生涯停滯與員工效果之關係:其心理歷程與調節效果之探討 - 政大學術集成
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(2) Abstract Career plateau has been identified as stressful experiences that can lead to employee negative feelings and attitudes in the workplace. However, empirical studies that examine how career plateau relates to employee outcomes and the conditions that moderate the above relationships have been scarce. Using an occupational stress model as the foundation, this study examined whether two types of career plateau (i.e., hierarchical plateau and job content plateau) relate to employee outcomes (emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and affective organizational commitment). Furthermore,. 政 治 大. this study examined whether the proposed psychological processes (future career. 立. uncertainty and subjective monotony) mediate the above relationships and whether. ‧ 國. 學. components of workplace spirituality (i.e., inner life and belongingness to community). ‧. moderate the relationship between career plateau and psychological processes.. Nat. sit. y. Based on responses of 243 participants, hierarchical regression results indicate that. n. al. er. io. both plateaus relate negatively with job satisfaction, job involvement, and affective. i Un. v. organizational commitment. However, only hierarchical plateau relates positively to. Ch. engchi. emotional exhaustion, whereas job content plateau is not related to emotional exhaustion. Also, individuals‟ future career uncertainty partially mediates the relationship between hierarchical plateau and employee emotional exhaustion and job attitudes, whereas subjective monotony partially mediates the relationship between job content plateau and job attitudes, but completely mediates the relationship between job content plateau and emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, only the inner life component of workplace spirituality moderates the relationship between hierarchical plateau and future career uncertainty. Based on the study findings,. i.
(3) managerial implications, limitations and suggestions for future research directions are given. Keywords: Career plateau, hierarchical plateau, job content plateau, future career uncertainty, subjective monotony, workplace spirituality. 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. ii. i Un. v.
(4) Acknowledgements This thesis is made possible through the help of many loving people. First, I owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Changya Hu, who respected my research interest and gave me clear guidance, full support, and constant encouragement from the beginning to the end. I am greatly influenced by her hard-working attitude and caring personality. I am also thankful to Dr. Ying-Jung Yeh and Dr. Tsung-Yu Wu for their advice in making this work more complete. Thanks to Joanna Wang, who patiently explained statistics to me and to Dr. Tsung-Yu Wu, who created incredible. 政 治 大. step-by-step statistic materials that have helped greatly in data analyses.. 立. I am still touched by those who have been eager in helping me collect research. ‧ 國. 學. questionnaires: my best friend Julia Huang, kind and generous Roger Huang and Jing-. ‧. Ting Huang, Auntie Hung, Miss Chu, Christine Shih (Meng), Annie Hsu. I cannot describe how much your help means to me and the completion of this work.. sit. y. Nat. io. er. I heartily thank my parents, Chih-Huan Yang and Yu-Mei Chen, and my sister. al. iv n C U from brothers and sisters in Daniel h Fellowship Fellowship. e n g cand h iTsing-Hua n. Wei-An for their unfailing love and support. I also appreciate the constant prayers Thanks to. Marlies Greven, Annie Hsu, Hsingtzu Wu and Emily Wu, who sent me sweet and encouraging messages; to Jason Yang, who was extremely thoughtful and calmed me down when I was fussing about my defense; and to my roommate Susanna Lin, who was with me through thick and thin, and saw how ideas in the sky came to realization. Last but not least, I thank God, whose love never changes, and whose words bring comfort so that “I do not fear, for He is with me; I am not dismayed, for His is my God. He has strengthened me and helped me, and has upheld me with His righteous right hand. ” (Isaiah 41:10). iii.
(5) Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 1-1 Research Background and Motives ..................................................................... 1 1-2 Research Objectives ............................................................................................. 4 Chapter 2 Literature Review .......................................................................................... 5. 治 政 大 2-1 Occupational Stress .............................................................................................. 5 立 2-1-1 Stress ............................................................................................................. 5 ‧ 國. 學. 2-1-2 Beehr‟s (1998) Refined Facet Occupational Stress Model ........................... 7. ‧. 2-2 Career Plateau .................................................................................................... 11. sit. y. Nat. 2-2-1 Career Plateau and Employee outcomes ..................................................... 12. io. n. al. er. 2-3 Psychological Processes of Career Plateau ........................................................ 14. i Un. v. 2-4 Workplace Spirituality ....................................................................................... 16. Ch. engchi. 2-4-1 Spirituality................................................................................................... 16 2-4-2 Spirituality and Religion ............................................................................. 17 2-4-3 Elements of Workplace Spirituality ............................................................ 18 2-4-4 Workplace Spirituality as the Moderators .................................................. 20 2-5 Research Framework ......................................................................................... 23 Chapter 3 Methods ....................................................................................................... 24 3-1 Sample and Procedure........................................................................................ 24 3-2 Measures ............................................................................................................ 26. iv.
(6) 3-3 Data Analysis ..................................................................................................... 30 Chapter 4 Results ......................................................................................................... 31 4-1 Demographic Variables ..................................................................................... 31 4-2 Correlation Analysis .......................................................................................... 34 4-2-1 Descriptive of the Study Variables ............................................................. 34 4-2-2 Correlation Analysis among the Study Variables ....................................... 34 4-3 Hypotheses Testing ............................................................................................ 38 4-3-1 Analysis for the Relationship between Career Plateau and Emotional. 政 治 大 4-3-2 Analysis for the Relationship between Career Plateau and Organizational 立. Exhaustion ................................................................................................... 38. ‧ 國. 學. Outcomes ..................................................................................................... 40 4-3-3 Analysis for Psychological Processes as Mediators between Career. ‧. Plateaus and Employee outcomes................................................................ 42. sit. y. Nat. 4-3-4 Analysis for Inner Life and Belongingness to Community as Moderators. io. n. al. er. between Career Plateau and Psychological Processes ................................. 51. i Un. v. Chapter 5 Discussion ................................................................................................... 56. Ch. engchi. 5-1 Summary ............................................................................................................ 56 5-2 Theoretical and Managerial Implications .......................................................... 59 5-2-1 Theoretical Implications ............................................................................. 59 5-2-2 Managerial Implications ............................................................................. 59 5-3 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research ............................................. 61 Reference ..................................................................................................................... 62 Appendix ...................................................................................................................... 72. v.
(7) List of Tables Table 4.1 Demographic Characteristics ....................................................................... 33 Table 4.2 Coefficients of correlations .......................................................................... 37 Table 4.3 Regression analysis between career plateau and emotional exhaustion (H1) ...................................................................................................................................... 39 Table 4.4 Regression analysis between career plateau and organizational outcomes (H2) ............................................................................................................... 41 Table 4.5 Examination of future career uncertainty as mediator between hierarchical. 政 治 大. plateau and emotional exhaustion (H3a)...................................................... 45. 立. Table 4.6 Examination of future career uncertainty as mediator between hierarchical. ‧ 國. 學. plateau and job satisfaction (H3b) ............................................................... 45. ‧. Table 4.7 Examination of future career uncertainty as mediator between hierarchical plateau and job involvement (H3c) .............................................................. 46. sit. y. Nat. io. er. Table 4.8 Examination of future career uncertainty as mediator between hierarchical plateau and affective organizational commitment (H3d)............................. 46. al. n. iv n C Table 4.9 Examination of subjective hmonotony i U between job content e n g cash mediator. plateau and emotional exhaustion (H4a)...................................................... 49 Table 4.10 Examination of subjective monotony as mediator between job content plateau and job satisfaction (H4b) ............................................................. 49 Table 4.11 Examination of subjective monotony as mediator between job content plateau and job involvement (H4c) ............................................................ 50 Table 4.12 Examination of subjective monotony as mediator between job content plateau and affective organizational commitment (H4d)........................... 50. vi.
