The role of nonperformance factors on job-related relocation opportunities: A field study and laboratory experiment

Two studies examined the role of employee gender, marital type (single-earn er, dual-earner), and parental status in understanding differential access to job opportunities requiring relocation, as well as possible perceptual p rocesses underlying these effects. A large-scale field study (Study 1) foun d that married women and employees in dual-earner marriages were provided f ewer relocation offers than married men and those in single-earner marriage s. A laboratory experiment (Study 2) extended Study I by examining the perc eptual process by which these nonperformance factors affected relocation op portunities. Again, married women and employees in dual-earner marriages re ceived lower recommendation ratings for jobs requiring relocation compared to married men and single-earners, respectively. Further, decision-makers' perceptions of an applicant's willingness to relocate, family resistance to moving, and ease of adjustment to a geographic move partially mediated the relationship between these nonperformance factors and relocation opportuni ties. Implications for research and applied practice are discussed. (C) 199 9 Academic Press.