Abstract
This study investigated the adequacy of a rating scale with a large number of response categories that is often used in panel surveys for assessing diverse aspects of job satisfaction. An inappropriate scale usage is indicative of overstraining respondents and of diminished psychometric scale quality. The mixed Item Response Theory (IRT) approach for polytomous data allows exploring heterogeneous patterns of inappropriate scale usage in form of avoided categories and response styles. In this study, panel data of employees (n = 7036) on five aspects of job satisfaction measured on an 11-point rating scale within the “Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia” (wave 2001) were analyzed. A three-class solution of the restricted mixed generalized partial credit model fit the data best. The results showed that in no class the 11-point scale was appropriately used but that the number of categories used was reduced in all three classes. Respondents of the large class (40%) appropriately differentiate between up to six categories. The two smaller classes (33 and 27%) avoid even more categories and show some kind of extreme response style. Furthermore, classes differ in socio-demographic and job-related factors. In conclusion, a two- to six-point scale without the middle point might be more adequate for assessing job satisfaction.
Highlights
Job satisfaction is a relevant indicator of quality of life and as such is well investigated in organizational contexts
Based on an exploratory factor analysis, we reduced the 10 items to four aspects of working conditions: (1) stress (e.g., “My job is more stressful than I had ever imagined.”), (2) security (e.g., “The company I work for will still be in business 5 years .”), (3) autonomy (e.g., “I have a lot of say about what happens on my job.”), and (4) skills (e.g., “I use many of my skills and abilities in my current job.”) See Part A of the supplementary material for more details
The application of a restricted mixed general partial credit model on Job Satisfaction (JS) data from the HILDA Survey revealed severe drawbacks of an 11-point rating scale that we summarize
Summary
Job satisfaction is a relevant indicator of quality of life and as such is well investigated in organizational contexts. Vii) pointedly put it, “Job satisfaction is the degree to which people like their jobs.”. The term includes subjective evaluations of relevant work aspects and the affective states the person is experiencing while at work. Job satisfaction has become important in human resource management, guiding corporation policies in shaping processes and improving effectiveness. High job satisfaction is thought to reflect a good fit of employees’ professional and personal characteristics to the job tasks and exhibits a positive effect on commitment and productivity (Judge et al, 2001). High job satisfaction often implies an adequate work-life balance, which in turn increases well-being and life satisfaction (Kossek and Ozeki, 1998)
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