(8) Table 4.13 Examination of inner life and community as moderators between hierarchical plateau and future career uncertainty (H5) ............................ 52 Table 4.14 Examination of inner life and community as moderators between job content plateau and subjective monotony (H6) ......................................... 54 Table 4.15 Summary of results of hypotheses ............................................................. 55. 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. vii. i Un. v.
(9) List of Figures Figure 2.1 Refined facet model of occupational stress (Beehr, 1998) ......................... 10 Figure 2.2 Research Framework .................................................................................. 23 Figure 4.1 Moderating effect of inner life on hierarchical plateau and future career uncertainty................................................................................................... 52. 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. viii. i Un. v.
(10) Chapter 1 Introduction 1-1 Research Background and Motives With economic recessions occurring from time to time, many organizations adopt downsizing or restructure into flatter organizations to respond to such change in business environment. These decisions can not only alter the structure of organizations and the way companies operate, but also individuals‟ career experiences (Greenhaus, 2002; McCleese & Eby, 2007). These changes may result in midcareer employees competing more intensely for the fewer promotion opportunities, and staying longer in their current positions due to. 治 政 大 1996). Younger employees decrease in vertical mobility (Elsass & Ralston, 1989; Feldman, 立. may also find themselves facing career stagnation earlier than they expected (Ettington, 1998;. ‧ 國. 學. Rotondo & Perrewe, 2000). In other words, the business environment today can lead. sit. y. Nat. 2002).. ‧. employees to experience career plateau, regardless of their age and career stages (Greenhaus,. io. er. Career plateau was originally defined as a point in career where chances of hierarchical. al. iv n C h e nplateau, categorized into hierarchical (i.e., structural) i U occurs when the chance of g c hwhich n. promotion do not seem possible (Ference, Stoner, & Warren, 1977). It was further. further promotion becomes unlikely and job content plateau, which refers to the lack of challenges in jobs or the lack of new responsibilities given to an individual (Bardwick, 1986). Although the relationship between career plateau and job performance remains controversial (Allen, Poteet, & Russell, 1998; Ettington, 1992; Ference, et al., 1977; Patterson, Sutton, & Schuttenberg, 1987; Stout, Slocum, & Cron, 1988), career plateau is often considered as an undesirable and stressful experience for employees (Elsass & Ralston, 1989; McCleese & Eby, 2007) and has shown to be often related with negative job attitudes or behaviors (Allen, et al., 1998; Chao, 1990; Near, 1980). Indeed, previous studies suggest that lack of. 1.
(11) opportunities for promotion or perceived underpromotion would serve as sources of stress (Cooper, 2001; Rotondo, 1999; Sonnentag & Frese, 2002), and hierarchal plateaued employees tend to suffer from more stress (Elsass & Ralston, 1989; McCleese & Eby, 2007) than non-plateaued employees. Nonetheless, empirical inquiry into the process and the boundary conditions of the relationship between career plateau and stress remains in paucity. Specifically, there are at least three research gaps that merit further examination. First, studies relating job content plateau with stress have been scarce and whether job content plateau also serves as source of stress has not been discussed. Attention should be given in this area because studies have shown that job content plateau has a greater negative impact on. 政 治 大. employees‟ working attitude than that of hierarchical plateau (Allen, et al., 1998).. 立. Second, little has known about the psychological processes through which plateaus relate. ‧ 國. 學. to consequences of career plateaus, even though several researchers have concluded that. ‧. career plateau brings stress to individuals (Elsass & Ralston, 1989; Feldman & Weitz, 1988;. sit. y. Nat. McCleese & Eby, 2007). Understanding the psychological processes that plateaued. io. er. employee experience is important because it helps explain the reason behind the cause of. al. stress and negative job attitudes, and provides potential venues for intervention.. n. iv n C A third important issue that has been h eneglected n g c hin itheUcareer plateau literature is the. moderating effect between career plateau and its outcomes. Much research effort has been made in identifying effective coping responses of career plateau such as social support, mentoring or finding other personal meaning in work (Allen, et al., 1998; Elsass & Ralston, 1989). However, only few examine the factors that moderate the relationship between career plateaus and their outcomes (Lentz & Allen, 2009). The lack of research in this area needs attention because moderators that alleviate negative plateau outcomes can have practical values in providing insights for potential interventions.. 2.
(12) One potential moderator is employees‟ spirituality at work, which refers to the extent to which an individual experiences the meaningfulness of work to individuals, belongingness to the work community and fulfillment of their inner lives in organizations (Ashmos & Duchon, 2000). The concept of spirituality in the workplace has been continually receiving attention in corporate America since the 1990s. Studies have shown that individuals in a spiritually healthy working environment perform better (Elm, 2003; Garcia-Zamor, 2003; White, 2003), and work groups also have higher achievements in work units with greater spiritual climate (Duchon & Plowman, 2005). Mitroff (1999b) even firmly concluded that organizations must consider spirituality in management, otherwise they wouldn‟t survive in today‟s business. 政 治 大. environment. Despite the importance of workplace spirituality, few empirical studies look at. 立. whether it has influences on such psychological correlates as stress or whether it could. ‧ 國. 學. moderates career plateau and related psychological processes. This domain is worth. ‧. investigating in that workplace spirituality may serve as a factor that alleviates the negative. sit. y. Nat. influence of career plateau on employee outcomes. Thus, it is in the researcher‟s interest to. io. al. n. psychological processes.. er. examine the moderating effect of spirituality in the workplace between career plateau and. Ch. engchi. 3. i Un. v.
(13) 1-2 Research Objectives Based on the research background and motives in Section 1-1, this study uses occupational stress model as foundation to examine the following research questions: 1. Examine the relationship between two types of career plateau and employee outcomes such as emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, job involvement and affective organizational commitment. 2. Identify the psychological processes that mediate the influence of hierarchical plateau and job content plateau on employee outcomes.. 政 治 大 between the two types of career plateau and employee outcomes. 立. 3. Examine the moderating effect of workplace spirituality on the relationship. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 4. i Un. v.
(14) Chapter 2 Literature Review This chapter consists of 5 sections. Section 2-1 introduces the occupational stress model that served as the theoretical framework of the current study. Section 2-2 introduces career plateau and its role in occupational stress model. Section 2-3 introduces the psychological processes that mediate the relationships between career plateau and employee outcomes. Section 2-4 introduces the construct of workplace spirituality and how it moderates the relationship between career plateau and psychological processes. The last section summarizes the proposed research framework of this study.. 政 治 大. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 2-1 Occupational Stress. Although the popular press may use stressor, strain, and stress interchangeably,. ‧. these terms reflect different aspects related to the process of occupational stress in the. y. Nat. io. sit. academic literature. Specifically, stressors are events or conditions that could result. n. al. er. in stress (Beehr & McGrath, 1992); strains are the responses of stressor, which are. Ch. i Un. v. harmful to individuals in terms of health and well-being (Beehr, 1998); and stress. engchi. more commonly known as a term which describes situations where stressors and strains exist (Beehr, 1998).. 2-1-1 Stress The concept of stress did not occur in social sciences until Selye (1956) first observed it from a medical and health science aspect. Selye (1956) first defined stress broadly as “the rate of all the wear and tear caused by life” and later more simply as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand” (Selye, 1979). Over the years, many definitions of stress have developed and definitions of stress from different 5.
