical, skilled craft, and maintenance.
With the cooperation of the governments involved, researchers and their staff administered questionnaires to
small groups of workers in available meeting rooms and
conference halls. Having been assured that their responses
were confidential, fewer than one percent of the original
sample declined to participate. The resulting sample size of
3,085 employees represents approximately 40 percent of all
governmental employees at the four sites. Although this
study includes respondents working for different organiza208/ASQ

Job Longevity

tions and consequently different departments, a previous

analysis of this data (Van Maanen and Katz, 1976) demonstrated negligible differences in the satisfaction responses
of individuals from similar careers but different organizations and/or departments. Thus, the present analysis is conducted as though the respondents constitute one large
sample from the same source. However, on the chance
that there may be sex-linked differences in the satisfaction
reactions of employees at particular stages of job and organizational longevity (especially, perhaps, for older women
returning to the work force or for dual career women, see
Hulin and Smith, 1965; Bailyn, 1973), the results for the
male participants (A/=2094) are presented and explored first.
With these results as a basis of comparison, a parallel
analysis is then performed for the female participants
(A/=971). The distribution of the male/female subsamples in
the eight EEOC job categories is as follows: administrative
(13.9/7.5 percent); professionals (13.5/20.3 percent); technical (16.4/3.8 percent); protective service (16.5/1.3 percent);
paraprofessional (2.7/10.4 percent); clerical (4.7/50.6 percent); skilled craft (13.3/1.3 percent); and maintenance
(18.9/5.0 percent).
Finally, one must be cautious when interpreting the results
of this study, since the data represent only a cross-sectional
view of what has been presented as essentially longitudinal
phenomena: the impact of job and organizational longevity
on the relationships between satisfaction and task characteristics. Strictly speaking, a longitudinal design, or more accurately a "cohort" analysis, is necessary to test suppositions of a temporal or developmental nature, although a
cross-sectional investigation can serve as an exploratory
first step one directed at giving enough face validity to
the hypotheses to warrant investing in future longitudinal
studies.
Measures
This study uses a slight variant of the Job Diagnostic Survey Instrument to determine respondents' perceptions of
their job tasks. According to Hackman and Oldham (1975),
insofar as self, peer, supervisor, and outside observer ratings of jobs converge, this instrument provides reasonably
accurate measures of jobs along five important task dimensions: (1) skill variety, the degree to which the job requires
different skills; (2) task identity, the degree to which the job
requires completing a whole and identifiable process or
piece of work; (3) task significance, the degree to which a
job has a perceivable impact on other people or their jobs;
' (4) autonomy, the degree to which the job gives an employee freedom, independence, and discretion in executing
work assignments; and (5) feedback-from-job, the degree to
which an employee learns the efficacy of one's work from
the job itself. To improve reliability and discriminant validity,
an additional item, appearing to have high face validity, was
added to the instrument for the scales of skill variety, task
identity, and autonomy. As suggested by Dunham (1976), a
factor analysis (varimax rotation) was performed on the survey items, which corroborated both the existence of the
five task dimensions and the loading of the individual items
on their appropriate factors.
209/ASQ

Each of the task dimensions was measured by averaging

responses to at least three different, seven-point, Likerttype items. Table 1 reports the means, standard deviations,
internal consistency reliabilities, and intercorrelations for the
task dimensions and for the other variables. In general, the
reliabilities, intercorrelations, and standard deviations for the
task dimensions are extremely similar to those reported by
Hackman and Oldham (1975), although the means are
somewhat higher.
Table 1
Variable Statistics and Intercorreiations
Intercorrelations
1
2
3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
Autonomy
Feedback-from-job
Job satisfaction
Higher-order need strength
Job longevity
Interactional satisfaction
Organizational satisfaction
Mean
Standard deviation
Reliability

10

1.00
.19
.38
.44
.30
.23
.12
.01
.21
.16

1.00
.24
.43
.33
.22
.08
.07
.17
.15

1.00
.31
.33
.25
.11
.02
.18
.16

1.00

5.28
1.38

5.11
1.40

6.06
1.11

5.06
1.33

.83

.72

.73

.75

.37
.27
.11
.04
.28
.23

1.00
.26
.08
.03
.29
.28

1.00
.00 1.00
.05 -.06 1.00
.38
.05 -.01
.40
.00
.01

5.11 4.80
1.34 1.22
.71

.74

1.00
.71

3.63
0.63

84.2 3.34
87.1 0.83

1.00
2.90
0.82

.90

.94

.91

Internal consistency reliabilities

A/=2094; With such a large sample size, a correlation of .08 is significant at the .001 level.

