Lifespace Variables
Lifespace variables measure important conditions that surround the employee both on and off
the job. They describe the individual employee's interactions with organizational factors,
task demands, supervision, and conditions of the job. Vicino and Bass (1978) used four lifespace
variables-task challenge on first job assignment, life stability, supervisor-subordinate
personality match, and immediate supervisor'5 5ussg5s-to improve predictions of management
success at Exxon. The four variables accounted for an additional 22 percent of the
variance in success on the job over and above Exxon's own prediction system based on
aptitude and personality measures. The equivalent of a multiple R of .79 was obtained. Other
lifespace variables, such as personal orientation, career confidence, cosmopolitan versus
local orientation, andjob stress, deserve further study (Cooke & Rousseau, 1983; Edwards &
Van Harrison, 1993).