University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative

Exchange
Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School

6-1971

The Application of Porter and Lawler's Attitude-

Performance Model to a Population of
Disadvantaged Trainees
Richard Dorr Scott
University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Recommended Citation
Scott, Richard Dorr, "The Application of Porter and Lawler's Attitude-Performance Model to a Population of Disadvantaged Trainees.
" PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1971.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2656

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To the Graduate Council:
I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Richard Dorr Scott entitled "The Application of
Porter and Lawler's Attitude-Performance Model to a Population of Disadvantaged Trainees." I have
examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be
accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in
Psychology.
Michael E. Gordon, Major Professor
We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance:
John Larsen, Gerald Whitlock, John Allen
Accepted for the Council:
Dixie L. Thompson
Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
(Original signatures are on file with official student records.)
 March 2 3 � 1 97 1

To the Graduat e Counc i l :

I am submi t t i ng h e rew i th a d i s s ertat i o n wri t t e n by Ri chard Dorr

Sco t t , ent i t l ed 11The App l i c a t i o n o f Porter and Law l e r1s At t i tude­
P erfo rmanc e Mod e l t o a Po pu l a t i o n o f D i sadvantaged T ra i nee s . 11 I
·

recommend that i t be accepted i n part i a l fu l f i l lment of the requi reme n t s

for the d e gree o f D o c t o r o f Ph i l o sophy9 w i th a maj o r i n O rgan i zat i o na l
P s yc ho l o gy.

Maj or Pro f e s so r

We have re ad thi s d i s sertat i o n

Ac c e p t ed f o r the Counc i l :

Vi c e Chanc e l l o r f o r
Graduate S t ud i e s a n d Rese arc h
THE APPLI CAT ION OF PORTER AND LAWLER'S ATT IT UDE-PERFORMANCE

MODEL TO A POPULAT ION OF D I S ADVANTAGED T RAI NEES

A D i s s e r t at i o n

P r e s e n t e d to

the G r aduate Counc i l of

The U n i ve r s i t y o f Tenne s s e e

I n P a r t i a l Fu l f i l lment

o f the Requ i r ement s for the Degree

Do c to r of Phi l o s ophy

by

Ri chard D o r r S cott

June 1 9 7 1
 ACKNOWLEDGMEN:r'S

For h i s co nt i nual he l p and gu i d anc e i n the pr epar a t i o n of th i s

d i s se r tat i o n , I wou l d l ike to expr e s s my s i n c e r e appr e c i a t i o n to

D r . M i chae l E. Gordo n 9 A s si s t ant P r of e s so r o f I ndus t r i a l Manageme nt.

I am a l so i ndebted to D r . J ohn Lar sen and D r . G e r a l d Whi t l ock

o f the I ndu s t r i a l Management Depar tment and t o D r . J ohn A l l e n of the

P s ycho l ogy Depar tmen t for the i r d e t a i l ed and exc eed i ng l y u s e f u l comme n t s .

ii
 ABSTRACT

The purpo s e of th i s s tud y was to t e s t a mod i f i e d ve r s i on o f

P o r t e r and Law l e r ' s a t t i tude-perfo rmance mod e l w i th a popu l at ion o f

d i sadvantaged t r a i nee s . S e v e n hypo th e s e s were d e r i ved f r om the fo l l ow i ng

f o rmu l at i o n : I f a t r a i ne e sees h i gh p e r f o rmance a s l e ad i ng to the

a t t a i nment of one or mo r e p e r s o na l r ewar d s in the t r a i ni ng s i tuat i o n ,

he wi l l t e nd to exe r t h i gh e f f o r t i n the program . The t r ai nee w i l l have

cDr r e spond i ng l y h i gh p e r f o rmanc e in thi s s i t uat i o n prov i d i ng he has the

r e l evant abi l i t y and app rop r i at e ro l e p e r c e p t i o n s .

To t e s t the s e hypo t h e s e s data w e r e obt ai ned f r om 97 d i sadvant aged

t r a i ne e s a nd the i r e i ght supe r v i sor s at a manpowe r deve l opment p ro j ec t

i n Oak R i d ge , Tenne s s e e . E ach t r a i nee wa s g i v e n three qu e s t i o nnai r e s

d e s i gned to measu r e the va l u e o f four r eward s r e su l t i ng f rom t ra i n i ng ,

the p e r c e i ved probabi l i t y that h i gh p e r f o rmanc e w i l l l e ad to the s e

r eward s, and t h e impo r tance o f c e r t a i n ro l e pe r ce p t i o n s . Abi l i t y s c o r e s

w e r e based upo n sco r e s on three ap t i tude t e s t s o b t a i ned f r om the t e s t

f i l e s o f t h e p r o g r am . Each o f t h e e i ght supe r v i sor s w a s a sked t o r a nk

h i s t ra i ne e s o n d e g r e e o f e f for t e x e r t ed and ove r a l l pe r f o rmance . The

supe r v i so r s were a l so admi ni st e r ed the r o l e per c e p t i o n que st i o nna i r e .

The r e su l t s o f the s tud y o f f e r o n l y l imi t ed suppo r t t o the mod e l ,

a s o n l y two o f the seven hypothe s e s we r e c o n f i rmed . I t was found that

t r a i n e e s who saw h i gh pe r fo rmanc e as l e ad i ng t o the a t t a i nment of d e s i r ed

r ewar d s d i d e x e r t mo r e e f f o r t i n t r a i n i ng , and a l so had h i gher r a t i ng s

o f o v e r a l l p e r f o rmanc e . Howeve r , t h e p r ed i c t ed i nc re a s e s i n the

i ii
 iv

r e l at ionship b e tween e f for t and ove r a l l per formanc e f o r t r a i ne e s w i th

h i gh abi l i t y and approp r i a t e rol e p e r c e p t ions were not f ound . A numb e r

of pos s i b l e exp l anat i ons f o r the s e f i nd i ng s are d i s c u s s ed.

 TABLE O F CONTENT S

CHAPTER PAGE

I. I NT RODUCT ION 1

Fo c u s o f the S tudy 1

P r ev i o u s Re sear ch . 3

S t atement o f the P r o b l em 11

Hypo th e s e s 12

Reward s and p e r c e i ved p e r f o rmance-reward p r o babi l i t y 12

P red i c t ions • 14

Ab i l i t i e s . . 14

P r ed i c t i o ns 15

Ro l e p e r c e p t i o n s 15

Pre d i c t i o ns . . 17

Abi l i t y and ro l e p e r c e p t i ons 17

P r ed i c t i o n 18

I I. METHOD 19

Re search S i t e 19

Subj e c t s 19

Mea sureme n t s 20

Va l ue o f r eward 20

P e r f o rmanc e-reward p r o babi l i t y 20

Ro l e p e r c e p t i o n s 23

I nner-d i r ec t e d p e r f o rmanc e i tems 23

, ...

Uther-d i r e cted p e r f o rmanc e i t ems 23

v
 vi

CHAPTER PAGE

Abi l i t y • 24

Effort 26

T r ai ni ng p e r f o rmanc e 26

I ll . RESULTS . 29

Rewar d s and P e r c e i ved Per fo rmanc e-Rew ard Probab i l i t y 29

Abi l i t y 31

Ro l e Pe r c e p t i on s 32

Abi l i t y and Ro l e P e r c e p t i o n s 38

A C ompar i so n o f the Po r t er-Law l e r Mod e l w i th a

L i near Mod e l 39

· IV. DI SCUS SION 42

Rewar d s and P e r c e i ved P e r fo rmanc e-Reward P ro b ab i l i t y 42

Abi l i t y 44

Ro l e P e r c e p t i o n s 46

Abi l i t y and Ro l e P e r c ep t i o n s so

I mp l i c at i o n s o f the R e su l t s 51

V. SUMMARY • 53

Rewar d s and P e r c e i ved P e r formanc e-Rewa�d P robabi l i t y 54

Abi l i t y 54

Ro l e P e r c ep t i o n s 54

Abi l i t y and Ro l e Pe r c e p t i o n s 55

BI BLIOGRAPHY , • 56

APPENDI XE S • 60

Append i x A • . . 61

App e nd i x B 62
 vi i

CHAPTER PAGE

Ap pend i x c 65

App e nd i x D . 67

Append i x E . 68

VI TA . . 69
 LI ST O F TABLES

T ABL E PAGE

1. C o r r e l at i o n s Among I t ems De s i gned to Measu r e the T r a i ne e ' s

-

P e r c e p t i o n o f the I mpor tance o f Pe r fo rmanc e Fac t o r s i n

D e t e rmi n i ng Var i ou s T r a i ni ng Reward s . . 22

2. Co r r e l at i o n s Amo ng the Ap t i tude Te s t s U s ed as Abi l i t y

Measu r e s o f the T r a i nee s . . . 25

3. Mean s and S t andard De v i at i o n s o f the Var i ab l e s U s ed i n

the S tud y 27

4. Mean Supe r v i s o r y Rat i ngs o f E f f o r t and Ove r a l l P e r f o rmance

for T ra i n e e s H i gh and Low in Fo r c e . 30

5. Per fo rmanc e Ra t i ngs of H i gh and Low Agr e ement Groups 33

6. P e r fo rmance Rat i n g s o f H i gh and Low I nner-D i r e c t ed

T r a i nee s 35

7. Supe r v i s o r Rank i ng s o f Ro l e P e r c e p t i o n I tems . 36

8. S t e pwi s e Regr e s s i o n Equat i o n Combi n i ng E f f o r t , Abi l i t y

and Agr e eme nt Sco r e s to P r e d i c t T ra i n i ng P e r fo rmance 40

vi i i
 L I ST OF FIGURES

FIGURE PAGE

l. The Mo d i f i ed P o r t e r -Law l e r Mo d e l . . . • . . . . . . . . . 9

ix
 CHAPTER I

I NTRODUCT ION

I. FOCUS OF THE STUDY

The f a c t o r s wh i ch mo t i vate an emp l oyee to e f f ec t i ve j o b

p e r f o rmance have l ong been a que s t i o n o f great c o nc e r n t o membe r s o f the

bu s i ne s s communi t y , par t i cu l ar l y manager s d e a l i ng wi th human r e s ou r c e s.

O r i g i na l l y , i t was be l i eved that f i nanc i a l compe nsat i o n was the o n l y

i nc e nt i ve f o r supe r i o r p e r f o rmance o n the j o b . Later , w i t h the pub l i c a­

t i on of the c l a s s i c Hawtho r ne s t ud i e s , j o b a t t i t ud e s of the emp l o ye e

were a l so fou nd t o be impor tant . Thu s, i n t h e ye ar s wh i ch f o l lowed a

gr eat d e a l o f r e search wa s d e s i gned and c o nduc ted to d e t e rmi ne whe ther a

r e l at i o n s h i p e x i s t ed between j o b sat i s fac t io n and p e r fo rmanc e . Howev e r ,

a s po i nted o u t i n the comp r ehe n s i ve r e v i ew s by B r ayf i e l d and Crockett

( 1 9 5 5 ) and Vro om ( 1 9 6 4 ) , thi s r e search has been rather d i s appo i n t i ng and

i nco nc l u s i v e .

One p ro b l em w i th mo st of thi s r e search o n the r e l at i o n ship b e tween

j o b a t t i tud e s and p e r fo rmanc e was that it wa s no t ba sed o n any theo r y

o f behav i o r . Con sequent l y , the p r e v i o u s work i s comp r i sed o f i so l at ed

s t ud i e s no t f i t t i n g t o ge t her i n any me ani ngf u l pat t e r n . · F u r thermo r e ,

the f i nd i ng s o f thi s r e s e ar ch p r o v i d e o n l y a t e nuous ba s i s f r om wh i c h to

gener a l i z e .

Po r t e r and Law l er ( 1 9 68 ) r e v i ewed thi s ear l i er wo rk and c o nc l ud ed

that o n l y w i t h a t e s t abl e theo r y ava i l ab l e cou l d any sub s t ant i al p r o gr e s s

1
 2

be mad e i n under s t a nd i ng the r e l at ionship between at t i t ud e s and

per formanc e . With f ew excep t i on s , however ( Brayf i e l d and C rocke t t ,

1 9 5 5; Geor gopou l a s e t a l . , 1 9 5 7; H e r z be r g e t a l . , 1 9 58; and Vroom ,

1 9 6 4 ) , the amou nt of such theor i z i ng has bee n sma l l i n p ropor tion to

the impor tance and s cope of the i s sue .

A s econd probl em i nh i b i t i ng the study of the a s soc i at i on betwee n

a t t i t ud e s and p e r formance was the s l ow r e a l i za t i on of the impor tance of

mod e r ator var i ab l e s . O n l y r e c e n t l y s t ud i e s have been a t t emp ted wh i ch

u t i l i z e the mod e r ator va r i ab l e s t o c l ar i f y thi s r e l at i on s h i p ( e . g . ,

Geor gopoula s e t a l . , 1 9 57; Kat z e l l , Bar r e t t , and Parker , 1 9 6 1 ; Law l e r ,

1 9 66; and Car l son , 1 9 6 9 ) .

O ne p r omi s i ng new approach appear s to mi t i gate t h e s e prob l em s

a s soc i ated w i t h r e search o n the r e l at i on ship between a t t i t ud e s and p e r ­

f ormanc e . I n 1 9 68 , P or t e r and Law l e r p roposed a theor e t i c a l mod e l ,

d e s i gned b a s i c a l l y f or manage r s , whi ch e ncomp a s s e d both the var i ab l e s o f

a t t i t ud e s and p e r formanc e . Not on l y d i d the i r mod e l provi d e a sou r c e

of t e s t ab l e hypothe s e s , b u t i t a l so r e cogni zed t h e impor tance o f a

number of mod e r a t i ng var i ab l e s between the emp loyee ' s j ob a t t i t ud e s and

h i s p e r formanc e . Th i s mod e l s e emed i mportant becau s e i t p r ov i d ed a way

of th i nk i ng about the r e l at i on sh i p among a l a r ge numbe r of var i ab l e s

that have not be e n combi ned p r e v i ou s l y i n a meani ngf u l manne r, and be­

c au s e i t appeared t o be adapt ab l e to ot her popu l a t i on s wh i c h wer e

non-mana ge r i a l .

The par t i cu l a r type of emp l oyee to be exam i ned i n the pre s e nt

s tud y i s the i ndu s t r i a l t r a i ne e . H i s ro l e i n the wor k i ng f o r c e i s

impor tant for a t l ea s t two r e a s ons , the f i r s t of whi ch i s a very p r ac t i c a l

 3

o ne . Mo s t t ra i n i ng program s of any va l u e are t ime co n sumi ng and

expe n s i v e u nd e r t ak i ng s . S i nc e the t r ainee ' s a t t i t ud e i s f r eque n t l y

ment ioned a s a c ru c i a l v a r i ab l e i n the suc c e s s o f t r a i ni ng , i t wou l d

seem h i gh l y d e s i r ab l e that mo r e i nfo rmation be gather ed o n the r e l a t i o n­

ship b e twe e n h i s at t i t ud e s and per f o rmanc e . S e c o nd l y , mo st o f the

r e search d e a l i ng wi th the r e l a t i o n s h i p between j o b a t t i t ud e s and p e r ­

f o rmanc e has d ea l t w i th t h e emp l oyed worker ( p r imar i l y manage r s ) , whi l e

l i t t l e or n o s tudy o f the s e var i ab l e s h a s been c ar r i ed o u t i n the

t r ai n i ng s i tuat i o n . Thu s , thi s study w i l l c o n s t i tute a t e s t o f the

gene r a l i t y o f the Po r t er -Law l e r mod e l w i t h a no n-ma nage r i a l , unemp l oyed

samp l e .

