Ef. Holton et Cj. Russell, THE RELATIONSHIP OF ANTICIPATION TO NEWCOMER SOCIALIZATION PROCESSES AND OUR-COMES - A PILOT-STUDY, Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 70, 1997, pp. 163-172
The construct of new employee anticipation was explored within a model
of newcomer socialization. Measures of anticipation, socialization pr
ocesses and outcomes obtained from new college graduates one year afte
r graduation (N = 378) suggested low-anticipation newcomers report low
er job satisfaction, commitment, work motivation, job involvement and
psychological success. Graduates who anticipated their jobs perceived
organizations as being more receptive to them, jobs as more challengin
g, greater control over their work, more influence on the organization
, and understood the culture better. In addition, graduates who had no
t anticipated their current jobs reported lower levels of satisfaction
with the transition, greater stress and more difficulty with the tran
sition. Implications for socialization research and human resource sys
tems are discussed.