A study of Ghiselli's hobo syndrome☆

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Abstract

This study attempts to clarify conceptual and operational inconsistencies in the literature around “Ghiselli's hobo syndrome.” I propose that defining characteristics of hobo syndrome should include both the exhibition of frequent job movement behavior and positive attitudes about such behavior. This definition effectively differentiates the construct from other similar phenomena associated with frequent job movement (e.g., job/career mobility, protean careers). Using latent class cluster analysis of a diverse sample of 944 U.S. workers, it was empirically validated that a small number of individuals resembling the proposed characteristics of hobos did emerge as a distinct group (N = 42), providing person-centered evidence for the construct validity of hobo syndrome. The dispositional roots of hobo syndrome and work-related outcomes were also explored. It was found that individuals with high levels of openness to experience were likely to exhibit hobo syndrome, whereas impulsivity was not related to such tendency. Also, workers who were more likely to be categorized as hobos tended to report less positive views about their current jobs. Based on these findings, implications for research and practice are discussed.

Section snippets

Phase 1: conceptualizing of hobo syndrome

Who are the hobos? What is the underlying cause of their hobo-ness? According to Ghiselli's original description, hobo syndrome reflects individuals' tendency to move from one place to another. Therefore, researchers have assumed that the defining feature of hobo syndrome is the recurrence of quitting behavior itself (Judge & Watanabe, 1995). Based on this notion, past research sought to establish the validity of hobo syndrome by predicting one's future quitting behavior from the individual's

Phase 2: identifying hobos

Building on the theoretical development of hobo syndrome, in the second phase I empirically examine its construct validity by testing whether or not hobos do exist in reality. Hobo syndrome can be validated from either a variable-centered or a person-centered perspective. From a variable-centered perspective, researchers may pose a hobo syndrome as a latent variable, accounting for the interrelated patterns of individual differences in behaviors and attitudes regarding frequent job movement. In

Participants and procedure

Data were collected from 944 working adults residing in the U.S. who volunteered to participate in an anonymous on-line survey in exchange for a monetary incentive. Participants were contacted through a professional, online participant recruiting service. The survey included questions about demographic information, academic and professional background (e.g., the highest educational degree obtained and employment history), and whether and how many times they have voluntarily changed jobs. Among

Results

Table 1 provides the result of LC cluster model evaluations compared from 1-cluster to 10-cluster solutions. As indicated by the lowest BIC values along with other evaluation criteria mentioned above, the 6-cluster model had the best fit to the data. Table 2 provides means and standard deviations of the four indicators of hobo syndrome (i.e., the number of jobs quit and three variables reflecting attitudes toward quitting) for each latent class derived from the 6-cluster solution (See Fig. 1

Phase 3: linking hobo syndrome with personality and work attitudes

So far, two points have been made in this article. First, hobos are frequent job movers who enjoy the act of changing/quitting jobs. Second, data suggest that the existence of hobos in the population of U.S. workers may be real. In the last phase of the present study, I broaden our understanding of hobos by exploring the nomological connections of hobo syndrome with personality traits and work-related outcomes.

Understanding the personality of hobos can lead us to identify the dispositional

Method

Participants in Phase 2 also filled out a set of questions asking about their personality characteristics and current work experiences. Openness to Experience was measured with Goldberg's 10-item scale (originally labeled as Intellect or Imagination), which was available from the International Personality Item Pool Web site (http://ipip.ori.org/ipip/) (Goldberg et al., 2006). Sample items include “Have a vivid imagination”, “Spend time reflecting on things”, “Am full of ideas”. Impulsivity

Results

Table 3 provides descriptive statistics and intercorrelations of study variables. Consistent with the expectation, hobo syndrome was positively correlated with openness (r = .13, p < .01). Impulsivity, on the other hand, did not show a significant relationship with hobo syndrome, contrary to the common beliefs about hobos being impetuous and spontaneous. Probability of membership in the latent class of hobos was positively correlated with individuals' intent to quit (r = .23, p < .01), and with six of

Discussion

The present study represents a follow-up to Ghiselli's (1974) proposition regarding the existence and characteristics of hobos in the workplace. In the attempt to provide a basis for similar quests in the future, in the current article I proposed an explicit definition of hobos, and then empirically tested and confirmed that a group of individuals resembling the prototypical characteristics of hobos (as delineated in this article) did emerge as a distinct group in the population. Building on

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    ☆

    I would like to thank Chuck Hulin, James LeBreton, and Louis Tay for reading earlier versions of this manuscript and providing helpful comments.

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