Personal values: A basis for work motivational set and work attitude

Abstract

This paper investigates the interrelationships among the employee's personal value system, job attitude, and organizational reward system. It was assumed that individual values are part of the set with which employees approach their work environment and evaluate the organizational reward system. Two separate and distinct Israeli employment universes were investigated and compared. They were that of industrial workers on the kibbutz and that of persons employed by private sector industries. It was found that workers from the kibbutz industry, where differential financial renumeration does not exist, reported a higher level of self-realization values and more satisfaction with intrinsic job aspects than those employed in the private sector. In contrast, employees in the private sector, who receive differential extrinsic rewards, reported a higher level of both aggrandizement values and extrinsic job satisfaction. In both samples, personal values were found to be related to aspects of job satisfaction.