I I. PREVIOUS RESEARCH

Job at t i tude r e search in i ndu s t r y t yp i c a l l y has s t ud i ed o n l y o ne

k i nd o f at t i tude--the emp l oyee ' s s a t i s f a c t ion with hi s j o b . Such an

empha s i s fo l l ow s what Eng l i sh and Eng l i sh ( 1 9 5 8 ) d e s c r i be a s a nar row l y

l im i t ed d e f i n i t i o n o f the t e rm " a t t i tude" that i nc l ud e s o n l y approval

a nd d i s app r o va l v i ew s . The t yp i c a l exper iment a l d e s i gn f o r a study

r e l at i ng at t i t ud e s to perfo rmance u s ua l l y cons i s t s o f o b t a i ni ng some

measu r e of the emp l oyee ' s sat i s f a c t i o n-d i ssat i s f ac t i o n w i t h va r i ous

aspec t s o f the job ( i . e . , work i ng c o nd i t io n s , supe r v i so r , pay , e t c . )

and r e l a t i ng thi s t o a mea s u r e o f j o b p e r f o rmanc e . · Examp l e s o f such

s t ud i e s are nume r o u s ( e . g . , K o r nhau s e r and Shar p , 1 9 3 2; Habbe , 1 9 47;

Bax t e r et a l . , 1 9 5 3; Mo s s i n , 1 9 49; K e r r , 1 9 52; S i r o t s , 1 9 58 ) . As was

po inted o u t e ar l i e r , e x t e n s i v e r e v i ew s o f the s e s t ud i e s have gener a l l y

found a ne g l i g i b l e o r i n s i gn i f i c an t , po s i t ive r e l at i o n s h i p b e tween the

 4

two variab l e s ( Brayf i e l d and C ro c ke t t , 1 9 5 5; Vroom , 1 9 6 4 ) . The p r o b l em

s eemed t o be that t h e se s t ud i e s w e r e i n the u nfo r t una t e po s i t ion of no t

measu r i ng any a t t i t ud e s that appeared to be d i r e c t d e t e rm i nant s o f

perfo rmanc e e f f e c t i ve ne s s . The que s t i o n wh ich immed i a t e l y became r e l e­

vant was how may these a t t i tud e survey s be mad e mo r e e f f e c t i ve. The

answe r , acco r d i ng t o seve r a l autho r s ( Brayf i e l d and C r o cke t t , 19 5 5;

Geo gopoul a s � ., 1 9 57; Vro om, 1 9 6 4; Law l e r , 1 9 6 7; and Po r t e r and

Law l e r , 19 68 ) , cou l d be f ound i n mo t i vat i o n theo r y . H e r e i t was sugge s t ed

that what wa s needed were data o n how emp l oye e s fee l impo r t ant rewa r d s

cou l d be o b t a i ned i n the i r o r ga n i z a t i o n . I n the l anguage o f mo t i vat ion

theo r y , what was needed were data o n emp l o yee s • path-go a l o r r eward­

expe c t ancy a t t i tude s--on the emp l oyee s• at t i t ud e s toward what fac t o r s

i n f l ue nc e the r eward s they r e c e i ve . To quo te f r om the ar t i c l e by

Lawl e r ( 1 9 6 7 ) , 11i t i s the se a t t i tud e s that p r o v i d e the l i nk between

a t t i t ud e s towa rd the impo r t ance o f j o b fact o r s and j o b p e r f o rmanc e , the

l i nk that is t y p i c a l l y mi s s i ng in a t t i t ud e s t ud i e s . 11

The p s ycho l o g i c a l l i t e r a t u r e on mo t i vat i o n theo r y p r o v i d e s the

ba s i s for the s t atement that r ewar d-expec tancy ( path-go a l ) at t i t ud e s are

the key to und e r s t and i ng the emp l o y e e 1 s mo t i va t io n t o p e r fo rm e f f e c t i ve l y .

Par t i c u l ar l y impo r t ant i s the t r ad i t i o na l expe c t ancy theo r y o f mo t i va­

t i on as d e s c r i be d in the w r i t i n g s o f two of i t s ear l y p roponent s ,

E . C . T o l man ( 1 9 3 2 ) and K u r t Lew i n ( 1 9 38 ) . Ba s i c t o bo t h the se theo r i e s

i s the no t io n that i nd i v idua l s have behav i o r r e spo n s e expec t a t ions which

t ake the f o rm of b e l i e f s c o nc e r n i n g the l ike l i ho od that a par t ic u l a r

a c t w i l l be fo l l owed b y a par t i c u l a r outcome . Thu s , a p e r son i s s e e n

a s mo t i va t ed to p e r f o rm c e r t a i n behavao r a l r e spo n s e s i f he expec t s that

 5

such ac t s w i l l l ead t o d e s i r ed out c ome s or goa l s . As i s e v i d e n t f r om

these i d ea s , expec t ancy theory i s s t ro ng l y i n f l ue n c ed by the pr i nc i p l e s

o f hedoni sm ( Bowr i ng , 1 9 6 2 ) . Bo th T o l man and Lew i n v i ew t h i s goa l

d i r e c t ed behavior o f the or gani sm a s a s t r i vi n g t o a t t ai n po s i t i ve l y

va l e nt obj e c t s o r event s and avo i d i ng negat i ve l y va l e nt obje c t s o r

event s .

S e v e r a l c ur r e n t advoc at e s of expec tancy theory ba s i c a l l y r e co n­

f i rm the ea r l i e r wr i t i n g s of To l man and Lew i n� and fur t h e r theo r i z e how

expe c t a nc y theory i s r e l a t ed t o at t i t ud e f ormat i o n . Fo r examp l e ,

Woodruff and D i ve st a ( 1 9 48 ) f ound that a per son's a t t i t ud e t oward a n

obj e c t d ep e nd s o n h i s va l ue s and how i n strume n t a l he be l i ev e s the o bj e c t

i s f o r t h e a t t a i nment o r b l o ck i ng o f t h e s e va l ue s . S i m i l ar l y� Ros e nbe r g

( 1 9 5 3 ) found t h a t t h e be s t pred i c t o r o f at t i t ud e was a c ombi ned mea sur e

o f v a l ue and i n s t r ument a l i t y . Peak ( 1 9 5 5 ) d i s t i ngui sh e s two t ype s o f

d e t e rm i nant s o f a t t i t ude s: (1 ) the c o gni zed i n s t r ument a l i t y of the

obj e c t o f the at t i t ude for the a t t a i nment o f var i ous c o n s equence s; and

( 2 ) the i nt e n s i t y and the nature of the aff ett expe c t ed f rom the s e

co nsequenc e s . Atk i n so n ( 1 9 6 4 ) , i n s imp l er l a nguage� say s ba s i c a l l y the

same t hi ng . H e po s t u l a t e s that the amount o f e f f o r t an i nd i vi dua l will

put i nt o p e r f o rmi ng e f f ec t i ve l y i s a f unc t i o n o f two fac t o r s --the

perc e p t i o n s t he i nd i v i dua l ho l d s about what r eward s ar e a s so c i at e d w i t h

performi ng e f f ec t i ve l y and t h e impo r t ance o r a t t r ac t i v e ne s s o f the

r ewar d s t o the i nd i v i d ual . And Vroom ( 1 9 64) � in h i s t h e o r y o f work e r

mo t i va t i o n � c o nc e p t ua l i z e s t h e pro b l em a s t h e i nd i v i d ua l f ac ed w i t h a

s e t o f a l t er nat i v e vo l unt ary behavi o r s and a s e t o f a s so c i at ed out c ome s .

The r o l e o c c upant choo s e s o ne o f th e s e al t e rnat i v e s depend i ng bo t h o n

 6

the out come he d e s i r e s and h i s p e r c e p t i o n of what behav i o r has t h e

h i ghe s t probabi l i t y o f l ead i ng t o t h i s out come .

Brayf i e l d and Cro cke t t ( 1 9 5 5 ) s e em to be amo ng t h e f i r s t t o

trans l ate expec tancy theo ry i nt o t e rms wh i ch a r e u s e f ul f o r d e sc r i bi �g

the r e l a t i o n s h i p between at t i t ud e s and per formanc e i n the i ndust r i al

s i tuat i o n . Af t e r they had r epo r t e d the i r revi ew o f the var i ous s t ud i e s

r e l at i ng a t t i tud e s t o pe r fo rmance they went o n t o make a p e r c e p t i ve

theo r e t i c a l anal y s i s . From t h i s ana l y s i s one o f the i r c o ncl u s i o n s was

a s f o llow s: 11 S a t i s f ac t i o n wi t h o ne ' s po s i t i o n in a ne two rk o f r elat i o n­

shi p s need no t imp l y s t r ong mo t i va t i o n to out s t a nd i ng p e r f o rmanc e w i t h i n

that s y s t em, and • . . produc t i v i t y may b e o nly pe r i ph er a l ly r e lat ed �o

many o f the goa l s t oward wh i c h the i ndus t r i a l worke r i s s t r i v i ng . 1 1

I t s e em s c l ear f rom t h i s quo t a t i o n that Brayf i eld and C ro ck e t t

are e s s ent i a l l y po s t ulat i ng a n expect anc y-r eward ( path-goal) approach t o

the analy s i s o f t h e r e l a t i o n sh i p between at t i t ud e s and per formanc e . If ,

i n a given s i t uat i o n the emp l o y e e p e r c e i v e s produc t i v i t y a s lead i ng t o

t h e a t t a i nment o f d e s i r ed go al s , a po s i t i ve r e l at i o n s h i p sho u l d e x i s t

betwe e n hi s a t t i t ud e s and p e r f ormanc e . I f, however , he d o e s no t per­

c e ive produc t io n a s lead i ng t o the s e goal s , then the r e i s no re ason t o

expe c t such a h i gh r e l �t i o n between t h e s e two var i able s .

Emp i r i ca l t e st s o f t h i s theory i n the i nd u s t r i a l s i t uat i o n have

been r ar e . Geo r go po ul a s et a l . ( 1 9 5 7 ) a sked t he i r subj e c t s to r a t e the

i n s t r ume n t ali t y of h i gh produc t i o n �or the a t t a i nment of s e v e r a l goa l s;

i.e. 9 mak i n g mo r e money i n the l o ng run9 promoti on t o a h i gher base

r a t e , and get t i ng a l o ng wi t h t h e i r worker s . They found that tho se

worke r s who perce i ved h i gh produc t i v i t y t o be d i r e c t l y r e l at ed t o the

 7

a t t a i nment of t h e s e d e s i red go al s w e r e the o n e s who wer e the h i gh

produc e r s o n the j ob .

Law l e r ( 1 9 6 4, 1 9 6 6 ) a sked manage r s t o r a t e s e v e r a l j ob fac t o r s

i n t erms o f the i r re l at i ve impo r t an c e i n d e t ermi ni ng the i r pay . Thr e e

o f the fac t o r s were j o b p e r f ormanc e fac t ors; i . e . , q ua l i t y o f j o b

performanc e, produc t i v i t y on the j o b, and amount of e f f o r t expended. In

the 1 9 6 4 s t ud y , Law l er found that the c o nt i ngency p e r c e p t i o n s between the

j o b per fo rmance f a c t o r s and h i gh pay were r e l a t ed t o both e f fo r t ( r = . 34)

and qua l i t y o f j o b per formance ( r = . 15) . The 1 9 6 6 s t ud y w a s somewhat

mo re comp l i cated as i t i nc l ud ed abi l i t y as a mod e r a t o r var i ab l e . Resul t s

s t i l l conf i rmed that i t wa s tho s e manage r s p e r c e i v i ng a h i gh r e l at i on

be twe e n j o b p e r f o rmance fac t o r s and amount o f pay who w e r e r at ed h i gh e s t

on per f o rmance, but the r e l at i o n w a s mod e r ated by abi l i t y l eve l .

O th e r r e c ent wr i t e r s have a l so shown t h e ut i l i t y of the expect ancy-

r eward approach t o mot i vat i o n . Cumm i ng s and Ga l br a i t h ( 1 9 6 7 ) , i n a

s t ud y s omewhat s i m i l a r t o Law l er ' s ( 1 9 6 6 ) s t ud y , showed that d i f f e r e nc e s

i n produc t i o n c o u l d b e account ed f o r b y u s i ng a measure o f the i n s t r u-

ment a l i t y of produc t i on f o r var i ous outcome s , and a measure of abi l i t y .

G�<.s� "'
Ga.e.fla ( 19 6 9 ) a t t emp t ed to e x t e nd some of the c o nc ep t s i n the Vroom

mod e l , u s i ng the i n s t r umenta l i t y o f var i ous behavi o r s as one of h i s

measur e s .

One propo s i t io n i n near l y a l l o f these s t ud i e s wa s that i f a

r eward ( e . g . , pay or promo t i o n ) i s d e s i r e d by a i nd i v i dua l , and he per-

c e i v e s that h i gh produc t i o n wi l l l ead t o thi s r eward, then the r e su l t

i s a h i g h l y mo t i va t ed i nd i v i d ua l . That thi s f i nd i ng has va l id i t y s eems

t o be e v i d e n t f r om the re sul t s o f the s t ud i e s . A s e c o nd t h eme und e r l y i ng

 8

mo st o f t h e s e s t ud i e s i s that the r e i s not a d i r e c t r e l at i o n betwee n

the i nd i vi dua l who i s hi gh l y mo t i va t e d t o produc e and the ac t ua l q ua l i t y

o f h i s j ob p e r f ormanc e . As was poi n t ed out i n t h e 1 9 6 6 Law l e r s t ud y

t h e i n s t r ument a l i t y o f j o b p e r f ormanc e f ac t o r s ( i . e . , h i gh produc t i o n ,

h i gh e f fo r t ) to h i gh pay c o r r e l a t ed . 3 4 to r a t i ng s on e f f o r t but o n l y

. 1 5 t o a c t ua l qua l i t y o f j ob p e r f o rmanc e . Thus , mo s t autho r s have

po stul a t ed some t ype of mod e r a t i ng e f f e c t be twe e n the i nd i vi d ua l ' s mo t i­

va t i on or e f f o r t to produc e and a c t ua l qua l i t y o f produc t i o n . For

examp l e , Geo r gopou l a s et a l . ( 1 9 5 7 ) propo sed that the worker ' s l eve l

o f expe r i e nc e and t h e cond i t i o n of mach i n e r y wo rked o n a f f ec t ed the

qual i t y o f_ j o b p e r f o rmance. A l so , Law l e r ( 1 9 6 6 ) and Cumm i ngs and

G a l br a i th ( 1 9 6 7 ) showed that abi l i t y l eve l was a mod e r a t o r of j o b

performanc e .

I n 1 9 68 , Po r t er and Law l e r propo sed the i r mod e l r e l a t i ng at t i t ud e s

t o p e r f ormanc e . I n i t they i nc o r por a t ed the two propo s i t i o n s d i scus sed

above . Fi r s t , they s t at e d that mo t i va t i o n r e sul t ed f rom the i n ter­

a c t i o n of the va l ue o f a r ewar d to t h e i nd i vi d ua l a nd h i s p e r c ep t i o n o f

t h e pr obabi l i t y t h a t e f f o r t wi l l l ead t o thi s r ewar d . I n the mod e l

t h i s mo t i va t i o n wa s expr e s s ed i n t h e form o f e f f o r t . S e c o nd l y , they

po stul a t ed that e f f o r t wa s no t d i r e c t l y r e l a t ed t o j o b p e r f o rmanc e but

wa s mod erated by two var i ab l e s--the abi l i t y of the i nd i vi dua l and h i s

r o l e p e r c ep t i ons ( s e e Fi gure 1 ) . As i n o t her s t ud i e s u s i ng abi l i t y a s

a mod e r a t o r , t h e autho r s f e e l that i f t h e emp l oyee d o e s no t have the

abi l i t i e s r eq ui r ed f o r hi s po s i t i on , then he i s l ike l y t o p e r form h i s

j o b i ne f f e c t i ve l y r e gard l e s s o f the e f f o r t he e x e r t s . S im i l ar l y , i f the

r o l e p e r c e pt i o n s o f what the emp l oyee t h i nk s he shou l d be d o i ng do no t

 9

Va l ue o f
Rewa rd

--->�
B -->-7 > P e r f or mance

Perc e i ved
1
Ro l e
P e r f o rmanc e-Reward P e r c ept i o n s
Probabi l i t y

FI GURE l

THE MODI FIED PORTER-LAWLER MODEL

 10

c o r r e spond t o hi s sup e r i o r ' s p e r c e pt i o n , e f fort wi l l pr obab l y be

mi sd i r ec t ed and per formance would aga i n be adve r s e l y a f f e c t ed . Thus?

acc o r d i ng to the mod e l , ac tual j o b p e r f o rmance depend s on the amount o f

e f f o r t e x e r t ed, t h e emp loyee's abi l i t y to pe r fo rm h i s t a sk, and h i s

r o l e p e r c e p t i o n s o f r equi r eme nt s d emanded by the t a sk . P o r t e r and

Law l e r concede that there a r e many e nv i ronme nt a l f ac t o r s that a l so

i nt er vene to i nf l uence the r e l at i o nshi p o f e f f o r t to per f ormance ( e .g . ,

cond i t i o n o f the e qui pme nt , wo rking c o nd i t i o n s , l o c a l e o f the fac t o r y ,

etc . ) . Howeve r , they do not t ake the s e f ac t o r s i n t o account because

they r e p r e sent " s pur i ous" f a c t o r s in und e r st and i ng the p sycho l o g i c a l and

human d e t e rm i nant s of per formanc e .

