| This dissertation examines the socialization and adjustment processes of newcomers to organizations. Previous research in the field of organizational socialization has produced several descriptive models of the socialization process, yet these models remain untested. As a result, there is little empirical evidence regarding this important part of organizational entry.;The results of the study indicate that it is primarily role activities which conform to traditional timing and stage assumptions regarding organizational socialization. This suggests that task and interpersonal activities follow a different cycle of expectation-demand-mastery-outcome than the traditional sequence.;The dissertation concludes with implications for future research, and suggested research questions. Implications for practice deal with the need to reduce role stress faced by newcomers and provide support for interpersonal relationships. Implications for research in organizational socialization include the necessity of longitudinal studies and triangulation of methods. Suggested questions for future research include the need to establish which role stressors are most demanding for newcomers and the need to ascertain the roles of task and interpersonal activities in the socialization process.;In addressing this need for research, this dissertation accomplished two interconnected tasks: (1) Development of a model of organizational socialization from an organizational stress perspective. While most scholars in this area agree that the socialization experience is a stressful event, none have addressed the process from this perspective. The Stress of Socialization Model developed in this study allows an examination of the interpersonal, task, and role demands which individuals face in the three stages of socialization, and an analysis of the interrelationships of these demands and their effects upon outcomes of the socialization process. (2) Examination of the validity of the Stress of Socialization Model in realistic field settings. A longitudinal design was used to examine the predictive relationships in the model with partial correlation as the analysis technique. Three organizations participated in the study: a university, an oil field servicing company, and an electronics defense contractor. Subjects included 91 professional individuals. |
