Index of Organizational Reactions scale (IOR)

Abstract

The Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) is a widely utilized psychometric instrument developed by Dunham and Smith in 1979. Its primary function is to provide a detailed, multi-dimensional assessment of employee satisfaction concerning both their specific job roles and the broader organizational environment. The IOR is structured to measure satisfaction across eight key facets: supervision, financial rewards, kind of work, physical conditions, amount of work, company identification, co-workers, and career future.

Keywords

Job satisfaction, organizational reactions, employee satisfaction, supervision, financial rewards, organizational commitment, psychometric scale, Dunham and Smith.

Authors

Dunham, R. B., Smith, F. J.

Purpose

The core purpose of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) is to systematically quantify employee attitudes toward various aspects of their work environment. By breaking down overall job satisfaction into eight distinct dimensions, the scale allows organizations and researchers to pinpoint specific areas of strength or dissatisfaction within the workforce. This granular approach is critical for effective human resources management, organizational development, and targeted interventions aimed at improving morale and productivity.

The instrument provides a comprehensive metric for evaluating the psychological contracts employees hold with their organization, offering insights into factors that motivate or deter high performance, such as fairness in financial rewards and clarity regarding career progression.

Construct

The IOR primarily measures the construct of Job Satisfaction, defined as the affective and cognitive responses an employee holds toward their job. It conceptualizes job satisfaction not as a monolithic construct but as a composite of eight distinct sub-constructs, or facets, of the organizational experience:

• Supervision: Satisfaction with the leadership and direct management received.
• Financial Rewards: Perception of fairness and adequacy regarding pay, salary, and benefits.
• Kind of Work: Enjoyment and intrinsic motivation derived from the tasks performed.
• Physical Conditions: Satisfaction with the physical environment, including workplace comfort and safety.
• Amount of Work: Perception of workload balance, stress, and expectations.
• Company Identification: The degree of loyalty, pride, and positive feeling toward the organization as a whole.
• Co-workers: Quality of relationships and collaboration with colleagues.
• Career Future: Optimism and security regarding professional advancement and long-term employment within the organization.

Validity

Evidence for the Validity of the IOR has been established through correlations with various organizational outcomes. Research, such as that conducted by Lee and Johnson (1991), demonstrated robust criterion validity. Specifically, workplace satisfaction as measured by the IOR correlated positively and significantly with organizational commitment for both permanent and temporary employees, indicating that happier workers are more committed to the institution.

Furthermore, the IOR showed meaningful negative correlations with several adverse factors, suggesting its ability to distinguish between satisfied and dissatisfied employees. The IOR scores correlated negatively with education level and pay levels for exempt staff, suggesting that higher-level staff might have different expectations or frames of reference for satisfaction. Crucially, IOR scores also correlated negatively with self-reported negative workplace experiences, including perceived danger, perceived risk, task distractions, and risk experience (Lee & Johnson, 1991; McLain, 1995; Taylor et al., 1995).

Reliability

The internal consistency of the Index of Organizational Reactions has been consistently supported across multiple studies using the Coefficient alpha metric. Reported alpha values demonstrate high reliability, indicating that the items within the subscales measure their intended constructs consistently. Specifically, coefficient alpha values were found to range narrowly from .82 to .83 in various research applications (Lee & Johnson, 1991; McLain, 1995; Taylor, Tracy, Renard, Harrison, & Carroll, 1995). These values exceed the generally accepted threshold for robust psychological measurement, confirming the scale’s suitability for research and practical application.

Factor Analysis

Although specific factor analytic data (e.g., Confirmatory Factor Analysis or Exploratory Factor Analysis) were not detailed in the original source entry, the structure of the IOR inherently suggests an eight-factor model. The scale is designed to isolate satisfaction across eight independent dimensions (Supervision, Financial Rewards, Kind of Work, Physical Conditions, Amount of Work, Company Identification, Co-workers, and Career Future). This multi-faceted design implies that items cluster distinctly around these eight conceptual factors, supporting the scale’s utility in providing diagnostic information about job satisfaction rather than just a single global score.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report attitude inventory / Psychometrics Scale

Format: Likert-type scales with varying response anchors (typically 5-point scales, assessing frequency or degree of satisfaction/influence).

