What Matters in a Job? A Multi-Level Study of Job Preference Orientations and the Intrinsic Quality of Work in 25 Societies

Michal Kozák

doi:10.3390/soc10030062

Abstract

This paper examines cross-national differences in job preference orientations from the perspective of job quality. In particular, it investigates the extent to which preferences of workers in 25 developed societies are shaped by the intrinsic quality of jobs and its institutional determinants, as highlighted by varieties of capitalism (VoC) and power resources theory (PRT). The study uses multi-level models with country-specific random intercepts fitted to individual data from the International Social Survey Programme’s 2015 Work Orientations module, paired with institutional indicators from various sources. The results show that workers within countries tend to be oriented towards the same types of rewards that their jobs offer, with the intrinsic quality of work standing out as the most important factor of all. This logic extends to the cross-national variation in job preference orientations, which is strongly related to the average intrinsic quality of jobs in national labor markets and its institutional factors emphasized by PRT, rather than VoC.

Highlights

The concept of job preference orientations1 has been traditionally employed in the analyses of people’s subjective relationships with their work
This logic extends to the cross-national variation in job preference orientations, which is strongly related to the average intrinsic quality of jobs in national labor markets and its institutional factors emphasized by power resources theory (PRT), rather than varieties of capitalism (VoC)
According to the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) calculated from the model, 12% of the overall variance in job preference orientations occurs between countries, i.e., it is explained by the grouping structure in the population

Summary

Introduction

The concept of job preference orientations has been traditionally employed in the analyses of people’s subjective relationships with their work. There is a well-established research tradition of job preference orientations, consisting mainly of studies conducted within specific national contexts [3,4,8,11,17], but there is a growing body of comparative cross-national studies [1,2,5,6,10,13]. Researchers have investigated the relationship between workers’ preferences and factors such as socialization practices, life stages, Job preference orientations have been examined according to the terms “job preferences” [1,2], “work orientations” [3,4,5,6]

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Conclusion