Using the items developed by Hackman and Lawler (1971),

the study measured directly overall job satisfaction by averaging the responses of employees to three Likert-type
questions. For example: "All in all, how satisfied are you
with your work in this organization?" This measure has
been previously shown to predict both turnover and absenteeism (Hackman and Oldham, 1975). Analysis of a random
sample from one of the participating governments also
shows overall satisfaction predicting employee turnover
over a 2-year period (r = - . 3 1 ; p <.O1; A/= .89)."'
For job and organizational longevity, each respondent stated
how long (to the nearest month) he or she had been employed at his or her current job, and how long (to the
nearest month) he or she had been working for this particular government. By noting whether organizational longevity
was at least six months greater than job longevity, the
study easily classified respondents in new jobs as either
newcomers or veterans. In addition, each respondent indicated his or her age, sex, salary, and educational background.

1
The other three governments declined to
participate in predictive aspects of the
original job satisfaction study, including
future turnover, performance, and promotions. As a result, the link between
employee satisfaction and turnover is
examined for only one organization.

Higher-order or growth need strength has been measured

differently in most of the relevant research studies, including Porter (1961), Hackman and Lawler (1971), Hackman
and Oldham (1975), Brief and Aldag (1975), Oldham (1976),
and Oldham, Hackman, and Pearce (1976). Nor has any
construct validity other than face validity been offered for
any of the measures. As a result, the present study decided
to measure higher-order need strength by averaging a com210/ASQ

Job Longevity

bination of items developed from these various studies.

Employees indicated on eight 5-point, Likert-type items the
degree to which they would like to receive recognition for
accomplishments, to develop their potential, to do stimulating and challenging work, to feel competent, to act independently, to use their abilities, to feel respected by others,
and to feel useful and purposeful. Like some extant research findings, higher-order need strength in the present
study significantly influences respondents' task dimensionjob satisfaction associations. Using the Motivating Potential
Score (MPS) as a summary index of the task dimensions
(Hackman and Oldham, 1975), a correlational analysis found
the relationship between job satisfaction and MPS for the
high growth need subgroup (mean split) significantly more
positive (r=.4O; A/ = 1058) than the corresponding correlation
of the low growth need subgroup (r=.27; A/= 1036).
Finally, the Minnesota Satisfaction Ouestionnaire (MSO)
measured employees' satisfaction with specific elements of
the work environment (Dawis and Weitzel, 1970). This instrument contains 26 four-item categories, each related to a
particular aspect of satisfaction, as, for example, supervision, compensation, working conditions, promotion, and
training. Using the present data along with some scaling
and clustering procedures, Katz and Van Maanen (1977)
demonstrated that five of the categories can be averaged to
measure interactional satisfaction (satisfaction with the
day-to-day interpersonal environment, including supervision,
collegial relationships, agent-client dealings, interpersonal
feedback), while averaging 10 of the remaining categories
measures organizational satisfaction (satisfaction with the
general rules regarding compensation, promotions, and
training enforced managerially in the workplace). In similarity with the studies of Oldham (1976) and Oldham,
Hackman, and Pearce (1976), organizational and interactional
satisfaction serve as two variable measures of contextual
satisfaction.
RESULTS
As expected, the correlations of Table 1 confirm that each
task dimension is directly associated with overall job satisfaction. Individuals appear about equally responsive, in
terms of satisfaction, to each of the five task characteristics. The use of moderated regression in Table 2, however,
Table 2
Moderated Regression Results from Adding the Task Dimension X Job
Longevity Interaction Term
Task Dimensions

Multiple Correlation Coefficients

"linear

Skill variety
.23
.22
Task identity
.26
Task significance
Autonomy
.27
Feedback-from-Job .26
p <.001;/V=2094
211/ASQ

"moderated by
interaction term

F-Valuefor
("mod.-"lin.)

.26
.24
.29
.30
.28

35.2*
14.6*
28.4*
39.1*
22.5'

Table 3
Correlations wrth Ovarall Job Sati^action for Diffarant Job Longevity Pariods

.02 .29*
.20
.44* .34*
-.20 .28
.33* .29

Job longevity
period=

<3
mos.
57

4-6
mos.
91

.25
.24*
.29*
.43*
.40*

.25*
.43'"
40b.
.28*

.31*
.38"*
.31*

7-12
mos.
173

13-18
mos.
174

19-24
mos.
112

4Qb.

