4.20 Job Characteristics Index

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This section discusses a special 1980 Young Women data collection. Users can find descriptions of the broader range of job characteristic data available in the relevant sections of this guide, such as “Fringe Benefits,” “Industries,” “Occupations,” “Wages,” and “Work Experience.”

The 1980 survey included a series of questions on characteristics of the respondents’ current job, e.g., the amount of variety and autonomy, the opportunity to deal with people and develop friendships, the opportunity to complete tasks, the amount of significance they attributed to their job, and the amount of performance feedback received.  Sims, Szilagyi, and Keller (1976) developed items for this scale, called the Job Characteristics Index (JCI).   

The JCI, an extension of the work first begun by Turner and Lawrence in 1965, was preceded by an instrument developed by Hackman and Oldham (1975) known as the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS).  Dimensions of the JDS are also incorporated into the JCI, although in a simpler format.  Comparisons of the JCI and JDS by Dunham et al. (1977) have shown that both scales tend to collapse to a one-dimensional scale measuring job complexity.  Therefore, the JCI was shortened by selecting one scale item that loaded strongly on each of the dimensions of job complexity shown to be important in earlier research.  In their 1976 article, Sims et al. reported the necessary factor analysis scores used to obtain the abbreviated scale.  Question and reference numbers for the seven items that comprise the shortened JCI scale are listed in Table 4.20.1.

Table 4.20.1 Variables Needed to Construct the Job Characteristics Index: 1980

Survey Instruments: Users can find these questions within the “Current Labor Force Status or CPS” section in the 1980 questionnaire.

References

Dunham, Randall B.; Aldag, Ramon; and Brief, Arthur P. “Dimensionality of Task Design as Measured by the Job Diagnostic Survey.” Academy of Management Journal 20, 2 (June 1977): 209-23

Hackman, J.R. and Oldham, J.R. “Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey.” Journal of Applied Psychology 60 (1975): 159-70.

Pierce, Jon L. and Dunham, Randall B. “The Measurement of Perceived Job Characteristics: The Diagnostic Survey vs. the Job Characteristics Inventory.” Academy of Management Journal 21,1 (March 1978): 123-28.

Sims, Henry R.; Szilagyi, Andrew; and Keller, Robert. “The Measurement of Job Characteristics.” Academy of Management Journal 26,2 (June 1976): 195-212.

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