Determinants of Employee Work Perceptions and Attitudes

Abstract

Organizational level and the perceived physical and social work environments were examined as predictors of the job perceptions and attitudes of state government employees (N = 420). Regression analyses indicated that organizational level was a significant predictor of job perceptions and involvement. Perceptions of the social environment explained additional variance in job attitudes and involvement, and made significant contributions in explaining trust in higher-level administration and job satisfaction. Perceptions of the physical environment were consistently related to satisfaction. Level X environment interactions made independent contributions beyond the main effects in explaining job perceptions and involvement, trust, and satisfaction. The physical environment predicted better for higher-level employees, whereas the social environment predicted better for lower-level employees. The results suggest that organizational level and the work environment, particularly its social component, are important considerations in understanding employee responses to their work.