Satisfaction with a new job after unemployment: Consequences of job loss for older professionals.

Participants were surveyed after joining a self-help group for unemployed professionals over the age of 40 and again 1 year later. A hidden cost of job loss, especially for older workers, may be decreased satisfaction with the new job obtained after a period of unemployment. Of the 24 initially unemployed participants who sought jobs, 1 year later 16 were reemployed, and 8 were still seeking jobs. The 16 reemployed participants indicated significantly less satisfaction in their new positions, compared to the ones held previously, with regard to pay and benefits. There was no change in satisfaction with co-workers. Satisfaction with supervision, the nature of the work, and prospects for promotion had increased. Positive self-esteem and internal locus of control at the initial survey were positively correlated with job satisfaction after reemployment. Contrary to expectations, age was also positively correlated with satisfaction in the new job. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction among female clerical workers.

Correlated degree of overall satisfaction, overall dissatisfaction, and overall satisfaction/dissatisfaction with measures of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with several aspects of the work situation for 160 female clerical workers. Tabulations were made of responses to open-ended questions concerning reasons for positive and negative feelings about the company. The results of these analyses offer no support for the 2-factor theory of job satisfaction, but are consistent with the traditional framework in which any variable can be both a "satisfier" and a "dissatisfier." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moderating influence of self-esteem on relationships between job complexity, performance, and satisfaction.

Administered the Job Diagnostic Survey, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and measures of job complexity, job performance, and sense of competence to 166 15–22 yr old 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-yr electrical apprentices. The measures were readministered 20 mo later to 92 of the original 1st- and 2nd-yr Ss to investigate the moderating influence of employee self-esteem on relationships between organizational variables. Analysis showed that global self-esteem and sense of competence did not moderate relationships between (1) job satisfaction and job performance and (2) job complexity and job performance or job satisfaction. It is suggested that the moderating effect of self-esteem on relationships involving job satisfaction, performance, and complexity may have little practical consequence. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological well-being and job satisfaction as predictors of job performance.

The happy–productive worker hypothesis has most often been examined in organizational research by correlating job satisfaction to performance. Recent research has expanded this to include measures of psychological well-being. However, to date, no field research has provided a comparative test of the relative contribution of job satisfaction and psychological well-being as predictors of employee performance. The authors report 2 field studies that, taken together, provide an opportunity to simultaneously examine the relative contribution of psychological well-being and job satisfaction to job performance. In Study 1, psychological well-being, but not job satisfaction, was predictive of job performance for 47 human services workers. These findings were replicated in Study 2 for 37 juvenile probation officers. These findings are discussed in terms of research on the happy–productive worker hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some relationships between job satisfaction and organization climate.

Relationships among 2 measures of job satisfaction, 1 measure of organizational climate, and 7 production and turnover indexes of organizational effectiveness were investigated in 50 life insurance agencies (N = 522). It was shown that (a) climate and satisfaction measures were correlated for people in some positions in the agencies but not for others; (b) people agreed more on the climate of their agency than they did on their satisfaction; (c) neither satisfaction nor climate were strongly correlated with production data; and (d) satisfaction but not climate, was correlated with turnover data. Implications of these data for research on climate and satisfaction as well as organizational change are discussed. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subjective expectation, outcome discrepancy, and job satisfaction.

Investigated subjective expectation as a source of satisfaction valence associated with job outcomes. Four variables were of major interest: desired outcome, actual outcome, subjective expectation, and job satisfaction. The following hypotheses were tested, using 3 measures of satisfaction in a laboratory analog study with 120 undergraduates: (a) A positive linear relationship exists between "actual outcome–desired outcome" discrepancy and job satisfaction. (b) A negative linear relationship exists between subjective expectation and job satisfaction. Results on all dependent measures support the 1st hypothesis. Support for the 2nd hypothesis was evident but not consistent across the 3 satisfaction measures. The problem of equivalence of satisfaction measures is discussed, as is the relationship of the results to existing research and implications for further investigation. (French summary) (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contribution of job and leisure satisfaction to quality of life.

