Organizational correlates of employee self-esteem

Abstract

166 15–22 yr old male electrical apprentices were administered a battery of tests, including the Job Diagnostic Survey, Central Life Interest Questionnaire, Social Readjustment Rating Scale and Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. Regression analyses revealed that global self-esteem and sense of competence could be predicted by the 4 variables, with job level most associated with global self-esteem and job satisfaction and complexity most associated with competence. The amount of explained variance in global self-esteem and competence increased with the addition of control variables. Defensiveness, age, and urbanicity were most associated with global self-esteem, whereas job complexity and satisfaction remained most highly associated with competence. Central life interest, growth need strength, and defensiveness moderated some of the competence/job satisfaction/performance relationships. The ability of organizational variables to account for substantial amounts of variance in competence, but not in global self-esteem, and the differential nature of the relationships between such variables and different types of esteem are discussed. (33 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)