Administrative philosophy has in recent years increasingly reflected the view that for effective performance, organizational members need to possess a reasonably high level of competence in interpersonal behavior. The study reported here produced findings concerning the relationship of this philosophy to the distribution of rewards among professionals in technical organizations. The investigation addressed the question, "In rewarding the technical professional employee, what relative weight does management give to his interpersonal skills as compared with his technical skills?" Data were collected in a university setting, an independent research laboratory, and a research-and-development engineering firm. In the engineering firm, interpersonal competence was found to be as highly related to reward level as was technical competence; in the university, interpersonal competence was negatively related, while technical competence was positively related to reward level; and in the laboratory, interpersonal competence was not related, while technical competence was positively related to reward level. Inferences are drawn concerning (1) the uniqueness of the construct, "professionals," and (2) potential re-socialization effects of laboratory experience.

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