Values in the workplace: A theoretical and empirical investigation

Sharon Gengler Coomey, Purdue University

Abstract

Much of the research on organizational behavior and human resource management consists of some interaction of the individual's values with the work place. The central problem of this thesis is a specification of the nature of these values in a manner which will be both theoretically rich and empirically useful. An extensive reading of the literature on the subject (within the scope of the relevant intellectual disciplines) showed a remarkably wide variety of definitions of values as used for expositional and investigative purposes. In order to both consolidate this diversity as well as achieve an operationally useful concept, we arrive at the following definition of values: values are the transformation function (numerical weight) between actual or perceived quantities of outcomes (rewards, losses, working conditions, job characteristics, etc.) and affective states (emotions, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, pleasure, etc.) of the individual which inter alia lead to action (behavior, performance and so on). Further investigation into the antecedents of values indicated that values are a consequence of one or more of the following: childhood environment, occupation and education, personal goals and ambitions, demands for outcomes, lifecycle stages, perceived equity, organizational climate, outcomes, and values themselves. That is, values are more a system of values than independent. Further, they are thought to be affected by the current state of the individual in terms of the quantities of outcomes received. Combining these findings with the definition given above, an extensive set of alternative specifications were investigated empirically with two broad goals: the identification of a feasible approach for estimating human resource variables (such as satisfaction) which are affected by values, and the estimation of the distribution of values in the sample given that values were not observed in the data nor, according to the theory, might they ever be directly measured. Both of these goals were achieved though substantive interpretation of all the results must await a more appropriate set of data. In short, this thesis brings some order to the literature on values, specifies a theoretically defensible definition of the term, outlines the processes by which values are acquired and changed, and demonstrates the empirical validity of both the definition and the value acquisition process.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Konda, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Management|Social psychology

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