The Role of Nonperformance Factors on Job-Related Relocation Opportunities: A Field Study and Laboratory Experiment

Two studies examined the role of employee gender, marital type (single-earner, dual-earner), and parental status in understanding differential access to job opportunities requiring relocation, as well as possible perceptual processes underlying these effects. A large-scale field study (Study 1) found that married women and employees in dual-earner marriages were provided fewer relocation offers than married men and those in single-earner marriages. A laboratory experiment (Study 2) extended Study 1 by examining the perceptual process by which these nonperformance factors affected relocation opportunities. Again, married women and employees in dual-earner marriages received lower recommendation ratings for jobs requiring relocation compared to married men and single-earners, respectively. Further, decision-makers' perceptions of an applicant's willingness to relocate, family resistance to moving, and ease of adjustment to a geographic move partially mediated the relationship between these nonperformance factors and relocation opportunities. Implications for research and applied practice are discussed. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.