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A social information processing approach to job attitudes and task design
Administrative Science Quarterly
|May 12, 1978
Summary
This study introduces a social information processing approach to understand job attitudes, highlighting context and past choices over individual traits. It emphasizes how social cues shape employee perceptions and behaviors in the workplace.
Area of Science:
- Organizational Behavior
- Social Psychology
- Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Background:
- Traditional models of job attitudes focus on need satisfaction and expectancy theories.
- These models often prioritize individual predispositions and rational decision-making.
- A gap exists in understanding the influence of social context on job attitudes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present and elaborate on a social information processing (SIP) approach to job attitudes.
- To contrast the SIP perspective with existing need-satisfaction and expectancy models.
- To explore the mechanisms through which social information influences employee attitudes and perceptions.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual framework development based on social information processing theory.
- Analysis of how social information (past behavior, others' opinions) is used to form attitudes.
- Examination of moderating factors like commitment and saliency.
Main Results:
- Social information processing emphasizes context and past choices over individual predispositions.
- Attitude and need statements are influenced by social information and informational social influence.
- Commitment processes and the need for social legitimacy affect attitude attribution.
Conclusions:
- The SIP perspective offers a valuable alternative for explaining job attitudes.
- Understanding social influences is crucial for organizational development and job redesign.
- Future research should explore the practical applications of the SIP model in organizations.