THE JOB SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE: ITS FACTOR STRUCTURE AND PSYCHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

The article presents the questionnaire measuring job satisfaction - an individual’s subjective attitude based on perception, emotional response and cognitive assessment of his/her professional activities and climate in his/her organization. The method contains the list of 38 statements concerning the professional sphere; respondents should rate them with a 5-point scale from “completely satisfied” to “absolutely dissatisfied”. The questionnaire was tested with the sample of 135 people from different professional areas, aged 20 to 62, including 90 women. Factor analysis confirmed the structural components of job satisfaction organised into the questionnaire subscales: resourcefulness of the professional environment, organization of a work processes, work-life balance, social value of work, professional self-realization. The obtained quantitative results met the criteria of normal distribution and had a high degree of internal consistency. Scores and the overall indicator of job satisfaction did not depend on age and correlated closely with professional self-realization, the balance of various life spheres, burnout symptoms and work involvement. There were differences in the component structure of job satisfaction for different genders: women assessed significantly higher their balance of professional and non-professional life spheres. Three groups were composed depending on the respondents’ desire to resign or change jobs (absent desire, sometimes, often). The comparative analysis of these groups showed that job satisfaction was a reliable predictor of the probability of jobs changing; here, the balance of life spheres was especially indicative. The questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool, recommended for use in research and practical work. It allows assessing employees’ current experiences about their professional position, gives a fairly complete picture of job satisfaction, concluding about personal and professional adaptation, as well as identifying the most relevant areas of psychological interventions and organizational changes. The construction of test norms must take into account the specifics of the profession and the conditions of a particular organizational environment.