THE INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF VARIETY, AUTONOMY, AND FEEDBACK ON ATTITUDES AND PERFORMANCE

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.