.35*

.20*
.19*
.23*
.32*
.26*

2-3
yrs.
184

3-5
yrs.
369

5-10
yrs.
457

.26*
OQb4

.16
....

Skill varietyt
Taskidentityt
Task significancet
Autonomyt
Feedback-from-job

X2-Statistic

Correlations with Job Satisfaction

CM CO CD CM in
CM CM >-: CM CM

Task Dimensions

.03
-.03

.18"
.24*

.08"
.14

10-15
yrs.
188

15-20
yrs.
129

.02
.OV
.01*
.12

34.9+ +
18.6+
29.4+ +
45.1 + +
12.2

>20
yrs.
160

=Significant correlations (p <.O1)

=The v2-statistic which tests the homogeneity of subgroup correlations (see Rao, 1965) reveals the correlations for these task
dimensions to be significantly different across the 11 job longevity categories (+p <.O5; + +p <.OO1). Using post hoc contrasts
from the x^-statistic to differentiate among respondents in the <3 mos., 1-3 yrs., and > 10 yrs. groupings shows the correlations
with superscript " b " as significantly greater than the correlations with superscript " a " (p<.05).
_____

reveals that the interactions of job longevity with the task

dimensions significantly affect overall satisfaction.* In each
case, the multiple R resulting from the moderated regression equation, which contains the task dimension X job
longevity interaction term, is significantly greater than the
multiple R derived from the linear combination of task dimension and job longevity.
These moderated regression results suggest that distinct
differences are likely among employees with different
levels of job tenure. In fact, by calculating separate task
dimension-job satisfaction correlations for subgroups of
employees with different amounts of job longevity, as
shown via Table 3, it becomes clear that the task characteristics are not uniformly linked to overall satisfaction, although the test for unequal correlations is not quite significant for the feedback-from-job dimension.^

Since the task dimension-job satisfaction

relationships are expected to differ significantly at particular stages of job
longevity, it is important to point out that
the power of the moderated regression
is affected by the distribution of employees along the job tenure continuum
(see Table 3). For example, had the sample contained proportionately more employees in the initial months of a new
job, the interaction term would be even
more important. Consequently, subgroup
analyses are especially important, for it is
the particular pattern of interaction that
is important.
3
Generally speaking, these subgroup
cutoff points are somewhat arbitrary.
However, the initial socialization and resocialization periods (0- to 3-months)
parallel Van Maanen's (1975) "encounter" stage and correspond as well to
the assorted training and apprenticeship
programs encountered by most of these
employees. The 6-month cutoff corresponds to the formal probationary period
affecting the majority of respondents.

More specifically, the bivariate correlations of Table 3 support the contention that the satisfaction of employees just
beginning work on a particular job (3 months or fewer) is
not positively related to the amount of skill variety or autonomy of their jobs. If anything, autonomy distresses the
new employee, as shown by the negative correlation
(r=-.2O; p < .07), which is significantly lower than the
corresponding relationships of employees within the 1- to
3-year job categories. At the same time, however, only two
of the three task characteristics hypothesized as influential
during this initial adjustment period task identity, task
significance, and feedback-from-job are directly associated with overall satisfaction. Task significance and
feedback-from-job are correlated positively with job satisfaction for employees in the 0- to 3-month job longevity period
while task identity is not.
Employee attitudes in subsequent job longevity categories,
however, appear to be directly related to all five task dimensions. In particular, the relationships between job satisfaction and the various task features are especially positive for
employees in the 4- to 36-month interval. Moreover, the
correlations between job satisfaction and skill variety, task
212/ASQ

Job Longevity

significance, and autonomy are significantly stronger within

the 1- to 3-year range of job tenure than analogous correlations for workers whose job longevity exceeds 10 years.
It is also important to note from Table 3 that groups of
employees with progressively greater job longevity (after
three years) have progressively weaker correlations between job satisfaction and the various task dimensions. In
fact, all of the task dimension-job satisfaction correlations
are insignificant and close to zero for employees assigned
the same job for at least 15 years. Such findings, in addition
to the significantly different correlations between the 1- to
3-year and over-10-year categories of employees, tend to
support the hypothesis that the overall satisfaction of workers with considerable job longevity is not related to the task

Correlations
= Skill Variety
= Task Identity
-.. = Task Significance
= Feedback-from-Job
= Autonomy

0-3
Mos.

