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Job Involvement
Job involvement refers to a state of psychological identification with work—or the degree to which a job is central to a person's identity. From an organizational perspective, it has been regarded as the key to unlocking employee motivation and increasing productivity. From an individual perspective, job involvement constitutes a key to motivation, performance, personal growth, and satisfaction in the workplace. Job involvement contributes importantly to organizational effectiveness, productivity, and morale by engaging employees deeply in their work and making it a meaningful and fulfilling experience. People become involved in their jobs when they perceive in them the potential for satisfying salient psychological needs (e.g., for growth, achievement, meaning, recognition, and security).
Job involvement enhances individuals' work performance by motivating them to exert greater effort and use their creativity to solve problems and work intelligently. Job involvement and the benefits that flow from it result partly from personality and characteristics of the individual and partly from organizational context, job design, and supervisory behavior. Individuals who possess certain personality traits (e.g., internal locus of control, need for achievement, work ethic endorsement) are likely to be predisposed to become job involved. On the other hand, situational factors such as job design, organizational and psychological climate, and management style all have important influences on employee job involvement. Job design factors appear to have a stronger influence on job involvement for individuals who have a stronger drive to satisfying higher-order psychological needs (i.e., higher-order need strength).
Profile of the Job-Involved Individual
Based on a systematic review of the voluminous research on job involvement, a profile of the personal characteristics of highly job-involved individuals emerges. In terms of personality traits, job-involved people tend to be high in both internal motivation and self-esteem and to subscribe to a work ethic consistent with the view that the experience of work has value as an end in itself. In terms of demographics, however, job involvement does not depend on age, gender, education, length of service to the organization, or salary.
Job-involved individuals find work meaningful and challenging, work at complex tasks employing a variety of skills, and see complete units of work through to their completion. They participate in the setting of performance standards and maintain positive relationships with supervisors who provide them with ample performance feedback. Beyond commitment to the immediate job, job-involved people are also strongly committed to work in general and career achievement and advancement.
People who are high in job involvement typically experience high job satisfaction, especially with the content of the work, which they find intrinsically satisfying. Their job satisfaction prevails even when their supervisor lacks consideration or is uncommunicative or autocratic. Job-involved individuals tend to have strong affective ties to the organization and, as a result, are less likely than others to consider leaving it.
In general, job involvement does not appear to entail systematic negative side effects, such as psychological, social, or physical maladies resulting from strong identification with one's job. Stress, anxiety, somatic health complaints, and work–family conflict do not appear to be systematically related to job involvement. On the other hand, job-involved individuals do not appear to be more satisfied with life in general than less job-involved individuals or especially likely to be highly involved in other activities outside of work.
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- Foundations: History
- Army Alpha/Army Beta
- Hawthorne Studies/Hawthorne Effect
- History of Industrial/Organizational Psychology in Europe and the United Kingdom
- History of Industrial/Organizational Psychology in North America
- History of Industrial/Organizational Psychology in Other Parts of the World
- Human Relations Movement
- Project A
- Scientific Management
- Scientist-Practitioner Model
- Unions
- Foundations: Ethical and Legal Issues
- Adverse Impact/Disparate Treatment/Discrimination at Work
- Affirmative Action
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications
- Civil Rights Act of 1964, Civil Rights Act of 1991
- Comparable Worth
- Corporate Ethics
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Employment at Will
- Equal Pay Act of 1963
