A Test of Alternative Hierarchical Models of Psychological Climate: PCg, Satisfaction, or Common Method Variance?

Structural equation modeling was used to examine the construct validity of the James and James hierarchical model of psychological climate. Their hypothesis, that a general factor-representing an appraisal of the work environment as personally beneficial or detrimental (PCg)-underlies climate perceptions, was pitted against two alternative explanations. Although the results are somewhat supportive of the James and James model, the data also indicate that PCg may be an artifact of common method variance.