Figure 1. Correlations between job satisfaction and the five task dimensions for different job longevity periods.
213/ASQ

characteristics of their present jobs. To illustrate the correlational tendencies of Table 3, the Figure displays the
relationships between overall satisfaction and each of the
task attributes at different stages of job longevity.
Socialization versus Resocialization
This study hypothesizes that newcomers' and veterans'
satisfaction reactions to the various task characteristics differ significantly during the early socialization and resocialization phases. To test the specific differences. Table 4 contrasts the correlational profiles of newcomers and veterans
across a more parsimonious number of job longevity
categories.
Table 4
Correlations with Overall Job Satisfaction for Newcomers and Veterans
Task Dimensions

N
.07

Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
Autononny
Feedback-from-job
Job longevity
N

-.01
.42*
-.40*
.04
=
=

V
-.07

.06
.26
.27
.05

.30*
.25*
.28*
.36*

.24*
.32*
.32*
.39*

.30*
.24*
.34*
.36*

.30*
.21*
.32*
.39*

.24*
.28*
.25*
.30*

.14*
.22*
.18*
.25*

.09
.11
.12

.16*

.04
.07
.00

.48*

.32*

.39*

.28*

.33*

.27*

.23*

.19*

.08

0-3 Mos.
22
35

4-12 Mos.
117
147

1-3 Yrs.
244
223

3-10 Yrs.
483
345

> 10 Yrs.
342
132

p <.O5
N=Newcomers; V=Veterans
Note: Underlined pairs of correlations are significantly different (p <.O5). The test for homogeneous correlations
shows that the relationships between job satisfaction and the task dimensions of skill variety, task significance, and autonomy significantly differ (p <.O5) across the 5 job longevity subgroups for both newcomers
and veterans. The parallel job satisfaction-feedback-from-job correlations differed significantly (p<.05) only
for veterans.
^^.^^_^_^^____^_--_

In support of the hypothesis. Table 4 reveals that during the

first months of a new job, overall job satisfaction is directly
connected with the feedback-from-job dimension more significantly for veterans than for newcomers. In fact, the
relationship is significantly positive only for veterans during
this first job stage. This finding gives credence to the notion that veterans are more anxious than newcomers to
ascertain quickly how well they are performing or can perform on their new jobs.
Additional support for the hypothesized socializationresocialization distinctions appears in the autonomy dimension. There newcomers' overall satisfaction scores vary inversely with autonomy during the 0- to 3-month period.
Moreover, the association is significantly lower than the
corresponding relationship for veterans. It does appear,
nevertheless, that veterans in new jobs must also
reestablish their situational identities, for their overall satisfaction responses are unrelated to autonomy during the intitial resocialization period, although they apparently are not
as bothered by high autonomy as are newcomers. This
result buttresses the thesis that it is more essential for
newcomers entering the organization than for veterans
changing jobs to feel that they are becoming integrated
within and accepted by the organization. However, signifi214/ASQ

Job Longevity

cant differences do not occur between veterans and newcomers in correlations involving task significance, task identity, and skill variety. Although task significance seems particularly germane to the first months for newcomers, the
relationship is not significantly greater than the corresponding correlation for veterans. In addition, both task identity
and skill variety are unrelated during the early months to4he
satisfaction replies of both newcomers and veterans.
Finally, except for the initial stage of socialization or
resocialization. Table 4 reveals that both newcomers and
veterans have almost identical patterns of job satisfactiontask dimension relationships across the various job longevity categories. It is basically the same pattern of correlations
presented and discussed via Table 3.
Alternative Explanations
Given the nature of the preceding correlations, alternative
explanations must be examined. It is conceivable, for example, that changing variances in either the task characteristics or in overall job satisfaction can explain the changing
pattern of correlations across the different job longevity
periods. Accordingly, Table 5 reports the means and standard deviations for all of the variables in each longevity
category.
Table 5 shows that the standard deviations for the various
task dimensions and for job satisfaction do not differ significantly across the job longevity periods. Moreover, individual
F-tests reveal no significant mean differences across the
longevity groupings for the task dimensions or for overall
satisfaction. Since the task dimensions are somewhat interrelated (see Table 1), it is also important to determine

Table 5
Means and Standard Deviation across Job Longevity Periods

Variable

Job Longevity (m=months; y=years)

0-3m 4-6m 7-12rn 13-18m 19-24m 2-3y

3-5y

5-1Oy

10-15y 15-20y >20y

Skill variety

Mean 5.19
1.43
S.D.

