Higher Education and Job Attitudes: Satisfaction ...

European Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X / 1450-202X Vol. 118 No 4 February, 2014, pp.493-506 http://www.europeanjournalofscientificresearch.com

Higher Education and Job Attitudes: Satisfaction Commitment and Turnover Intention of University Degree Holder and Non-Holder Police Officers Hidayet Tasdoven Turkish National Police, Bitlis Police Department E-mail: [email protected] Sedat Kula General Directorate of Turkish National Police E-mail: [email protected] Mustafa Donmez Turkish National Police, Diyarbakir Police Department E-mail: [email protected] Abstract The aim of this study is (a) to investigate the effect of organizational commitment on turnover intention and (b) to compare job attitudes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention) levels of university degree holder and non-holder police officers. Participants were selected from active members of Turkish National Police (TNP) working in different seven cities of Turkey. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and t-test were used for statistical analysis. Findings revealed that organizational commitment had a negative effect on turnover intention, while job satisfaction and turnover intention found to be not significantly related. The study also determined that the university educated officers have a lower level of organizational commitment and higher level of turnover intention than their non-degree holder colleagues. Job satisfaction levels of two groups were not significantly different from each other. Based on the study results, recommendations were made on human resources management policies.

Keywords: Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, Turnover Intention, University Degree, Police Education.

1. Introduction Proponents of professional policing suggest that higher education might provide better understanding of context in which policing is conducted and improve communication and problem solving skills of police officers that are most relevant competencies in community policing era. In addition, it can also help developing community focus, respect for diversity and ethical decision making (Carter et al, 1989). Despite proposed advantages of university educated police, only 1% of police agencies in the US adopted mandatory 4-year degree for the entry to police agency (Bruns, 2010). Although very small proportion of police organizations mandates bachelor’s degree, the police managers prefer college educated applicants at their agencies. In a survey conducted in 2005 it was found that one-

Higher Education and Job Attitudes: Satisfaction, Commitment and Turnover Intention of University Degree Holder and Non-Holder Police Officers

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quarter of police officers actively working for police agencies in US have four year university degree (Roberg et al., 2005). Despite proposed benefits of higher education in police force, many believe that university education is not a necessary qualification for officers to be possessed. Furthermore, many scholars and practitioners found it source of dissatisfaction with the job, detachment from organizational goals/values, higher level of intent to leave and higher turnover rates (Murray, 2000). Literature addresses the differences between degree holder and non-degree holder officers in terms of authoritarianism, use of excessive force and performance. However, limited numbers of studies compare organizational attitudes of degree holder and non-degree holder officers such as intent to leave organization, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In addition, a few research focused the relationship between these constructs. This study attempts to fıll the gap in this area by examining the effect of higher education on job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention. Furthermore, it investigates relationships among these constructs. Context of the study is Turkish National Police (TNP) which is hierarchically structured and centralized police agency in Turkey. With a major policy shift, TNP adopted a new police education policy in 2000’s which allows recruiting candidates from two different sources. High school and university graduates are accepted to police education institutions. Police Vocational Schools (PMYO) are 2-year degree programs that provide associate degree to high school graduates. Police Professional Training Centers (POMEM) recruit 4-year university degree holders and provide nine months training. Both of POMEM and PMYO graduates serve as unranked police officers. The purpose of the study is twofold: First, it aims to investigate the impact of higher education on police officer attitudes. More specifically, it seeks to find out whether there is a difference between levels of turnover intention, organizational commitment and job satisfaction of degree holders and non-holders. Second, it aims to examine the impact of organizational commitment and job satisfaction on turnover intention.

2. Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction as Predictors of Turnover Intention Turnover refers to leave from a job voluntarily or reluctantly (Smith and Brough, 2003). Turnover can be initiated by an employee (resign) or the organization (such as fire, staff saving and death) (Price, 1977: 10-25). Turnover intention is the possibility of a personnel to leave the organization in a near future (Brough and Frame, 2004). It is a fact that that turnover intention is the best predictor of actual turnover (Futrell and Parasuraman, 1984). There are some negative consequences of turnover and turnover intention. These consequences directly or indirectly affect employees and organizations. Some direct consequences of turnover are: the long term vacancies, rearrangement of the organization due to vacancies, the efforts of an employee administration staff for rearrangements (Lambert and Hogan, 2009), loss of an employee’s performance and expertise and hiring and training expenses of a new employee (Weisberg and Kirchenbaum, 1991). Some indirect consequences are the loss of social communications, the increase of tired and inexperience staff rate, the decrease of motivation of the remaining staff, and the lack of personnel (Lambert and Hogan, 2009). It was found that the performance of the employees who intends to leave the job decrease dramatically and they become less productive in course of time (Brough and Frame, 2004; Cotton and Tuttle, 1986). The factors affecting turnover are categorized into three main groups by scholars; Organizational factors (such as job stress, job involvement, gender discrimination, and job satisfaction, organizational commitment), demographic factors (such as length of service, gender, education and marital status) and external factors (such as probability to find a better job) are the foci of the scholars related to the topic (Cotton and Tuttle, 1986). Among organizational factors, organizational commitment and job satisfaction are most studied constructs.

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Sedat Kula, Hidayet Tasdoven and Mustafa Donmez

It is assumed that employees are committed to an organization if they attend the organization with enthusiasm and exert considerable effort to achieve organizational goals (Raju and Srivastava, 1994). The employees gain psychological rewards (such as job satisfaction and good relations with coworkers) and extrinsic rewards (such as wages and other benefits) through commitment to the right organization. The social and official institutions and commercial enterprises benefit from reduced turnover and lateness of the employees. In addition, the employees who have high level of commitment to the organization become more creative and innovative, Which is preferred by the managers.Low rates of job movement is a desired consequence for a society and government (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990). The dimensions of organizational commitment were studied by the scholars in the past decades. Meyer and Allen (1991) proposed three components of the concept: affective commitment, which is ‘emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization’, continuance commitment, which is ‘the perceived costs associated with leaving the organization’, and normative commitment, which is ‘a perceived obligation to remain in the organization’ (Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch & Topolnytsky, 2001). The most common (negative and positive) consequences of organizational commitment are job performance, intention to search job alternatives, intention to leave one’s job, employee attendance, lateness and turnover (Mathieu and Zajac, 1990). According to the related literature, there is a negative correlation between organizational commitment and turnover intention (Griffeth, Hom & Gaerthner, 2000). Mathieu and Zajac (1990) found that organizational commitment is correlated with intention to leave one’s job. Camp (1993) argued that higher levels of organizational commitment are associated with lower levels of turnover intention. The study conducted by Meyer et al (2001) indicated that there is a correlation between organizational commitment and turnover. Correlation with organizational commitment and withdrawal cognition including turnover intention was stronger than actual turnover, according to the same study results. Among three components of organizational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitments), the correlation between affective commitment and organizational commitment was the highest value (Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch & Topolnytsky, 2001). H1: Organizational commitment negatively affects turnover intentions of TNP Members. Literature suggests that another essential factor for both personnel and their organizations is job satisfaction. Employees who are more satisfied with their jobs would eventually be more productive and do their jobs with more quality manner. On the other hand, the performance of the employees who are less satisfied with their jobs would be lower. Their attendance also would be lower and lateness would be higher. They would probably experience more conflict with co-workers than the others (Bilgin, Emhan & Bez, 2011). The predictors of job satisfaction can be categorized into two main groups: personal factors and factors related to the work environment. Personal factors are personal characteristics such as marital status, level of education, age and gender. Work-related factors are wage, promotion, the nature of work, work environment, involvement to the decision process, and communication with other employees and supervisors (Jansen, Kerkstra, Abusaad and Der Zee 1996). Dissatisfaction with the job, especially for police officers, may lead to stress, burnout, absenteeism, lower level of quality of service, and poor relations with community (Hoath, Schneider & Starr, 1998). Some scholars pointed out that job satisfaction is directly related to turnover intention (Netemeyer, Johnston & Burton, 1990); some others argue that there is only an indirect relation between them (Brown & Peterson, 1994; Taunton, Boyle, Woods, Hansen & Bott, 1997). H2: Job satisfaction negatively affects turnover intentions of TNP Members. The causal precedence between organizational commitment and job satisfaction has been questioned among the scholars (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch & Topolnytsky, 2001). Some scholars (e.g., Koch & Steers, 1978; Bluedorn, 1982; Williams & Hazer, 1986; LaLopa, 1997) argue that job satisfaction is the cause of organizational commitment and some others (Bateman & Strasser, 1984) claim vice versa. A group of scholars argue that there is only correlation and there is no causal precedence between organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Tai, Bame &