(15) perspectives have been given. For example, McGrath (1970) defined stress furthermore by including the environmental factor on a person-environment (P-E) -fit basis. He believed that stress results “when there is substantial „imbalance‟ between environmental demand and the response capability of the focal organism” (p. 17). Stress is, as he put it, “an interaction of person and environment” because the environment provides attractive demands that offer rewards to individuals when they achieved them but at the same time challenge their capabilities in the process of meeting these demands (McGrath, 1976).. 政 治 大 Specifically, he defined stress as a “dynamic condition” where an individual 立. Schuler (1980), on the other hand, defined stress from another perspective.. ‧ 國. 學. encounters an opportunity, a constraint and/or a demand on which he/she desires having. The confrontation with these factors will pose a feeling of uncertainty to the. ‧. individual and will have important impact on him/her once these factors have been. Nat. sit. y. resolved. This definition highlights two important characteristics of stress. First, an. n. al. er. io. individual is motivated when he/she has a desire for a opportunity, a constraint or a. i Un. v. demand. Additionally, stress involves a feeling of uncertainty and a perception of. Ch. engchi. importance of outcomes. Stress occurs because there is doubt whether an opportunity can be grasped, a constraint can be eliminated, or a demand can be met. Feeling of stress is also influenced by how important individuals hold for the desired outcomes (McGrath, 1976). Since the degree of uncertainty and the perception of importance may change from time to time, stress is thus described as a „dynamic‟ condition. From the above definitions, it can be drawn that stress results from an imbalance between a individual and the demand of the environment. An individual is challenged to accomplish the demand, and undergoes uncertainty. Feelings of stress will intensify as he/she lays greater importance on the desired outcomes. 6.
(16) Furthermore, occupational stress is one of the most important areas of stress research in that people spend a tremendous amount of time on their work. According to French, Rogers, and Cobb (1974), occupational stress occurs when there is a misfit between an individual and his/her working environment. This misfit results when an individual is unable to meet specific demands of work, or when his/her needs cannot be met due to insufficient supplies. The following section elaborates more on occupational stress by introducing its models.. 2-1-2 Beehr’s (1998) Refined Facet Occupational Stress Model. 政 治 大. Popular models of occupational stress include Institute for Social Research (ISR). 立. Model (French & Kahn, 1962; Katz & Kahn, 1978) and House‟s (1974) occupational. ‧ 國. 學. stress model, which both present stress as a one-way process with specific elements (e.g., environmental factor, psychological perception, individual response to stress,. ‧. personal and situational characteristics). McGrath (1976), on the other hand, focused. Nat. sit. y. more on individuals‟ cognitive aspect and presented stress process in a four stage loop.. n. al. er. io. Beehr and Newman (1978) later developed a more complete meta-model based on. Ch. i Un. v. previous theoretical models and practical studies. This model, later refined by Beehr. engchi. (1998), encompasses essential elements common in stress processes and is said to be consistent with many of the hypotheses and research of occupational stress. Hence, this study chooses to elaborate on the refined occupational stress model (Beehr, 1998), as to provide a more detailed description on the process of occupational stress. In the refined facet model (Figure 2.1), individuals first find themselves in a workplace where stressors and strains are present. However, they do not experience strain unless they go through human psychological or physical processes, which are responsible for transforming stimuli (i.e., stressor) and producing personal strain and. 7.
(17) organizational outcomes (Beehr & Newman, 1978). Physical processes refer to “psychological, physiological, chemical or neurological events in human organism” (Beehr & Newman, 1978). Despite the efforts of several researchers (Mason, 1975; Selye, 1975), a solid physical process has not been agreed upon and related studies have been rare. Psychological processes, on the other hand, can be understood through two activities: individuals‟ perception of the situation and appraisal of the situation. Individuals‟ perception of the situation refers to the notion that individuals must first. 政 治 大 cause them strains or affect their job attitudes. Individuals‟ appraisal of the situation 立 perceive the stimuli to be stressful or successfully identify stressors so that it will. ‧ 國. 學. occurs after they‟ve identified stressors. They compare the perceived situation with their personal resources such as abilities, values or needs. It is based on such. ‧. comparisons that determine the amount of stress experienced. For instance, a person. Nat. sit. y. would perceive work overload as a stressor, only after he/she has compared his/her. al. n. Newman, 1978).. er. io. abilities and realize that such workload is making him/her feel stressful (Beehr &. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Strains to the person are categorized into three types, namely psychological, physical and behavioral strains (Beehr, 1995; Caplan, Cobb, French, Van Harrison, & Pinneau, 1975; Kahn & Byosiere, 1992 ). Previous studies have successfully examined the relationship between occupational stressors and psychological strains such as anxiety, depression or dissatisfaction (Kahn & Byosiere, 1992 ). Probable physical strains include job stress-heart attacks or catecholamine secretions. Studies that examine physical strains, however, are not easily conducted because such variables are hard to measure and such studies need longer periods of time to carry out (Beehr & Newman, 1978). Similarly, behavioral strains such as illegal drug abuse, 8.
(18) smoking and suicide have been less discussed because it is difficult to determine whether these behaviors stem solely from stress at work (Beehr, 1998). Organizational outcomes refer to consequences caused by stressful employees which eventually have impacts on the company. Typical organizational outcomes related to stress are employee withdrawals such as absenteeism, tardiness or turnover (Beehr, 1998; Beehr & Newman, 1978). Both personal and situational characteristics are said to be moderators between stressor-process relationship (and hence also moderators between stress-strain relationship) in that they are potential factors that strengthen or weaken the. 政 治 大. relationship between stressor and strain. Personal characteristics refer to stable. 立. individual characteristics such as demographic traits, ability, personality traits or. ‧ 國. 學. needs. Specifically, personality traits includes Type A/B behavior, individuals‟ ego. ‧. needs, self esteem, human or religious values (Beehr & Newman, 1978).. sit. y. Nat. Situational characteristics include characteristics and conditions of the. io. er. organization that may influence individuals‟ perception of stress. Size of the. al. company, organizational structure, communication systems, organizational climate,. n. iv n C social support and opportunities forhcareer advancement eng c h i U provided are all considered to be elements of this category (Beehr, 1998; Beehr & Newman, 1978). Unfortunately, many of these personal and environmental elements have often been ignored in stress literature (Beehr & Newman, 1978). It is then of great significance to take these factors into consideration when conducting research of occupational stress. Other facets of the model are approaches to coping and adaption and time facet. Coping approaches can be adopted either from the individual level (e.g., mediation, relaxation training or counseling) or organizational level (e.g., job redesign, changes in organizational structure or marking clear career paths and promotion criteria).. 9.
(19) Time factor, though rarely studied, is considered to be an essential factor in causing stress (Beehr, 1976, 1998). Duration of stresors experienced Human psychological and physical processes. Stresses in the workplace. 立. 政 治 大. Personal Characteristics. Organizational outcomes. ‧. ‧ 國. Coping and adaptation. 學. Situational Characteristics. Strains to the person. Nat. y. Figure 2.1 Refined facet model of occupational stress (Beehr, 1998) 1 2. er. io. sit. The present study selects Beehr‟s (1998) refined occupational stress model as the foundation for its research framework for two reasons. First, unlike other models, this. n. al. Ch. i Un. v. model not only takes personal responses to stress into consideration, but also. engchi. emphasizes the importance of organizational consequences. Second, this model is helpful to this study in that it clearly depicts personal and situational characteristics as moderators between stressor and processes. Other models have failed to provide a clear explanation on how or at what stage could these characteristics affect the stress process. The setting of this criteria provides a simpler and yet solid foundation in investigating potential moderators for stressor-strain relationship.. 10.