To t e s t t h i s theo r y r e l a t i ng a t t i tud e s and pe r f o rmanc e , Por t er

and Law l e r used a var i e t y of manage r s represent i ng bo t h gove r nment and

i ndus t r y . The r eward used i n the s t ud y wa s pay . Que s t i o n na i r e inf orma­

t i on wa s o b t a i ned for each o f the var i ab l e s propo sed i n the mod e l w i t h

t h e e x c ep t i o n o f abi l i t i e s , wh i ch w a s omi t t ed f r om the s tud y. To o b t a i n

d a t a o n the va l ue o f the r eward, que s t i o n s c o nc e r ni ng t h e i mpo r t an c e o f

pay t o t h e manag e r w e r e a sked . To c o l l e c t d a t a r e l a t ed t o the p e r c e i ve d

e f fo r t-reward probab i li t y, q ue s t i o n na i r e i nf o rmat i o n wa s o b t a i ned o n how

c l o s e l y the manager f e l t h i s pay wa s based on j o b p e r formance fac t o r s;

i . e . , p roduc t i v i t y o n the j o b . To co l l e c t data o n e f f o r t , and a l so o n

p e r fo rmanc e , s e l f r a t i n g s and r a t i ng s b y super i o r s w e r e o b t a i ned .

The r o l e-per c e p t i o n var i ab l e i nve s t i gated was the i nner-o ther

d i r e c t ed d i me n s i o n ( i . e. , i ndependence v s . co nformi t y ) d e sc r i bed by

Ri e sman ( 1 9 50 ) . Data o n thi s d ime n s i o n were c o l l e c t ed by means o f

que s t i o nna i r e i t em s d e a l i ng wi th i nner and o t her d i r ec t e d behav i o r

r equi r ement s .
 11

Re sul t s gener a l ly suppo r t e d the pr ed i c t i o n s wh i ch f l ow f r om t h e

por t i o n s o f the mod e l d e s c r i bed . Manage r s who saw pay c l o s e l y r e l at ed

t o p e r f ormanc e f a c t o r s r e c e i ved h i gher e f fo r t and per formance r at i ng s

than ma nage r s who d i d no t s e e such a c l o se r e l at i onshi p . Al so , thi s

r e l at i o n b e tween va l ue of r eward and expec tancy that p e r f o r manc e f ac t o r s

wi l l l ead t o r ewar d i s mor e c l o s e l y r e l ated t o e f f o r t rat i ng s than t o

p e r f o rmanc e r a t i ngs . Fur thermo r e , t h e s t ronge s t r e l at i o n sh i p betwe e n

p e r c ep t i o n o f p a y be i ng based on per fo rmance f ac t o r s and the measur e s o f

e f f o r t e x i s t ed f o r t ho s e manage r s who a t t ached t h e grea t e s t va l ue t o

pay a s a r ewar d .

I n the pre senta t i o n of thi s theor e t i c a l mod e l P o r t e r and Law l e r

a l so sugge s t seve r a l l i ne s o f further r e search . One a s p e c t wh i ch wa s

a l mo s t comp l e t e l y l acki ng i n t he i r s t udy wa s any measure o f abi l i t y o f

the r o l e o c cupant s . A l so , the measur e s of r o l e per c e p t i o n s were

l imi t ed so l e l y to the ro l e o c c upant s wi t h no measure o f t he i r supe r i o r s '

p e r c e p t i o n of c o r r e c t ro l e behavi o r . Third l y , the s tud y wa s concer ned

w i th the i nve s t i gat i o n o f o n l y o ne r eward , i . e . , pay. And f i na l l y , t h e

autho r s sugge s t t h a t such a mode l shou l d be ap p l i ed to o t her popul a t i o n s

t o d e t e rmine it s ge neral izabi l it y .

I ll . STATEMENT O F THE PROBLEM

The purpo s e of thi s s tud y i s to app l y a mod i f i ed ve r s i on of the

P o r t e r-Law l e r mo d e l r e l at i ng at t i t ud e s and per f ormanc e t o the t r ai nee s

at a manpower deve l opment pr o j ec t . The s t ud y wa s d e s i gned t o answer

several of the r e search que s t i o n s r a i sed by the Po r t e r-Law l e r s t ud y as

we l l a s provi d i ng useful i nforma t i o n f o r the t r a i ni ng program.

 12

I V. H YPOTHESES

Rewar d s and P e r c e i v ed Perf ormanc e-Reward Probabi l i t y

Due t o the d i f f er e nc e s i n the natur e o f the popul a t i o n to be

s t ud i e d i n thi s project f rom that in the P o r t er-Law l e r s t udy� it was

f e l t that d i f f e r e nt r ewa r d s o r out come s wou l d be i mpor t an t a s i nc e n t i v e s

t o t h e t r a i ne e s. I n o ther wor d s , such t r ad i t i o nal r eward s a s pay ,

p romo t i o n , e t c . , wou l d no t be v i ewe d a s i mpo r t ant o ut c ome s i n the t r a i n­

i ng s i t uat i on. Fur thermo r e , because p r e v i ous e v i d e n c e ident i f i ed a

numbe r o f s a l i e n t r ewar d s a s hav i ng mo t i vat i ng va l ue i n the t r ai ni ng

p r o j e c t , i t was d e c i d ed t o t e s t the mod e l u s i ng seve r a l d i f f e r e n t r ewa r d s.

Thu s , i n s t ead o f t e s t i ng the p r ed i c t i o n s o f the mode l for one r eward

( e . g . , Por t e r and Law l e r used o n l y pay ) , thi s s t ud y t e s t ed the pred i c­

t i o n s o f the mod e l f o r four d i f f e r ent r eward s . The s e i nc l ud ed graduat i o n

f r om t h e p r o gram , grade s� ge t t i ng a be t t e r j o b , and maki ng mo r e mo ney

in the l o ng r un. S i nce a l l the s e r ewa r d s appe a r ed to be po s i t i v e

i nc e nt i ve s , i t w a s be l i eved that the b e s t p r ed i c t i o n s o f t r a i nee behav i o r

cou l d be mad e by comb i ni ng mu l t i p l i c a t i ve l y a l l t h e r eward s a l ong w i t h

t h e i r r e sp e c t i v e p e r formanc e-r eward p r o babi l i t i e s. Wh i l e be i ng co ngruent

wi th the P o r t er - Law l er mod e l , t h i s approach a l so a l l ow s tak i ng i nt o

ac count mor e t han one r eward a t a t ime ( i . e . , P o r t e r and Law l e r i nv e s t i ­

ga ted o n l y pay ) . Th i s wou l d seem a mo r e r ea l i s t i c appr oach a s c e r t a i n l y

the t r a i n e e s are s t r i vi n g f o r mo r e t han o ne r ewa rd w i t h varyi ng d e g r e e s

o f i n t e n s i t y and wi t h d i f f e r i ng p e r c e p t i o n s o f how t r a i ni ng p e r f o r mance

will l ead t o the vari o u s r eward s .

I t sho u l d a l so be no t ed that i n the p r e sent s t udy ther e has be e n

a change i n t e rmi no l o gy f r om t h e 1 9 68 Po r t e r and Law l e r s t ud y . I n the

 13

1 9 68 s t ud y P o r t e r and Law l er hypo t he s i z ed an i nt e r ac t i o n between the

v a l ue o f r ewar d s and the p e r c e i ved e f for t-reward p r o babi l i t y , whi l e i n

the p r e sent s t ud y thi s l at t e r var i ab l e i s r e f e r r e d t o a s the per c e i ved

p e r f o rmanc e-r eward probabi l i t y . Thi s change in t e rm i no l o gy was though t

nece s sary to r e f l e c t the f a c t that the t r a i ne e was a sked mo r e than h i s

p e r c ep t i o n o f the r e l at i onship be tween e f fo r t and obt a i n ing a d e s i r ed

r eward , he was a sked the same q ue s t i o n about other t ra i ni ng f ac t o r s

( e . g . , sho p and c l a s s r oom p e r f o rmanc e ) a s we l l .

To sp e c i f y how the r eward s and the perf o rmance-r ewa rd probabi l i t i e s

c omb i ne t o d e t ermi ne behavi o r , Vroom ' s ( 1 9 6 4 ) concept o f f o r c e was

i ntroduced . Acco r d i ng to Vroom ' s propo s i t ion the f o r c e o n a p e r so n to

e ngage in spe c i f i c behav i o r i s a mono t o n i c a l l y i nc r e a s i ng func t i o n o f

the sum o f the produc t s o f the va l ue o f a l l r ewa r d s and the s t r e ngth o f

h i s expec tanc i e s that the behav i o r wi l l be f o l l owed by the a t t a i nment o f

these r ewar d s . I n t e rms of the pr e s e n t s t udy thi s w a s exp r e s sed a s

f o l l ow s:

Fo r c e t o per form e f f e c t i ve l y i n the t r a i ni ng program =

f [ r ewar d s � ( va l ue o f r eward X per c e i ved per fo rmanc e-r eward

p r o babi l i t y ) ]

The f o r c e on the t r a i nee i s thus d e t ermined by h i s at t i tud e s t owa r d s the

va r i o u s po s s i b l e r ewar d s o f the t r ai ni ng program and h i s p e r c ept i o n o f

the p r o babi l i t y that these r eward s a r e d e t e rmined b y t r a i ni ng pe r fo rmanc e

facto r s . The p r ed i c t ions made for the s e var i a b l e s were s im i l ar t o tho s e

i n t h e P o r t e r -Law l e r s t udy w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n s j us t d i s c u s s ed .
 14

P r ed i c t i ons . l-a--The s t r o nger the f o r c e o n the t ra i nee ( the

sum o f the produc t s of p e r f o rmanc e -r eward probab i l i t y and r eward va l ue )

t o per form e f f e c t i ve l y i n the t ra i n i ng pro gram , the h i gher h i s sco r e o n

r a t i n g s o f e f f o r t and over a l l t r a i n i ng per formanc e.

I - b--The f o r c e on the t r a i ne e t o p e r form e f f e c t i v e l y i n the

t r a i n i ng pro gram w i l l be mo r e c l o s e l y r e l at ed to the supe r v i so ry r a t i ng

o f h i s e f f o r t than to the r at i ng o f h i s o vera l l t r ai ni ng p e r f o rmanc e .

Abi l i t i e s

I n the theor e t i c a l mod e l pre s e n t ed by P o r t e r and Law l e r , an

impo r t ant mod e r a t i ng i nf l ue nc e b e tween the amo unt of e f f o r t e x e r t e d and

the ac t ua l p e r f o rmanc e was abi l i t y o f the r o l e o c c upant . Howeve r , i n

t e s t i ng the mo d e l wi t h manage r s n o mea sur e s o f abi l i t y were o bt a i ned .

That thi s mod e r a t i ng i nf l ue nc e sho u l d be o f impo r t a nce i s

i nd i c a t ed i n s e v e r a l ear l i e r s t ud i e s ( Fre nch , 1 9 5 7 ; F l e i shman , 1 9 5 8 ;

Vroom , 1 9 60 ; Law l e r , 1 9 6 6 ; Cumm i n g s and Ga l br a i th , 1 9 6 7 ; and Ca r l so n ,

1 9 69 ) . For e xamp l e , Law l er ( 1 9 6 6 ) used s e l f-rat i ng s t o measure the

e x t e n t t o wh i ch an i nd i v i dua l p e r c e i ve s h i s pay a s c o n t i nge nt on hi s j ob

perfo rmanc e , and supe rio r ' s rank o r d e r i ng s of abi l i t y and j o b p e r f o rmanc e .

H e fo und h i gh e r co r r e l at io n s be twe e n pay c o nt i nge ncy a t t i t ud e s and j o b

perfo rmance f o r i n d i vidua l s eva l ua t ed a s b e i ng h i gher qua l i f i ed than

for i nd i v i d ua l s ranked a s l e s s qua l i f i e d . I n a s im i l a r s t ud y , C a r l son

( 1 969 ) po s t u l at ed that the d e g r e e o f j o b f i t , o r the e x t ent t o wh i c h an

i nd i v i dua l ' s pat t e r n of abi l i t i e s i s c o n s i s t e n t w i th abi l i t i e s requi r ed

for the j o b , w i l l mod e r a t e the r e l at i o n ship be tween j o b sat i s fac t i o n

a t t i t ud e s and j o b per formanc e . U s i ng the Gene r a l Ap t i t ud e T e s t Bat t e r y

( GATB ) t o mea sure i nd i vi dua l abi l i t y l eve l and t h e Wo rk e r T r a i t

 15

Requi r ement ( r at i ng s of j o b requi rement s i n t e rms o f GATB abi l i t y

d ime n s i o n s f o r 4 , 000 d i f f e r ent j o b s ) to e s tabl i sh e s t imat e s o f abi l i t i e s

requ i r ed b y the j o b task s , measur e s o f the cor r e spond e n c e between the s e

two i nd e x e s were o b t a i ned f o r bo th b l ue a nd wh i t e co l l a r wo rker s .

C a r l so n ' s r e sul t s showed s i gn i f i cant po s i t ive c o r r e l at i o n s between j ob

sat i s fac t i o n and j o b p e r f o rman c e for i nd i vid ua l s w i th h i gh abi l i t y c o r ­

r e spond e nc e , and no n s i gni f i c ant c o r r e l a t i o n s f o r i nd i v i d ua l s wi th l ow

l eve l s o f abi l i t y c o r r e spond e nc e .

S i nc e th e s e s t ud i e s i nd i c a t e that abi l i t i e s a r e o f impo rt anc e i n

the r e l at i o n sh i p be twee n a t t i t ud e s and p e r f o rmanc e , and because Po r t e r

and Law l e r i nc l ud e i t i n the i r theo r e t i c a l mod e l , i t s e emed d e s i rab l e

that a n ab i l i t y mea sur e b e i nc l ud ed a s a mod e r a t o r i n thi s s t udy .

· Pred i c t ions . li--The r e l a t i o n sh i p between e f fo r t and p e r f o rmanc e

w i l l be greater f o r tho s e t r ai nee s h i gh i n abi l i t y than f o r tho s e

t r a i ne e s l ow i n abi l i t y .

Ro l e P e r c ept i o n s

Ac cord i ng to t h e Po r t e r -Law l e r mod e l , t h e approp r i a t e ne s s o f an

i nc umbent ' s r o l e p e r c ept i o n s has an impo r tant i nf l uence on the qua l i t y o f

h i s j o b p e r f o rmanc e . They po i nt out that r e gard l e s s o f a n i nd i v id ua l ' s

l e v e l o f e f f o r t , i f h i s r o l e percept i o ns are i naccur a t e , then hi s p e r ­

f o rman c e i s l ike l y to b e mi sd i r e c t e d .

The ro l e p e r c e p t i o n d ime n s i o n mo s t f r eque nt l y s t ud i ed has be e n

the i nner-other-d i r ec t ed d imen s i o n f i r s t ment i o ned b y R i e sman ( 1 9 50 ) ,

i n hi s book; The Lopely C rowd . · The suc c e s sful emp l o y e e was seen a s

be i ng o ther-d i r e c t ed; i n other wo r d s , he w a s a n i nd i v idual who wa s

 16

supe r s e n s i t i v e t o the t h i nk i ng and d e s i r e s o f o th e r i nd i vidua l s .

D e s p i t e t h e popu l ar i t y o f the s e i d e a s , t h e l i t t l e emp i r i c r e search whi ch

has bee n per f o rmed has produced r e su l t s c o n t r a r y t o Re i sman ' s cont e nt i o n

about t h e suc c e s s of t h e o t h e r -d i r e c t e d i nd i v i dua l . For examp l e , i n

stud i e s b y F l e i shman and Pe t e r s ( 1 9 6 2 ) , Roadman ( 1 9 6 4 ) 9 Por t e r ( 1 9 6 4 ) ,

Bar r e t t ( 1 9 6 6 ) , and P o r t e r and Law l e r ( 1 9 68 ) , the mo s t h i gh l y rated

i nd i v idua l s w e r e tho s e charac t e r i zed a s b e i ng h i gh o n o r i g i n a l i t y , i nd e­

pend e nt o f though t , aggr e s s i v e , and s e l f expre s s i v e .

