Method Versus Substance: How Strong are Underlying Relationships Between Job Characteristics and Attitudinal Outcomes?

Abstract

This study compared the relative strengths of the effects of method versus substance on relationships between job characteristics and attitudinal outcomes. Reports from both job incumbents and nonincumbents on job characteristics and job attitudes were compared for 509 employees of four organizations. Substantive relationships were observed between job characteristics and effort, supporting the job characteristics model. Common method effects, however, inflated relationships between job characteristics and affective outcomes, thereby supporting the social information processing model. Implications are discussed for other areas of organizational research that rely on single data sources.