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Robinson, 1998). According to result of meta-analysis conducted by Mathieu and Zajac (1990), it was found that correlation between organizational commitment and job satisfaction is positive. H3: Organizational commitment and job satisfaction levels of TNP Members are positively correlated. Mobley and his colleagues (1979) proposed that work environment (e.g., supervisor support and salary) lead to some employee reactions such as organizational commitment and job satisfaction, and those reactions initiate a decision process including turnover intention. According to a model developed by Meyer and his colleagues (2001), three components of organizational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitments) are inversely related with turnover and turnover intention of the employees. The combined effect of organizational commitment and job satisfaction on turnover intention was also studied by scholars. The results indicate that organizational commitment is a better predictor of turnover intention than job satisfaction (Parasuraman, 1982; Mueller, Boyer, Price & Iverson, 1994; Taunton, Boyle, Woods, Hansen & Bott, 1997). Camp (1993) explained that both commitment to overall organization and commitment to a specific institution have a greater effect on turnover intention than job satisfaction. Mowday et al. (1979) pointed out that employees who are committed their organizations with strong ties are happier and more satisfied with their jobs than the others. As a result, they spend more time in the work environment and they are less likely to think about leaving from the organization. H4: Organizational commitment is a better predictor of turnover intention than job satisfaction Based on the aims of the study, the following three hypotheses were formulated to examine the relationship between the educational level and organizational attitudes under investigation (job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention). The level of education is an important antecedent of organizational commitment (Mannheim et al, 1997). Steers (1977) and Glisson and Durick (1988) argue that organizational commitment and the employee’s level of education are negatively related. Less educated people generally experience difficulties to find a new job, so they have a greater commitment to current organizations than the educated ones (Chughtai & Zafar, 2006). This argument was also supported by a study conducted in Australia which found that older police officers who graduated from a university have lower level of commitment to the organization (Jones, Jones and Prenzler, 2005). H5: Organizational Commitment of TNP Members who graduated from PMYO is greater than their counterparts who graduated from POMEM Although there are contradicting results related to the relationship between job satisfaction and level of education, it can be argued that there is a negative correlation between them. More educated staff have great expectations from their jobs and when those expectations are not meet, it results in dissatisfaction with the job (Balcı, 2011). On the other hand, police officers who have professional skills attained from a university become more pessimist and, as a result, more dissatisfied with their jobs when they cannot use them (Regoli, 1976). Police officers with degree tend to use more initiative in their works and when they are obstructed, they are dissatisfied with the job (Trojanowicz and Nicholson, 1976). According to results of a study in Turkey, it was found that there is a positive correlation between job satisfaction and level of education of police officers (Yigit, Dilmac & Deniz, 2011). A lot of other empirical studies indicated that there is no relationship between job satisfaction and level of education of the police officers (Griffin, Dunbar and McGill, 1978; Akbaş ve Şanlı, 2009). H6: Job Satisfaction of TNP Members who graduated from PMYO is greater than their counterparts who graduated from POMEM It was found that level of education of the police officers positively correlated with their turnover intentions. A study indicated that police officers who graduated from a university have three times more turnover intention than the other police officers (Weirman, 1978). It was argued that if the career expectations of the police officers who are graduated from a university were not meet by the organization, their turnover intentions increase gradually (Jones, Jones & Prenzler, 2005). Murray (2000) confirmed that police officers who graduated from a university tend to leave their jobs more

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than their colleagues. He also found that police officers who attend a university after beginning their career plan to leave their jobs in case of getting a better job with the help of the university diploma. H7: Turnover Intention of TNP Members who graduated from PMYO is less than their counterparts who graduated from POMEM

