Using Relative Weights To Reanalyze Settled Areas Of Organizational Behavior Research: The Job Characteristics Model And Organizational Justice

Abstract

There is a danger that, as areas of research become established, the conceptual underpinnings of key models are no longer critically analyzed.  In this study, I use meta-analytic data from two such areas of organizational behavior research, the Job Characteristics Model and the Four-Factor Conception of Organizational Justice, as the basis of critical re-analysis.  Specifically, I use a recently-developed analytic technique, relative weights (Johnson, 2001), to re-examine meta-analytic data from both research areas.  In both cases, the results of the re-analysis run counter to some established predictions, indicating that these fields could benefit from further research and rethinking.