MEMBERS PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL UNION ACTIVITIES - MEASUREMENT, PREDICTION, AND REPLICATION

Past research on members' participation in union activities has been characterized by the lack of a psychometrically adequate criterion for participation and an exploratory focus on the correlates of participation. We report two studies addressing these issues. In the first study, we found that participation was best understood as a unidimensional and cumulative construct. Across three large data sets (ns = 229, 551, and 413), a Guttman scale model provided a good fit to the data. The scale demonstrated temporal reliability, and correlations with external criteria support the construct validity of the measure, In the second study, we formulated a model to predict members' participation on the basis of the theory of reasoned action and the partisan model of political participation. After slight modification, the proposed model fit the data for the study (n = 202) and for replication samples (n = 147). Directions for future research on union participation, conceptual implications for the understanding of union participation, and practical implications for union governance are discussed.