3. Methodology 3.1. Measurement A questionnaire including questions on participants’ demographic details, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover intention was developed for this study. Regarding the demographic details to understand the background information of the respondents, their age, education level, marital status, and city they work for were asked. Organizational commitment was measured by the threecomponent model of commitment developed by Meyer and Allen (1997). For the measurement of job satisfaction and intent to leave, Spector (1997)’s short version of Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS-1997) which includes 9 items and 4- item intent to leave scale developed by Walsh, Ashford, and Hill (1985) were used. The respondents were asked to complete the questionnaire using a five-point Likert scale ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”. 3.2. Sampling Subjects of the present research are selected from active members of Turkish National Police (TNP) working in different seven cities of Turkey. Selected cities are İstanbul, Adana, Diyarbakir, İzmir, Malatya, Samsun, and Yozgat. Total 620 subjects were randomly selected from these seven cities proportionally based on their number of personnel. They were asked to complete the questionnaire to reflect their perceptions about their job, including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, intentions to quit the job, and some demographic questions. 3.3. Data Collection The questionnaires were randomly distributed to TNP members working in different seven cities of Turkey, each representing one geographic region. Confidentiality of the responses was assured to encourage them to answer all questions truthfully. Excluding the 28 questionnaires that were found to be incomplete, total 394 questionnaires were used for this study. 3.4. Statistical Analysis Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data obtained for this study. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18,0 was used for the statistical analyses. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), which allows researchers to present a more complete picture of the entire relationships between variables, was used by AMOS program. 3.5. Reliability of Research Instruments Cronbach’s coefficient alpha is the most commonly used method to assess the internal consistency reliability of the instrument of a study. Cronbach’s alpha level of .70 is a common threshold to assess the internal consistency reliability of the instrument (Kline, 2005; Morgan et al. 2005). Therefore, in this study, Cronbach’s alpha level of .70, deemed to have the three constructs of the study, was selected; organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intent to leave adequate reliability. 3.6. Structural Equation Model (SEM) Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to develop and validate the measurement model for the latent variables (organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intent to leave) in the study.


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Measurement models are developed for each latent variable using multiple observable indicators. A threestage approach, described by Wan et al. (2002), was used to develop and validate the measurement models of the study. Checking the critical ratio of standardized regression weight of each indicator is the first step. Second step is to evaluate overall model fit to understand how well our measurement models fit the data. Goodness of fit statistics tells whether or not the measurement model fit the data. Identifying the possible sources of the lack by using modification indices is the final step for CFA. SEM is used to evaluate how well the collected data for this study fit to the theoretically developed model and to investigate the structural relationship between the variables. Table 1 provides information about the goodness of fit indexes and their cut-off values for CFA and SEM model evaluation. Table 1:

Goodness of Fit Index

Index Chi-square Chi-square associated p value Chi-square / Degree of freedom Root Mean Square Error of Approximation

Shorthand χ2 p χ2 / df RMSEA

Tucker-Lewis Index

TLI

Comperative Fit Index

CFI

Hoelter's .Critical N

Hoelter Index

Cut-off Criteria Smaller the better ≥ .05 ≤4 .05 < value ≤ .08; acceptable ≤ .05; good .90 ≤ value < .95acceptable ≥ .95 ; good .90 ≤ value < .95; acceptable ≥ .95 ; good 75 ≤ value < 200; acceptable ≥ 200 ; good

Author Garson (2009) Garson (2009) Kline (2005) Schumacker and Lomax (2004); Garson (2009) Schumacker and Lomax (2004) Wan (2002); Garson (2009);

4. Findings 4.1. Descriptive Analysis The demographic profile of the respondents is indicated in the following table (Table 2). Table 2:

Demographic Profile of Respondents

Working City

Graduated Training Institutions

Age

Marital Status

Adana Diyarbakır İstanbul İzmir Malatya Samsun Yozgat Missing Total Police Vocational High School (PMYO) Police Vocational Training Center (POMEM) Total 25 Years and Below 26-30 31-35 36-40 41 Years and Above Total Married Single Total

N 37 88 125 46 37 19 34 8 394 216 178 394 99 177 73 33 12 394 176 218 394

% 9,4 22,3 31,7 11,7 9,4 4,9 8,6 2,0 100,0 54,8 45,2 100,0 25,1 44,9 18,5 8,4 3,0 100,0 44,7 55,3 100,0

