Organizational Socialization Its Content and Consequences

• Published in: Journal of applied psychology Vol. 79; no. 5; pp. 730 - 743
• Main Authors: Chao, Georgia T, O'Leary-Kelly, Anne M, Wolf, Samantha, Klein, Howard J, Gardner, Philip D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychological Association 01.10.1994; American Psychological Association, etc
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Career Development; Consequence; Content analysis; Corporate culture; Employee Turnover; Employees; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Occupational psychology; Organizational Behavior; Organizational culture; Organizations; Professional Personnel; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Social research; Socialization; Vocational training. Adult education; Human; Professional performance; Occupational environment; Employee; Acquisition process; Adult; Social learning; Occupational role; Career
• ISSN: 0021-9010; 1939-1854
• DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.79.5.730

Content dimensions of the socialization domain were defined in order to determine relationships between learning particular features of a job/organization and the process and outcomes of socialization. Six socialization dimensions-performance proficiency, politics, language, people, organizational goals/values, and history-were supported by a factor analysis on data from 594 full-time professionals. The socialization process was then examined by comparing three groups of respondents who did not change jobs, changed jobs within the organization, or changed jobs and organizations. Results showed these groups had significantly different response patterns on all dimensions. Finally, relationships between socialization content and career outcomes showed the dimensions accounted for more variance in all criteria than typical tenure operationalizations of socialization. Furthermore, socialization changes were significantly related to changes in career outcomes for 1-, 2-, and 3-year time intervals.