One s im i l a r i t y of a l l t h e s e stud i e s i s that they d e a l wi th

manager i a l popu l at i o n s . I t wou l d be of i nt e r e s t to k now if ident i c a l

ro l e p e r c e p t i o n s l e ad to suc c e s s i n o t h e r po pu l at i o n s . Fo r examp l e , i n

the t r a i n i ng s i tuat i o n the t ra i nee i s be i ng t aught t h e fundame n t a l sk i l l s

i n a part i c u l a r i ndu s t r i a l o c cupat i o n . I t wou l d seem that h i s p e r c ep t i o n s

o f app ropr iat e behav i o r f o r suc c e s s f u l p e r f o rmanc e wo u l d b e qui t e d i f­

f e r e n t than a work i ng manqge r . P e r c e i v i ng h i s ro l e as be i ng r e l at i ve l y

mo re d epend e nt upo n the super v i sor , h e probab l y wou l d not expre s s a

manager ' s o r i g i na l i t y and i ndepend e nc e , but r a ther wou l d t r y to imi t a t e

and mo d e l h i s behav i o r a f t e r o ther s . I t s eems l o g i c a l , the r e fo r e , that

the t r a i n e e wou l d have a much l e s s i nne r-d i r ec t e d a t t i t ud e .

S imi l a r l y , the immed i a t e supe r v i so r o f the t r a i ne e wou l d p r o bab l y

have a d i f f e r e n t i mage o f the r o l e behav i o r o f the t ra i nee than that o f

t h e immed i a t e supe r v i sor o f a manage r . I t i s l ike l y t ha t t h e t r a i n i ng

supe r v i sor wou l d d e empha s i z e i ndepend e nt a c t i o n by the t r a i n e e and put

mor e s t r e s s on coop e r a t i ve and subm i s s i v e r e spo n s e s t o t h e i n s t r u c t i o n s

g i ve n .
 17

A l though c o r r e spond e nc e between the p e r f o rman c e s t y l e s ( ro l e

per c ep t i o n s ) o f the supe r v i so r and h i s subo rd i na t e we r e no t anal y z ed i n

the 1 9 68 Por t e r and Law l e r s tud y , Ba r r e t t (1 9 6 6 ) has shown a r e l at i o n

between the s e var i ab l e s and supe r v i s o r y r a t i ng, Thus , a mea sure o f the

c o r r e spond e n c e b e tween the t r a i nee ' s r o l e perc e p t i o n of suc c e s s ful

behav i o r in the t r a i ni ng p r o gram and that o f h i s supe r i o r was i nc o r p o r a t e d

i n to the s tud y .

P r ed i c t io n s . I ll -a--The h i gher the c o r r e spond e n c e b e twe e n the

r o l e per c e p t i o n s o f the t r a i ne e and tho s e o f h i s imme d i a t e supe r v i so r

r e gard i ng appropr i at e t ra i ne e behav i o r , the h i gher w i l l b e the supe r v i s o r y

rat i ng f o r t h e t ra i ne e .

COROLLAR Y : The mo r e t r a i n e e s s e e the i r r o l e a s d emand i ng i nner­

d i r e c t e d behavio r , the l ower they wi l l be r a t ed on qua l i t y of p e r f o rmanc e .

l l l -b--The r e l a t i o n sh i p between e f f or t and pe r fo rmanc e wi l l be

grea t e r for tho s e t r a i ne e s w i t h h i gh agreement w i th t he i r sup e r v i so r s on

r o l e p e r c e pt i o n s than for tho s e t r a i n e e s w i th l ow agreeme n t .

Abi l i ty and Ro l e P e r cept i o n s

A l though Po r t e r and Law l e r ( 19 6 8 ) did no t make any specif i c

hypo the s e s c o nc e r ni ng the comb i ned e f f e c t s o f mod e r a t i ng on abi l i t y-and

r o l e p e r c ept i o n s , to do so wou l d seem to be a l o g i c a l ex t e n s i o n of the i r

mod e l . I t woul d b e expec t ed that i f a t r a i nee was expend i ng a h i gh

amount o f e f f o r t o n a cer t a i n t a sk , was h i gh o n the abi l i t y r equi r e d f o r

that t a sk , and w a s d i r e c t i ng h i s e f f o r t i n appropr i a t e behav i o r , then

the i nt er a c t i o n o f these three var i ab l e s shou l d be r e f l e c t ed i n h i gh

p e r f o rmanc e .
 18

P r e d i c t i o n. I V--The r e l at i o n sh i p betwe e n e f f o r t and p e r f o rmanc e

w i l l be great e s t for tho se t r a i n e e s who have the h i gh e s t abi l i t y and

the mo s t approp r i a t e r o l e p e r c ept i o n s.

 CHAPTER I I

METHOD

I. RE SEARCH S ITE

The t r a i n e e s stud i ed i n the pre sent i nv e s t i ga t i o n at t e nded a

manpower d ev e l opment proj e c t l oc a t e d i n O ak R i d ge , T e n ne s s e e . The ma i n

obj e c t i ve o f the p ro j e c t i s t h e t r a i ning o f unemp l oyed o r und e remp l oyed

i nd i v idua l s for j o b e n t r y l eve l work in s i x vo c a t i o na l f i e l d s ( machi ni ng ,

we l d i ng , mechani c s , phy s i c a l t e s t i ng , e l ec t r o ni c s , and d r af t i ng ) .

Admi s s i o n t o the program i s ba sed pr imar i l y o n f i nanc i a l h i s t o r y , but

o ther fac t o r s such a s educat i o n , e th n i c group , age and phy s i c al cond i t i o n

are c o n s i d e r e d a l so . I n s t ruc t i o n i s c ar r i ed o n i n bo th the c l as s ro om and

the shop , w i t h the average l ength of t ime t o comp l e t e the t ra i ni ng b e i ng

appro x imat e l y s i x mo n th s .

I I. SUBJECTS

The subj ec t s s t ud i ed we r e 97 i ndus t r i a l t r a i ne e s who were

a t t e nd i ng the above program dur i ng J anuary o f 1 9 70 . The 9 7 subj ec t s

repre sented approx i mat e l y 9 3 p e r c e nt o f the t o t a l popu l at io n i n t r a i n i ng

at that t ime . O f t h i s group , over 90 p e r c e nt were mal e , approxima t e l y

1
45 p e r c e nt were no n-wh i t e , and 7 5 p e r c e nt were c l as s i f i ed a s d i sadvantaged .

1
To be c l a s s i f i ed a s d i s advan t a ged a t r a i ne e had to me e t o ne o r
mor e o f the f o l l ow i ng c r i t e r i a: ( 1 ) f ami l y i ncome be l ow c e r t a i n mi ni mum;
( 2 ) member o f m i no r i t y e th n i c group; ( 3 ) phy s i c a l l y hand i capped; and
( 4 ) no n-h i gh schoo l graduat e .

19
 20

The ave rage age f o r the samp l e was 2 1 . 1 5 year s and the ave r age

educ a t i o n a l l ev e l was j us t und e r the twe l th grade ( 1 1 . 8 3 ) .

I l l. MEASUREMENT S

The var i ab l e s wh ich r equi red mea sureme nt were va l ue o f r ewar d ,

pe r f o rmanc e-r eward probabi l i t y , ro l e p e r c e p t i ons , abi l i t y , e f f or t , and

p e r f o rmanc e . The f i r s t four o f the s e me a sur e s w e r e o b t a i ned by the

autho r f rom the t r a i ne e s dur i ng the i r c l a s sro om s e s s i o n s . The measur e s

o f e f f o r t and o v e r a l l perfo rmance w e r e o b t a i ned f r om the s upe rvi sor s

whenever the i r sche d u l e s a l l owed , but i n the s ame ge ner a l t ime per iod a s

t h e gathe r i ng o f t h e t rainee d at a .

Va l ue o f Reward

S i x po s s i b l e r ewar d s app eared t o be r e l at ed to p e r f o rmance i n

the t r a i n i ng cour s e . The se i nc l uded gr aduat i o n f r om the p r o gram , ge t t i ng

good grade s , ge t t i ng a good j ob , mak i ng more mo ney i n the l o ng r un , pay

dur i ng t r a i n i ng , and get t i ng a l o ng w i t h f r i e nd s and i n s t ruc to r s . In

o r d e r t o d e t ermine the impo r t ance o f the s e r ewa r d s the t r a i ne e s were

a sked t o r a nk them in o r d e r o f p r e f e r e nc e ( s e e Append i x A ) . The r e -t e s t

r e l i ab i l i t y o f t h i s r a nk i n g a f t e r two week s was . 7 4 ( N = 40 ) . Two o f

these r ewa r d s --pay dur i ng t r a i n i ng and ge t t i ng a l o ng w i th f r i e nd s and

i n s t ruc t o r s--were not used f ur ther i n the ana l y s i s a s they s e rved a s

i l l u s t rat i o ns dur i ng t h e adm i ni s t r at i o n o f the p e r f o rmance-r eward

q ue s t i o nna i r e .

P e r fo rma nce-Reward P ro babi l i ty

Three i t ems w e r e d e s i gned to measure the amount o f i mpo r t ance the

t r a i ne e f e l t was a t t ached t o t r a i n i ng p e r f o rmanc e f ac t o r s in d e t e rm i ni ng

 21

e ach o f t h e r ema i n i ng four r eward s . The three i t ems w e r e q ua l i ty o f

c l a s sr oom p e r f o rmanc e , qual i t y o f shop p e r fo rmanc e , and amount o f e f fo r t

expended i n t r a i n i ng . Each i t em was f o l l owed by a s e v e n po i n t s c a l e

w i th the ad j e c t i ve 1 1 impo r t ant11 c o r r e spo nd i ng t o the numbe r seven o n the

sc a l e and • • unimpo r t ant • • co r r e spo nd i ng t o the numbe r one ( s e e App e nd i x B ) .

A l l t r a i n e e s were a sked to r a t e how impo r t ant they f e l t the t h r e e i t ems

wer e in d e t e r m i n i ng e ach of the four r eward s . Fo r examp l e , each t r ai ne e

w a s a sked t o r a t e h i s percept i o n o f the impo r t ance o f c l a s s room per­

formanc e t o g r ad ua t i o n f r om the t r a i n i ng p ro g r am , then t o r a t e h i s

per c e p t ion o f the impo r t ance o f shop p e r formanc e t o g r adua t i o n , and

f i na l l y , h i s p e r c e p t i o n of the impo r tance of expend i ng e f f or t t o g r ad u­

at ion f rom the program . The d e g r e e o f r e l at i o n s h i p amo ng the three i t ems

for the four r eward s i nve s t i ga t e d are l i s t ed in T ab l e 1 . I t can be

seen that w i th the e x c ep t i o n of two i n t e r c o r r e l at i o n s the d e g r e e o f

homog=ncity amo ng the thr ee. i t em s i s qui t e h i gh f o r a l l r eward s , i nd i c at ­

i ng t h e r e i s a c o n s i d e rab l e amount o f c ommo n var i a nc e . Thus , i t was

d e c i d ed to comb i ne the thr e e i t em s i n order t o c r e a t e a compo s i t e i nd e x

o f the p e r c e i ved p r o babi l i t y that p e r f o rmanc e wou l d l e ad to a c e r t a i n

r eward . T hi s i ndex wa s c reated by summ i n g each t ra i nee•s r e spon s e s t o

t h e three per formanc e i t em s f o r each r eward . The h i gher a t r a inee s c o r e d

o n thi s i ndex , the h i gh e r the p e r c e i ved p robab i l i t y t ha t f o r h im the

r eward ( e . g . , ge t t i ng a good j o b ) d e pended on per f o rmanc e f a c t o r s . The

r e - t e s t r e l iabi l i t y o f the p e r fo rmanc e- reward probab i l i t y rat i ngs a f t e r

two week s w a s . 70 ( N = 40 ) .
 22

TABLE 1

CORRELATIONS AMONG I TEMS DE S IGNED TO MEASURE THE TRAI NEE ' S

PERCEPT I ON O F THE IMPORTANCE O F PERFO RMANCE FACTORS
IN DETERMI N ING VARIOUS TRAI N I NG REWARDS

G r ad . f r om Good Ge t t i ng a Mak i ng mo r e
t r a i n i ng gr ad e s good jo b mo ney
Q. 2 Q.3 Q. 2 Q. 3 Q. 2 Q. 3 Q.2 Q. 3

Ques t . 1 Qua l i t y . 6 2* . 5 9* . 58 * . 6 7* . 48 * . 3 3* . 48* . 24*

of C lass
Per f .

Que s t . 2 Qual i t y . 6 4* . 6 7* . 6 9* . 49*

of Shop
Per f .

Que s t . 3 Amount o f
Effor t
Ex p e nd e d

*S i gn i f i cant at . 0 1 l eve l .

NOTE: N = 97 .
 23

Ro l e P e rcept i o n s

Twe l v e perfo rmance i t em s w e r e co n s t ruct ed t o me asure the r o l e

p e r ce pt i o n s o f the t r ainee s and the i r imme d i a t e sup e r v i s o r s . Th e s e

i t em s w e r e d e s i gned t o par a l l e l t h e pe r so nal i t y-t ype t ra i t s used i n the

Po r t e r and Law l e r s t udy ( 1 9 6 8 ) , but w i t h the i t ems in s imp l e r language

and in mo r e co ncr e t e f o rm . The twe l ve i t ems are l i s t e d be l ow in the two

theo r e t i ca l c l us t e r s used in the ana l y s i s o f the r e su l t s :

I nner-d i r ected pe r f o rmance i t em s .

Wo rks i nd e pendent l y , w i thout a sk i ng for he l p o f o t h e r t ra i ne e s .

D e ve l op s nov e l so l ut i o n s t o pro b l em s .

Ri sks d isp l e asure of o th e r t r a i ne e s i f nece s sa r y to g e t hi s

work done .

Sugges t s new metho d s f o r d o i ng h i s work .

At t emp t s t o i nf l uence supe r v i so r • s thi nk i ng whe n he t h i nk s he

i s in the r i gh t .

Tak e s on added re spo n s i b i l i t y w i th i ncr e a s i ng l e ngth o f t ime i n

t r a i n i ng .

O the r-d i r ected pe rformance i t ems .

U s e s cau t i o n i n expe r iment i ng w i th new t e chni q ue s and procedur e s .

Fo l lows h i s superv i so r • s i n s t ruct i o n cl o s e l y .

Go e s a l o ng w i t h the maj o r i t y o f o ther t r a i n e e s i n the s o l u t i o n o f

new prob l em s .

F r eque nt l y d i s cus s e s p r o gr e s s o f h i s work w i t h supe r v i sor .

Wi l l i n g l y and quick l y a sk s f o r adv ice whe n he need s i t .

Wo rk s co ope r a t i ve l y wi th o t h e r t r a i n e e s a nd super v i so r s .
 24

Th e s e i t em s w e r e p r e s e n t e d i n a que s t i o nna i r e i n a r andom o r d e r

( s ee Appe nd i x C ) . Each t r a i ne e w a s a sked t o rank the s e t r a i t s f rom 1 t o

1 2 i n o r d e r o f the i r impo rtance for h i s ach i e v i ng suc c e s s i n t h e t r a i n i ng

pro gram . Each supe r v i so r was a l so a sked to rank the s e i t em s f r om 1 t o

1 2 accord i ng t o h i s p e r c ept i o n o f the i r impo r t an c e f o r t r ai ne e suc c e s s i n

t h e p ro gr am . F ro m the se two r ank i ng s a Spea rman rho cor r e l at i o n was

computed . Thi s score ( agreement sco r e ) s e r ved a s an i ndex of the s im i l a r­

i t y i n p e r c e p t i o n be tween t r ai nee and supe rv i so r of c o r r e c t r o l e behav i o r

i n the t r a i n i ng p r o gr am . The r e-t e s t r e l i ab i l i t y o f the rank i ng o f the

t r ainee s a f t e r two week s was . 7 3 ( N = 40 ) , and o f the supe r v i sor s . 7 6

(N = 8) .

Ab i l i t y

From t h e per sonne l r e co r d s o f t h e t r a i n i ng program s c o r e s f r om

three paper and p e nc i l t e s t s w e r e c o l l e c t ed f o r each t r a i nee . The s e

three t e s t s were the O t i s I n t e l l i ge n c e t e s t , the Co1l ege Qua l i f i c a t ion

test ( nume r i c a l ) , and the Be nne t t Mechani c a l Comprehen s i o n t e s t . The

s e l ec t i o n of the se three t e s t s was ba s ed on the f a c t that they were

gene r a l ap t i t ud e t e s t s and that they e xami ned r e l a t i ve l y d i f f e r e n t a r e a s

o f t h e t r a i ne e s ' compe tence . T h e i nt e r c o r r e l at i o n s amo ng the se three

t e s t s are show n i n T ab l e 2 .

