Task performance discretion and nonwork spillover : a test of Katz's thesis
Date
1980
Authors
Benson, Ronald Courtland
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
From the time of Durkheim and Weber sociologists have been interested in the relationship between the economic order and larger communal life. Generally, investigation of this relationship has been guided by either a holistic (spillover between social spheres) or a segmental (distinct boundaries between social spheres) theoretical perspective. Under a holistic model of social structure, this paper addresses the problem suggested by Katz, of whether task performance discretion in blue collar jobs is related to the spillover of working class culture patterns into the organization. Drawing on data describing male and female Australian blue collar workers, this study tests the hypotheses that I) Blue collar workers will indicate that they have little discretion in work variety, work speed, physical movement, and relief opportunities as they go about performing their tasks; and II) Blue collar workers with less task performance discretion will be more likely than workers with some discretion to form a nonwork spillover relationship between work and nonwork. Results indicate support for hypothesis I for the group as a whole, but when the data a re broken down by sex, it is apparent that female workers have much less task performance discretion than do male workers. No support is found for hypothesis II prior to the introduction of four control variables. However, when the effects of total years worked, job training, occupational status, and job involvement are held constant, some support for hypothesis II is evident among a few females who ranked high on these variables. This unanticipated finding is probably due to women's status in the blue collar labour force vis à vis men. The paper concludes that while nonwork spillover is quite common among the blue collar workers surveyed, it is not conditional upon task performance discretion.