Time Spent Communicating: A Multiple Levels of Analysis Approach

Abstract

Although prior studies have explored the association between time spent communicating and various antecedents and outcomes, differentiating among multiple levels of analysis in these investigations has been largely ignored. In this study, the relationships among time spent communicating and effort, satisfaction with work, and autonomy from a superior were assessed with an explicit consideration of multiple levels of analysisindividuals, work groups, and collectivities. Results from within and between analysis (WABA) procedures suggest that some effects were cross-level, aggregating to higher levels of analysis and varying across job-based collectivities and work groups. Other effects were level-specific, varying across work groups, but not aggregating to a higher level.