Another look at the job satisfaction-life satisfaction relationship.

The relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction has been heavily researched over the years. In spite of this research interest, results have not proved conclusive in demonstrating the causal nature of the relationship. In the present study, a causal model was hypothesized and tested that involved simultaneous consideration of cross-sectional and longitudinal effects between job and life satisfaction. This type of analysis has not previously been conducted and allows the strongest conclusions to date regarding the causality between these constructs. Results based on a national probability sample of workers indicate that job and life satisfaction were significantly and reciprocally related. The cross-sectional results suggest a relatively strong relationship between job and life satisfaction, but the longitudinal results a weaker relationship over a 5-yr period, particularly with respect to the effect of job satisfaction on life satisfaction. The meaning of these results in the context of past research on the job satisfaction–life satisfaction relationship is discussed. (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)     

Pressure for production, task difficulty, and the correlation between job satisfaction and job performance.

Investigated in an educational setting H. C. Triandis's hypothesis that pressure for production influences the correlation between job satisfaction and job performance. In a difficult course with a great deal of pressure, course satisfaction and expected grade on the part of the students (n = 25) were more highly correlated than in a course where pressure on the students (n = 67) was considerably less. This finding suggests that differences in production pressure and task difficulty may partially explain the variety of results obtained when researchers correlate job satisfaction with job performance. (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)     

An opponent process theory of job satisfaction.

Considers the role of job satisfaction in research and theory in the area of industrial and organizational psychology. Job satisfaction seems to occupy a position as the hedonic or affective component in theories of motivation. In spite of its importance, little theory is available for understanding the affective state represented by the concept of job satisfaction. Opponent process theory is suggested as a reasonable deductive statement for a consideration of the phenomenon of satisfaction. The theory proposes that every excursion from hedonic neutrality is accompanied by an attempt to bring the excursion back within "normal" limits. This return to normal is accomplished via an opponent process. The theory further suggests that the opponent process grows in strength with use. The theory is applied to some current questions regarding the relationship between job satisfaction and work motivation. The major parameters of the theory are represented by a series of research hypotheses and corollaries. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job insecurity and employability in fixed-term contractors, agency workers, and permanent workers: Associations with job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment.

This study investigates how job insecurity and employability relate to job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment in permanent workers, fixed-term contract workers, and temporary agency workers. The authors hypothesized that (a) job insecurity relates negatively to job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment, and this relationship is strongest in permanent workers and weakest in temporary agency workers; and that (b) employability relates positively to job satisfaction and negatively to affective organizational commitment, and this relationship is strongest in temporary agency workers and weakest in permanent workers. Hypotheses were tested in workers (permanent: n = 329; fixed term; n = 160; temporary agency: n = 89) from 23 Belgian organizations. The results show that job insecurity related negatively to the outcomes for permanent workers and temporary agency workers. This relationship was not significant for fixed-term contract workers. Employability related negatively to the outcomes for fixed-term contract workers and temporary agency workers, and this relationship was not significant for permanent workers. The 3 groups had different interpretations of what constitutes a stressor and about what signals a good employment relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships of job and family involvement, family social support, and work–family conflict with job and life satisfaction.

A model of the relationship between work and family that incorporates variables from both the work-family conflict and social support literatures was developed and empirically tested. This model related bidirectional work-family conflict, family instrumental and emotional social support, and job and family involvement to job and life satisfaction. Data came from 163 workers who were living with at least 1 family member. Results suggested that relationships between work and family can have an important effect on job and life satisfaction and that the level of involvement the worker assigns to work and family roles is associated with this relationship. The results also suggested that the relationship between work and family can be simultaneously characterized by conflict and support. Higher levels of work interfering with family predicted lower levels of family emotional and instrumental support. Higher levels of family emotional and instrumental support were associated with lower levels of family interfering with work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and job satisfaction: The mediating role of job characteristics.