Examined the relationships between job and leisure satisfaction and their contributions to the perception of quality of life. Data were collected from a national probability sample of 1,297 adult Americans interviewed in May 1972. The magnitude of the correlations between job and leisure satisfaction measures was low; however, both accounted for meaningful variation in perceived quality of life for the total sample. Separate analyses for demographic subgroups were also performed. They indicated that job satisfaction and leisure satisfaction contributed relatively little to the life quality of minorities and other often "disadvantaged" subgroups compared to "advantaged" workers. Implications of the results for the application of motivational stategies in the work setting are discussed. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body image, self-esteem, expectations, self-assessments, and actual success in a simulated job interview.

98 female undergraduates completed the Body Image Satisfaction Scale, Self-Cathexis Scale, Janis-Field-Eagly Self-Esteem Scale, and a job interview performance expectation scale prior to participating in a 15-min simulated job interview. After the job interviews, Ss rated their own performance. Two judges independently rated each S's performance by viewing videotapes of the job interviews. Expectations for job interview success were significantly related to both body satisfaction and self-esteem. Job interview self-ratings and the tendency to overrate or underestimate how well one actually performed were significantly related to self-esteem but not to body satisfaction. Body satisfaction was found to be subsumed by self-esteem in ability to predict interview expectations and self-assessments. Actual quality of interview performance was not related to either self-esteem or body attitudes. Discussion focuses on self-esteem consistency theory and implications for assisting applicants to assess more accurately their behavior in actual job interviews. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis.

This article presents meta-analytic results of the relationship of 4 traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability (low neuroticism)—with job satisfaction and job performance. With respect to job satisfaction, the estimated true score correlations were .26 for self-esteem, .45 for generalized self-efficacy, .32 for internal locus of control, and .24 for emotional stability. With respect to job performance, the correlations were .26 for self-esteem, .23 for generalized self-efficacy, .22 for internal locus of control, and .19 for emotional stability. In total, the results based on 274 correlations suggest that these traits are among the best dispositional predictors of job satisfaction and job performance. T. A. Judge, E. A. Locke, and C. C. Durham's (1997) theory of core self evaluations is used as a framework for discussing similarities between the 4 traits and their relationships to satisfaction and performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A linear model of job satisfaction.

Data relevant to 5 separate areas of a worker's job satisfaction (satisfaction with: work, pay, promotion opportunities, co-workers, and supervision) and 6 independent variables (age, tenure on the job, tenure with the company, job level, salary, and salary desired minus salary received) were gathered from a sample of 185 male workers and 75 female workers employed in 2 plants of an electronics manufacturing firm in New England. Multiple-regression analyses were done on these data to determine the validity of two hypotheses of Herzberg that age and tenure bear U-shaped relationships to job satisfaction. No support was found for these hypotheses. For the male workers a linear model of job satisfaction predicted work and pay satisfaction. None of the other dependent variables for the male or female workers could be predicted significantly and consistently. An explanation based on discrepancies between expectations and environmental return is offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of self-esteem within the job search process.

86 college students completed measures of both global (the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory) and specific (a specially constructed 10-item scale) self-esteem components before beginning a job search. Four months later, at the time of graduation, self-esteem predicted (a) the sources Ss used to find jobs, (b) interview evaluations received from organizational recruiters, (c) satisfaction with job search, (d) number of offers received, (e) acceptance of a job before graduation, and (f) length of intended tenure. Global self-esteem proved a better predictor of search outcomes dependent on Ss' social skills, whereas task-specific self-esteem was more strongly related to search motivation and satisfaction. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem as a moderator of the relationship between scientific interests and the job satisfaction of physicists and engineers.

A study with 121 engineers and 93 physicists tested the prediction that interests in science, as measured with the Strong Vocational Interest Blank for men, would be positively related to intrinsic satisfaction for high-self-esteem physicists and engineers but would be unrelated for low-self-esteem physicists and engineers. The predictions were confirmed for the sample of physicists to the extent that high-self-esteem Ss showed a significant correlation between interests and intrinsic satisfaction, but low-self-esteem Ss showed a nonsignificant correlation. Because the difference in correlations was nonsignificant, it could not be concluded that self-esteem was a moderator in the case of the physicists. Self-esteem did moderate the relationship between interests in science and both extrinsic and intrinsic satisfaction for engineers, but the correlations were in a direction opposite to those predicted. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational commitment and job performance: It's the nature of the commitment that counts.

