Adding versus averaging

Evaluability theory applied to job choice decisions

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12166644
AutoresYalçın Açıkgöz (0000-0002-7596-8417, Department of Psychology Appalachian State University Boone NC USA, autor correspondente)
Ano2020
Volume33
Fascículo5
Páginas691-701
Data de publicação2020-05-15
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Behavioral Decision Making (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0894-3257 • E-ISSN: 1099-0771
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/bdm.2186
OpenAlexW3024597751
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas38

While the unique roles of individual job attributes (e.g., salary and benefits) in job and organizational attraction have received extensive research attention, research examining the mechanisms through which an overall evaluation of a job option is made by combining evaluations of individual attributes is scarce. The current study examined the process through which job choice decisions are made under three conditions: when evaluating a single job offer, when comparing two job offers, and when evaluating more than two job offers. In Study 1, it was found that when a single job offer is evaluated, the average of perceived values of attributes in an offer (e.g., the perceived attractiveness of a salary) drives the choice, whereas the difference between jobs is what matters when two jobs are evaluated simultaneously, potentially leading to a preference reversal between conditions when the same two jobs are evaluated. In Study 2, it was found that average values of attributes across options (e.g., average salary in all job offers received) influence job choice when more than two job offers are evaluated simultaneously. These findings indicate that in all three conditions, job choice decisions are influenced by the evaluability of the choice set, which becomes low when a single job offer is evaluated without any context, or when more than two job offers are evaluated simultaneously, and becomes high when two jobs are compared with each other. When evaluability is low, candidates resort to averaging as the decision rule, whereas adding is used when evaluability is high

Attractiveness · Business · Context (archaeology · Economics · Job analysis · Job attitude · Job characteristic theory · Job design · Job performance · Job satisfaction · Microeconomics · Preference · Salary · Set (abstract data type · Computer Science · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology · Marketing