- Ethics in Industrial/Organizational Practice
- Ethics in Industrial/Organizational Research
- Family and Medical Leave Act
- Glass Ceiling
- Labor Law
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health/Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- Race Norming
- Sexual Discrimination
- Sexual Harassment at Work
- Stereotyping
- Test Security
- Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
- Workplace Accommodations for the Disabled
- Foundations: Research Methods
- Benchmarking
- Case Study Method
- Competency Modeling
- Content Coding
- Critical Incident Technique
- Cross-Cultural Research Methods and Theory
- Experimental Designs
- Focus Groups
- Lens Model
- Linkage Research and Analyses
- Longitudinal Research/Experience Sampling Technique
- Meta-Analysis
- Naturalistic Observation
- Nonexperimental Designs
- Organizational Surveys
- Policy Capturing
- Program Evaluation
- Qualitative Research Approach
- Quantitative Research Approach
- Quasi-experimental Designs
- Sampling Techniques
- Simulation, Computer Approach
- Survey Approach
- Verbal Protocol Analysis
- Foundations: Measurement Theory and Statistics
- Classical Test Theory
- Confidence Intervals/Hypothesis Testing/Effect Sizes
- Construct
- Criterion Theory
- Descriptive Statistics
- Differential Item Functioning
- Factor Analysis
- Generalizability Theory
- Incremental Validity
- Inferential Statistics
- Item Response Theory
- Measurement Scales
- Measures of Association/Correlation Coefficient
- Moderator and Mediator Variables
- Multilevel Modeling
- Multilevel Modeling Techniques
- Multitrait–Multimethod Matrix
- Nomological Networks
- Normative versus Ipsative Measurement
- Reliability
- Statistical Power
- Structural Equation Modeling
- Utility Analysis
- Validation Strategies
- Validity
- Industrial Psychology: Understanding and Assessing Individual Differences
- Affective Traits
- Big Five Taxonomy of Personality
- Biographical Data
- Cognitive Abilities
- Cognitive Ability Tests
- Computer Assessment
- Core Self-Evaluations
- Emotional Intelligence
- Employment Interview
- Genetics and Industrial/Organizational Psychology
- Graphology
- Gravitational Hypothesis
- Hardiness
- Impression Management
- Individual Assessment
- Individual Differences
- Integrity Testing
- Job Knowledge Testing
- Letters of Recommendation
- Locus of Control
- Machiavellianism
- Motivational Traits
- Need for Achievement, Power, and Affiliation
- Optimism and Pessimism
- Personality
- Personality Assessment
- Physical Performance Assessment
- Practical Intelligence
- Protestant Work Ethic
- Self-Esteem
- Situational Judgment Tests
- Standardized Testing
- Stereotype Threat
- Trainability and Adaptability
- Type A and Type B Personalities
- Work Samples
- Work Values
- Industrial Psychology: Employment, Staffing, and Career Issues
- Dictionary of Occupational Titles
- Applicant/Test-Taker Reactions
- Banding
- Career Development
- Careers
- Compensation
- Credentialing
- Dirty Work
- Drug and Alcohol Testing
- Electronic Human Resources Management
- Employee Selection
- Executive Selection
- Exit Survey (Exit Interview)
- Expatriates
- Gainsharing and Profit Sharing
- Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues at Work
- Human Resources Strategy
- Job Advertisements
- Job Analysis
- Job Analysis Methods
- Job Choice
- Job Description
- Job Evaluation
- Job Search
- Job Typologies
- Occupational Information Network (O*NET)
- Older Worker Issues
- Person–Environment Fit
- Person–Job Fit
- Person–Organization Fit
- Person–Vocation Fit
- Placement and Classification
- Prescreening Assessment Methods for Personnel Selection
- Realistic Job Preview
- Recruitment
- Recruitment Sources
- Retirement
- Selection Strategies
- Selection: Occupational Tailoring
- Succession Planning
- Underemployment
- Industrial Psychology: Developing, Training, and Evaluating Employees
- 360-Degree Feedback
- Assessment Center
- Assessment Center Methods
- Distance Learning
- Diversity Training
- Electronic Performance Monitoring
- Employee Assistance Program
- Executive Coaching
- Feedback Seeking
- Frame-of-Reference Training
- Leadership Development
- Mentoring
- Organizational Socialization
- Organizational Socialization Tactics
- Performance Appraisal
- Performance Appraisal, Objective Indexes
- Performance Appraisal, Subjective Indexes
- Performance Feedback
- Rating Errors and Perceptual Biases
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Pygmalion Effect
- Socialization: Employee Proactive Behaviors
- Training
- Training Evaluation
- Training Methods
- Training Needs Assessment and Analysis
- Transfer of Training