To s i mp l i f y c omput at i o n a l procedur e s i n c o n s t ruc t i ng the mea sure

o f abi l i t y , each o f the thr e e s e t s o f s c o r e s was c o nve r ted i n t o s t andard

s co r e s . Then the three s t and ard sco r e s repre sent i ng each t r a i nee ' s t e s t

p e r formanc e w e r e added together g i v i ng one compo s i t e abi l i t y s co r e .

 25

TABLE 2

CORRELATI ONS AMONG THE APT ITUDE TESTS USED

AS ABILITY MEASURES OF THE TRAI NEES

T. 2 T. 3

1. O t i s I n t e l l i ge n c e T e s t . 45 . 44

2. T h e C o l l e ge Qu a l i f i cat i o n
T e s t --Nume r i ca l . 44

3. The Benne t t Mechani c a l

Comp r ehen s i o n T e s t

NOTE : N = 97.
 26

Effor t

The amount of e f f o r t expended by e ach t r a i ne e was measured b y

supe r v i so r y rat i ng s . E ach supe rv i so r was asked t o r a t e o n a s ev e n po i nt

s c a l e the amount o f e f fo r t e x e r ted by each o f the t r a i ne e s und e r h i m .

The sup e r v i s o r s w e r e qua l i f i ed to d o thi s a s each orga n i z ed h i s t r a i ne e s '

shop o r l a b work , and i n mo s t c a s e s taugh t the se t r a i ne e s o ne o r mo r e

cour se s. O n the r a t i ng sc a l e a s c o r e o f o ne i nd i c at e d v e r y l ow e f f o r t ,

whi l e a s c o r e o f seven co r r e spond ed to supe r i o r e f fo r t ( s e e App e nd i x D ) .

The supe r v i s o r y r at i ngs were then co nv e r ted i n t o s t and ard scor e s . Thi s

procedure was used t o contro l f o r d i f f e r e nc e s i n the f r am e s o f r e f e r e nce

among the e i gh t s up e rv i so r s . The t e s t -r e t e s t re l i a b i l i ty of e f f o r t

rat i ng s a f t e r two weeks was . 8 6 ( N = 40 ) .

T r a i n i ng P e r fo rmanc e

T r a i ne e p e r f o rmance was a l so mea sured by supe r v i s o r y r at i ng s .

Each supe r v i sor was a sked to r a t e o n a seven po i nt s c a l e the qua l i t y o f

the ove r a l l t r a i n i n g p e r f o rmanc e o f e ach o f h i s t r a i ne e s . O n the

rat i ng sc a l e a s c o r e o f o ne i n d i cated v e r y poo r per f o rmanc e whi l e a s c o r e

o f s e v e n c o r r e spo nded to supe r io r p e r f o rmanc e ( s e e Appe nd i x D ) . The

r a t i ng s we r e c o nve r t ed into s t andard s c o r e s t o c o r r e c t for any d i f f e r ­

e nc e s i n t h e supe r v i so r s' f r ame s o f r e f e renc e . T h e t e s t -r e t e s t r e l i a­

b i l i t y o f the p e r f o rmance r a t i ngs a f t e r two week s was . 8 3 ( N = 40 ) .

The me ans and st andard d e v i a t i o n s o f the f i v e va r i ab l e s used i n

the s t udy a r e p r e se nted i n Tab l e 3 . I t w i l l b e no ted that f o r c e s c o r e s

are i nc l ud ed i n thi s t ab l e . As was d e s c r ibed i n the i nt r oduc t o r y s e c t i o n

t h e f o r c e o n t h e i nd i v i dua l t o engage i n spec i f i c behav i o r i s a

 27

TABLE 3

MEANS AND STANDARD DEVI ATION S OF THE

VAR IABLES USED IN THE STUDY

Var i ab l e Mean S.D.

1. Fo r c e 1 44 . 1 58 . 07

2. Abi l i t y
Oti s 95 . 4 10. 72
Co l l e ge Qua l i f i c at i o n-­
Nume r i c a l ( Max . Sco r e - 50 ) 15. 1 6 . 54
Benne t t ( Max . Sco r e-60 ) 31 . 9 1 2 . 02
C omb i ned Abi l i t y I ndex 1 50 . 5 2 4 . 02

3. Ro l e P e r c e p t i o n s

Agr e ement S co r e s r = . 03 1 4 . 50

I nner-D i r e c t ed Sco r e s 28 . 9 5 . 76
4. Effor t 51 . 1 9 . 46
5. Over a l l P e r fo rmanc e 50 . 8 9 . 88

NOT E : N = 9 7; r = r ho .
 28

mono to n i c a l l y i nc re a s i ng func t i o n o f the sum o f t h e produ c t s o f the

value of a l l r ewar d s and the s t r e ngth of hi s e x p e c t a nc i e s that the

behav i o r w i l l be fo l l owed by the a t t a i nment of the s e r eward s . Thu s ,

the f o r c e s c o r e f o r e ach t r a i ne e was compu ted by u s e o f the f o l l ow i ng

formu l a :

r eward s

� ( va l u e o f r eward X p e r fo rmanc e -r eward probabi l i t y ) .

 CHAPTER I I I

RE SULTS

I. REWARDS AND PERCE I VED PER FORMANCE-REWARD P RO BAB ILITY

The f i r s t hypo the s i s ( I - a ) s t at e d that the s t r o nger the f o r c e o n

the t r ai ne e to p e r f o rm e f f ec t i ve l y i n the t r a i ni ng program , the h i gher

h i s rat i ng o n e f f o r t and qua l i t y of over a l l t r a i n i ng per formance . To

[ r ewar d s
t e s t thi s hypo the s i s the sum o f the product s c o r e s �
( va l u e o f

r eward X p e r f o rmanc e-reward probab i l i t y ) ] was computed f o r each t r a i ne e

o n t h e four reward s u s ed i n t h e s t ud y . The med i an o f thi s d i s tr i bu t i o n

w a s t h e n u s ed to d i v i d e the t r a i n e e s i nto two group s . The group above

the med i a n was the h i gh force group whi l e tho s e t r ai ne e s be l ow the med i an

were c o n s i d e r e d l ow i n for c e .

The e f f o r t rat i ng s and r a t i ng s o f ove r a l l pe r f o rmanc e were

reco rded for each group and the mean s c o r e s are p r e s e n t ed in Tab l e 4 .

I t can b e s e e n that the f i r s t hypothe s i s was suppo r t e d . Tho s e t r a i ne e s

w i th the h i gh e s t f o r c e s c o r e s a r e c l ear l y supe r i o r to t h e l ow group i n

both amount o f e f f o r t expend ed i n the t r a i n i ng and t h e qua l i t y o f th e i r

over a l l p e r f o rmanc e . The d i f f e r e nc e s between the two group s for both

e f fo r t ( t = 4. 21 ; d . f . = 9 5 ) and o v e ra l l per fo rmance ( t = 2 . 68; d . f . = 9 5)

were s i gni f i c ant at the .005 l e ve l .

The s e c o nd hypothe s i s ( I - b ) s t a t e d that the f o r c e o n the t r a i ne e

to p e r f o rm e f fec t i ve l y wou l d be mo r e c l o s e l y r e l at ed to the r at i ng s o f

e f fo r t than to t h e r a t i ng o f o v e r a l l p e r f o rmanc e . T o t e s t thi s

hypo t he s i s Pear s o n pr oduc t mome nt c or r e l at i o n s were c ompu ted between the

29
 30

TABLE 4

MEAN SUPERVIS ORY RAT I NGS OF E FFORT AND OVERALL PERFORMANCE

FOR TRAINEES H I GH AND LOW I N FORCE

Ra t i ng s Rat i ng s
Fo rce of of
Group Effort P e r f o rmanc e
-

X 54. 9 1 5 3 . 47

H i gh cJ 8 . 23 8 . 93

N 48 48

X 47 . 44 48 . 2 6

Low 0 9 . 20 1 0.1 6

N 49 49
 31

f o r c e s c o r e s and superVi s o r y r at i n g s of t r a i ne e e f f o r t and over a l l

per formanc e . The co r r e l at i o n between f o r c e scor e s and e f f o r t wa s .45

( p > . 00 1 ) , and the co r r e l at i o n between f o r c e sc o r e s and o v e ra l l

p e r fo rmanc e was . 2 4 . Al thou gh the d i f f e r ence between the co r r e l at i o n s

d i d no t r e ach s t at i st i c a l s i gni f i c anc e9 the r e l at i ve s i z e o f the c o r ­

r e l at i o n s i ndic a t e a s t r o nger r e l at i o n sh i p between the t ra i nee s ' f o r c e

s co r e s and e f f o r t �han between the i r f o r c e s c o r e s and over a l l perfo rmanc e .

II. ABI LITY

The mod e l u s ed in thi s study p r ed i c ted that the abi l i t y l eve l o f

t h e t r�inee wou l d i nf l uence the r e l at i o n s h i p betwe e n e f f o r t and per­

fo rmanc e . That i s , i f the t r a i nee was expend i ng a h i gh amou nt o f e f f o r t

o n a c e r t a i n task and w a s a l so h i gh i n t h e abi l i t y r e qu i r ed o f that

t a sk , the i nt e r ac t i o n of the s e two va r i ab l e s shou l d be r e f l e c t ed i n

h i gh over a l l p e r f o rmance . O n the o ther hand , i f the t r a i nee wa s l ow i n

the abi l i t y r equ i r ed o f a cer tai n t a sk , the r e l at i o n s h i p be tween e f f pr t

e x e r t e d and r e su l t i ng per fo rmance wou l d be expected t o be l ower. Thu s

hypo t he s i s I I pre d i c t ed that a great e r r e l at i o ns h i p wou l d e x i s t between

e f f o r t and perfo rmance f o r tho s e tr ainee s h i gh i n abi l i t y than for

tho se l ow in abi l i t y,

To t e s t thi s hypo the s i s the co r r e l at i o n s between e f f o r t and

·pe r f o rmanc e were compu ted for tho s e t r a i ne e s h i gh i n abi l i t y and f o r

tho s e t r a i ne e s l ow i n abi l i t y, u s i ng t h e med i an o f the d i s t r i but i o n pf

ab i li t y sco r e s to d i v ide the samp l e of 97 subj ec t s i nto two group s .

The se two co r r e l ati o n s were 0 . 58 and 0.52, r e s pec t i v e l y . To det ermine

what the e f f e c t , if any , thi s subgroup i ng had o n the r e l at i o nshi p

 32

betwe en e f f o r t and p e r formance, the se two co r r e l at i o n s were compared

t o the o r i g i n a l over a l l c o r r e l at i o n between e f f o r t and per fo rmanc e whi ch

wa s . 5 3 . Obv i ou s l y , the r e i s l i t t l e improvement i n the r e l a t i o n sh i p

be twe e n e f f o r t and per formanc e when t h e data f o r the h i gh abi l i t y

t r ai ne e s a r e ana l yzed separ at e l y. S i nc e i t wou l d have been pred i c t ed

that th i s group o f t r a i ne e s fficws the h i gh e s t c o r r e l a t i o n between e f fo r t

and p e r f o rmance, t h e l ack o f a s i gn i f i cant i nc re a s e i n the c o r r e l at i o n

d o e s no t suppo r t thi s pa r t o f t h e mode l .

Ill. ROLE PERCEPT IONS

Hypo the s i s I l l-a s t a t ed that the h i gh e r the agreement betwe e n the

r o l e p e r c e p t i o ns of the t ra i ne e and h i s immed i at e supe r v i s o r , the h i gher

the supe r v i s o r y ra t i ng for the t r a i nee. To t e s t thi s hypo the si s the

t r a i ne e s were d i v id e d into h i gh and l ow agr e ement group s . The h i gh

group c o n s i s t e d o f tho se t r a i n e e s w i t h ag reement s co r e s ( co r r e l a t i o n

betwe e n t ra i ne e and supe r v i sor rank i ng s ) above t h e med ian ( i .e . , r = . 03 ) .

T ab l e 5 p r e s e nt s the se two group s and the mean supe r v i s o r y r a t i n g s for

each . Ex ami nat i o n o f Tab l e 5 revea l s that hypo the s i s I l l-a i s no t

suppo r t e d . The supe r v i s o r y rat i ng s f o r the h i gh agr e eme nt group a r e

somewhat l ow e r t h a n tho s e i n the l ow agr eement group, a l though thi s d i f­

f e r e n c e i s no t s i g ni f i cant. The r e f o r e, agreement i n r o l e pe rcept i o n s

i s not i t s e l f a pred i c t o r o f pe r fo rmanc e .

The co r o l l ary to hypothe s i s I l l-a stated that the mo r e the t r a i ne e s

saw the i r ro l e a s d emand i ng i nner-d i r e c t e d behav i o r , the l ower they

wou l d be rated o n qua l i t y o f p e r f o rmanc e . To t e s t thi s coro l l ary c l u s t e r

s c o r e s w e r e c omput ed f o r each t r a i ne e b y summ i ng h i s r ank s f o r the s i x

 33

TABLE 5

PERFORMANCE RAT I NGS OF H I GH AND

LOW AGREEMENT GROUP S

Agr e ement S tandard

G roup Me an Devi at i o n

H i gh 49 . 8 1 9 . 59

(N = 48 )

Low 51 . 86 10. 1 5

(N = 49 )
 34

r e l evant per formanc e i t ems . Thu s , a h i gh score o n the i nner-d i r e c t ed

d imens i on meant that the s i x t r a i t s compr i s i ng that d im e n s i o n were a l l

r ated a s r e l a t i ve l y impo r t ant .

The data f r om the supe r v i sor ' s r a t i ng s of ove r a l l per formanc e

a r e pre sented i n Tab l e 6 . F rom th i s i nf o rma t i o n i t c a n be s e e n that the

coro l l ary i s no t suppo r t e d . The r e i s a t r end fo r tho s e t r a i ne e s who

have h i gh i nner-d i r ec t ed s c o r e s to be r a t ed as b e t t e r p e r f o r me r s than

tho s e t ra i n e e s who have l ow i nner-d i r e c t ed s c o r e s . Thi s d i f f e r e n c e be twee n

the r a t i ng s f o r the h i gh and l ow i nner-d i r e c t e d t r a i n e e s i s s i gni f i cant

at the . 1 0 l eve l . A l though thi s f i nd i ng d o e s no t suppo r t the pred i c t i o n

o f the s tud y , t h e t r end o f t h e d a t a d o e s agr e e w i th t h e r e su l t s found i n

the P o r t e r and Law l e r study ( 1 9 6 8 ) whe r e i t wa s r eported that the h i gh e s t

rated manager s w e r e a l so i nner-d i r ec t ed .

I t i s i nt e r e s t i ng to no t e that i n the Po r t e r a nd Law l e r s tudy

( 1 9 68 ) , the autho r s a s sumed ( w i thout emp i r i c a l e v i d e nc e ) that the i n ner­

d i rec ted manage r s had the mo r e " co r r e c t " ro l e per cept i o n s ( i . e . , the

h i ghe s t c o r r e spondence w i th the r o l e p e r cept i o n s o f their super v i so r s ) .

I n the p r e sent s tudy , whe r e the i nner-d i rec ted t r a i nee s w e r e a l so r a t ed

h i ghe s t , i t was po s s i b l e to t e s t the " co r r e c t ne s s " o f the i r ro l e

percept i o n s .