Language Available: English (Original development language).

Population Group: Employees/Working adults.

Age Group: Adult (Professionally employed individuals).

Population Details: Applicable across various industries and employee types (including both permanent and temporary staff, as noted in validity studies).

Test Methodology: Paper-and-pencil or digital survey administration. Respondents rate their reactions to various job facets.

Keywords

Job satisfaction inventory, organizational psychology, employee morale, work environment assessment, scale development, human resources metrics.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not Specified

Affiliation Email addresses: Not Specified

Correspondence Address: Not Specified

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1979 (Development Year)

Fee and Permissions: The items were reproduced in Cook et al. (1981) with permission from Academic Press. Researchers should consult the original authors or Academic Press for current usage permissions and associated fees.

Source Note: The items presented here were reproduced from Cook, J. D., Hepworth, S. J., Wall, T. D., & Warr, P. B. (1981). The experience of work: A compendium of 249 measures and their use. London: Academic Press. Items were taken from pp. 42-45. Copyright© 1981 by Academic Press. Reproduced with permission.

Reference’s

• Cook, J. D., Hepworth, S. J., Wall, T. D., & Warr, P. B. (1981). The experience of work: A compendium of 249 measures and their use. London: Academic Press.
• Dunham, R. B., & Smith, F. J. (1979). The Index of Organizational Reactions. Unpublished manuscript.
• Lee, C., & Johnson, T. R. (1991). The effects of labor market structure and job satisfaction on organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 39(2), 163-180.
• McLain, D. L. (1995). The relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction. Human Relations, 48(2), 167-185.
• Taylor, J. A., Tracy, J. L., Renard, M. K., Harrison, A. A., & Carroll, V. M. (1995). Predicting employee reactions to organizational change: The role of communication and participation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80(5), 577-586.

Items of the Index of Organizational Reactions scale(IOR)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Items and possible responses:

Supervision items:

1. Do you ever have the feeling you would better off working under different supervision?

Possible responses are 1 = I almost always feel this way, 2 = I frequently feel this way, 3 = I occasionally feel this way, 4 = I seldom feel this way, 5 = I never feel this way.

2. How do you feel about the supervision you receive?

Possible responses are 5 =I am extremely satisfied, 4 = I am well satisfied, 3 = I am only moderately satisfied, 2 = I am somewhat dissatisfied, 1 = I am very dissatisfied.

3. How does the way you are treated by those who supervise you influence you overall attitude toward your job?

Possible responses are 1 = It has a very unfavorable influence, 2 = It has a slightly unfavorable influence, 3 = It has no real effect, 4 = It has a favorable influence, 5 = It has a very favorable influence.

4. How much do the efforts of those who supervise you add to the success of your organization?

Possible responses are 5 = a very great deal, 4 = quite a bit, 3 = only a little, 2 = very little, 1 = almost nothing.

5. The people who supervise me have:

Possible responses are 5 = many more good traits than bad ones, 4 = more good traits than bad ones, 3 = about the same number of good traits as bad ones, 2 = more bad traits than good ones, 1 = many more bad traits than good ones.

6. The supervision I receive is the kind that:

Possible responses are 1 = greatly discourages me from giving extra effort, 2 = tends to discourage me from giving extra effort, 3 = has little influence on me, 4 = encourages me to give extra effort, 5 = greatly encourages me to give extra effort.

Company identification items:

7. There is something about working for this organization that:

Possible responses are 5 = greatly encourages me to do my best, 4 = definitely encourages me to do my best, 3 = only slightly encourages me to do my best, 2 = tends to discourage me from doing my best, 1 = definitely discourages me from doing my best.

8. From my experience, I feel this organization probably treats its employees:

Possible responses are 1 = poorly, 2 = somewhat poorly, 3 = fairly well, 4 = quite well, 5 = extremely well.