5.42
1.33

5.05
1.46

5.09
1.48

5.28
1.32

5.33
1.29

5.24
1.43

5.38
1.36

5.31
1.24

5.43
1.35

5.20
1.44

Task identity

Mean 5.04
1.47
S.D.

5.00
1.44

5.05
1.38

4.94
1.40

4.93
1.41

5.12
1.41

5.04
1.42

5.17
1.36

5.24
1.41

5.28
1.38

5.32
1.35

Task significance

Mean 5.90
1.32
S.D.

6.11
1.00

5.98
1.22

6.00
1.10

5.98
1.28

6.08
1.00

6.08
1.04

6.10
1.11

6.06
1.09

6.29
0.99

6.00
1.22

Autonomy

Mean 4.82
S.D.
1.31

5.01
1.36

4.92
1.38

5.01
1.38

5.01
1.26

4.86
1.43

5.10
1.31

5.11
1.36

5.14
1.27

5.20
1.18

5.14
1.20

Feedback-from-job

Mean 5.17
1.32
S.D.

5.01
1.34

5.14
1.29

5.05
1.31

4.90
1.39

5.02
1.35

5.17
1.28

5.09
1.37

5.27
1.41

5.23
1.41

5.14
1.36

Job satisfaction

Mean 4.68
1.27
S.D.

4.96
1.22

4.84
1.14

4.86
1.12

4.86
1.11

4.60
1.31

4.76
1.19

4.78
1.25

4.68
1.35

4.97
1.11

4.88
1.21

Higher-order needs

Mean 3.65
0.58
S.D.

3.79
0.58

3.69
0.55

3.66
0.56

3.55
0.67

3.62
0.57

3.64
0.61

3.64
0.65

3.52
0.72

3.59
0.76

3.60
0.67

Interactional satisfaction*

Mean 3.51
0.66
S.D.

3.57
0.69

3.45
0.70

3.28
0.81

3.34
0.88

3.28
0.87

3.31
0.77

3.32
0.82

3.24
0.80

3.52
0.81

3.38
O.M

Organizational satisfaction

Mean 3.18
0.67
S.D.

3.12
0.79

3.01
0.78

2.85
0.75

2.82
0.81

2.86
0.77

2.84
0.78

2.87
0.80

2.86
0.91

3.08
0.85

2.91
0.90

91

173

174

112

184

369

457

188

129

160

57

Significant one-way ANOVA (p <.O5)

215/ASQ

whether the intercorrelations significantly change in different job longevity groups. An examination of task intercorrelations within each job longevity group, however, did not
reveal any meaningful correlational differences among the
job longevity categories. Reliability values for each of the
variables were also examined within each job longevity
group to ensure acceptable and comparable levels.
As previously discussed, other moderator variables for the
job satisfaction-task dimension relationships have included
higher-order need strength and contextual satisfactions.
Consequently, the possibility that the measures for these
variables may have varied with different periods of job
longevity must also be investigated. Table 5, however,
shows no significant mean differences among the different
job longevity groups for higher-order need strength or for
organizational satisfaction. There are significant mean differences among the longevity groups for interactional satisfaction, but the groups with the lowest scores for interactional satisfaction do not coincide with those hypothesized
and subsequently shown to have low task dimension-job
satisfaction correlations. Thus, the task dimension-job satisfaction relationships do differ significantly across the various job longevity employee groups.
In addition to these perceptual comparisons, the study also
assessed the various job longevity categories for job type
and demographic differences. With respect to job type or
occupational differences, there were no substantial differences among the distribution of EEOC occupational codes
within each longevity group. Each distribution is commensurate with the EEOC job percentages reported in the
Methods section.
Because the present analysis focuses on the modifying impact of job and organizational longevity, it is possible that
the demographics of age, education, and salary, which are
interrelated with longevity, also influence the job
satisfaction-task dimension relationships (the correlations
between job tenure and age, education, and salary were
.45, - . 2 5 , and .10, respectively). Investigators such as Porter (1961) and Hall and Mansfield (1975), for example, have
suggested that concern for job security may be more prominent in older groups. The implication is that employees'
satisfaction responses to the task characteristics may be a
function of these demographics rather than of longevity.
Holding these demographic variables constant, the study
used moderated regressions to determine whether the task
dimension X job longevity interaction still accounts for significant additional variance in job satisfaction. Positive
results occur only for the characteristics of skill variety, task
significance, and autonomy. But more important, the same
pattern of results as shown in Table 3 reemerges when
correlations are computed separately for respondents in
the less-than-35, 35-to-50, and over-50-year-age groups, as
well as the high and low salaried or educated respondent
subsamples. Though considerably more research is needed
on the possible added influences of age, life stage, education, or other demographics, it seems that job longevity is
the most important moderator, especially for the task features of skill variety, task significance, and autonomy.
216/ASQ

