Organizational and Non-Organizational Influences on Job Attitudes of Part-Time and Full-Time Employees.

Several hypotheses concerning work and non-work social influences on part-time and full-time employees were investigated. Predictions were derived from role theory Gross, Mason, and McEachern, 1958, and partial inclusion notions Katz and Kahn, 1978. Survey data were collected from 1632 retail employees working part- or full-time in one of 41 geographically dispersed organizational units. Part-time employees felt less involved in the organizational role but were more satisfied generally than full-time employees and perceived lower conflict, greater communication accuracy and greater communication openness than did full-time employees. The two job status groups did not differ in perceptions of conflict from non-organizational sources nor in ambiguity concerning work role activities. They were similar also in their commitment to the organization and in their intentions to remain with the organization. Finally, relations of non-organizational social influences with measures of psychological attachment were equivalently high for both part-time and full-time employees, as were relations among measures of work role perceptions and psychological attachment. Discussion cites sample-based explanations and the utility of role theory and partial inclusion to account for the data. Directions for further research contrasting these two status groups are suggested. Author