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ABSTRACTThis study uses expectancy theory to predict the sorority choices of 121 undergraduate students. Results show that the complete, multiplicative expectancy model is only a slightly better predictor of choice behavior than other versions of the model. Several personal and situational correlates of individuals' expectancies of entering sororities also are examined. Results show significant relationships between expectancy and subjects' self‐esteem, perception of value similarity with sorority members, and number of perceived friendships with sorority members.

This research examined: (a) the relationship between the internal work motivation of employees and their job performance; and (b) the moderating effect of individual growth need strength, co-worker satisfaction, and supervisory satisfaction on the relationships between several job characteristics and internal motivation. Results showed positive, significant relationships between the measure of internal motivation and employees' rated work quality, quantity, and effort. In addition, significant relationships between the job characteristics and internal motivation were obtained for employees who were desirous of growth satisfactions and who experienced high satisfaction with their supervisors and co-workers. Implications of the results for future research on job design were discussed.

This research examines the interaction of individual employee job complexity with the job complexity of significant others in determining employee reactions to work. Procedures and hypotheses are based on principles of equity theory. For each employee, a composite significant other's job complexity index was formed by averaging the job complexity scores of all individuals within the focal employee'sjob classification who were of the same sex as the focal. Results show significant interactions between this "comparison other"job complexity measure and the job complexity of the focal employee. Specifically, results show that employees who work on jobs of greater complexity than their colleagues have lower satisfaction and higher productivity than employees who work on jobs comparable in complexity to those of comparison others. Employees who work on jobs of lesser complexity than their co-workers have slightly lower satisfaction and productivity than employees who work on jobs comparable in complexity to those of comparison others. Implications of these results for the practice of work redesign are discussed.

Building on social role theory, we extend a contingency perspective on intergroup competition proposing that having groups compete against one another is stimulating to the creativity of groups composed largely or exclusively of men but detrimental to the creativity of groups composed largely or exclusively of women. We tested this idea in two separate studies: a laboratory experiment (Study 1) and a field study (Study 2). Study 1 showed that competition had the expected positive effects on the creativity of groups composed mostly or exclusively of men and produced the predicted negative effects on the creativity of groups composed of women, even though the latter effects emerged at the high end of the competition spectrum and for sex-homogeneous groups only. Results of Study 1 also revealed that within-group collaboration mediated the joint effects of competition and sex composition on group creativity. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 in a field setting involving research and development teams. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.