(20) 2-2 Career Plateau Career plateau was originally defined as a point in one‟s career where the chances of hierarchical promotion is low (Ference, et al., 1977). Bardwick (1986) further categorized career plateau into two types, one is hierarchical (i.e., structural) plateau, in which an individual‟s chances of further promotion seem unlikely, the other is job content plateau, in which an individual no longer receives new responsibilities, and no longer feels challenged by his/her job. Hence, career plateau is considered a point in one‟s career where future promotion opportunities or increase. 政 治 大. in job responsibilities no longer seems likely.. 立. Over the years, measurements used to differentiate career plateaued employees. ‧ 國. 學. from non-plateaued employees have also evolved. Initially, career plateau was. ‧. measured using individuals‟ job tenure or age (Evans & Gilbert, 1984; Gould &. sit. y. Nat. Penley, 1984). Chao (1990), however, argues that plateau should be measured by. io. er. individuals‟ perceptions of their career. If an individual believe that there is no. al. iv n C U h eChao Furthermore, with the concept that n g (1990) c h i disagrees. n. further opportunities for promotion or is no longer challenged by his/her job, he/she is considered as plateaued.. career plateau can be dichotomized; there should be a range difference among employees who are plateaued or non-plateaued. Based on Chao‟s (1990) idea, Milliman (1992) developed items to measure individuals‟ perceptions of hierarchical plateau and job content plateau, which has been used widely in several recent career plateau studies (Allen, et al., 1998; Allen, Russell, Poteet, & Dobbins, 1999; Lentz & Allen, 2009; McCleese & Eby, 2007).. 11.
(21) 2-2-1 Career Plateau and Employee outcomes Although career plateau is not always destructive to employees‟ job performance or effectiveness (Ference, et al., 1977; Levinson & Super, 1977), many scholars agree that it is a stressful experience for individuals (Allen, et al., 1998; Elsass & Ralston, 1987; McCleese & Eby, 2007). Specifically, perceived underpromotion and poor career opportunities are sources of stress for employees who are experiencing career plateau (Cooper, 2001; Rotondo, 1999; Sonnentag & Frese, 2002). Elsass and Ralston (1989) also proposed that career plateau is an. 政 治 大 recognize when promotion truly becomes unlikely. As a consequence, career plateau 立 ambiguous state that can be stressful to employees because they cannot specifically. ‧ 國. 學. gradually causes stress when they feel threatened of not achieving desired career advancement, or are continuously exposed in a perception of career discrepancy. ‧. (Elsass & Ralston, 1987). Moreover, McCleese and Eby‟s (2007) found that. sit. y. Nat. individuals who are either hierarchical or job content plateaued have higher levels of. n. al. er. io. stress than the general population.. Ch. i Un. v. Under the above premises that career plateau is a stressful experience (Elsass &. engchi. Ralston, 1989; McCleese & Eby, 2007), which can lead to strain experience by individuals, emotional exhaustion is used in this study to measure strain. Emotional exhaustion refers to “feelings of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by one‟s work.” (Wright & Cropanzano, 1985, p. 486), and is the essential component of burnout and a chronic form of stress (Lee & Ashforth, 1996; Maslach, 1982) Accordingly, the following hypotheses are proposed: Hypothesis 1: Individuals‟ perception of career plateau is positively associated with emotional exhaustion.. 12.
(22) Hypothesis 1a: Individuals‟ perception of hierarchical plateau is positively associated with emotional exhaustion. Hypothesis 1b: Individuals‟ perception of job content plateau is positively associated with emotional exhaustion. Career plateau not only makes individuals feel stressful, but is often correlated with unfavorable job attitudes or behaviors (Allen, et al., 1998; Allen, et al., 1999; Chao, 1990; Ettington, 1992; Milliman, 1992). The present study chooses job satisfaction, job involvement and affective organizational commitment as. 政 治 大. organizational outcomes in that they are the most common and effective indicators of. 立. job attitudes or behaviors in plateau research (Allen, et al., 1998; Allen, et al., 1999;. ‧ 國. 學. Chao, 1990; McCleese & Eby, 2007). Past studies have showed that both plateaus are related with lower job satisfaction, lower organizational commitment (Chao, 1990;. ‧. Davenport, 1993; Ettington, 1992; Milliman, 1992; Stout, et al., 1988; Tremblay &. y. Nat. er. io. assumed that:. sit. Toulouse, 1995), and lower job involvement (Allen, et al., 1999). Consequently, it is. al. n. iv n C h e n ofg hierarchical Hypothesis 2: Individuals‟ perception c h i U plateau is negatively associated with organizational outcomes such as (a) job satisfaction, (b) job involvement, and (c) affective organizational commitment. Similarly, individuals‟ perception of job content plateau is negatively associated with (d) job satisfaction, (e) job involvement, and (f) affective organizational commitment.. 13.
(23) 2-3 Psychological Processes of Career Plateau Although career plateau is often regarded as undesirable experiences among individuals and organizations, research that investigates psychological processes is scarce. However, based on previous studies, psychological processes for the two types of career plateau can be inferred. First, hierarchical plateau tends to be an ambiguous state, and the question whether employees will be promoted is always unclear because companies will not inform them that they are plateaued (Elsass & Ralston, 1989; Near, 1980). It is then. 治 政 likely that individuals experience a sense of uncertainty 大about their future career as 立. they await the outcomes of promotion. In addition, numerous studies proposed that. ‧ 國. 學. uncertainty is an essential element and a common mediator of stress (Beehr, 1998; Ito. ‧. & Brotheridge, 2001; McGrath, 1976; Schuler, 1980). It is probable that individuals‟. sit. y. Nat. uncertainty of future career would lead to personal strains. Furthermore, individuals. io. er. with such uncertainty may be dissatisfied with jobs, have lower job involvement and. al. iv n C U if it is worthwhile to make h e nand obtaining preferable career advancements h i know g cdon‟t n. less commitment to their organizations because they are no longer optimistic about. contributions to companies. Taken together, individuals‟ future career uncertainty could be the psychological process for hierarchical plateau as well as the mediator for the relationship between hierarchical plateau and employee outcomes. Hence, the following hypothesis is proposed. Hypothesis 3: Individuals‟ future career uncertainty is a mediator for the relationship between their perception of hierarchical plateau and employee outcomes: (a) emotional exhaustion, (b) job satisfaction, (c) job involvement, and (d) affective organizational commitment. 14.
(24) Job content plateaued individuals are employees who no longer receive new responsibilities and are unchallenged by their jobs. Such employees are often in a certain role for some time that they feel there is “nothing new to master and the responsibilities and problems felt repetitive.” (Bardwick, 1986, p. 69). Accordingly, studies in the past have shown that workers who are engaged in repetitive work or work underload (i.e., employees‟ capabilities are underestimated in their current job content) report high levels of perceived boredom about their work (Caplan, et al., 1975). Hence, it is suggested that individuals‟ subjective monotony should be the psychological process for job content plateau. Perceived boredom at work is also. 政 治 大. related with negative outcomes such as absenteeism, job dissatisfaction and stress. 立. (Caplan, et al., 1975; Gardell, 1971; O'hanlon, 1981). Therefore, it is proposed that. ‧ 國. 學. subjective monotony serves as mediator between job content plateau and related. ‧. employee outcomes.. sit. y. Nat. Hypothesis 4: Individuals‟ subjective monotony is a mediator for the relationship. n. al. er. io. between their perception of job content plateau and employee outcomes: (a). i Un. v. emotional exhaustion, (b) job satisfaction, (c) job involvement, and (d) affective. Ch. organizational commitment.. engchi. 15.
(25) 2-4 Workplace Spirituality Workplace spirituality is a concept that cannot be well understood without first recognizing the meaning of spirituality. Thus, in this section, spirituality is first introduced, followed by workplace spirituality and its value of research.. 2-4-1 Spirituality There are various definitions of spirituality. Spirituality is a word that everyone can feel or seems to understand, but is extremely difficult to describe with just a couple of sentences. The origin of the word is the Latin word spiritus, which means. 政 治 大. “breath”. This means that whoever has spirituality must be conscious of the breath of. 立. life in oneself and in all creation (1993). Researchers initially defined spirituality as a. ‧ 國. 學. sacred experience with a higher power. For instance, McCormick (1994) used Clark‟s. ‧. (1958) definition, defined spirituality as “the inner experience of the individual when he senses a Beyond, especially as evidenced by the effect of this experience on his. sit. y. Nat. io. er. behavior when he actively attempts to harmonize his life with the Beyond.” This Beyond is said to be in control of everything, though the names of the high power. n. al. ni Ch may be different to different individuals. U engchi. v. Recent researchers further described spirituality focusing more on individuals‟ behaviors. Howard (2002) believes that spirituality begins with a “hidden yearning” within human beings, which spontaneously draws individuals to seek meaning or purpose in their lives. It also involves a “sense of interconnectedness with the world,” including the universe and all humanity (Mitroff & Denton, 1999b). Such meaningseeking nature and attempts to be connected with surroundings will result in a more balanced and fulfilled life, and individuals will perform virtues such as love, joy, peace, and wholeness (Howard, 2002). 16.