This study tested a model of the relationship between core self-evaluations, intrinsic job characteristics, and job satisfaction. Core self-evaluations was assumed to be a broad personality concept manifested in 4 specific traits: self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and low neuroticism. The model hypothesized that both subjective (perceived) job characteristics and job complexity mediate the relationship between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction. Two studies were conducted to test the model. Results from Study 1 supported the hypothesized model but also suggested that alternative models fit the data well. Results from Study 2 revealed that core self-evaluations measured in childhood and in early adulthood were linked to job satisfaction measured in middle adulthood. Furthermore, in Study 2 job complexity mediated part of the relationship between both assessments of core self-evaluations and job satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autonomy and job satisfaction in task-oriented groups.

Ss were placed in apparent 3-person communication structures in which written notes were used to create illusions of centrality (or peripherality) and of autonomy (or dependence). A simple task was given requiring coordination of the Ss' activities. Results indicate that "positional autonomy is a major determinant of job satisfaction in task-oriented groups." The relationship between autonomy and job satisfaction seems to be mediated by satisfaction of a need for autonomy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences and reactions to job characteristics.

Evaluated 3 different methods of measuring individual differences as moderators of employee reactions to job characteristics. The 3 methods are urban vs rural background, strong vs weak belief in the Protestant work ethic, and high vs low strength for "higher order" needs. Each of these 3 methods was used as a moderator of the relationships between job characteristics on the one hand, and specific job facet satisfaction, overall job satisfaction, and job behavior on the other hand. Data were obtained from 80 newly hired female telephone operators. Based on the job satisfaction results, higher order need strength was the most useful way to measure this type of individual difference, followed by the Protestant work ethic, and lastly by urban vs rural background of the worker. There were no differences among the 3 individual differences as moderators of the job characteristics and job behavior relationship. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leader group prototypicality and job satisfaction: The moderating role of job stress and team identification.

The authors examined the relationship between leader group prototypicality (the extent to which a leader is representative of the collective identity) and job satisfaction as an indicator of leadership effectiveness. Leader group prototypicality was expected to interact with job stress and team identification, such that leader group protototypicality is more strongly related to job satisfaction for followers with higher job stress and team identification. Two cross-sectional surveys (N = 329 and N = 89) conducted with the employees of 4 Italian organizations provided support for this hypothesis. The authors discuss how these findings extend our understanding of leadership effectiveness within the social identity model of leadership. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work–family conflict, policies, and the job–life satisfaction relationship: A review and directions for organizational behavior–human resources research.

This review examines the relationship among work–family (w-f) conflict, policies, and job and life satisfaction. The meta-analytic results show that regardless of the type of measure used (bidirectional w-f conflict, work to family, family to work), a consistent negative relationship exists among all forms of w-f conflict and job–life satisfaction. This relationship was slightly less strong for family to work conflict. Although confidence intervals overlap, the relationship between job–life satisfaction and w-f conflict may be stronger for women than men. Future research should strive for greater consistency and construct development of measures, examination of how sample composition influences findings, and increased integration of human resources policy and role conflict perspectives, including whether a positive relationship between w-f policies and satisfaction is mediated by w-f conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job factor importance for job satisfaction and dissatisfaction across different occupational levels.

3 occupational levels of employees, 155 first-line managers, 182 middle managers, and 181 professional employees, judged the importance of 18 job factors as contributing separately to job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction. Occupational level of the respondent did not significantly affect the judged order of importance of the factors for either job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Similar content factors were judged most important while similar context factors were judged least important in contributing to both job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The relationship between the importance of the job factors in contributing to satisfying or dissatisfying situation is generally not significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors in the job involvement of middle managers.

Investigated the nature of job involvement (JI) and its relationship to other variables for 149 male middle managers in 1 company. A replication group contained 58 Ss. Both company satisfaction(CS) and JI were measured using 20-item Likert scales. A significant linear relationship between JI and CS was found in both groups (r = .44, .45). Principal components factor analyses of JI scores for both groups produced 3 orthogonal factors that replicated. Because only the 1st factor, job ambition, was consistent with previous research, it is concluded that the factor structure of JI is occupationally specific. Results are interpreted as supporting the idea that importance of the job to a worker's self-image is associated with his satisfaction with the company. Possible relationships of JI to theories of work motivation are discussed. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between job satisfaction and job performance between western and tribal Black employees.

