MOTIVATION-HYGIENE THEORY OF JOB ATTITUDES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION AND AN ATTEMPT TO RECONCILE BOTH THE ONE- AND THE TWO-FACTOR THEORIES OF JOB ATTITUDES.

This is a test of methodological issues of the motivation-hygiene theory of job attitudes and an attempt to reconcile this theory with traditional theories of Job attitudes. Ninety-eight Ss responded to the Herzberg method of questioning, and completed the Job Description Index (JDI). Correlation of responses provided no support for the motivation-hygiene theory. Responses from same Ss to Porter's technique of measuring need-fulfillment deficiency (as a measure of the environment), and the Brayfield and Rothe index of job satisfaction (as a measure of overall job satisfaction) were also collected. The results partially supported the hypothesis that one- and two-factor theories of job attitudes can be reconciled. When the environment (organization) provides adequately for the satisfaction of all kinds of needs, the motivators become more powerful sources of satisfaction than hygiene factors. If the environment deprives people of all kinds of needs, hygiene factors become more powerful sources of dissatisfaction than motivators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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