(26) Summarizing the above definitions, spirituality is the belief that there is a higher power in this world, with which meaning-seeking individuals come into contact, and experience a personal feeling of harmony and connectedness with all creation and nature.. 2-4-2 Spirituality and Religion People may be misled to think that spirituality is very much like religion, because they both engage in a greater power. However, spirituality and religion are very different in concept (McCormick, 1994; Mitroff, 2003; Mitroff & Denton, 1999b;. 政 治 大. Saucier & Skrzypińska, 2006). Unlike spirituality, the word religion comes from the. 立. Latin word religio, which means “to bind or tie” (Saucier & Skrzypińska, 2006). It is,. ‧ 國. 學. according to Argyle and Beit-Hallahmi (1975), “a system of beliefs in a divine or superhuman power, and practices of worship or other rituals directed towards such a. ‧. power.” People with religions would practice rituals, abide by dogmas and attend. y. Nat. er. io. supernatural power.. sit. services (Roof, 1993) in order to worship the one who they believe to have. al. n. iv n C Several researchers further made in differentiating the two. h eefforts ngchi U. Howard. (2002), for instance, believes that spirituality and religion are two different things that can be dependent upon each other. She defines spirituality as a highly personal and unseen desire which covers how a person “lives out his or her sense of interconnectedness with the world through an ability to tap into deep resources.” Religion, on the other hand, is a systematic mean to become connected with the unseen spirit. It is, in Howard‟s (2002) words, “a route to developing greater spirituality.” Through practicing religious rituals, abiding by dogmas and attending services, a person is actually creating a path to his or her spirituality.. 17.
(27) Religion and spirituality differs not only in definition but also in its appropriateness in the workplace. Whereas most people regard religion as an inappropriate topic in the workplace, spirituality is perceived more acceptable for discussion because it does not divide groups of people from the other (Cash, 2000; Mitroff, 2003; Mitroff & Denton, 1999a). Mitroff (2003) specifically identified and listed the distinction between spirituality and religion and concluded that unlike religion, spirituality is seen to be tolerant, open-minded and available to everyone. Spirituality differs from religion in that it is neither formally structured nor organized; it is simply “non-denominational”.. 政 治 大 2-4-3 Elements of Workplace 立 Spirituality. ‧ 國. 學. Like spirituality, it is difficult to describe spirituality at work with only a few lines. However, most researchers agree that workplace spirituality covers concepts of. ‧. finding meaning in work and being connected with others in the working environment. y. Nat. sit. (Ashmos & Duchon, 2000; Conger, 1994; Giacalone & Jurkiewics, 2003). In. n. al. er. io. comparison with other studies related to workplace spirituality, Duchon and Plowman. Ch. i Un. v. (2000; 2005) provided a more specific definition as well as a clearer structure of its. engchi. components. They explained workplace spirituality first by clarifying that it is not about religion or about forcing people to agree with a particular belief system. Instead, it is about employees realizing and admitting that they are spiritual beings and it is important that they nourish their souls, or cultivate their spirits, at work. Employees should also experience the meaningfulness and purpose of their everyday work and should feel connected to the people they confront in their workplace community. Therefore, they defined workplace spirituality “as a particular kind of psychological climate, in which people view themselves as having an inner life that is nourished by meaningful work and takes place in the context of a community 18.
(28) (Duchon & Plowman, 2005).” Such a definition indicates three major components of workplace spirituality, namely inner life, meaningful work and community. The concept of inner life was first defined by Vaill (1998) as feelings of individuals which concern basic meaning of “who they are, what they are doing and what contributions they are making.” Duchon and Plowman (2005) referred to selfconcept theory to explain that inner life is very similar to individual‟s inner selfconcept. They proposed that inner life is the recognition that people are spiritual beings who seek meaning in their lives. Their need for meaning (i.e., spiritual need) is not limited to a specific time period or in a particular environment. In other words,. 政 治 大. individuals nourish their spiritual needs not only in their leisure time, but also at work.. 立. The fulfillment of individuals‟ spiritual need at work could be achieved through. ‧ 國. 學. meaningful work (Duchon & Plowman, 2005), the second component of workplace. ‧. spirituality. Spiritual individuals who regard their work as meaningful understand the. sit. y. Nat. personal meaning this work gives them. Their work would connect them to what they. io. er. believe is important in their lives. As a consequence, they are energized and feel. al. joyful about their work. To such individuals, work is not only responsibilities or. n. iv n C U spiritual needs and gives means to make a living, it is something h ethat n gfulfills c h itheir them meaning in their lives. The last component of workplace spirituality involves individuals‟ belonging to community in the workplace. This is consistent with the notion that spirituality is not only about the individual him/herself, but also the interconnectedness with other people in the environment (Howard, 2002; Mitroff & Denton, 1999b). The term community refers to spirit-friendly work environment in which employees can nourish their souls at work. Employees who feel strongly connected to their community are willing to share their true feelings at work, feel close to their. 19.
(29) coworkers, and receive support from their colleagues or supervisors (Ashmos & Duchon, 2000; Duchon & Plowman, 2005).. 2-4-4 Workplace Spirituality as the Moderators The influences of high workplace spirituality on organizations are overwhelming. Adam and Csinerik (2001) think that individual‟s spirituality in the workplace covers “positive thinking, valuing, caring, respecting, acknowledging and connecting the talents and energies of people in meaningful goal-directed behavior”. Individuals who fully generate their spirituality at work have greater sense of belonging to the. 政 治 大. organization and tend to be more creative and personally fulfilled. Garcia-Zamor. 立. (2003) believes that spiritual employees will seek quality and do great work if they. ‧ 國. 學. are satisfied with their workplace. Though many argue that those who do not care about spirituality could also produce such results, it is different in that these. ‧. individuals do not see these results for themselves, but rather regard it the work of the. y. Nat. sit. power or spirit which they firmly believe in (Cowan, 1993). Thus, they can. n. al. er. io. concentrate better, have more positive energy, experience joy, and show stronger. Ch. i Un. v. perseverance in their work (Schwartz, 2007; Wrzesniewski, 2003).. engchi. Despite its positive effects on individuals and organizations, research that discusses workplace spirituality as potential moderators between stress and employee outcomes is rare. However, it is highly probable that inner life and belongingness to community are proper moderators between career plateau and corresponding psychological process. To begin with, inner life is a personal characteristic which emphasizes the search for meaning in life. Individuals‟ inner life can be nourished in part by work which they perceive to provide personal importance and meaning. Employees with higher inner life should experience less uncertainty about future. 20.