Job Longevity
Table 6
Subgroup Analyses and Moderated Regression ResulUfromAdding the Tasic Dimension X Job Longevity
interaction Term (Femaies)
Task Dimensions

Correlations with Job Satisfaction

Job longevity
N

.24*
.31**
.37**

.34*
.21"
.29**
.35**
.32*

.20**
.14*
.13*
.21*
.19**

.14
.11
.04
.15
.12

4-12
mos.
151

1-3
yrs.
351

3-10
yrs.
346

> 10
yrs.
108

.32**

Skill varietyt
Task identity
Task significancet
Autonomyt
Feedback-from-jobt

.20

=
=

x^ Statistic

6.83+
1.65
8.04++
6.32+
7.82 + +

Multiple Correlation Coefficients

"linear

" moderated by F-Value for

interaction term
i

.11
.17
.20
.28
.25

.29
.18
.23
.30
.28

971

971

3.5

p<.01
p <.OO1
=The x^-statistic for equal subgroup correlations shows the relationships computed across the four job longevity
categories to be significantly different (+p <.1O; + + p <.O5).
^ ^

Female Analysis
Finally, a parallel analysis of the influence of job longevity
on the satisfaction reactions of female employees to the
task features of their jobs shows a pattern consistent with
the results of Tables 2 and 3. The moderated regressions
presented in Table 6 support the notion that job longevity
affects the task dimension-job satisfaction relationships
primarily as a moderating variable, and not simply as an
independent predictor of satisfaction. With the exception of
task identity, adding the task dimension X job longevity interaction term to the linear regression equation, which already contains the task dimension and job longevity variables, yields a significantly greater multiple R.
In addition, examining the correlations for female subgroups
differentiated by levels of job longevity reveals a pattern
similar to that of the male sample.* The test for homogeneous correlations shows that except for task identity, the
task dimension-job satisfaction relationships are significantly
different for the various female job longevity groups. Job
satisfaction is associated most positively with the various
task dimensions in the 4-month to 3-year interval. In contrast, the task dimension-job satisfaction relationships are
somewhat weaker in the 3- to 10-year interval and are not
significantly positive in the over-10-year period of job
tenure.
DISCUSSION

Unfortunately, the female subsample did

not contain enough newcomer and veteran employees in the 0- to 3-month
period for us to perform a parallel subgroup analysis for the first job stage.

The findings described in this study suggest additional circumstances that seem to influence the satisfaction
reactions of employees to the various task characteristics of
their jobs. Like the results of previous studies, job satisfaction here is directly associated with each of the five task
characteristics when all respondents are analyzed together.
217/ASQ

The strengths of these relationships, however, depend

highly upon the employees' job and organizational longevities.
Employees new to their jobs respond positively, in terms of
satisfaction, to the feedback-from-job dimension (in the
case of veterans) and to task significance (in the case of
newcomers). Furthermore, newcomers react strongly and
negatively toward autonomy during this initial job stage.
Perhaps both subgroups are too concerned with clarifying
and establishing their "identities" during their early socialization or resocialization experiences to relate to the challenging aspects of their jobs along all task dimensions. Indeed, it appears that newcomers are concerned most with
becoming a helpful, necessary, and important part of the
overall operation, while veterans are concerned most with
establishing and demonstrating their competence.*
At the other extreme, the satisfaction scores of employees
with considerable job longevity (around 10 years or more)
are also unrelated to the task features of their jobs. Although it is impossible to determine the reason for this
correlational attenuation in a cross-sectional study, it is possible that employees adapt to holding the same jobs by
becoming indifferent to their various task characteristics.
Moreover, the progressive weakening of the job
satisfaction-task dimension correlations after two years of
job longevity adds to the reasonableness of this interpretation.
On the other hand, the satisfaction scores of employees
who are neither newcomers nor veterans, nor have substantial job longevity are positively related to the task
characteristics of their jobs. In fact, respondents within the
4- to 36-month interval of job longevity have the strongest
relationships between job satisfaction and the various task
dimensions.

