Ng. Dodd et Dc. Ganster, THE INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF VARIETY, AUTONOMY, AND FEEDBACK ON ATTITUDES AND PERFORMANCE, Journal of organizational behavior, 17(4), 1996, pp. 329-347
Job dimensions of autonomy, variety, and feedback were objectively man
ipulated to evaluate their effect on perceptions of job characteristic
s and on job outcomes. Except for feedback level, manipulations and pe
rceptions independently predicted satisfaction, and one significant tw
o-way interaction emerged. In a high variety task, increased autonomy
led to increased satisfaction, while in a low variety task, increased
autonomy had a negligible effect on satisfaction. For performance, obj
ective variety and autonomy also interacted, indicating that in a low
variety task, autonomy had little impact, while in a high variety task
, increased autonomy contributed 16 per cent to performance. In additi
on, autonomy and feedback interacted with one another, with increased
feedback in a high autonomy task again contributing 16 per cent to per
formance, while increased feedback in a low autonomy task had little i
mpact on performance. Findings are discussed from both the Job Charact
eristics Model and control theory perspectives.