Examined the effect of westernization on the job performance/job satisfaction relationship in 132 Black male 1st-level supervisors in 15 different South African factories. When the sample was split into western and tribal subgroups, the relationship between performance and satisfaction was significantly higher among western Ss. The 2 subgroups were also compared on measures of intrinsic motivation, instrumentality, and valence of job rewards. Because the western subgroup only obtained a significantly higher score on the measure of intrinsic motivation, it is suggested that it may be because they are more concerned about performing well than that the performance–satisfaction relationship is higher among western employees. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does affective disposition moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and voluntary turnover?

J. Weitz (1952) argued that job dissatisfaction would be more predictive of turnover if it was considered in light of an individual's predisposition to be satisfied with everyday life events. In the present study it was hypothesized that affective disposition moderates the relationship between job satisfaction and voluntary turnover. With data collected from a sample of nurses, support was indicated for the hypothesis. The more positive the disposition of the individual, the stronger the relationship that was observed between job dissatisfaction and turnover. Furthermore, individuals dissatisfied with their jobs but positively disposed to life in general were the individuals most likely to quit. Implications of the results for future research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correctional psychologist burnout, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction.

Corrections is a stressful environment, but do correctional psychologists experience greater levels of occupational burnout and life stress than other public sector and nonpublic sector psychologists? Data collected from 203 doctoral level psychologists including correctional (CR; n = 44), Veteran's Affairs (VA; n = 56), public psychiatric hospital (PPH; n = 54), and university counseling centers (CC; n = 49) indicated that CR psychologists do experience significantly more occupational burnout relative to VA and CC psychologists. Furthermore, CR and PPH psychologists reported significantly less job satisfaction than CC psychologists. Although psychologists working in PPH settings reported significantly lower levels of life satisfaction than VA and CC psychologists this was not the case for CR psychologists. Professional identity related to occupational setting emerged as a significant predictor of occupational burnout. Implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of LISREL and two-stage least squares analysis of a hypothesized life–job satisfaction reciprocal relationship.

Investigated the nature of the relationship between life satisfaction and job satisfaction using both 2-stage least squares and the analysis of linear structural equations by LISREL. Both techniques provided the possibility of evaluating causal relationships that are bidirectional. 873 civil service workers were administered a battery of tests, including the Job Diagnostic Survey, the short form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Results are consistent with a model that hypothesizes a reciprocal relationship between job and life domains. Estimates of structural parameters were consistent across analysis techniques. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting employee life satisfaction: A coherent model of personality, work, and nonwork experiences, and domain satisfactions.

This study examined a theoretical model that linked neuroticism, extraversion, daily hassles and uplifts in both work and nonwork domains, job satisfaction, and nonwork satisfaction to overall life satisfaction. Structural equation analyses were conducted on 3 waves of data obtained from 479 police officers. It was found that job satisfaction and nonwork satisfaction made independent contributions to overall life satisfaction, but there was no significant relationship between work experiences and nonwork satisfaction, nor between nonwork experiences and job satisfaction. These findings support a segregation model rather than a spillover model of the links between the work and nonwork domains of employees' lives. Moreover, the total effects showed that life satisfaction was determined, in order of importance, by nonwork satisfaction, neuroticism, nonwork hassles, job satisfaction, nonwork uplifts, extraversion, work hassles, and work uplifts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Higher order need strengths as moderators of the job scope–job satisfaction relationship.

Questionnaire data on job characteristics, personality traits (Personality Research Form), and job satisfaction (Brayfield-Rothe Job Satisfaction Index) were obtained from 340 employees of a manufacturing organization. Moderated regression and subgroup analyses were performed to determine the extent to which 2 personality traits, need for achievement and need for autonomy, moderated the relationship between job scope and satisfaction with the work itself. The subgroup analysis showed no moderating effect for need for autonomy and moderating effects inconsistent with previous research and theory for need for achievement. Moderated regression showed no moderating effect for need for autonomy and a moderating effect of negligible practical importance for need for achievement. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)