In the public sector, one can also presume that task significance is the most
important task feature during socialization, for many employees presumably
choose a career within the public sector
because they somehow want to contribute to society or perform some significant social service.
6
Given this possible explanation, some
suggest that employees with more enriched jobs may remain responsive to
the task dimensions longer than employees with less enriched jobs. Using
the median MPS score (see Hackman
and Oldham, 1975) to divide the portion
of the sample having high job longevity,
the study found that both groups still
had insignificant job satisfaction-task dimension relationships.

The thrust of these findings supports the notion that one

must also consider the social environment in which jobs are
embedded to determine how individuals describe and feel
about their work. Much of an employee's satisfaction may
derive from his or her definition of and interaction with the
job setting and not simply the fulfillment of psychological
needs. Weick (1969), for example, suggested that satisfaction can be closely tied to the removal of equivocality, that
is, the creation of subjective order. In a similar vein, Salancik and Pfeffer (1977) argued that individuals can mediate
and cope with job environments either by creating meaning
that makes the context more satisfying or by redefining the
context of the overall job situation. In short, people are not
especially receptive to disorder and uncertainty; they will
endeavor to structure and interpret the world of their experience. The crucial questions from such a perspective,
therefore, surround the mechanisms by which people establish order and reduce uncertainty.
One can argue from the present findings that in the first
months of a new job, an employee reduces equivocality
primarily through interpersonal and feedback processes. For
the newcomer, social interactions are particularly important
in building a perspective about what is expected in a given
role. Van Maanen (1977) emphasized that new employees
218/ASQ

Job Longevity

must first construct a definition of their organizational settings through symbolic interactions with other individuals,
peers as well as supervisors; while Evan (1963) demonstrated that unstructured interaction time can help newcomers learn quickly the necessary and appropriate behaviors and attitudes. If, in fact, interpersonal and social
interactions are instrumental in establishing subjective order
on a new job, then it is not surprising that autonomy interferes with job satisfaction during the newcomers' initial job
period.
For organizational veterans undertaking new jobs, the present findings suggest that they reduce equivocality during
resocialization by learning how well they now or can perform. In leaving previous responsibilities and activities, veterans not only must form new social relationships, albeit to
a lesser extent than newcomers, but are also anxious to
solidify perceptions of their new job proficiency. Performance feedback may greatly assist veterans in reducing such
initial uncertainty.
As pointed out by Van Maanen (1977), individuals regularly
revise and reformulate their definitions of their organizational situations. From the present study, one may contend
that after the initial socialization and resocialization periods,
employees are more willing to define their situations according to their abilities to alter or modify elements within their
work settings. They may reduce equivocality no longer simply through interpersonal processes but also through their
abilities to influence their work situation.'' The greater the
influence of an employee, the greater his or her overall
satisfaction. More challenging jobs those conferring autonomy and significance, but requiring a variety of skills
typically give their holders more of a chance to influence
their job environments and, consequently, result in greater
job satisfaction.
With increasing job longevity, however, employees' perceptions of the present and of the future may become increasingly impoverished; that is, employees may begin to question warily the meaningfulness of what they are doing and
where it may lead. From the progressively weaker task
dimension-job satisfaction relationships, one can argue that
individuals gradually adjust to substantial job tenure by defining their situations less in terms of personal influence and
accomplishment and more, perhaps, in terms of other organizational and interactional features, such as tangible
rewards and good interpersonal and supervisory
relationships.

Such an explanation is consistent with

Weick's (1969) notion that it is not the
contents of the job per se that are important in reducing equivocality, but the
state of available information.

it is important to recognize too that the influence of job and

organizational longevities on employee reactions may depend very much upon the particular organizational structure.
The current findings are based on data derived from organizations that Weick (1976) might label loosely coupled systems or that Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) might label highly
differentiated; that is, organizations containing a wide variety of very different interests, orientations, services, fields,
or products. By definition, therefore, one expects considerable differences among many of the intraorganizational
units, resulting, perhaps, in many veterans reacting like
219/ASQ

newcomers when crossing highly differentiated boundaries.

