On the heritability of job satisfaction: The mediating role of personality.

In this article the authors investigate the extent to which traits reflecting individual differences in personality and affectivity explain or mediate genetic influences on job satisfaction. Using estimates of the dispositional source of job satisfaction according to 2 dispositional frameworks--the five-factor model and positive affectivity-negative affectivity (PA-NA)--and behavioral-genetic estimates of the heritabilities of job satisfaction and the dispositional factors, the authors computed the proportion of genetic variance in job satisfaction that is explained by these trait frameworks. Results indicate that the affectivity model is a stronger mediator of genetic effects on job satisfaction than the five-factor model. PA and NA mediate about 45% of the genetic influences on job satisfaction, whereas the five-factor model mediates approximately 24% of these genetic effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Occupational role stress in the Canadian forces: Its association with individual and organizational well-being.

Studies on workplace stress have been conducted in various occupational environments. However, published reports exploring occupational stress in the military are rare. This study examines occupational stress in the Canadian Forces within the framework of social role theory and its relation to employee health, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Ss were 1,068 Regular Forces military members who completed a survey questionnaire. Of interest were the psychological resources (e.g., individual coping skills, workplace leadership, and perceived organizational support) that have the potential to alter the perception of work stress and/or alleviate its association with individual and organizational outcomes. Regression analyses indicated a negative association between occupational role stress and both individual (strain) and organizational (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) well-being. No moderating effects were found for coping strategies, workplace leadership, or perceived organizational support, although these factors had direct relationships with both individual and organizational well-being The results are discussed in terms of the potential of organizational resources and role stress to cascade across organizational levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents and outcomes of organizational support for development: The critical role of career opportunities.

This study examines antecedents and behavioral outcomes of employees' perceptions of organizational support for development. We first propose that employees' past participation in formal developmental activities and experience with developmental relationships positively relate to their perceptions of organizational support for development. We then propose that perceived career opportunity within the organization moderates the relationship between organizational support for development and employee performance and turnover. Using a sample of 264 exempt-level employees and their supervisors, we found that participation in training classes, leader–member exchange, and career mentoring were each positively related to employees' perceptions of organizational support for development. We also found support for the moderator hypotheses. Specifically, development support positively related to job performance, but only when perceived career opportunity within the organization was high. Further, development support was associated with reduced voluntary turnover when perceived career opportunity was high, but it was associated with increased turnover when perceived career opportunity was low. Our study demonstrates that social exchange and career motivation theory work together to explain when and how employees' perceptions of organizational support for development relate to turnover and job performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational socialization: Its content and consequences.

Content dimensions of the socialization domain were defined to determine relationships between learning particular features of a job/organization and the process and outcomes of socialization. Six socialization dimensions (performance proficiency, politics, language, people, organizational goals/values, and history) were supported by a factor analysis on data from 594 full-time professionals. The socialization process was then examined by comparing 3 groups of respondents who did not change jobs, changed jobs within the organization, or changed jobs and organizations. Results showed these groups had significantly different response patterns on all dimensions. Finally, relationships between socialization content and career outcomes showed the dimensions accounted for more variance in all criteria than typical tenure operationalizations of socialization. Furthermore, socialization changes were significantly related to changes in career outcomes for 1-, 2-, and 3-yr time intervals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of organizational change: A stress and coping perspective.

Few organizational change studies identify the aspects of change that are salient to individuals and that influence well-being. The authors identified three distinct change characteristics: the frequency, impact and planning of change. R. S. Lazarus and S. Folkman's (1984) cognitive phenomenological model of stress and coping was used to propose ways that these change characteristics influence individuals' appraisal of the uncertainty associated with change, and, ultimately, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Results of a repeated cross-sectional study that collected individuals' perceptions of change one month prior to employee attitudes in consecutive years indicated that while the three change perceptions were moderately to strongly intercorrelated, the change perceptions displayed differential relationships with outcomes. Discussion focuses on the importance of systematically considering individuals' subjective experience of change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential Associations of Dispositional Optimism and Pessimism With Coping, Goal Attainment, and Emotional Adjustment During Sport Competition.

This study examined the associations of dispositional optimism and pessimism with athletes' coping, goal attainment, and affective states during a sport competition. Results of path analyses showed that dispositional optimism and pessimism correlated differently with coping and affective variables. Mediating analyses indicated that task-oriented coping partially mediated the relationship of optimism with postcompetition positive affective state, whereas disengagement-oriented coping fully mediated the relationship of pessimism with postcompetition anger/dejection. Ancillary hierarchical regressions also indicated that distraction-oriented coping may lead to positive outcomes when used in concordance with task-oriented coping. Overall, these results lent credence to the utility of a bidimensional model of optimism and pessimism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The convergent and discriminant validity of subjective fit perceptions.