- Industrial Psychology: Productive and Counterproductive Employee Behavior
- Contextual Performance/Prosocial Behavior/Organizational Citizenship Behavior
- Counterproductive Work Behaviors
- Counterproductive Work Behaviors, Interpersonal Deviance
- Counterproductive Work Behaviors, Organizational Deviance
- Creativity at Work
- Customer Satisfaction with Services
- Cyberloafing at Work
- Innovation
- Integrity at Work
- Job Performance Models
- Organizational Retaliatory Behavior
- Theft at Work
- Time Management
- Violence at Work
- Whistle-Blowers
- Withdrawal Behaviors, Absenteeism
- Withdrawal Behaviors, Lateness
- Withdrawal Behaviors, Turnover
- Workplace Incivility
- Industrial Psychology: Motivation and Job Design
- Action Theory
- Control Theory
- Empowerment
- Expectancy Theory of Work Motivation
- Goal-Setting Theory
- Human–Computer Interaction
- Incentives
- Intrinsic and Extrinsic Work Motivation
- Job Characteristics Theory
- Job Design
- Job Involvement
- Job Rotation
- Job Sharing
- Need Theories of Work Motivation
- Path–Goal Theory
- Positive Psychology Applied to Work
- Self-Concept Theory of Work Motivation
- Self-Efficacy
- Self-Regulation Theory
- Social Cognitive Theory
- Telecommuting
- Theory of Work Adjustment
- Two-Factor Theory
- Work Motivation
- Workaholism
- Industrial Psychology: Leadership and Management
- Abusive Supervision
- Behavioral Approach to Leadership
- Charismatic Leadership Theory
- Employee Grievance Systems
- Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Project
- Implicit Theory of Leadership
- Judgment and Decision-Making Process
- Judgment and Decision-Making Process: Advice Giving and Taking
- Judgment and Decision-Making Process: Heuristics, Cognitive Biases, and Contextual Influences
- Leader–Member Exchange Theory
- Leadership and Supervision
- Least Preferred Coworker Theory
- Life-cycle Model of Leadership
- Normative Models of Decision Making and Leadership
- Reinforcement Theory of Work Motivation
- Situational Approach to Leadership
- Spirituality and Leadership at Work
- Trait Approach to Leadership
- Transformational and Transactional Leadership
- Trust
- Industrial Psychology: Groups, Teams, and Working with Others
- Conflict at Work
- Conflict Management
- Diversity in the Workplace
- Group Cohesiveness
- Group Decision-Making Quality and Performance
- Group Decision-Making Techniques
- Group Development
- Group Dynamics and Processes
- Groups
- Groupthink
- Input–Process–Output Model of Team Effectiveness
- Intergroup Relations
- Interpersonal Communication
- Interpersonal Communication Styles
- Justice in Teams
- Meetings at Work
- Negotiation, Mediation, and Arbitration
- Networking
- Social Exchange Theory
- Social Loafing
- Social Norms and Conformity
- Social Support
- Team Building
- Team Mental Model
- Team-Based Rewards
- Virtual Teams
- Workplace Romance
- Industrial Psychology: Employee Well-Being and Attitudes
- Affective Events Theory
- Attitudes and Beliefs
- Boredom at Work
- Emotional Burnout
- Emotional Labor
- Emotions
- Eustress
- Job Satisfaction
- Job Satisfaction Measurement
- Job Security/Insecurity
- Mood
- Morale
- Organizational Commitment
- Organizational Cynicism
- Organizational Justice
- Psychological Contract
- Quality of Work Life
- Role Ambiguity
- Role Conflict
- Role Overload and Underload
- Stress, Consequences
- Stress, Coping and Management
- Stress, Models and Theories
- Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior
- Union Commitment
- Work–Life Balance
- Industrial Psychology: Organizational Structure, Design, and Change
- Attraction–Selection–Attrition Model
- Automation/Advanced Manufacturing Technology/Computer-Based Integrated Technology
- Balanced Scorecard
- Compressed Workweek
- Downsizing
- Entrepreneurship
- Flexible Work Schedules
- Globalization
- High-Performance Organization Model
- Learning Organizations
- Mergers, Acquisitions, and Strategic Alliances
- Organizational Behavior
- Organizational Behavior Management
- Organizational Change
- Organizational Change, Resistance to
- Organizational Climate
- Organizational Communication, Formal
- Organizational Communication, Informal
- Organizational Culture
- Organizational Development
- Organizational Image
- Organizational Politics
- Organizational Sensemaking
- Organizational Structure
- Outsourcing
- Shiftwork
- Sociotechnical Approach
- Strategic Planning
- Survivor Syndrome
- Terrorism and Work
- Theory of Action
- Total Quality Management
- Virtual Organizations
- Workplace Injuries
- Workplace Safety
- Professional Organizations and Related Fields
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