9. How does working for this organization influence your overall attitude toward your job?

Possible responses are 1 = it has a very unfavorable influence, 2 = it has an unfavorable influence, 3 = it has no influence one way or the other, 4 = it has a favorable influence, 5 = it has a very favorable influence.

10. How do you describe this organization as a company to work for?

Possible responses are 5 = couldn’t be much better, 4 = very good, 3 = fairly good, 2 = just another place to work, 1 = poor.

11. I think this organization, as a company, considers employee welfare:

Possible responses are 1 = much less important than sales and profits, 2 = less important than sales and profits, 3 = about as important as sales and profits, 4 = more important than sales and profits, 5 = much more important than sales and profits.

Kind of work items:

12. Work like mine:

Possible responses are 1 = discourages me from doing my best, 2 = tends to discourage me from doing my best, 3 = makes little difference, 4 = slightly encourages me to do my best, 5 = greatly encourages me to do my best.

13. How often when you finish a day’s work do you feel you’ve accomplished something really worthwhile?

Possible responses are 5 = all of the time, 4 = most of the time, 3 = about half of the time, 2 = less than half of the time, 1 = rarely.

14. How does the kind of work you do influence your overall attitude toward your job?

Possible responses are 1 = it has a very unfavorable influence, 2 = it has a slightly unfavorable influence, 3 = it has no influence one way or the other, 4 = it has a fairly favorable influence, 5 = it has a very favorable influence.

15. How many of the things you do on your job do you enjoy?

Possible responses are 5 = nearly all, 4 = more than half, 3 = about half, 2 = less than half, 1 = almost none.

16. How much of the work you do stirs up real enthusiasm on your part?

Possible responses are 5 = nearly all of it, 4 = more than half of it, 3 = about half of it, 2 = less than half of it, 1 = almost none of it.

17. How do you feel about the kind of work you do?

Possible responses are 1 =don’t like it, would prefer some other kind of work; 2 = it’s OK, there’s other work I like better; 3 = I like it, but there is other work I like as much; 4 =I like it very much; 5 = it’s exactly the kind of work I like best.

Amount of work items:

18. I feel my workload is:

Possible responses are 5 = never too heavy, 4 = seldom too heavy, 3 = sometimes too heavy, 2 = often too heavy, 1 = almost always too heavy.

19. How does the amount of work you’re expected to do influence the way you do your job?

Possible responses are 1 = it never allows me to do a good job, 2 = it seldom allows me to do a good job, 3 = it has no effect on how I do my job, 4 = it usually allows me to do a good job, 5 = it always allows me to do a good job.

20. How does the amount of work you’re expected to do influence your overall attitude toward your job?

Possible responses are 5 = it has a very favorable influence, 4 =it has a favorable influence, 3 = it has no influence one way or the other, 2 = it has an unfavorable influence, 1 = it has a very unfavorable influence.

21. How do you feel about the amount of work you’re expected to do?

Possible responses are 1 = very dissatisfied, 2 = somewhat dissatisfied, 3 = neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 4 = somewhat satisfied, 5 = very satisfied.

Co-workers items:

22. How do you generally feel about the employees you work with?

Possible responses are 5 = they are the best group I could ask for, 4 = I like them a great deal, 3 = I like them fairly well, 2 =I have no feeling one way or the other, 1 = I don’t particularly care for them.

23. How is your overall attitude toward your job influenced by the people you work with?

Possible responses are 5 = it is very favorably influenced, 4 = it is favorably influenced, 3 = it is not influenced one way or the other, 2 = it is unfavorably influenced, 1 = it is very unfavorably influenced.

24. The example my fellow employees set:

Possible responses are 1 = greatly discourages me from working hard, 2 = somewhat discourages me from working hard, 3= has little effect on me, 4 = somewhat encourages me to work hard, 5 = greatly encourages me to work hard.

25. How much does the way co-workers handle their jobs add to the success of your organization?

Possible responses are 1 = it adds almost nothing, 2 = it adds very little, 3 = it adds only a little, 4 = it adds quite a bit, 5 = it adds a very great deal.