In contrast, in a highly interdependent or undifferentiated
organization in which a singular kind of technology or process dominates, the extent to which veterans there
undergo resocialization experiences may be rather minimal.
In addition, the kind of bureaucratic structure may affect the
process by which newcomers proceed through socialization.
If bureaucratic dimensions are independent (Reimann,
1973), then the degree of centralization, formalization, or
specialization may significantly affect the mechanisms by
which newcomers define their new job settings. Although
typically described as centralized and specialized, governmental organizations in the present study can be characterized also as less formalized, relying more on custom and
informal culture than on precisely written documents and
manuals to define the actual behavior and procedures by
which various jobs are performed (Page, 1946; Merton,
1957). In such an organization, newcomers are even more
likely to reduce equivocality through interpersonal processes. To understand the world of work more fully, systematic investigations of the interface between individuals
and their job settings in different kinds of organizational
systems are needed.
Implications for Job Design
One possible implication of these results is that the efficacy
of job design efforts (in terms of job satisfaction) may rest
upon the job and career stages of the individual employees.
When task dimensions are to be improved, but the job positions remain officially the same and filled by the same personnel, it may be wise to check the workers' receptivity. In
such a situation, enriched tasks per se may not directly
influence the overall satisfaction of employees with considerable job tenure. On the other hand, employees with a
year or two on the job seem particularly receptive to the
various task characteristics. Although the present study
cannot be used to determine the actual effects of redesigning jobs, the results do hint that periodic job changes may
help reestablish connections between task dimensions and
job satisfaction.
Moreover, the success of any job design program depends
not only on overall theory, but also on the merit of its implementation. In discussing procedural errors, Hackman
(1975) identified one problem area as the "assessment of
readiness for change." The correlations from the early job
stage support his concern. The readiness of employees to
accept substantial (or additional) autonomy is perhaps the
crucial feature. Employees assigned new jobs may not only
be unresponsive to autonomy, but may also become dissatisfied, especially if they are also new to the organization.
Consequently, it may be more rational to confer autonomy
gradually, carefully, and with considerable support during
the first job months.
Advocates of challenging jobs, such as Herzberg (1966),
readily warn managers to expect initial, albeit temporary,
setbacks from employees' early confusion and learning.
Such introductory problems may worsen if too much
change occurs, that is, too much autonomy or variety is
220/ASQ

Job Longevity

introduced. There is nothing to suggest, however, that a job

must be initially and simultaneously rich along all task dimensions. On the contrary, the results here indicate that
job satisfaction may be related primarily to task significance
in the case of socialization and to feedback-from-job in the
case of resocialization. In both situations, autonomy, skill
variety, and identity do not seem of immediate importance
and may be welcomed more after the first months.
Hence, it may be particularly helpful to train managers how
to help their new employees mesh with their job environments. The managing skills of a newcomer's supervisor are
often cited as crucial in the initial, "joining-up" process (Kotter, 1973). And, as shown by Berlew and Hall (1966), these
early experiences on new job assignments can have important effects on employees' future careers and success.
Future Directions
Since the findings reported in this study are based on
cross-sectional and not panel-type data, one cannot be sure
of what happens to a group of employees as they adapt to
their jobs and move through their careers. One can only
speculate that the task dimension-job satisfaction
relationships dissolve with increasing job tenure. Longitudinal studies are necessary to clarify and corroborate the situation. In addition, if the reactions of employees to their task
characteristics during the initial months of a job are, in fact,
different from their reactions later, then the meaningfulness and applicability of short-term laboratory experiments
vis a vis job design is questionable. Since the notion of a
" n e w " job underlies the present analysis, it is also imperative to determine exactly what constitutes a new job. We
need to explicate the elements, dimensions, or rules that
determine whether one job is perceived as similar to or
different from another.
In addition. Van Maanen and Katz (1976) discussed the importance of career path differences with respect to variations in job satisfaction particularly in regard to "staged"
and "unstaged" careers. Reexamining the present findings
failed to uncover any significantly different correlations between respondents in the so-called staged and unstaged
EEOC careers as defined by the proportion of employees
receiving at least one promotion within a given EEOC occupational category. One possible explanation is that
respondents with considerable job longevity, regardless of
whether they occupy a staged or unstaged career, perceive
themselves as currently residing in an unstaged career.
Finally, the conclusions presented here are based on the
averaged responses of many respondents. It is crucial,
however, to learn more about individual and occupational
differences within a job longevity context. Each individual
employee has his or her own abilities, needs, and prior experiences. Some workers, for example, may be ready for, or
even expect, substantial autonomy and variety from the
outset. As a result, possible individual difference moderators
could include higher-order need strength, tolerance for uncertainty, and the need for achievement and affiliation.
These, then, are some of the issues that need resolution if
the quality of work life is to be improved significantly. Of221/ASQ

ten, more than just the immediate task is important. An

individual's characteristics, job position, organizational role,
and career path (actual as well as potential) have to be
included in an overall framework. The ultimate challenge is
successfully matching individuals with positions in organizations, and it is the mutual responsibility of both the individual and the organization to achieve this accommodation.

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