(30) career in that they define the meaning and success of their work based on their own spiritual values rather than on career advancements. Thus, it is proposed that: Hypothesis 5a: Individuals‟ inner life in the workplace moderates the relationship between their perception of hierarchical plateau and their future career uncertainty, such that individuals high on inner life would have less uncertainty about their future career. Individuals‟ belongingness to the community is considered as a situational characteristic in that it involves a spirit-friendly work environment where workers feel. 政 治 大 as well as their supervisors. They are comfortable about sharing their true feelings in 立 connected to each other. Employees high on community would trust their coworkers. ‧ 國. 學. the workplace, including their current performance and even concern for their future career. Talking about their concerns or worries would then help them understand. ‧. their current career stage, evaluate the likelihood of future career advancements and. Nat. sit. y. lower the perception of career discrepancy (Elsass & Ralston, 1989). Such positive. n. al. er. io. communication should then lessen employees‟ uncertainty about future career. Hence, the following hypothesis is proposed:. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Hypothesis 5b: Individuals‟ belongingness to community in the workplace moderates the relationship between their perception of hierarchical plateau and their future career uncertainty, such that individuals high on community would have less uncertainty about their future career. Similar assumptions can be made in terms of subjective monotony. Individuals with high inner life are satisfied with their current lives and are energized by their work. They should be content and experience joy at work. It is then unlikely that they feel bored or perceive their jobs as monotonous. Therefore, it is proposed that:. 21.
(31) Hypothesis 6a: Individuals‟ inner life in the workplace moderates the relationship between their perception of job content plateau and their subjective monotony, such that individuals high on inner life would have lower subjective monotony. In addition, employees with strong belongingness to community are open in sharing their ideas and beliefs. Engagement in positive communication should involve opinion about current work content or discussion on improving their work. These kinds of positive sharing will reduce individuals‟ perception of boredom or monotony because employees believe that, with the support of colleagues or. 政 治 大 Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed: 立. supervisors, their job content can always be improved and remain challenging.. ‧ 國. 學. Hypothesis 6b: Individuals‟ belongingness to community in the workplace moderates the relationship between their perception of job content plateau and. ‧. their subjective monotony, such that individuals high on community would have. y. Nat. er. io. sit. lower subjective monotony.. al. iv n C U h e nmake situational and personal attributes, which difficult. g citsh icategorization n. The component meaningful work is not considered in this study in that it has both According. to Wrzesniewski and Dutton (2001), meaning of work can be derived from the work environment that influences individuals‟ perception of their work, or social environment that enable individuals interpret the meaning of work (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978). Personal characteristics also affect meaning of work to individuals because different people have different criteria for meaningfulness (Roberson, 1990). To maintain clear categorization of variable and congruence with occupational stress model, meaningful of work is not included in this study.. 22.
(32) 2-5 Research Framework Based on literature review and hypotheses in the above sections, Figure 2.2 below shows the framework of this study.. H1, H2. Stresses in the workplace Hierarchical plateau Job content plateau. Human psychological processes Future career uncertainty Subjective monotony. H5. 立. 政H3, H4 治 大. 學. Personal characteristics Inner life. ‧ y. 4. io. n. al. sit. Nat. Figure 2.2 Research Framework3. er. ‧ 國. H6. Situational characteristics Community. Employee outcomes Personal: Emotional exhaustion Organizational: Job satisfaction Job involvement Organizational commitment (affective). Ch. engchi. 23. i Un. v.
(33) Chapter 3 Methods Based on the research framework and hypotheses proposed in Chapter 2, this chapter focuses on the methods adopted in this study. Section 3-1 presents the samples and research procedures of the study, Section 3-2 elaborates the measures included in the questionnaire, and Section 3-3 explains the statistical procedures used for data analysis.. 3-1 Sample and Procedure. 政 治 大. Using the convenient sampling procedure, approximately 300 research. 立. questionnaires were distributed at the beginning of April, 2010 mainly through friends. ‧ 國. 學. and relatives of the researcher and though acquaintances who were generous to help. By mid-May, 2010, a total of 254 samples were received. After careful examination,. ‧. 11 unqualified samples were eliminated, resulting in a total of 243 samples. The. y. Nat. io. sit. samples consist of employees from different industries such as manufacturing,. n. al. er. information technology, finance, services, medical and biotechnology, trade,. Ch. educational and governmental organizations.. engchi. i Un. v. Questionnaires were distributed in four ways. One approach was to send hard copies to participants along with self-addressed envelopes. Of the total sample collected, 50 samples were sent to a good friend of the researcher who worked in a manufacturing company and given 3 week‟s time to distribute and accomplish. Without any delay, a total of 50 samples were returned. The second approach was to distribute hard copies to students of extension education programs in National Taipei University of Technology. All of these students are full-time employed and therefore are qualified to respond to the questionnaires. A total of 45 samples were collected. 24.
(34) from them. The third approach was to send electronic questionnaires to friends and relatives of the researchers and asked them to help distribute the questionnaires. To maintain the anonymity and confidentiality of the respondents, answered questionnaires were first gathered by friends and then sent to the researcher all at once. A total of 122 samples were thus received via e-mail. The rest of the samples were obtained from friends and relatives of the researcher who each helped collect several samples from their colleagues or friends. To encourage respondents to participate in the survey, a small gift was given or sent to them after they finished the questionnaire.. 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 25. i Un. v.
(35) 3-2 Measures Based on the research framework, Chinese-translated questionnaire consists of measures related to career plateau, workplace spirituality, psychological processes and related employee outcomes (see Appendix). The back translation procedure (Brislin, 1970) was used to ensure the semantic equivalence The following paragraphs elaborate more on the definition of each measure. 1. Career plateau Both hierarchical and job content plateau were measured on a 5-point. 政 治 大. agreement scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) developed by. 立. Milliman (1992). Respondents answered a total of twelve items based on their. ‧ 國. 學. perceptions of their current work. Six items were used to assess each plateau; sample statements for hierarchical plateau include “I have reached a point. ‧. where I do not expect to move much higher” ( = .89), and for job content. y. Nat. 2. Workplace spirituality: Inner life and community. n. al. Ch. er. io. sit. plateau “My job tasks and activities have become routine for me.” ( = .79).. i Un. v. Individuals‟ inner life and belongingness to the workplace community were. engchi. accessed on a 7-point agreement scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree) developed by Ashmo and Duchon (2000; 2005). Five items were used to measure individual‟s inner life (e.g., “I feel hopeful about life.” or “I consider myself as a spiritual person.” ; = .80 ), whereas seven items are used to measure community (e.g., “I feel part of a community in my immediate workplace.” ; = .81). 3. Future career uncertainty. 26.
(36) The measure for future career uncertainty consists of three items measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). One item was developed by Seegers and van Elderen (1996) (e.g., “Do you expect to be in your job in the next 5 years?”). The other two items were developed by the researcher based on the study by Brotheridge‟s (2001) studie, which considered variables such as career control and career dependence as factors of uncertainty framework in their career stress model. These two items are “I feel that I am in control of my career in this organization in the next five years,” and “I feel that I am capable of taking on other interesting positions in the. 治 政 organization in the next five years.” ( = .69) 大 立. 4. Subjective monotony. ‧ 國. 學. The 4-item measure for subjective monotony was modified from the study by. ‧. Melamed et. al (1995). Unlike Melamed‟s measure, which asked respondents. sit. y. Nat. to decide whether certain adjectives such as boring, not varied enough,. io. er. monotonous and routine describe their current work, these adjectives were. al. iv n C h e nagree). strongly disagree to 5 = strongly i Ufour items are “I think my job g c hThese n. further modified into complete statements on a 5-point Likert-type (1 =. is boring”, “I think my job is not varied enough.”, “I think my job is monotonous.” and “I think my job involves only routine work.” ( = .91) 5. Emotional exhaustion Emotional exhaustion was assessed with five items by Maslach and Jackson (1981) on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). Items such as “I feel emotionally drained from my work.” or “I feel burned out from my work.” are examples ( = .89). 6. Job satisfaction 27.