26. In this organization, there is:

Possible responses are 1 = a very great deal of friction, 2 = quite a bit of friction, 3 = some friction, 4 = little friction, 5 = almost no friction.

Physical work conditions items:

27. How much pride can you take in the appearance of your work place?

Possible responses are 5= a very great deal, 4= quite a bit, 3= some, 2 = little, 1 = very little.

28. How do you feel about your physical working conditions?

Possible responses are 5 = extremely satisfied, 4 = well satisfied, 3 = only moderately satisfied, 2= somewhat dissatisfied, 1 = very dissatisfied.

29. How do your physical working conditions influence your overall attitude toward your job?

Possible responses are 1 = they have a very unfavorable influence, 2 = they have a slightly unfavorable influence, 3 = they have no influence one way or the other, 4 = they have a favorable influence, 5= they have a very favorable influence.

30. The physical working conditions make working here:

Possible responses are 1 = very unpleasant, 2 = unpleasant, 3 = neither pleasant nor unpleasant, 4 = pleasant, 5 = very pleasant.

31. For the work I do, my physical working conditions are:

Possible responses are 1 = very poor, 2 = relatively poor, 3 = neither good nor poor, 4 = reasonably good, 5 = very good.

32. How do your physical working conditions affect the way you do your job?

Possible responses are 5 = they help me a great deal, 4 = they help me a little, 3 = they make little difference, 2 = they tend to make it difficult, 1 = they make it very difficult.

Financial rewards items:

33. For the job I do, I feel the amount of money I make is:

Possible responses are 5 = extremely good, 4 = good, 3 = neither good nor poor, 2 = fairly poor, 1 = very poor.

34. To what extent are your needs satisfied by the pay and benefits you receive?

Possible responses are 1 = almost none of my needs are satisfied, 2 = very few of my needs are satisfied, 3 = a few of my needs are satisfied, 4 = many of my needs are satisfied, 5 = almost all of my needs are satisfied.

35. Considering what it costs to live in this area, my pay is:

Possible responses are 1 = very inadequate, 2 = inadequate, 3 = barely adequate, 4 = adequate, 5 = more than adequate.

36. Does the way pay is handled around here make it worthwhile for a person to work especially hard?

Possible responses are 5 = it definitely encourages hard work, 4 = it tends to encourage hard work, 3 = it makes little difference, 2 = it tends to discourage hard work, 1 = it definitely discourages hard work.

37. How does the amount of money you now make influence your overall attitude toward your job?

Possible responses are 5 = it has a very favorable influence, 4 = it has a fairly favorable influence, 3 = it has no influence one way or the other, 2 = it has a slightly unfavorable influence, 1 = it has a very unfavorable influence.

Career future items:

38. How do you feel about your future with this organization?

Possible responses are 1=I am very worried about it, 2 = I am somewhat worried about it, 3 = I have mixed feelings about it, 4 = I feel good about it, 5 = I feel very good about it.

39. How do your feelings about your future with the company influence your overall attitude toward your job?

Possible responses are 5 = they have a very favorable influence, 4 = they have a favorable influence, 3 = they have no influence one way or the other, 2 = they have a slightly unfavorable influence, 1 = they have a very unfavorable influence.

40. The way my future with the company looks to me now:

Possible responses are 5 = hard work seems very worthwhile, 4 = hard work seems fairly worthwhile, 3 = hard work seems worthwhile, 2 = hard work hardly seems worthwhile, 1 = hard work seems almost worthless.

41. Do you feel you are getting ahead in the company?

Possible responses are 5 = I’m making a great deal of progress, 4 = I’m making some progress, 3 = I’m not sure, 2 = I’m making very little progress, 1 = I’m making no progress.

42. How secure are you in your present job?

Possible responses are 1 = I feel very uneasy about it, 2 = I feel fairly uneasy about it, 3 = I feel somewhat uneasy about it, 4 = I feel fairly sure of it, 5 = I feel very sure of it.