In this study, we examined relations between the performance of first-level managers in a large food service company and their affective commitment (i.e., emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization), continuance commitment (i.e., perceived costs associated with leaving the company), and job satisfaction. Commitment and satisfaction scores were correlated with three indexes of performance obtained from the managers' immediate supervisors. As predicted, affective commitment correlated positively and continuance commitment correlated negatively with all three measures of performance. Job satisfaction did not correlate significantly with performance ratings. The findings are interpreted as illustrating the importance of distinguishing between commitment based on desire and commitment based on need and as supporting organizational efforts to foster affective commitment in their employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A work values approach to corporate culture: A field test of the value congruence process and its relationship to individual outcomes.

The purported advantage of a strong corporate culture presumes that positive outcomes result when peoples' values are congruent with those of others. This was tested by using a design that controlled for artifacts in prior studies. Participants, 191 production workers, their supervisors (N?=?17), and 13 managers at a large industrial products plant, completed questionnaires containing measures of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work values. Responses were later matched with the attendance and performance records of the production workers in the sample. Results showed that workers were more satisfied and committed when their values were congruent with the values of their supervisor. Value congruence between workers and their supervisors was not significantly correlated with workers' tenure; however, its effect on organizational commitment was more pronounced for longer tenured employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of job enrichment and task goals on satisfaction and productivity: Implications for job design.

A 2-phase research project investigated the effects of job enrichment and goal setting on employee productivity and satisfaction in a well-controlled, simulated job environment. In the 1st phase, 2 conditions of goal setting (assigned goals vs no goals) and 2 conditions of job enrichment (enriched vs unenriched) were established, producing 4 experimental conditions in which 42 part-time workers took part. Job enrichment had a substantial impact on job satisfaction but little effect on productivity. Goal setting, on the other hand, had a major impact on productivity and a less substantial impact on satisfaction. In the 2nd phase (after 2 days' work), Ss with unenriched jobs worked under the enrichment conditions and Ss originally without goals were assigned goals. Again, job enrichment had a positive effect on job satisfaction, while goal setting had a positive effect on performance. Results are discussed in terms of the current theoretical approaches for understanding employee motivation on the job. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurement and meaning of job satisfaction.

Reviews 9 operational definitions of job satisfaction. Data are reported for 208 employees of an eastern telephone company on the relationship between each of these definitions and observational and questionnaire measures of overall job satisfaction. Some operational definitions did not yield empirically comparable measures of satisfaction, although several correlated with an overall rating of job satisfaction and with absenteeism. Convergent and discriminant validity matrix analysis suggests that it is possible to validly measure people's satisfaction with different facets of their jobs. Implications for the development of a theory of job satisfaction are discussed. (39 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A critique and experimental design for the study of the relationship between productivity and job satisfaction.

"It is argued that the present approach to the study of the relationship between employee output and job satisfaction is not fruitful. What is needed is an examination of the characteristics of workers who are operating at a satisfactory level of both output and job satisfaction with workers and groups of workers who are not operating at such a level. A procedure is described which will permit the location of the workers who are operating at this 'optimal' level." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A causal-correlational analysis of the job satisfaction and performance relationship.

Gathered job satisfaction and performance data from about 80 newly hired female telephone operators after 1 and 3 mo work experience. This was not an experimental study, but tentative causal inferences were drawn from these longitudinal data by using a combination of cross-lagged and dynamic correlations. The overall relationship between satisfaction and performance was slightly positive, but the direction of causality was unclear. When job satisfaction was split into extrinsic and intrinsic components, the data suggest that performance causes intrinsic satisfaction and that extrinsic satisfaction causes performance. Both the type of job and the fact that these were new hires were offered as alternative explanations for these results. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)