(37) Job satisfaction was measured using a three items on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree) developed by Cammann, Fichman, Jenkins and Klesh (1983). Sample items include “All in all, I am satisfied with my job,” and “ In general, I don‟t like my job,” (reverse scored). ( = .85) 7. Job involvement Job involvement was measured using a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree, to 7 = strongly agree) developed by Kanungo (1982). A total of ten items were used, with sample statements such as “I am very much involved. 治 政 大are centered around my job.” personally in my job,” and “Most of my interests 立 ( = .83). ‧ 國. 學. 8. Affective organizational commitment. ‧. Affective organizational commitment was assessed with six items on a 7-point. sit. y. Nat. Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree) developed by. io. al. er. Allen, Meyer and Smith (1993), and sample items include “I really feel as if. n. this organization‟s problems are my own” ( = .84) 9. Demographic variables. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Respondents were also asked to answer items regarding their gender, age, educational level, job tenure, religion (if any), managerial position (if any), and industries in which they work. Past researches of career plateau have indicated that individuals‟ age, job tenure and educational level are associated with career plateau (Allen, et al., 1999; Gould & Penley, 1984; Tremblay & Roger, 1993). Since religion is said to be one of an approach to foster spirituality (Howard, 2002), it is possible that individuals‟ religion would. 28.
(38) influence the outcomes. Thus, all the demographic variables are regarded as control variables in this study.. 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 29. i Un. v.
(39) 3-3 Data Analysis Data analyses were proceeded through several stages using SPSS 14. First, frequency distribution analysis was conducted on demographic variables as to have a general view of the samples and to see whether there was miss-keyed data. Reliability analysis using Cronbach‟s alpha was next performed on each measures to ensure that the samples collected are reliable. Correlation Analysis was then conducted using Pearson‟s two-tail significance to examine the correlation between variables. To examine mediation and moderation effect, hierarchical multiple. 政 治 大. regression analysis were performed several times.. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 30. i Un. v.
(40) Chapter 4 Results This chapter specifies the research results and consists of 3 sections. Section 4-1 presents the demographic characteristic of collected samples, Section 4-2 reveals the results of correlation analysis, and Section 4-3 focuses on the results of hypotheses testing.. 4-1 Demographic Variables A total of 243 samples were collected. Of these, demographic characteristics. 政 治 大. include participants‟ gender, age, educational level, job tenure, whether they hold. 立. managerial positions or are religious. Demographic characteristics are shown in. ‧ 國. 學. Table 4.1.. ‧. The sample consists of 55.6 % male participants (N = 135). Almost half of the. sit. y. Nat. participants are aged between 26 to 35 years old (48.1%, N = 117), 32.9% (N = 80). io. er. are aged between 36 to 45 years old, and 15.3% (N = 37) between 46 to 55 years old.. al. iv n C h e nhasg worked years, 28.1% (N = 68) of the participants between 4 to 10 years and, 27% chi U n. Accordingly, 39.3 % (N = 95) of the participants have a job tenure between 1 and 4. (N = 65) over 10 years. The average job tenure is 7.39 years (SD = 6.74). This implies that most of the participants are relatively young but they are not newcomers who knew nothing about their jobs. It is likely that most of them are in a stage where they are familiar with their responsibilities, and are competing for opportunities to move up the corporate ladder. As a whole, participants are well-educated, with 38.7% (N = 94) with a bachelor‟s degree, 27.6% (N = 67) with a degree in vocational school or college, and. 31.
(41) 21.4% (N = 52) with a master‟s degree. Also, 56.1% (N = 138) of the participants currently hold managerial position. In terms of religion, 45.7 % (N = 111) of the participants reported themselves as religious, with most people practicing Buddhism (24.4%, N = 59). The samples also consist of participants working in various industries, mostly in manufacturing industry (23.1%, N = 56) and information technology industry (22.6%, N = 55).. 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 32. i Un. v.
(42) Table 4.1 Demographic Characteristics 0.1. Educational Level. Current Position. Job Tenure (M=7.39 years). io. n. al. Religion (N= 131). Type of Industry. Ch. engchi. 33. ‧. Nat. Religious or Not. 學. ‧ 國. 立. 政 治 大. y. Age. Number 135 108 3 117 80 37 6 2 20 67 94 52 8 101 138 4 10 95 39 29 20 12 12 21 4 111 132 32 59 24 10 2 4 56. sit. Gender. Category Male Female Under 25 years old 26 – 35 years old 36 – 45 years old 46 – 55 years old Over 56 years old Middle school High school College University Master PhD Non-managers Managers Not answered Under 1 year 1 to 4 years 4 to 7 years 7 to 10 years 10 to 13 years 13 to 16 years 16 to 19 years Over 19 years Not answered Religious Not religious Christianity Buddhism Taoism Buddhism & Taoism I-Kuan Tao Others Manufacturing Information Technology Finance Educational Organization Service Media Medical and Biotech Trade Governmental Organizations Others Not answered. er. Item. i Un. v. Percentage (%) 55.6 44.4 1.2 48.1 32.9 15.3 2.5 .8 8.2 27.6 38.7 21.4 3.3 41.6 56.8 1.6 4.1 39.3 16.1 12.0 8.3 5.0 5.0 8.7 1.6 45.7 54.3 13.2 24.4 9.9 4.1 .8 1.7 23.1. 55. 22.6. 29. 11.9. 19. 7.8. 37 3 19 5. 15.2 1.2 7.8 2.1. 6. 2.5. 13 1. 5.3 0.4.
(43) 4-2 Correlation Analysis Table 4.2 shows the means, standard deviations, coefficients of correlation, and reliability coefficients of the study variables.. 4-2-1 Descriptive of the Study Variables In terms of hierarchical plateau, participants averagely do not know whether they will be promoted in the near future (M = 3.08, SD = .85). However, they slightly disagree that they are uncertain about their future career development (M = 2.73, SD = .70). Regarding job content plateau, participants averagely disagree that their jobs. 政 治 大. are unchallenging (M = 2.29, SD = .59), nor do they think their jobs are monotonous. 立. (M = 2.30, SD = .84).. ‧ 國. 學. Participants on average are slightly satisfied with their work (M = 5.23, SD =. ‧. 1.08) and have slightly high inner life (M = 5.36, SD = .84) and belongingness to. sit. y. Nat. community (M = 5.50, SD = .70). Overall, they do not suffer much from emotional. n. al. er. io. exhaustion (M = 2.84, SD = .87). However, they also don‟t involve much in their jobs. i Un. v. (M = 4.40, SD = .88), neither are they strongly committed to their organizations (M = 4.78, SD = 10.70).. Ch. engchi. 4-2-2 Correlation Analysis among the Study Variables When taking a look at coefficient of correlations of the study variables, several interesting phenomena can be observed. First, hierarchical plateau and job content plateau correlate positively with its corresponding psychological processes: future career uncertainty (r = .46, p < .01) and subjective monotony (r = .66, p < .01). This means that the stronger an individual perceives a particular plateau, the stronger he or she would go through these psychological processes. Second, participants‟ age (r = .21, p < .01) and job tenure (r = .17, p <. 01) relate 34.
