Theory of Work Adjustment

Development of the Theory

Development of the TWA occurred in two distinct phases. During the 1960s, Lloyd H. Lofquist and Rene V. Dawis, University of Minnesota psychologists, formulated a trait-and-factor matching model and in collaboration with David J. Weiss developed instruments to measure the major constructs introduced by the theory. The initial statement of the theory in 1964 provided the conceptual framework for the continuing program of research undertaken by the Minnesota Work Adjustment Project (WAP) from 1964 to 1972. The publication of Adjustment to Work 4 years later marked the culmination of this phase of theory building.

Elaboration of the theory continued along two fronts during the 1970s. First, the authors bridged the theoretical gap between vocational needs and work values. Of greater significance, however, was their elucidation of their constructs of personality style and work environment style and the dynamics of the work adjustment process. Integration of the structural and dynamic aspects of the theory during the 1970s transformed the TWA from a static trait-and-factor model to a developmentally oriented model that describes the ongoing interaction between individuals and their work environments.

Structure of Work Adjustment

According to the TWA, work adjustment is a function of the correspondence (i.e., quality of the match) between an individual's work personality and the work environment. The work personality consists of the psychosocial needs and abilities of the worker. The salient attributes of the work environment are the rewards provided by the job and the skills required to perform the work tasks successfully. A good match (i.e., work adjustment) results in job satisfaction, satisfactory job performance, and worker tenure. A poor match leads to worker dissatisfaction, poor job performance, and turnover.

Each worker has a unique set of psychological (i.e., secondary or learned) needs. The TWA and the research program it inspired identified 21 needs (i.e., learned preferences for particular stimulus conditions) that influence the individual's reaction to a particular occupational environment. These are ability utilization, achievement, activity, advancement, authority, company policies, compensation, coworkers, creativity, independence, moral values, recognition, responsibility, security, social science, social status, supervision-human relations, supervision-technical, variety, working condition, and autonomy. The WAP developed the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire (MIQ) to measure the importance of each of these needs to the individual.

Each work environment satisfies some of these needs, but not others. For example, the job of elementary school teacher satisfies the needs to make use of your abilities, try out your own ideas, and help others, but it provides little opportunity to tell other workers what to do or to be paid well in comparison to other workers. The degree to which the occupation satisfies the worker's needs determines the degree of correspondence, or more generally the degree of P-E fit. The WAP developed the Minnesota Job Description Questionnaire (MJDQ) to use in determining the rewards provided by an occupation. The pattern of rewards provided by an occupation (i.e., the profile of scores) is called the Occupational Reinforcer Pattern.

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