Cumulative % 9,6 32,4 64,8 76,7 86,3 91,2 100,0

54,8 100,0 25,1 70,1 88,6 97,0 100,0 44,7 100,0

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As shown in Table 2, the majority of the respondents were below 30 years old (70, 1%), and working in Istanbul and Diyarbakir (54%). While 216 respondents indicate that they graduated from PMYO, the number of respondents who graduated from POMEM is 178. 4.2. Correlations among Variables Correlations among study variables are shown in the Table 3. Table 3:

Correlations between Variables

Intent to leave Orgcommitment -,464** Intent to leave ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Job satisfaction ,598** -,361**

Results of correlation analysis indicated that organizational commitment and job satisfaction are positively correlated. Based on this finding the third hypothesis of the study was supported. 4.3. Results of t-Test In order to examine whether there is difference between organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intent to leave of TNP members in terms of their academic background, independent sample t-test was conducted. Table 4 reveals independent t-test results for PMYO and POMEM graduates. Table 4:

Independent Sample t Test Results for PMYO and POMEM Graduates School Graduated

Organizational Commitment Job Satisfaction Intent to Leave

1 Pmyo 2 Pomem 1 Pmyo 2 Pomem 1 Pmyo 2 Pomem

N

Mean

216 178 216 178 216 178

3,0692 2,8954 2,7618 2,6522 2,5447 2,7680

SD

t

,78735 2,079 ,86997 ,76855 1,327 ,86962 ,97033 -2,172 1,06783

Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference ,038

,17377

0,185

0,10959

0,032

-0,22329

As shown in Table 4, since the corresponding p values (sig. (2-tailed) of organizational commitment and intent to leave are less than .05, it means that two groups’ (PMYO and POMEM graduates) mean scores for organizational commitment and intent to leave are statistically different from one another. PMYO graduates have much more commitment to their organization compared to POMEM graduates because PMYO graduates’ mean score for organizational commitment is greater than that of POMEM graduates (3, 0692 vs. 2,8954). In terms of their intentions to leave their job, the intent of POMEM graduates to quit the job is greater than their PMYO counterparts. The results revealed that the two groups do not differ significantly on the measures of job satisfaction. According to the aforementioned results of the study, fourth and sixth hypothesis of the study are accepted. Fifth hypothesis claiming that Job Satisfaction of TNP Members who graduated from PMYO is greater than their counterparts who graduated from POMEM is not supported. 4.4. Reliability of Research Instruments Following table (Table 5) shows the Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for all latent variables.

Higher Education and Job Attitudes: Satisfaction, Commitment and Turnover Intention of University Degree Holder and Non-Holder Police Officers Table 5:

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Reliability Statistics of Variables

Variable Job Satisfaction Intent to Leave Organizational Commitment

N of Items 9 4 18

Cronbach's Alpha ,812 ,824 ,914

4.5. Structural Equation Model (SEM) The goodness of fit statistics for the revised CFA and SEM models are summarized in the following table (Table 6). Table 6:

Reliability Statistics of Variables

Model Organizational Commitment Job satisfaction Intent to leave SEM SEM (Multi Group / PMYO-POMEM)

χ2 147,546 20,521 1,967 477,839 777,562

DF 58 7 1 212 424

χ2 / DF 2,544 2,932 1,967 2,254 1,834

CFI 0,966 0,98 0,998 0,939 0,921

TLI 0,955 0,957 0,99 0,928 0,905

RMSEA 0,063 0,07 0,05 0,056 0,046

Hoelter N 205 270 768 204 240

These statistics indicated good model fit for all models in this study. Given the good model fit allows us to interpret the relationships between variables. Goodness of fit statistics for multi group SEM model also indicated good model fit; and enables us to evaluate the relationships between variables for both PMYO and POMEM groups. The results of testing the hypothesis are presented in the following table (Table 7). Table 7: Hypoth H1 H2 H3 H1 H2 H3 H1 H2 H3

Results of Hypothesis Test and Model Variance Overall SEM Model SRW C.R. Intent to Leave