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The relationship between the power and affiliation needs and the perceived job characteristics of clinicians and managers in community mental health agencies
Abstract
Research on management and administration in the mental health and human services fields has dealt with top management and has not provided useful information concerning the work experience of middle clinical managers. The purpose of this study was twofold; (a) to determine whether or not there are differences in the way clinicians and clinical managers perceive their job characteristics as measured by the Job Diagnostic Survey (Hackman & Oldham, 1980), and (b) to determine whether or not the power and affiliation needs of clinicians and clinical managers as measured by the Job Choice Decision-Making Exercise (Stahl & Harrell, 1981) affect those perceptions. Thirty-six clinicians and fifty-seven clinical managers were classified according to power and affiliation need strengths as measured by the Job Choice Decision-Making Exercise (Stahl & Harrell, 1981). Measures of each subject's perceptions of his or her core job dimensions were obtained with the Job Diagnostic Survey (Hackman & Oldham, 1980). Several interviews with clinical managers were conducted and demographic, occupational, and agency information was gathered. There were no significant differences between clinicians and clinical managers in this study in their perceptions of job skill variety, task identity, task significance, job autonomy, feedback from the job itself, and feedback from job agents. Clinical managers with high power needs and low affiliation needs were not significantly different than clinical managers with low power needs and high affiliation needs in their perceptions of their job characteristics. Also, clinicians with high power needs and low affiliation needs were not significantly different than clinicians with low power needs and high affiliation needs in their perceptions of their job characteristics. Contrary to prediction, clinical managers reported a significantly greater degree of dealing with others on the job than did clinicians. Also, a trend was discovered, suggesting that the perceived degree to which feedback is received from the job itself may be lower for the clinical managers in this study than for the clinicians. Implications for practice focused on the need for more specialized training, job redesign, improvements in connection with extrinsic motivational factors, and changes in management practices.
Subject Area
Clinical psychology|Management|Mental health
Recommended Citation
Donovan, Robert Davol, "The relationship between the power and affiliation needs and the perceived job characteristics of clinicians and managers in community mental health agencies" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9110128.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9110128