(44) positively with hierarchical plateau. This is consistent with the results of many studies that hierarchical plateaued employees tend to be older and have longer job tenures (Allen, et al., 1998; Tremblay & Roger, 1993). In addition, participants with managerial positions have lower perception of hierarchical plateau (r = -.13, p < .05) and less uncertainty with their future career (r = -.16, p < .05). They also think that their work is not monotonous (r = -.32, p < .01) and report less job content plateau (r = -.20, p < .01). Moreover, participants‟ inner life and belongingness to community both correlate negatively with hierarchical (r = -.26, p < .01; r = -.36, p < .01) and job content. 政 治 大. plateau (r = -.24, p < .01; r = -.53, p < .01) as well as the two corresponding. 立. psychological processes: future career uncertainty (r = -.34, p < .01; r = -.43, p < .01). ‧ 國. 學. and subjective monotony (r = -.26, p < .01; r = -.51, p < .01). This implies that. sit. y. Nat. plateaued and experience weaker psychological processes.. ‧. participants with higher inner life and community perceive themselves as less career. io. er. In terms of employee outcomes, both types of plateaus are negatively correlated. al. with job satisfaction (r = -.31, p < .01; r = -.40, p < .01), job involvement (r = -.29, p. n. iv n C U < .01; r = -.39, p < .01) and affective (r = -.35, p < .01; r h organizational e n g c h i commitment = -.43, p < .01). Nonetheless, both are not correlated with emotional exhaustion.. Older employees with longer job tenure tend to be more satisfied with their jobs (r = .21, p < .01; r = .13, p < .05), and are more committed to their organizations (r = .17, p < .01; r = .19, p < .01). Similarly, participants with managerial positions have greater job satisfaction (r = .23, p < .01), job involvement (r = .18, p < .01), affective organizational commitment (r = .28, p < .01), and experience less emotional exhaustion (r = -.14, p < .01). Participants with higher inner life and stronger belongingness to community are 35.
(45) less emotionally exhausted (r = -.28, p < .01; r = -.14, p < .01), have higher job satisfaction (r = .41, p < .01; r = .51, p < .01), deeper job involvement (r = .29, p < .01; r = .48, p < .01) and greater commitment to their organizations (r = .45, p < .01; r = .55, p < .01).. 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 36. i Un. v.
(46) Table 4.2 Coefficients of correlations0.2. Mean. S.D. A1. A2. A3. A4. A5. A6. A7. B1. B2. A1. Gender. .56. .50. -. A2. Age. 2.70. .83. .10. -. A3. Education. 4.81. 1.00. .26**. -.05. -. A4. Managerial position. .58. .50. .20**. .26**. .14**. -. A5. Job tenure. 88.73. 80.93. -.02. .63**. -.03. .21**. -. A6. Religious. .54. .50. -.04. .14*. .02. .05. .12. -. A7. Industry. 3.67. 2.61. .04. .07. .16*. .20*. .16*. .05. B1. Hierarchical plateau. 3.08. .85. -.10. .21**. -.07. -.13*. .17**. B2. Job content plateau. 2.29. .59. -.03. .05. .02. -.20**. .02. -.01 -.05 .89 治 政 大 -.06 .03 .25**. C1. WS_inner life. 5.36. .84. -.08. .18**. .06. .09. .08. .22**. -.04. -.26**. C2. WS_community. 5.50. .70. -.03. -.05. -.03. .18**. -.07. -.01. -.02. -.36**. D1. Future career uncertainty. 2.73. .70. .03. -.05. .09. -.16*. -.06. -.03. -.04. D2. Subjective monotony. 2.30. .84. -.09. -.12. -.07. -.32**. -.02. -.08. -.03. C1. C2. D1. D2. E1. E2. E3. E4. A. Control variables. -. B.Main effect variables. -.53**. .54**. .81. .46**. y. n. .88. -.34**. -.43**. .69. .31**. sit. io. al. -.24**. -.26**. -.51**. .26**. .91. .08. -.28**. -.19**. .30**. .28**. .89. ‧. Nat. E. Outcome variables. 學. D. Process variables. ‧ 國. C. Moderators (WS). .79. .27** .67**. er. 立. i n C -.20** -.09 .09 U hengchi. v. E1. Emotional exhaustion. 2.84. .87. .03. -.29**. -.02. -.14*. -.11. E2. Job satisfaction. 5.23. 1.08. .08. .21**. -.03. .23**. .13*. .06. .02. -.31**. -.40**. .41**. .51**. -.52**. -.47**. -.54**. .85. E3. Job involvement. 4.40. .88. .01. .03. -.03. .18**. -.01. -.05. .03. -.30**. -.39**. .29**. .48**. -.38**. -.40**. .06. .34**. .83. E4. Organizational 4.79 1.07 .03 .17** -.03 .28** .19** .10 .05 -.35** -.43** .45** .55** -.55** -.48** -.34** .68** .52** .84 commitment (affective) Note: N = 243, ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). Cronbach‟s appears on the diagonal. Gender: 0 = female, 1 = male; Age: 1 = under 25, 2 = 26 to 35 years old, 3 = 36 to 45 years old, 4 = 46 to 55 years old, 5 = over 56 years old ; Educational level: 1 = elementary school or under, 2 = middle school, 3 = high school, 4 = college, 5 = university (bachelor’s degree), 6 = Master’s degree, 7 = PhD degree; Managerial level: 0 = yes, 1 = no ;Job tenure (month) ;Religious: 0 = yes, 1 = no. Main effect variables, process variables and emotional exhaustion are measured on a 5-point agreement scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree. Moderators, job satisfaction, job involvement and affective organizational commitment are measured on a 7-point agreement scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = slightly disagree, 4 = neutral, 5 = slightly agree, 6 = agree, 7 = strongly agree.. 37.
(47) 4-3 Hypotheses Testing 4-3-1 Analysis for the Relationship between Career Plateau and Emotional Exhaustion Table 4.3 includes results of regression analysis between the two career plateaus and emotional exhaustion. Individuals‟ perception of hierarchical plateau has a positive relationship with emotional exhaustion ( = .14, p < .05). This means the more individuals think of themselves as hierarchically plateaued, the greater they will. 政 治 大. experience emotional exhaustion. However, this does not apply to job content plateau.. 立. Analysis results show that there is no relationship between perceptions of job content. ‧ 國. 學. plateau and emotional exhaustion.. ‧. From the above results, H1a is supported but H1b is not. Hence, H1 is partially. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. supported.. Ch. engchi. 38. i Un. v.
(48) Table 4.3 Regression analysis between career plateau and emotional exhaustion (H1)0.3 Emotional Exhaustion (Standardized coefficient ) Model 1. Model 0 Step 1 Gender Age Education Managerial Level Job tenure Religious Industry Hierarchical plateau Job content plateau Step 2 Hierarchical plateau Job content plateau R2 R2 Adj. R2 F value. .10 -.33** -.06 -.07 .14 -.15* -.07. .10 -.35** -.06 -.05 .14 -.15* -.07. .12 -.37** -.06 -.04 .12 -.15* -.06 .16*. Model 2 .12 -.37** -.06 -.03 .13 -.14* -.07. .09. 政 治 大. 立.13. ‧ 國. .16 .02* .13 5.16**. 學. .11 4.96**. .14 .01 .11 4.60**. ‧. *p < .05, **p < .01. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 39. i Un. v. .14* .06 .16 .02* .12 4.68**.
(49) 4-3-2 Analysis for the Relationship between Career Plateau and Organizational Outcomes Table 4.4 presents the results of regression analysis between the two career plateaus and organizational outcomes such as individuals‟ job satisfaction, job involvement and affective organizational commitment. Beginning with job satisfaction, experiences of both hierarchical plateau ( = -.28, p < .01) and job content plateau ( = -.32, p < .01) are negatively associated with job satisfaction. This implies that the more individuals perceive themselves as incapable. 政 治 大. to be promoted, or think that they‟re jobs are unchallenging, the less they are satisfied. 立. with their jobs.. ‧ 國. 學. As for job involvement, perceptions of hierarchical plateau ( = -.21, p < .01) and. ‧. job content plateau ( = -.33, p < .01) are both negatively related with job. Nat. sit. y. involvement. This means the more individuals experience these two plateaus, the less. n. al. er. io. they want to be involved in their jobs.. Ch. i Un. v. For affective organizational commitment, experience of hierarchical plateau ( =. engchi. -.32, p < .01) and job content plateau ( = -.34, p < .01) are negatively related with their affective organizational commitment. This shows that the more individuals experience the two types of plateaus, the less they are committed to their organization. With the above results, H2 is fully supported.. 40.
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