Job Characteristics Based on the Dictionary of Occupational Titles

Abstract

The measure, officially titled the Job Characteristics Based on the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), was developed by Roos and Treiman (1980) to provide a standardized, objective assessment of occupational characteristics. Unlike perceptual measures, this scale utilizes systematic data compiled by job analysts from the United States Department of Labor. The source data, the DOT, originally described 46 characteristics across 12,099 distinct job titles.

Through subsequent factor analysis, Roos and Treiman consolidated these 46 characteristics into four primary dimensions: substantive complexity, motor skills required, physical demands, and undesirable working conditions. Crucially, this measure provides a general index based on the functional requirements and worker trait requirements of the job title itself, differentiating it significantly from subjective scales such as the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS), which assesses the unique perceptions held by individual jobholders.

Keywords

Job Characteristics, Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Substantive Complexity, Motor Skills, Job Design, Occupational Analysis, Physical Demands, Working Conditions, Job Satisfaction.

Authors

Paula A. Roos, Donald J. Treiman.

Purpose

The primary purpose of this measure is to provide a standardized, objective assessment of job requirements and conditions based on established government data. It was designed to categorize and quantify job characteristics that influence worker behavior, attitudes, and outcomes, facilitating large-scale sociological and psychological research on occupational structure.

It allows researchers to analyze how inherent job traits—such as the level of intellectual demand or physical effort—impact variables like job satisfaction, burnout, and career progression, independent of individual worker perceptions. The measure serves as an objective counterpoint to self-report measures in organizational research.

Construct

The scale measures four latent dimensions of occupational characteristics derived from the 46 detailed variables provided in the original DOT. These dimensions represent objective requirements inherent to the job title based on functional requirements and worker trait requirements.

• Substantive Complexity: Reflects the intellectual and cognitive demands of the job, including requirements related to data processing, training time (GED and SVP), and various aptitudes (INTELL, VERBAL, NUMER, ABSTRACT).
• Motor Skills: Measures the requirement for manual and physical dexterity related to manipulating objects (THINGS) and specific physical aptitudes (FINGDEX, MANDEX, COLORDIS).
• Physical Demands: Captures the physical effort required, including climbing, stooping, and specific physical demands (SEE) and working conditions (LOCATION, HAZARDS).
• Undesirable Working Conditions: Quantifies exposure to adverse environmental factors such as extreme temperatures (COLD, HEAT) and moisture (WET).

Validity

Evidence for the measure’s validity is supported by its correlations with various psychological and organizational outcomes (Watson & Slack, 1993; Xie & Johns, 1995). Specific findings demonstrate the utility of the derived dimensions in predicting aspects of work satisfaction.

• The motor skills rating showed a positive correlation with overall job satisfaction.
• The complexity rating correlated positively with satisfaction specifically related to the work itself, suggesting that intellectually challenging jobs are internally fulfilling.
• Conversely, the rating for physical demands correlated negatively with satisfaction with co-workers.

Furthermore, job complexity correlated positively with employee age and several core job characteristics central to job design theory: job variety, identity, significance, autonomy, feedback, and scope. Job complexity correlated negatively with reported exhaustion and the variable of being female, suggesting potential differential strain or occupational sorting effects across demographics.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the multi-item dimensions was assessed using Coefficient Alpha, demonstrating high reliability across the primary derived factors (Watson & Slack, 1993).

The reported alpha coefficients were:

• Substantive complexity (Job Complexity): α = .90
• Motor Skills: α = .95
• Physical Demands: α = .87

These values indicate excellent internal consistency, confirming that the characteristics grouped within each factor are highly related and measure a unified underlying dimension, providing confidence in the psychometric rigor of the derived scale scores.

Factor Analysis

Roos and Treiman (1980) performed a factor analysis on the 46 detailed job characteristics provided within the original Dictionary of Occupational Titles. This statistical procedure was essential for reducing the complexity of the voluminous DOT data into parsimonious, meaningful dimensions relevant for organizational research.

The analysis successfully yielded a clear four-factor structure, confirming the robustness of the core dimensions: substantive complexity, motor skills, physical demands, and undesirable working conditions. These four factors collectively summarize the majority of variance in the original 46 characteristics, forming the objective, standardized index used to score specific job titles.

Instrument

Test Type: Objective Job Classification/Occupational Index

Format: Quantitative Index derived from governmental job analysis data (non-perceptual)

Language Available: English (derived from U.S. Department of Labor data)

Population Group: Occupations/Job Titles (Applicable to all working adults indirectly through their occupation)

Age Group: Not applicable (measures job characteristics, not individual age)

Population Details: Based on 12,099 job titles described in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT).

Test Methodology: The scale score for each dimension is calculated by averaging the values of the specific DOT variables (items) that load onto that dimension. This provides an objective, standardized score for the inherent demands of a specific job title.

Keywords

Occupational Psychology, Job Requirements, DOT Scales, Roos and Treiman, Objective Measures, Job satisfaction, Work Analysis, Psychometrics, Substantive Complexity.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: N/A

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1980 (Publication of the derived scales)

Permissions: The derived scales by Roos and Treiman were published in an academic volume, Work, jobs, and occupations: A critical review of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Reproduction of items or the reference text requires permission from the National Academy Press (Copyright© 1980).

Fee: Not applicable for the derived indices, as the underlying data is government-sourced occupational information.

Reference’s

Roos, P.A., & Treiman, D. J. (1980). DOT scales for the 1970 census classification. In A. Miller, D. Treiman, P. Cain, & P. Roos (Eds.), Work, jobs, and occupations: A critical review of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Items were taken from text, p 339. Copyright© 1980 by National Academy Press. Reproduced with permission.

Watson, T. J., & Slack, G. A. (1993). Validity and Reliability of Job Characteristics Measures based on the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(4), 601-605.

Xie, J. L., & Johns, G. (1995). Job scope and employee outcomes: The moderating effect of employee demographic characteristics. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16(2), 173-189.

Items of the Job Characteristics Based on the Dictionary of Occupational Titles

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

The dimensions of substantive complexity, motor skills, physical demands, and undesirable working conditions are composed of 22 of the 46 characteristics reported for each job title in the DOT. The values for each of the DOT variables listed below each dimension are averaged to calculate the score for each dimension.

Substantive complexity:

DATA (worker function) GED (training time) SVP (training time) INTELL (aptitude) VERBAL (aptitude) NUMER (aptitude) ABSTRACT (interest)

REPCON (temperament for repetitive or continuous process)

Motor skills:

THINGS (worker function) MOTOR (aptitude) FINGDEX (aptitude) MANDEX (aptitude) COLORDIS  (aptitude) SEE (physical demand)

Physical demands:

EYEHAND (aptitude) CLIMB (physical demand) STOOP (physical demand)

LOCATION (working condition) HAZARDS (working condition)

Undesirable working conditions:

COLD (working condition) HEAT (working condition) WET (working condition)