This study examined whether employees develop perceptions about 3 different types of fit: person-organization fit, needs-supplies fit, and demands-abilities fit. Confirmatory factor analyses of data from 2 different samples strongly suggested that employees differentiate between these 3 types of fit. Furthermore, results from a longitudinal design of 187 managers supported both the convergent and discriminant validity of the different types of fit perceptions. Specifically, person-organization fit perceptions were related to organization-focused outcomes (e.g., organizational identification, citizenship behaviors, turnover decisions), whereas needs-supplies fit perceptions were related to job- and career-focused outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction, career satisfaction, occupational commitment). Although demands-abilities fit perceptions emerged as a distinct construct, they were not related to hypothesized outcomes (e.g., job performance, raises). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Safety and Insecurity: Exploring the Moderating Effect of Organizational Safety Climate.

This research reconciled disparate findings regarding the relationship between job insecurity and safety by examining organizational safety climate as a potential moderator. It was predicted that a strong organizational safety climate would attenuate the negative effects of job insecurity on self-reported safety outcomes such as safety knowledge, safety compliance, accidents, and injuries. Data collected from 136 manufacturing employees were consistent with these predictions. Results are discussed in light of escalating interest in how organizational factors can affect employee safety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative effects of personal and situational influences on job outcomes of new professionals.

We investigated the relative and combined effects of personal and situational variables on job outcomes of new professionals. The personal variables were cognitive ability, socioeconomic status, and career goals; the situational variables were job feedback, autonomy, and job context. Data were collected at two times from 280 newly hired, entry-level accountants at "Big Eight" firms. Both personal and situational variables predict job outcomes, but their relative influence depends on the outcome measure. Situational variables account for the most variance in job performance, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment; personal variables account for the most variance in promotability, internal work motivation, and turnover. The findings indicate that job performance does not take care of itself by selecting bright people, but requires constant vigilance and effective systems. The results also suggest that a given result can be achieved through a variety of behavioral science interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental and physical health of spouse caregivers: The role of personality.

Although personal resources of caregivers, such as coping skills and social support, have been shown to be important in understanding caregiver stress and health outcomes, personality traits have not previously been considered. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the personality traits of neuroticism and dispositional optimism and mental and physical health outcomes. It was predicted that personality would have direct effects, and indirect effects through perceived stress, on health outcomes. Participants were spouse caregivers of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Results show that neuroticism and optimism were significantly related to mental and physical health. Furthermore, neuroticism had significant direct effects on all of the health outcomes, and substantial indirect effects, through perceived stress, on mental health outcomes. Optimism showed stronger indirect than direct effects on all health outcomes. These findings demonstrate the importance of including personality of the caregiver in theoretical and empirical models of the caregiving process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Five-factor model of personality and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis.

This study reports results of a meta-analysis linking traits from the 5-factor model of personality to overall job satisfaction. Using the model as an organizing framework, 334 correlations from 163 independent samples were classified according to the model. The estimated true score correlations with job satisfaction were -.29 for Neuroticism, .25 for Extraversion, .02 for Openness to Experience, .17 for Agreeableness, and .26 for Conscientiousness. Results further indicated that only the relations of Neuroticism and Extraversion with job satisfaction generalized across studies. As a set, the Big Five traits had a multiple correlation of .41 with job satisfaction, indicating support for the validity of the dispositional source of job satisfaction when traits are organized according to the 5-factor model. (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)     

Is job search related to employment quality? It all depends on the fit.

In this longitudinal study on job search, fit perceptions, and employment quality, 113 graduates completed surveys prior to organizational entry and 4 mo after entry. Job search behavior and career planning were positively related to pre-entry person job (P-J) and person-organization (P-O) fit perceptions, and pre-entry P-J fit perceptions mediated the relationship between career planning and postentry P-J fit perceptions. P-J and P-O fit perceptions were positively related to job and organizational attitudes, and pre-entry P-J fit perceptions mediated the relationship between career planning and job attitudes. Further, the relationships between pre-entry fit perceptions and employment quality were mediated by postentry fit perceptions. These results indicate that P-J and P-O fit perceptions play an important role in linking job search to employment quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contributions of leisure to coping with daily hassles in university students' lives.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how leisure coping significantly influences immediate coping outcomes (operationalized by coping effectiveness, satisfaction with coping outcomes, and stress reduction), mental health, and psychological well-being, above and beyond the impact of general coping (not directly associated with leisure). University students participated in the research. Overall, the unique contributions of leisure coping were statistically significant for predicting all of the three outcome indicators. Leisure coping beliefs (dispositional coping resources developed through involvement in leisure) significantly contributed to greater immediate coping outcomes, lower mental ill-health, and higher psychological well-being. The other primary dimension of leisure coping, namely, leisure coping strategies (situation-specific behaviours or cognitions available through leisure pursuits), was found to significantly predict greater immediate coping outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Momentary Mood and Coping Processes in TMD Pain.

Temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) pain, like many chronic pain problems, appears to be multiply determined. Patients with TMD pain of at least 6 months duration (N = 30) were administered questionnaires measuring dispositional coping styles and appraisals to explore the dynamic interactions of the pain and coping process. Patients were then issued handheld computers that prompted them to record their momentary pain and coping processes 4 times per day for 7 days. Hierarchical linear regression models using both the dispositional and momentary predictors indicated that momentary pain was a function both of dispositional tendency to catastrophize and of momentary measures of catastrophization, self-efficacy, and mood states. Results were seen as supporting a situational model of intervention for chronic TMD pain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consequences of client-initiated workplace violence: The role of fear and perceived prevention.

The authors suggested and tested a model of the consequences of client-initiated workplace violence, introducing perceived prevention of violence and perceived coping ability as factors that reduce fear of future violence and mitigate negative personal and organizational consequences. Survey data from 330 frontline staff from job centers and social security offices were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The data supported the model and confirmed the central role of the fear of violence with regard to outcomes such as psychological and physical well-being or irritability. Results point further to perceived prevention of violence as an important factor that influences fear levels in different ways, predicts turnover intentions, and should therefore be considered when managers aim to address the consequences of client-initiated violence and threats. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Influence of Prior Commitment on the Reactions of Layoff Survivors to Organizational Downsizing.

Nurses (N := 179; Study 1) and managers (N = 154; Study 2) participated in 2 panel studies examining the relationship among prior commitment (affective and continuance commitment and perceived organizational support), coping strategies, and survivors' attitudes and perceptions during and following downsizing. In Study 1, perceived organizational support was significantly positively related to control-oriented coping, job satisfaction, and intention to remain and negatively related to perceived job insecurity and burnout 2 years later. In Study 2, coping mediated the relationship between the prior commitment variables and job alienation, health symptoms, and burnout following the downsizing. Control-oriented coping was associated with elevated levels of health symptoms and burnout following the downsizing, suggesting that control-oriented coping may have positive effects in the short term but potentially harmful effects in the long term. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Situational coping and coping dispositions in a stressful transaction.

After reporting dispositional coping styles, 125 undergraduates reported situational coping and 4 classes of affect (from threat, challenge, harm, and benefit appraisals) 2 days before an exam, after the exam but before grades were posted, and after posting of grades. Coping did not predict lower levels of future distress; indeed, some coping seemed to induce feelings of threat. Feelings of harm before the exam induced several kinds of coping after the exam, mostly dysfunctional. Confidence about one's grade was a better predictor of emotions throughout than was coping. Dispositional coping predicted comparable situational coping at low-moderate levels in most cases. Coping dispositions did not reliably predict emotions, however, with these exceptions: Dispositional denial was related to threat, as was dispositional use of social support; dispositional use of alcohol was related to both threat and harm. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in job outcome preferences: Trends among newly hired college graduates.

Examined several causes for discrepant findings in the literature related to sex differences in job outcome preferences. 648 college graduates newly hired into entry-level business jobs over a 9-yr period rated job characteristics comprising 3 job outcome dimensions: (a) long-term career objectives, (b) working environment and interpersonal relationships, and (c) intrinsic job aspects. The possibility that the area of professional training could account for sex differences in job outcome preferences was explored, controlling for age, education, organizational level, and occupational category. Although professional training area did have a significant effect on job outcome preferences, sex differences persisted, with females giving significantly less emphasis to career objectives and significantly more emphasis to work environment and interpersonal job aspects than males. Analyses of trends showed a convergence of female preferences toward those of males on the 2 dimensions in which sex differences were found. Efforts to predict turnover from job outcome preferences suggested that females with a relatively high career orientation were less likely than males or other females to leave the organization. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unlocking the black box: Exploring the link between high-performance work systems and performance.

With a growing body of literature linking systems of high-performance work practices to organizational performance outcomes, recent research has pushed for examinations of the underlying mechanisms that enable this connection. In this study, based on a large sample of Welsh public-sector employees, we explored the role of several individual-level attitudinal factors—job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and psychological empowerment—as well as organizational citizenship behaviors that have the potential to provide insights into how human resource systems influence the performance of organizational units. The results support a unit-level path model, such that department-level, high-performance work system utilization is associated with enhanced levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and psychological empowerment. In turn, these attitudinal variables were found to be positively linked to enhanced organizational citizenship behaviors, which are further related to a second-order construct measuring departmental performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)