S i nc e the super vi so r s had p r e v i ou s l y been a sked to r a nk the

impo r t ance o f the twe l ve i t em s on the r o l e p e r c e p t i o n que s t i o nnai r e , i t

was o n l y ne c e s sar y t o average the super v i so r s ' r a nk i ng s f o r e ach i t em

to i nd i c a t e t h e i r impo r t anc e . The s e average r a nk i ng s have been tabu l at e d

i n Tab l e 7 a l o ng w i t h t h e d e s i g nat i on o f t h e i t em a s e i ther i nner o r

o the r-d i r e c t ed . I t w i l l be no ted tha t w i t h o n e e x c e p t i o n , the supe r v i s o r s

 35

TABLE 6

PERFORMANCE RAT IN GS O F H I GH AND LOW

INNER-DI RECTED T RAI NEES

I nne r -D i r e c t e d S t and ard

Behav i o r Group Mean Deviat i o n

H i gh 52 . 33 9 . 83

( N = 49 )

Low 49 . 55 9 . 65

(N = 48 )
 36

TABLE 7

S UPERVI SOR RANK I NGS OF ROLE PERCEPTI ON ITEMS

Rank I t em Ave r age I or O*

l ( mo s t Fo l l ows h i s supe r v i so r ' s

imp . ) i n s t r uc t i o ns c l o s e l y . 2 . 25 0

2 Wi l l i ng l y and q u i ck l y a sk s for
adv i c e whe n h e need s i t . 2 . 62 0

3 Wo r k s cooper a t i v e l y w i t h o ther
t r ai nee s and sup e rv i so r s . 3.12 0

4 T ake s o n ad ded r e spo n s i b i l i t y w i t h

i nc r eas i ng l e ngth o f t ime i n t r ai ni ng . 3 . 87 I

5 U s e s c au t ion i n exper i ment i ng w i th

new t e chni que s and p roc edur e s . 6 . 50 0

6 F r equent l y d i s cu s s e s p r o g r e s s o f h i s
work w i th supe r v i so r . 6 . 62 0

7 S ugge s t s new method s for d o i ng

h i s wo rk . 8. 12 I

8 Wo rk s i nd e pend e nt l y , wi thout a sk i ng
f o r he l p o f o ther t r a i ne e s . 8 . 25 I

9 D e ve l o p s nove l so l u t i o n s t o prob l ems . 8 . 62 I

10 Ri sk s d i s p l ea sur e o f o ther t ra i nee s

i f n e c e s sary to get h i s wo rk done . 8 . 62 I

11 Att empt s t o i nf l u enc e super v i so r ' s

t h i nk i ng Hhen t h i nk s he i s i n the
r i gh t . 9. 12 I

12 Go e s a l o ng w i t h the maj o r i t y o f
o t h e r t r a i ne e s i n t h e s o l u t i o n o f
new probl ems . 10. 25 0

*Inner o r O t h e r -D i r e c ted behav i o r i t em .

NOTE : Re l i abi l i t y of the mean o f 8 j ud g e s = . 3 2 ; Re l i abi l i t y o f

a s i ng l e j udge = . 05 .
 37

rank the o ther-d i r e c t ed behavi or i t em s a s be i n g mo st impo r t ant . Howeve r 9

a s p r e v i ou s l y i nd i c ated , i t i s the t r a i ne e s who rank i nner-d i r ec ted

behavior i t em s a s the mo s t impo r t a nt who r e c e i ve the h i gh e s t per f o rmanc e

r at i ng s . Thi s d i s c r e pancy wou l d s e em t o i nd i c a t e that i n thi s study

" c o r r e c t " ro l e p e r c e p t i o n s ( i . e . , agr e ement wi th sup e rv i so r ) are of

l i tt l e impo r t ance in pr e d i c t i n g t r a i ne e per fo rmanc e .

The next hypo the s i s ( I l l- b ) pred i c ted that there wou l d be a

grea t e r r e l a t i o nship between e f f o r t and per formanc e f o r tho s e t r ai nee s

w i th h i gh agreement scor e s than for tho s e t r a i n e e s w i t h l ow agr e ement

sco r e s . Ac co r d i ng t o the mod e l i f a t r a i nee was expend i ng a h i gh amount

of e f f o r t on a c e r ta i n task , and th i s e f f o r t was d i r e c t ed in appropr i a t e

behav i o r ( i . e . , a s d e f i ned b y t h e t r a i ne e ' s per cept i o n o f what i s c o r ­

r e c t r o l e behavior o n the j o b ) , t h e n t h e i nt e r ac t i o n o f th e s e two

var i ab l e s sho u l d be r e f l e c t e d i n h i gh p e r f o rmanc e . I f , however , the

t ra i ne e d o e s no t channe l h i s e f f o r t i nt o approp r i at e ac t i v i t i e s for j o b

succe s s , the n the r e l a t i o n sh i p between e f fo r t and p e r f o rmanc e wou l d be

expected t o be lowe r .

To t e s t hypo t h e s i s l l l -b the co r r e l at i o n s between e f fo r t and

per f o rmanc e wer e computed for tho se t r a i ne e s w i t h agr eement scor e s above

the med i a n , and for tho s e t r a i n e e s w i t h agr e ement sco r e s be l ow the

med i a n . These two cor re l at i o n s were 0 . 5 2 and 0 . 5 4 , r e sp e c t i ve l y . S i nc e

i t w a s expe c t ed that t h e c or r e l at i o n between e f f o r t and p e r f o rmance

wou L d be s i gni f i cant l y l ar ge r for the h i gh agr eement group than for the

l ow agr e ement group , there i s no suppo r t for the hypo the s i s .

 38

IV. ABI LITY AND ROLE PERCEPTI ONS

The f i na l hypo t he s i s o r i gi na t i ng f rom the mo d e l p r ed i c t ed that

the r e l at i o n sh i p between e f f o r t and per formanc e wou l d be greate s t for

t ho s e t r a i ne e s h i gh in abi l i t y who a l so had appr o p r i a t e r o l e p e r c e p t i o n s .

That i s , i f the t r a i nee wa s expend i ng a h i gh amount o f e f f o r t on a

c e r t a i n t a sk , was h i gh o n the abi l i t y r equi red o f that t a sk 5 and wa s

d i r e c t i ng h i s e f f o r t i n approp r i a t e behavi or , then the i nt e r ac t i o n o f

t h e s e three var i a b l e s shou l d b e r e f l ec t ed i n h i gh p e r f o rmanc e . Fo r thi s

r ea s o n i t wa s pred i c t ed that a group of t r a i n e e s h i gh i n bo th abi l i t y

and approp r i at e r o l e behavi o r wou l d show the h i gh e s t c o r r e l a t i o n b e tween

effor t and p e r f o rma nc e . I t wa s further propo s ed that a group o f t ra i ne e s

l ow i n bo th abi l i t y and approp r i a t e ro l e behavior wou l d show t h e l ow e s t

corre l at i o n betw e e n e f f o r t and perfo rmanc e . T h e r a t i o na l e f o r t h i s

propo sal was that i f a t r a i ne e was l ow i n requ i r e d abi l i t y and wa s m i s­

d i r e c t i ng h i s e f fo r t s i nt o u nr ewar d ed ac t i v i t i e s , he cou ld be exe r t i ng

very h i gh e f f o r t and s t i l l have l ow p e r f o rmanc e . Fi na l l y , i t was pre­

d i c t ed that a third group , co n s i s t i ng o f a l l the r emai ni ng t r a i n e e s 9

wou l d show a cor r e l at i on be twe e n e f f o r t and per fo rmanc e sma l l e r tnan the

subgroup h i gh o n abi l i t y and appropr i at e ro l e p e r c e p t i o n s , but l ar ge r

than t. h A group l o�,� on the s e t'"o var i a b l e s .

To t e s t t h e s e hypo t h e s e s the t h r e e . subgroup s were e s t abl i shed ,

u s i ng the p r e v i ou s l y d e f i ned pro c edur e s for separ a t i ng h i gh and l ow

abi l i t y groups and h i gh and l ow agreement group s . The co r r e l at io n be­

tween e f f o r t and p e r f o rmanc e for the group h i gh in abi l i t y and approp r i a t e

perc e p t i o n s w a s . 57 , f o r t h e group l ow i n t h e two var i ab l e s , . 45 , and

f i na l l y for the r ema i n i ng grou� . 53 , As was p re d i c t ed the c o r r e l a t i o n

 39

betwe e n e f f o r t and p e r fo rmance for t h e g roup h i gh i n abi l i t y and r o l e

perc e p t i o n s was l ar g e r than the c o r r e l at i o n f o r the group l ow o n t h e s e

two va r i ab l e s . T h e d i f f e r e nce between the se two c o r r e l at i o n s , howe ve r ,

was no t s i gni f i cant . What i s o f mo r e impo r tance i s the c ompar i so n o t

the co r r e l a t i ons between e f f o r t and pe r f o rmance f o r t h e group o f t r a i nee s

h i gh i n both var i ab l e s , w i th the p r e v i ou s l y d e s c r i bed groups who wer e

h i gh i n abi l i t y o r i n ner-d i r e c t ed behavi o r o n l y . The s e co r r e l a t i o n s a r e

0 . 5 7 , 0 . 58 , and 0 . 5 7 , r e s pec t i ve l y . Thu s , i t i s o bv i ou s that the mo d e l

i s aga i n no t suppo r ted . I t wou l d have been p r ed i c t ed that t h e combi ned

e f f e c t of subgroup i ng t r a i n e e s h i gh i n abi l i t y and ap prop r i a te beha v i o r

wou l d account f o r mor e o f t h e vari ance i n the p e r fo rmanc e r at i ng s than

groupi ng on h i gh abi l i ty or appropr i a t e r o l e behav i o r s epar at e l y .

Vo A COMPARI SON O F THE PORTER- LAWLER MODEL

WITH A L I NEAR MODEL

S i nc e the s e c t ion of the P o r t e r-Law l e r mod e l u s i ng mod e ra t o r s d i d

not s i gn i f i cant l y i nc rea s e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p betwe e n e f f o r t and per­

formanc e it was o f i nt e r e s t t o k now if a mo r e t r ad i t io na l l i near mod e l

u s i ng the same var i ab l e s cou l d pred i c t p e r f o rmanc e mo r e accurat e l y . Thus

a st epwi s e mu l t i p l e r e gr e s s i o n co e f f i c i e nt was computed , u s i ng the

var iab l e s o f e f f o r t , abi l i t y and agreement s c or e s . T ab l e 8 show s the

three var i ab l e s used and the regre s s i o n coe f f i c i e nt s f o r each . The c om­

puter pro gram wa s s e t up so that the va r i ab l e accou n t i ng for the mo st

var i ance i n p e r f o rmance was e n t e red f i r s t , fo l l owed by the s e c o nd mo s t

impo r tant var i ab l e and t h e n t h e t h i r d .

 40

TABLE 8

STEPWISE REGRESSION EQUATION COMBI NING E F FORT , ABILIT Y AND

AGREEMENT S CORES TO P RED I CT TRAI N I NG PER FORMANCE

S t ep Var i ab l e ( s ) Mu l t i p l e R

l Effort • 53

2 Effort + Abi l i t y . 69

3 E f f o r t + Abi l i t y + . 69
Agr eement Sco r e s

NOT E : N = 97 .
 41

I t can be s e e n that by comb i ni ng the se t h r e e v a r i a b l e s the

r egr e s s i o n co e f f i c i e nt i s . 6 9 . It i s obviou s , howeve r , that on l y two

of the s e var iabl e s ( i . e . , e f f o r t and abi l i t y ) account f o r any of the

var i a nc e in the r a t i ngs , a s the e f f ec t o f r o l e p e r c e p t i o n s is negl i gi b l e .

Whe n thi s r e gr e s s i o n coe f f i c i ent i s compared to the c o r r e l a t i on between

e f f o r t and p e r f o rmanc e , mod e r a t i ng o n bo th ab i l i t y and p e r f o rmance

( . 5 7 ) , i t i s appar ent that the l i near mod e l i s t h e mo r e accurat e .

 CHAPTER I V

DI S CUSSION

The r e su l t s of the pre sent study offer only l imi t ed suppo r t for

the mod e l u s ed in thi s i nv e s t i gat i o n . O f the seven p r ed i c t i o n s mad e in

the s tudy , o n l y two w e r e found to have c l ear suppo r t .

I. REWARD S AND PERCEIVED PERFORMANCE-REWARD PROBABILITY

The pre sent s t udy o f f er s s t r o ng suppo rt f o r the f i r s t hypo the s i s

o f the mod e l that the s t r onger the f o r c e o n the t r a i ne e t o p e r f o r m

e f f e c t i ve l y , t h e h i gher h i s rat i ng o n e f f o r t and qua l i t y o f per f ormanc e .

The r e su l t s c l ear l y show that tho s e t r ai ne e s who f e l t that achi e v i n g

the i r impo r t a nt t r a i ni ng go a l s d ep e nded upo n the i r t r a i n i ng per f ormanc e

were the mo s t e f f e c t i ve and h i gh l y mo t i vated . Thi s r e su l t was a l so o f

no te becau se the four reward s i nve s t i gated w e r e c ombi ned to e s tabl i sh

a s i ng l e i nd e x o f the force o n the t ra i ne e . I n p r e v i o u s s t ud i e s o f such

nature ( Law l er , 1 9 6 4 ; Po r t e r and Law l e r � 1 9 68 ) o n l y one r eward was l ooked

at ( e . g . , pay ) � or seve r a l r ewar d s were l ooked at , but separat e l y ( e . g . �

Geo r go pou l a s � · , 1 9 5 7 ) . The advantage , o f cou r s e , of c omb i n i ng the

var i o u s r eward s and the i r p e r f o rmanc e probabi l i t i e s i s that mo r e va r i an c e

i n t h e r a t i ng s shou l d be accounted for . Thi s approach i s a l so mo r e

r e al i s t i c i n the s e n s e that i t t ak e s i nto account the po s s i b i l i t y that

the t r a i ne e s are s t r i v i ng for mor e than one r eward at a t ime in the

progr am , and that they have d i f f e r ent p e r c ep t i o n s of how p e r f o rmanc e w i l l

l ead t o the s e r eward s .

42
 43

The second hypo the s i s o f the s t udy wa s a l so suppo r t ed . The

r e su l t s c l ear l y showed that the f o r c e on the t r ai nee t o p e r f orm

e f f e c t i ve l y was more c l o s e l y re l a t ed t o the r at i ng s of e f f o r t than to

the r a t i ng s o f overa l l p e r f o rmanc e . Thi s f i nd i ng imp l i e s that even

though the t r a i n e e i s h i gh l y mo t i vated t o p e r f o rm , it does not ne c e s sa r i l y

mean that the qual i t y o f h i s p e r f o rmanc e w i l l b e supe r i o r . As P o r t e r and

Law l e r ( 1 9 6 8 ) sugge s t the r e a r e o bv i ou s l y i nt e r v e n i ng f ac t o r s ( i . e . ,

the abi l i t y o f the t ra i ne e ; h i s r o l e p e r c ept i o n s ) i nf l ue nc i ng the r e l a­

t i o n b e tween how hard the i nd i v idua l wo rks a nd the qua l i t y o f the produc t

of h i s work .

Tak en together the s e two hypo the s e s add to the suppo r t f o r that

part of the mod e l wh i ch p r ed i c t s that i f the i nd i v idua l s e e s s i gni f i cant

r ewa r d s a s t i ed to good p e r f o rmanc e it w i l l l ead h i m to make a s t r o ng

a t tempt t o p e r f o rm e f f e c t i v e l y . U s i ng a popu l a t i o n o f t r a i nee s a l so

l e nd s to the ge ne r a l i t y o f the f i nd i n g � s i nc e it had p r e v i ou s l y been

d emo n s t rated for manager s ( P o r t e r and Law l e r , 1 9 6 8 ) and f o r worker s

(Geo r go pou l a s e t a l . , 1 9 57 ) .

I t sho u l d be p o i nt ed out that the evidenc e f r om the p r e s e n t s tudy

does no t e s t ab l i sh that the force o n the t r a i ne e cau s ed h i s j o b per­

formanc e . What the data do show is that there i s a r e l at i o n sh i p between

the f o r c e sco r e s and per f o rmanc e . The mo d e l p r ed i c t s that the r ea s o n

fo r thi s r e l at i o n s h i p i s that t h e f o r c e o n t h e i nd i v idual a f f e c t s h i s

perfo rmanc e , bu t the data canno t d i r ec t l y t e s t thi s a s p e c t o f the mode l .

O n l y some t ype o f f acto r i a l study i s capab l e o f show i ng a cau sal ba s i s

from o ne var i ab l e to ano ther , and t h i s study i s no t o f t h i s natu r e .

 44

II. AB ILITY

The hypo the s i s r e gard i ng the use of an abi l i t y measure a s a

var i ab l e i n the mo d e l d r ew l i t t l e suppo r t . The p r ed i c t ed i nc r ea s e i n

the c o r r e l �t i o n b e tw e e n e f fo r t and p e r formance f o r the group of t r a i n e e s

h i gh i n abi l i t y w a s o n l y m i ni ma l o ve r t h e o v e r a l l co r r e l at i o n b e twee n

e f f o r t a nd p e r f o rmanc e . Thi s r e s u l t i s sur p r i s i ng s i nc e i t wou l d seem

l o g i c a l that if the t ra i nee was h i gh in e f fo r t and a l so r e l evant abi l i t y ,

then h i s p e r f o rma nce shou l d be h i gh .

O ne po s s i b l e exp l anat i o n f o r t h i s poo r f i nd i ng i s that the

abi l i t y . i ndex u s ed in th i s s t udy may no t have been the mo s t approp r i at e .

