Mediating subjective task complexity in job design: A critical reflection of historicity in self-regulatory activity

Abstract

This paper critically reflects on the influence of historicity in self-regulatory activity towards mediating subjective task complexity in job design. This is based on the growing interest of using the ‘practice’ approach in overcoming the gap between the theoretical understanding of what people do and the realistic understanding of what people actually do at the workplace. The paper argued that since an objective analysis of the number of alternatives presented in any given situation will not always coincide with subjective perceptions, and the individual’s lack of knowledge about the external world may result in his/her inability to accurately predict the outcomes of his/her decisions, then it is important to understand how an individual acquire knowledge about his/her external world of work, and also if its consequential effect on the routine is acquired through the recollections of the subconscious mind’s daily encounters at the work situations.