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ABSTRACT
Personal control over one's work environment is an important theme in many branches of the social sciences. In the present study, longitudinal field data were used to assess a model of personal control in organizational settings. Business school graduates completed questionnaires prior to graduation and after 4 months (n = 297) and 10 months (n = 231) on the job. The results suggest two distinct responses to perceived personal control. The first implies a proactive orientation where control begets control: self-efficacy was positively associated with control, both variables were positively associated with problem-focused reactance, control and reactance were both negatively related to helplessness, and helplessness was negatively related to work adjustment. The second response to personal control implies a reactive orientation where unmet expectations prompt a sense of futility and withdrawal: control was negatively associated with unmet expectations, and unmet expectations were positively associated with helplessness and negatively associated with work adjustment.
KEYWORDS control * helplessness * newcomer adjustment * self-efficacy
A recurring theme in many of the social sciences, including branches of psychology, sociology, anthropology and history, is the important effects that personal control over one's work environment exerts on both the individual and the organization (for example, Deci & Ryan, 1985; Edwards, 1979; Holzberg & Giovannini, 1981; Thomas, 1989). Personal control is a cornerstone of many perspectives on the individual-organization interface, from theories of power and politics to labor organization, and from motivation to newcomer adjustment. A central premise of such perspectives is that having discretion over the parameters of work enables one to adapt those parameters to one's needs and creates a sense of responsibility and ownership. Personal control, then, facilitates psychological involvement in the work and satisfaction with the workplace. Moreover, the issues of control and involvement are likely to become increasingly critical as organizations continue to transform themselves from conventional bureaucracies with narrowly rationalized jobs to more fluid organic forms with open-ended tasks (Miles & Snow, 1996).
However, it is not well understood how individuals actually respond to perceptions of personal control in organizations. The purpose of the present study is to propose and assess such a model. The model is based largely upon Ashforth's (1989) conception of the 'experience of powerlessness', in which the following...