I n o th e r word s , the c omb i ni ng o f the t h r e e t e s t s w i th equal w e i gh t

a s s i g ned t o each may no t be a s accur a t e a mea sure o f pred i c t i ng per­

f o rmanc e a s s ome a l t er na t i ve comb i na t i o n o f the thr e e t e s t s . Fo r examp l e �

the t e s t s cou l d be w e i gh t ed accor d i ng t o the i r d e gr e e o f impo rtance i n

p r ed i c t i n g p e r f o r manc e r a t i ngs . T o d e t ermine the f e a s i bi l i t y o f t h i s

exp l a na t i o n a mu l t i p l e r e gr e s s i o n co r r e l a t i o n wa s compu t e d b e twe e n the

three t e s t s and o v e r a l l p e r f o rmanc e . Thi s mu l t i p l e r e gr e s s i o n c o r r e l a­

t i o n wa s then compar ed to the cor r e l at i o n obt a i ned between the o r i g i na l

a bi l i t y i ndex and o v e r a l l p e r f o rma nc e . The s e co r r e l a t i o n s were

r e spe c t ive l y 0 " 40 a n d 0 . 42 . I t can be s e e n that the abi l i t y i nd e x

a s s i gn i ng e q u a l we i ght t o a l l t e s t s shows a ve r y s imi l a r r e l at i o n t o

over a l l p e r f o rmance a s t h e i nd ex a s s i g n i ng d i f f e r e n t i a l w e i gh t s t o the

three t e s t s .

Re s t r i c t i o n i n the r a nge o f abi l i t y sco r e s i s a l so e l i m i na t ed a s

a po s s i b l e exp l anat i o n f o r t h e sma l l i nc r ea s e i n the co r r e l at i o n b e tw e e n

e f f or t a nd p e r f o rmance f o r the h i gh abi l i t y group . T h e s t andard

 45

d e v i a t i o n o f scor e s for the h i gh abi l i t y group i s 5 3 . 7 6 , i nd i c a t i n g a

c o n s i d e r ab l e amount o f var i ab i l i t y i n the compo s i t e abi l i t y scor e s .

A l so the s tandard d e v i a t i o n o f the h i gh abi l i t y group i s co n s i d e r ab l y

l a rger than the s t and ard d e v i at i o n o f abi l i t y sco r e s for the en t i r e

group of t ra i ne e s ( i . e . , 5 3 . 7 6 to 2 4 . 0 2 ) .

A h i gh l y probab l e exp l anat i o n f o r the l ack o f suppo r t for the

pred i c t i o n i s that there are other mo r e impo r t ant i nt er v e n i ng va r i ab l e s

between e f f o r t and p e r fo rmanc e than abi l i t y . Po r t e r and Law l e r ( 1 9 6 8 )

acknow l ed ge that there a r e , o bv i ou s l y , many e nv i r o nmental f a c to r s that

i n tervene to i n f l ue n c e the r e l a t i o n between e f f o r t and p e r f o rmance , and

that the i r mod e l d o e s no t t ake i nto ac count such e x t e r n a l factor s . Thus ,

i t wou l d s e em that such o ther var i ab l e s a s the t r a i nee ' s p r e v i o u s wo rk

exp e r i e nc e s and h i s i n t e r p e r sonal r e l a t i o n s w i th h i s super v i so r cou l d

a f f e c t t h e r e l at io nship between e f f o r t and p e r f o rmanc e a s much a s the

abi l i t y l e ve l o f the t ra i ne e .

F i na l l y , i t shou l d be po i n t ed o u t that the o r i g i n a l c o r r e l at i on

between e f f o r t and p e r f o rmanc e is qu i t e h i gh to be g i n w i th ( i . e . ,

r = . 53 ) . Thi s h i gh r e l at io n s h i p between the var i ab l e s o f e f fo r t and

overal l p e r f o rmance i s probab l y due , i n par t , to the fact that the same

supe r v i so r rated both of the s e var iabl e s , and a l so to the f a c t that

these r at i ng s were obtai ned a t approximat e l y the same t ime . Re gard l e s s

o f the r e a s o n s f o r the h i gh c o r re l at i o n , howeve r , i t wou l d seem p l au s i b l e

that a mod e r a t o r va r i abl e wo u l d b e much l e s s e ff e c t ive i n such a s i tuat i o n

than whe r e the o r i ginal i nd e p e ndent var i ab l e accounted f o r a sma l l e r

amou nt o f va r i anc e i n the d ependent mea sure .

 46

I n summary , i t i s appar e n t that there i s l i t t l e suppo r t f o r the

u se of abi l i t y as a mod e r a t o r in the r e l a t i o nsh i p betwe e n e f fo r t and

p e r f o rmanc e . T h i s c o nc l u s i o n , o f cou r s e , i s l im i t ed to a popu l a t i o n o f

d i sadvant aged t r a i ne e s and mu st b e gener a l i zed w i t h c aut i o n t o o ther

popu l at io n s .

Ill. ROLE PERCEPT IONS

The agreement sco r e s between the t r a i ne e ' s per c e p t i o n o f

approp r i a t e ro l e behav i o r f o r suc c e s s i n t ra i n i ng a nd h i s superv i so r ' s

per c e p t i o n o f the s ame beha v i o r showed l i t t l e r e l at i o n t o super v i sory

r a t i ng s o n ove r a l l pe r fo rmance . Thi s f i nd i ng may not be t o o surpr i s i ng

when i t i s take n i nt o account that t h e r e were o n l y twe l ve per formanc e

i t ems o n the s c a l e and the s e l e c t i o n o f these i t ems wa s d i c t at ed by

theore t i ca l c o nc e r n s rather than i nc l u s i vene s s o f a l l po s s i b l e r o l e

perfo rmanc e i t em s , I n an ea r l i e r study by Bar r e t t ( 1 9 6 6 ) , a re l at i on­

ship wa s f ou nd betwe e n agreement sco r e s and p e r f o rma nce r at i ngs , but he

u s ed 50 i t ems on h i s sc a l e and they were o f a muc h mo r e spec i f i c nature

than tho s e u s ed h e r e .

Whe n the data i n the pre sent s t udy were reana l y z ed c ompa r i ng the

rank i ng s o f the t r a i ne e s and the i r supe r v i so r y per f o rmance ra t i ng s ,

a mo r e meani ngfu l r e su l t was found . The f i nd i ng s sugg e s t that i t was

the i nner-d i r e c ted trai ne e , or the t ra i ne e who was mo re i nd epend e n t and

wi l l i n g to show i n i t i at ive , that r e c e i ved the h i ghe s t supe r v i sory rat­

i ng s . Thi s r e su l t was aga i n co nt r ad i c to r y to the o r i g i n a l hypo t he s i s

a s i t was a s sumed that t ho s e t r a i ne e s who were mo r e d ep e nd e nt and

wi l l i ng to s eek the adv i c e of the i r superv i so r s wou l d r e c e i ve the h i ghe s t

 47

rat i ng s . I n t er e s t i ng l y e nough , i t was the t r a i ne e s hav i ng the se o t h e r ­

d i r e c ted at t i t ud e s who r e c e i ved t h e l owe s t super v i s o r y r a t i ng s , bu t who

had the mo s t " co r r e c t " ro l e p e r c e p t i o n s ( i . e . , the c l o s e s t agr eeme n t

w i th the i r supe r v i so r ' s r a nk i n g o f t h e r o l e p e r c e p t i o n i t em s ) .

The mo st p l au s i b l e e xp l anat io n fo r thi s r e su l t i s the fac t that

the super v i so r s thems e l ve s cou l d no t agree con s i s t e nt l y on which per­

f o rmance i t ems w e r e o f the mo s t impo r t anc e . E v i d e n c e for thi s po i nt

come s f r om a r e v i ew o f the i nt r a-c l a s s r e l i ab i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s computed

o n the supe r v i so ry r a nki ngs o f the r o l e p e r c ep t i o n i t em s . The se r e l i a­

b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e nt s are p r e sented i n Tab l e 3 , page 2 7 , a nd i nd i c at e

that the i nt r a- i t em agreement between the e i gh t supe r v i so r s was e x t r eme l y

l ow .

A s e c o nd po s s i b l e exp l anat i o n for th i s r e s u l t i s that the

supe r v i so r s d i d n ' t put as much w e i ght on o th e r -d i r e c ted behav i o r a s

wou l d be imp l ied b y the i r rank i ngs . I t mi ght be sugge s t ed , f o r examp l e ,

that i n actual prac t i c e the t r a i ne e who wa s c o n t i nua l l y s e ek i ng ad v i c e

f r om h i s sup e r v i so r , and w a s v e r y d e pendent upo n him , w a s no t o n l y

bo ther some but o u tward l y showed that h e d i d no t und e r st and h i s work . As

t o why t h e super v i so r s r ank ed t h e othe r -d i r ec t ed p e r f o rmanc e i t em s a s

impo r t ant i n t h e f i r s t p l ace , o ne m i ght specul a t e that i t w a s a mat t e r

o f soc i a l d e s i r abi l i t y . I n o ther word s , the super v i so r s r e s ponded t o

the i t em s i n a manner fe l t to b e so c i a l l y accept ab l e by o ther super v i so r s .

F i na l l y , a t h i r d exp l ana t i o n f o r the f a c t that the o ther-d i r ec t ed

t r a i ne e s had mo r e " co r r e c t " ro l e p e r cept i o n s but l ower supe r v i sory

r a t i ng s mi gh t be that the hi gh l y i n ne r-d i r e c t ed t r a i ne e s had mo r e abi l i t y

than the mo r e o t her-d i r ec t ed t r a i nee s . To d e t ermi ne the va l i d i t y o f

 48

thi s e x p l a na t i o n an i n t e r c o r re l at i o n was compu t ed between the i nne r ­

d i r e c t e d behavior sco r e s and the abi l i t y sco r e s o f each t r a i nee . Thi s

co r r e l at i o n t u r ned o u t to be . 2 7 whi c h , a l though s i g ni f i cant , i s

r e l at i ve l y l ow .

Re t u r ni ng to the p r ed i c t i o n s o f the mod e l the hypo the s i s ( 1 1 1 - b )

wh ich s t at ed that the re l at i o ns h i p between e f fo r t and p e r f o rmanc e wou l d

b e g r e a t e r for tho se t r a i n e e s w i t h h i gh agreement s c o r e s than f o r tho s e

w i th l ow agr e ement sco r e s a l so r e c e i ved l i t t l e suppo r t . T h e co r r e l at i o n

between e f f o r t a nd p e r fo rmanc e for t h e hi gh a g r e eme nt g r oup w a s ne i th e r

s i gni f i c a nt l y d i f f e r e nt f rom the c o r r e l a t i o n i n the l ow a g r e ement group ,

no r f rom the overa l l cor r e l a t i o n b e twe e n eff o r t and per f o rmanc e .

The mo s t obvious exp l anat i o n fo r th i s negat ive f i nd i ng i s that

the r o l e p e r c ep t i o n var i ab l e i s no t that impo r tant a mod e rat i ng i n f l u e nc e

between e f fo r t a nd p e r fo rmanc e . Some e v i d e nc e f o r th i s e x p l ana t i o n i s

found i n the r e su l t s s ec t i o n wh e r e i t was no t ed that the t r a i ne e s w i t h

t h e h i gh e s t agreement sco r e s r e c e i ved l ower r a t i ngs o n o v er a l l p e r f o rmanc e

than t r ai nee s w i th l ow agr eeme nt s c o r e s . The co r r e l a t i o n b e twee n agree­

me nt sco r e s and ove r a l l p e r f o rmance i s - . 02 . I t mu s t be poi nted out

that for a var i ab l e t o be a suc c e s s f u l mod e r a t o r it does no t ne ce s s ar i l y

have to be r e l at ed to the depend e nt va r i abl e , bu t i t wou l d s e em that i n

the u s e o f th i s mod e l i t wo u l d b e a d i s t i nc t advantage . A ccord i ng t o

Po r t e r and Law l e r ( 1 968 ) , f o r e f for t t o b e co nve r t ed i n to suc c e s s f u l

p e r f o rmanc e i t mu s t b e app l i ed i n approp� i a te behav i o r , which i s d i c t a t ed

by the i nd i v idua l ' s r o l e p e r c e p t i o n s . To the autho r , th i s wou l d imp l y

that f o r any ro l e perce p t i o n var i ab l e t o i nf l u e nc e the co r r e l at io n be twe e n

e f fo r t and p e r f o rmanc e i t wou l d have t o show some r e l at i on t o suc c e s s f u l

perfo rmanc e .
 49

A l though thi s exp l anat i o n s eems the mo s t p l au s i b l e , there a r e

o ther a l t e r nat i ve exp l anat io ns . F o r examp l e , i t cou l d be a r gued that

the i n s t rume n t used t o measure r o l e p e r c e p t i o n s was no t c omp l ete e nough .

S i nc e there were o n l y 1 2 i t em s o n the que s t i o nna i r e i t i s f e a s i b l e that

a true p i c t ure of the ind i v idual ' s ro l e per c e p t i o n s was no t o b t a i ned .

A l so t h e r e i s the po pu l at i o n u s ed i n t h i s s tud y . The mo d e l was d e s i gned

to be u s e d w i th a manage r i a l popu l a t i o n . What e f f e c t , i f any , the u s e

o f a popu l a t i o n o f d i sadvantaged t r a i nee s h a s o n t h e var i a b l e s i n the

mod e l is very d i f f i cu l t to d e t e rm i ne . Howeve r , it wou l d seem that the

var i ab l e of appropr i ate r o l e p e r c e p t i o n s is much l e s s impo r tant for

t ra i ne e s than for manager s . The rat i o na l e f o r thi s a r gume nt is that the

t r a i ni n � pro gram i s so s t ructured ( e . g . , ru l e s o f c o nduc t and behav i o r

a r e e xp l i c i t l y s t a t e d a l o ng with spe c i f i c d i r e c t io n s f o r a l l t r a i n i ng

procedure s ) that mo s t t r a i nee s are awa r e of approp r i at e t r a i ni ng behav io r ,

and the r e f o r e wou l d be expe c ted to show o n l y l i t t l e var i a t i o n i n the i r

rol e perceptions . I n the c a s e o f manage r s , o n the o ther hand , there a r e

usua l l y no spe c i f i e d procedu r e s f o r car r y i ng o u t th e i r j o b and , thu s 9

mo re var iance e x i s t s i n the i r r o l e · p e r c e p t i o n of approp r i at e behav i o r .

I n summg r y , i t appear s t o the author that there i s l i t t l e

j u s t i f i c at i o n f o r the u s e o f the r o l e p e r c e p t i o n var i a b l e i n the mo d e l

when app l i ed t o a popu lat i o n o f t r a i ne e s . Thi s c o nc l u s i o n f o l lows mai n l y

f rom the p l au s i b i l i t y o f the ar gument that the t r a i ni ng pro gram i s so

s t ruc tured that the e r ro r due t o i nappro p r i a t e ro l e p e r c e p t i o n s i s

m i nimal a nd no t a ma j o r f a c t o r i n the r e l a t i o nship be twe en e f f o r t and

p e r f o rmanc e .
 50

IV. ABILITY AND ROLE PERCEPTIONS

The f i na l hypothe s i s wh i ch pred i c ted that the r e l a t i o nship

be tween e f f o r t and p e r f o rmanc e wou l d be great e s t for tho s e trai ne e s

h i gh i n abi l i t y and w i th the mo s t appro p r i a t e r o l e p e r c e p t i o n s a l so was

no t suppo r ted . I f the mod e l were p r ed i c t ive it wou l d have been expected

that the l ar g e s t c o r r e l a t i o n wou ld have been found in thi s r e l at io n sh i p .

I ns t ead , the cor r e l at io n between e f f or t and p e r f o rmance was very

s imi l a r t o what was found when i nve s t i ga t i ng abi l i t y o r r o l e pe rce p t i o n s

separat e l y .

The r e su l t i s c e r t a i n l y no t surpr i s i ng s i nc e subgroup i ng o n h i gh

a b i l i t y d i d no t improve the r e l a t i o n s h i p be twee n e f f o r t and pe r f o rmanc e

s i gni f i cant l y , no r d i d the subgroup i ng o n h i gh agr e eme n t s co r e s . In

f a c t , i t was d emo n s t rated i n the r e su l t s s ec t io n that a l i near mod e l

d o e s a be t t e r j o b o f pred i c t i ng t r a i ni ng perfo rmance than the par t o f the

mod e l u nd e r i nve s t i ga t i o n .

