| dc.description.abstract | In higher education research, staff is an overlooked group – especially staff that support academic areas of the university, such as advising, finance, IT, athletic academics, and libraries. Though institutions could not operate without these people, those individuals may feel like they do not matter to their work peers, department, institution, or profession. Mattering is feeling like you have significant existence in the world (Elliott, Kao, & Grant, 2004; Rosenberg & McCullough, 1981). Mattering is currently measured with self-report instruments that measure the perception of mattering. Knowing if staff feel like they matter is a critical measurement. It is only relevant if it is assumed that the degree to which an individual needs to feel they matter is similar for everyone.
The purpose of this study is to develop a measure of the degree to which an individual yearns to feel that they have a significant existence to another or a larger community. Further, this study examines the psychometric properties of the newly developed instrument and its relation to outcomes such as turnover, engagement, and morale. Pragmatically, the results may help university administrators make better decisions about implementing and focusing sometimes costly interventions.
This study was conducted in multiple steps. New items were first developed based upon guiding theory and existing measures of mattering. The items were then vetted by content experts and combined into a new scale. The new instrument was assessed for reliability and validity, and results were analyzed in relation to measures of employee turnover, engagement, and morale. Participants were mid-level university staff from a mid-western state university system. This band of participants includes a wide range of positions that have similar status, interact with similar groups, and are similarly compensated. The Need to Matter Scale was also tested psychometrically. The need to matter is measurable; however, each environmental system level was measured with a different scale. Though in this study the NMS did not moderate mattering and workplace outcomes as expected, there are plenty of indicators that future research might uncover more of this complex phenomenon. Implications for theory, future research, and practice are also discussed. | en_US |
