Work Experiences, Job Involvement, and Quality of Work Life Among Information Systems Personnel

This study assesses the job involvement of 464 professionals and managers in the information systems (IS) field and investigates the role of involvement in influencing the quality of work life. Results show significant variation in the level of job involvement displayed by IS employees and differential patterns of relationships among the work variables for IS personnel with low, moderate, and high levels of job involvement. The findings indicate that involvement serves as a complex moderator role in the pattern of relationships of work experiences, and job characteristics with career expectations and career outcomes. It has both linear and non-linear relationships with sevearl of the study variables. While in some cases, high levels of job involvement tend to enhance the beneficial effects of work experiences on the quality of work life, in others such involvement tends to heighten the negative effects of role stressors. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.