Thu s i t mu s t be c o nc l ud e d that f o r the po pu l at i o n s tud i ed i n

t h i s proj e c t ( i . e . , d i sadvantaged trai nee s ) the f e a s i b i l i t y o f u s i n g

measu r e s o f abi l i t y and ro l e p e r c ep t io n s a s moderat i ng i nf l u e nc e s i s

s e r i ou s l y que s t i oned . I t mu s t be po i n ted out aga i n , howev e r , that no

f i nd i ng i s co nc l u s i v e from the r e su l t s of o ne s tudy . I n each o f the

sec t i o n s whe r e nega t i ve r e su l t s wer e r e p o r t e d ( i . e . , abi l i t y ; ro l e per­

c e p t i o n s ) , there were a l t e r nat ive e x p l anat ions wh i c h cou l d c o n c e i v ab l y

account f o r the d i s c repanc i e s .

 51

V. I MP LICATIONS O F THE RESULTS

1. Det e rmi n i ng Reward Va l u e s and Per f o rmanc e-Reward P robabi l i t i e s .

S i nc e the d a t a f r om the s tudy w e r e gene r a l l y c o n s i s t e n t wi th th i s

par t o f the mod e l , i t seems j u s t i f i ab l e to empha s i ze t o the o f f i c i a l s

o f the t r a i n i ng p ro g r am the impo r t a nc e o f the s e two s e t s o f var i ab l e s a nd

the d e s i r abi l i t y o f o b t a i n i ng d a t a r e l evant to t hem . P e r haps the p r imary

advantage of c o l l e c t i ng the r eward va l u e s and the per f o rmanc e-r ewar d

probabi l i t i e s i s that t h e i nforma t i o n thu s o b t a i ned wo u l d a i d the pro gram

.

i n a s s e s s i ng the mo t i vat i o n o f i t s t r a i nee s t o per f o rm e f f e c t i ve l y i n

the futur e , s i nc e the mod e l s t r e s s e s that the s e t yp e s o f var i ab l e s are

c ruc i a l i n d e t e rm i ni ng the e f f o r t that i nd i vidua l s expend in pe r fo rm i ng

the i r j ob ac t i v i t i e s .

At the very l ea s t , o b t a i n i ng s y s t emat i c i nf o rmat i o n o f the

t ra i ne e s ' r eward d e s i r e s , a nd the i r p e r c e p t i o n s abou t rewa rd s bei ng based

o n e f f o r t , wou l d c o n s t i t u t e a f i r s t s t ep i n ga i ni ng the max i mum mo t i va-

t ional e f fe c t s f rom the i nc e nt i ve s the t r a i n i ng pro gram has at i t s

d i spo sa l . I f , a f t e r such data a r e co l l e c t e d , there a r e found l ow

perfo rmanc e-reward expec tat i o n s for c e r t a i n t r a i nee s , then d i s c u s s i o n o f

t h e s e f i nd i ng s c ou l d b e e x t r eme l y wor thwh i l e for bo th the t r a i ne e and

t he p ro gram .

2. Ro l e Per c ep t i o n s .

S i nc e the d a t a from the s tudy reveal ed a d i s c re pancy b e tween

what t he supe r v i s o r s said were impo r t ant perfo rmanc e t r a i t s and what

t r a i t s they a c t ua l l y r ewarded , i t s eems a nec e s s i t y that the s e d i f f e re n c e s

b e c a l l ed t o t h e a t t e n t i o n o f t h e supe r v i so r s . Fo r i t i s po s s i b l e that

they may be c o nvey i ng to the i r t r a i ne e s a fa l s e i mage o f what beha v i o r

 52

i s impo rtant t o suc c e s s i n t r a i ning . The r e fo r e , i t wo u l d s e em that

the mo r e i nfo rma t i o n the t ra i ne e and supe r v i so r have abou t wh i c h behav i o r

i s r ewa r d ed , the mo r e suc c e s s fu l shou l d b e the t r a i nee ' s ad j u stment t o

t h e program .

3. Attachi ng Reward s to P e r fo rmance .

The third , and perhaps mo s t impo r tant , area o f prac t i c a l

imp l i c a t i o n comi n g f r om t h e mo d e l and t h e r e l a ted f i nd i n g s c o nc e rn s the

que s t i o n of how c l o s e l y the t r a i n i ng pro gram a t tache s r ewar d s to j o b

p e r f o rmanc e . I n terms o f the r ewar d s u s e d i n the study o n l y grad e s can

be immed i a t e l y r e i nf o r ced by the supe r v i so r s in the t r a i ni ng program .

The o t h e r three r ewa rd s--gradu a t i o n f r om trai n i ng ; mak i ng mo r e money ; and

get t i ng a good j o b--are a l l l o ng t e rm , mak ing i t mo r e d i f f i cu l t f o r any

t ype of r e i nf o r c ement . The imp l i c a t i o n s are s t i l l the same , howeve r ,

for a l l four r ewar d s . The mo r e r e l a t i o n the t ra i ne e actual l y s e e s o r i s

l ed to be l i eve w i l l e x i s t between hi s pe r f o rmanc e a nd various r eward s

the har d e r he w i l l wo rk . Con sequent l y , the . supe r v i s o r s o f the t r a i ne e s

shou l d make sure that a l l grad e s a r e g i ve n s t r i c t l y o n " me r i t" and that

they d i sc � im i na t e a s much a s po s s i b l e between the va r i ous p e r fo rmanc e s of

the t r a i ne e s . S e co nd l y , in rega r d s to the l o ng t e rm r ewar d s , the

supe r v i so r s sho u l d mak e every a t t empt t o r e l at e how p e r f o rmanc e i n

t r a i ni ng w i l l b e c o nne c t ed to the a t t a i nment o f l o ng t e rm r eward s .

 CHAPTER V

SUMMARY

Thi s s tudy was an at t emp t t o t e s t a mod i f i ed v e r s i o n of P o r t e r

and Law l e r ' s a t t i tud e -pe r fo rmanc e mo d e l w i th a popu l at i o n o f d i sadvantaged

t r a i ne e s . Seve n hypo t h e s e s w e r e d e r i ved f rom the fo l l ow i ng formu l at io n :

I f a t r a i ne e see s h i gh p e r fo rmance a s l eading t o the a t t a i nment o f o ne o r

mo re p e r s o na l reward s i n t h e t ra i n i ng s i tuat i o n , he w i l l t e nd t o e x e r t

h i gh e f fo r t i n the progr am . T h e t ra i ne e wi l l have c o r r e spond i ng l y h i gh

perf o rmanc e i n thi s s i tu a t io n p r ov i d i ng he has the r e l evant abi l i ty and

appro pr i a t e r o l e p e r c e pt i ons .

To t e s t the s e hypo the s e s d a t a w e r e obtai ned f r om 9 7 d i sadvantaged

t r a i nee s and the i r e i ght supe r v i so r s at a manpower d e v e l o pme nt pro j e c t

i n O ak Ridge , Tenne s see . Each t r a i ne e wa s g i v e n three que s t i o nna i r e s

d e s i gned to measure the va l u e o f four r eward s r e su l t i ng f rom t r a i n i ng ,

the pe r c e i ved probab i l i ty that h i gh p e r f o rmanc e w i l l l ead t o the s e

r eward s , and t h e i mpo r tance o f c e r t a i n ro l e p e r c e p t i o n s . Ab i l i t y s co r e s

were b a sed upo n sco r e s o n three ap t i t u d e t e s t s o b t a i ned f rom the t e s t

f i l e s o f the program . Each o f the e i gh t super v i sor s was a sked t o rank

h i s t r a i ne e s o n d e g r e e o f e f f o r t e x e r ted and o v e r a l l p e r f o rmanc e . The

supe r v i sor s were a l so adm i n i s t er e d the r o l e p e r c e p t i o n que s t i o nna i r e .

The r e su l t s o f the study o f f e r o n l y l i mi t e d suppo r t t o the mod e l ,

as o n l y two o f the seven hypo the s e s w e r e c o n f i rmed .

53
 54

I. REWARDS AND P ERCEI VED PERFORMANCE-REWARD PRO BABI LITY

The f i r s t par t o f the mod e l w a s st rong l y suppo r t e d . · The r e su l t s

showed that :

1. The s t ro nger the fo r c e o n the trai nee ( the sum o f the produc t s

o f p e r f o rmanc e-reward probab i l i t y and r eward va l u e ) to per­

f o rm e f f e c t i ve l y in the t r a i ni ng pro gram , the h i gher hi s

s co r e o n rat i ng s of e f f o r t and o v e r a l l p e r f o rmanc e .

2. The f o r c e o n the t r a i ne e to p e r f o rm e f f e c t i ve l y i n the

t r a i n i ng pro gram wa s mo r e c l o s e l y r e l ated to the supe r v i s o r y

rat i ng s o n h i s e f f o r t than to t h e r at i n g o n h i s over a l l

p e r f o rmanc e .

11. ABIL ITY

Thi s par t of the mod e l was no t suppo r ted as i t was p r e d i c ted

that the r e l a t i o n s h i p Qetween e f for t and p e r f o rmanc e wou l d be greater

for tho s e t r a i ne e s h i gh in abi l i t y , than fo r tho se t ra i ne e s l ow i n

abi l i t y . I t was f ound that :

3. The i nc re a s e i n the re l at i o n s h i p between e f f o r t and

p e r f o rmanc e for t r a i ne e s h i gh i n abi l i t y wa s no t s i gni f i cant l y

d i f f e r e n t f r om the subgroup l ow i n abi l i ty .

Ill. ROLE PERCEPT I ONS

Th i s par t of the mo d e l a l so d i d no t r e c e i ve suppor t . Ne i ther the

two hypo the s e s nor the coro l l ary were c o nf i rme d , I t was found that :
 55

4. The h i gh e r the c o r r e spo nd ence between the r o l e p e r c e p t i o n s

o f the t ra i nee and tho s e o f hi s immed i a t e sup e r v i so r r e gard­

ing appro p r i a t e t r a i ne e behav i o r , the l ower wa s the super­

v i so r y rat i ng fo r the t ra i nee .

5. The mo r e the t r a i nee s saw the i r r o l e a s d emand i ng i nner­

d i r e c t e d behav i o r , the h i gher they were rated on qua l i t y of

p e r f o rmanc e .

6. The r e l at i o nship be tween e f f o r t and p e r f o rmance for tho s e

t r a i ne e s h i gh o n the agreement sco r e s w a s o n l y s l i gh t l y

g r e a t e r than f o r tho s e t r a i nee s l ow o n the s ame d ime n s i o n ,

IV. ABILITY AND ROLE PERCEPT I ONS

The f i na l hypo the s i s o f the mo d e l a l so was no t suppo r ted . I t was

found that :

7. The r e l at ionship be twe e n e f fo r t and p e r f o rmanc e for tho s e

t r a i nee s hav i ng bo th h i gh abi l i t y and approp r i ate ro l e per­

c e p t i o n s wa s no t s i gn i f icant l y gr e at e r than the r e l a t i o n

be tween e f fo r t and perfo rmance for tho s e t ra i ne e s l ow :tn both

var i ab l e s . Fur the r , the compa r i son of the co r r e l a t io n s be­

tween e f f o r t and per forman c e for the group of t r a i ne e s h i gh

i n bo th var i ab l e s w i th the groups who were h i gh i n e i th e r

abi l i t y o r appropr i a t e r o l e behav i o r , o n l y showed ver y l i t t l e

d i f f e r e nc e ,
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APPENDIXES
 APPENDIX A

VAL UE OF REWARDS

gradua t i o n f r om TAT

gr ad e s

ge t t i ng a good j o b

mak i ng mo r e money i n the l o ng run

pay dur i ng t r a i n i ng

get t i ng a l ong w i t h f r i e nd s and

i n s t r uc t o r s

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·1.
 APPE NDIX B

PERFORMANCE- REWARD PROBAB ILITY

PAY DURI NG T RAINING

H i gh C l a s s r oom Output

l 2 3 4 5 6 7
weak r e l a t io n sh i p s t r o ng r e l a t i o n s h i p

H i gh Shop Output

l 2 3 4 5 6 7

E f for t

l 2 3 4 5 6 7

GETTING ALONG WITH FRIENDS AND INST RUCTORS

H i gh C L a s s r o om O u t pu t

l 2 3 4 5 6 7
weak r e l at i o n sh i p s t r ong r e l a t i o n s h i p

H i gh Shop Output

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Effor t

l 2 3 4 5 6 7

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 63

GRADUAT ION FROM TAT

H i gh C l a s sr oom Output

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
weak r e l at i o n s h i p s t r o ng r e l a t i o n s h i p

H i gh Shop Output

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Effort

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

GETT I NG GOOD GRADES

H i gh C l a s s r oom Output

l 2 3 4 5 6 7
weak r e l a t i o n sh i p s t r o n g r e l at i o n s h i p

H i gh Shop O u t put

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Effor t

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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GETTING A BETTER J O B

H i gh C l a s sroom Output

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
weak r e l a t i o n s h i p st rong r e l a t i o n s h i p

Hi gh S h o p Output

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Effort

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

MAK I NG MORE MONEY I N THE LONG RUN

H i gh C l a s s r oom O u tput

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
weak r e l a t i o n sh i p s t r o n g r e l a t io n sh i p

H i gh Sho p Output

Effort

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
 AP PENDIX C

ROLE PERCEPT ION ITEMS

1. Wo r k s i ndependent l y , w i thout a sk i ng for h e l p of o t h e r t r ainee s .

2. U s e s cau t i o n i n exper iment i ng w i t h new t e chni que s and procedur e s .

3. Fo l l ow s hi s super vi so r • s i n s t r uc t i o n c l o s e l y .

4. Go e s a l ong wi t h the maj o r i t y o f o t her t r a i ne e s i n the s o l u t i o n o f

new p r o b l em s .

5. Deve l op s no ve l s o l u t i o n s to p ro b l em s .

6. Ri sk s d i sp l ea s u r e o f o ther t r a i n e e s i f nece s sa r y to get h i s work

done .

7. Fr equent l y d i s cu s s e s p r o g r e s s o f h i s work wi th sup e r vi so r .

8. A t t empt s t o i nf l uence supe r v i so r • s t h i nk i ng whe n t h i nk s he i s i n

t h e r i gh t .

9. Wi l l i n g l y and q u i ck l y a sk s f o r ad v i c e when he need s i t .

10. Sugge s t s new me thod s f o r d o i n g h i s work .

11. Wo rk s cooper a t i v e l y wi t h o t her t r a i ne e s and sup e r v i so r s .

12. Tak e s o n added r e spo n s i b i l i t y w i t h i nc r e a s i ng l e ngth o f t ime i n

t r a i n i ng .

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 66

RANK ING OF PERFORMANCE ITEMS

P l ace number of s t a t ement i n appro p r i a t e co l umn .

Most Ave r age Lea s t

impo r t ant I mpo r t a nce impo r t anc e

D e g r e e to wh i ch P e r fo rmanc e I t ems
d e s c r i be qua l i t i e s impo r tant to
suc c e s s ip t r a i ni ng p r o g r am .
 APPE NDIX D

AMO UNT O F E F FORT EXERTED I N T RAI N I NG

l 2 3 4 5 6 7
l ow h i gh

67
 AP PENDIX E

OVERALL TRAINEE PERFO RMANCE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
l ow h i gh

68
 VI TA

R i chard Do r r S co t t was bo r n i n Ho r ne l l , New York , on Mar ch 6 ,

1 9 43 . H e a t t e nd e d e l eme ntary schoo l s i n that c i t y and was gr adua t e d

from Ho rne l l H i gh Schoo l i n 1 9 6 1 . T h e fo l lowi ng S e p t ember he ente r ed

P e nnsy l vani a S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y , and i n J u ne , 1 9 6 5 , he r e c e i ved a Bache l o r

of Ar t s d e g r e e i n P s ycho l o gy . I n the f a l l o f 1 9 6 6 , he accepted a

r e search a s s i s t ant shi p at The U n i v e r s i t y of Ma s s achu s e t t s and began s t udy

t oward a M a s t er • s d e gr e e . H e r e c e i ved thi s d e g r e e in J u ne , 1 9 67 .

He ent e r ed the G r aduate Scho o l at The U n i ve r s i t y o f Tenne s s e e i n

S e p t ember , 1 9 6 7 , and r e c e i ved the Do c t o r o f Ph i l o sophy d e g r e e w i t h a

maj o r i n O r gani zat ional P s ycho l o gy i n J u ne , 1 9 7 1 .

69