This paper presents five separate essays, each of which presents a review of a study which has examined organizational turnover and absenteeism and various factors affecting these variables. The emphasis in each essay is upon the core theoretical postulates of the article and the key research questions that it addresses.
ARTICLE: Porter, L. & Steers, R.M. (1973). Organizational work and personal factors in employee turnover and absenteeism. Psychological Bulletin, 80(2), 151-176.
This article presents a critical examination of research conducted from 1961 to 1973 on relationships between job satisfaction, turnover, and absenteeism in organizational and industrial settings. The key research question addressed via the review is: To what extent, and in what way, does an employee's level of job satisfaction influence turnover and absenteeism behavior?
Their examination of the literature led Porter and Steers (1973) to conclude that, in general, the existing research indicated that job satisfaction was inversely related to turnover and absenteeism. In other words, the greater an employee's level of job satisfaction, the less likely he or she is to be absent from work or to choose to leave the organization.
However, Porter and Steers point out that understanding the inverse relationships between job satisfaction, absenteeism, and turnover cannot be obtained without a comprehensive understanding of the job satisfaction construct. To this end, the authors offer the core theory of the article which is that job satisfaction is properly defined as, "...the sum total of an individual's met expectations on the job." (Porter & Steers, 1973, p.169).
In other words, if we are to understand (and presumably control) organizational turnover and absenteeism, we need to understand those factors that affect an employee's job expectations. In this regard, Porter and Steers state that the existing research suggests that four specific categ...