Reported Job Satisfaction Research Articles

Job satisfaction of registered nurses working in an acute hospital.

The links between job satisfaction and the retention of nurses are well established in the literature. Given the current difficulties experienced by the NHS in recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of nurses, the need to understand how satisfied nurses are in their jobs becomes clear. This study set out to measure the job satisfaction of registered nurses working in adult acute medical and surgical specialties using the Mueller McCloskey (1990) Satisfaction Scale, a 31-item Likert questionnaire. Data were collected from 141 E-grade nurses working in a ward environment. In addition to providing a general outline of reported job satisfaction, the findings of this study identify key areas of reported job satisfaction around peer socialization and dissatisfaction with childcare facilities and control over work conditions. Based on these findings, recommendations are made that may affect positively nurse retention and suggestions put forward for future use of the Mueller McCloskey Satisfaction Scale.

Job Satisfaction, Occupational Stress, and Personality Characteristics of Air Force Military Training Instructors

The authors present findings from the preliminary stage of a research program intended to improve the selection and retention of U.S. Air Force military training instructors (MTIs). Data derived from an initial sample of 100 incumbent instructors are discussed. Global job satisfaction and occupational stress levels, along with normal personality traits measured by the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, are presented. Results indicate a wide range of reported job satisfaction and stress among MTIs, with a sizable proportion indicating that they would not volunteer for this duty again. Several personality characteristics appear to be salient in distinguishing satisfied and adaptive MTIs from those who are unsatisfied and coping poorly. The authors outline plans for the long-term continuation and expansion of the project to develop an empirically based selection system for the MTI career field.

The Influence of Positive and Negative Affectivity on Reported Job Satisfaction Among Practicing Pharmacists

The Influence of Positive and Negative Affectivity on Reported Job Satisfaction Among Practicing Pharmacists

The Influence of Positive and Negative Affectivity on Reported Job Satisfaction Among Practicing Pharmacists

Job satisfaction, the extent to which employees like their work, has long been an important topic in organizational behavior. Despite the importance of measuring job satisfaction, many studies igno...

Self-Categorization and Identity Construction Associated with Managing Diversity

This study investigated the self-categorization of library employees (N= 254) in response to the question: Do you consider yourself to be a member of an underrepresented group? Approximately 15% of the affirmative responses to this question were from white majority group members. Consistent with predictions based on categorization and labeling theories (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1997), these “nontraditional” underrepresented group members were found to have lower reported job satisfaction, poorer perceptions of psychological climate and procedural justice, worse leader–member exchange quality, and more negative reactions to diversity-related issues than employees classified as traditionally underrepresented or not underrepresented. Relations between nontraditional identity and two diversity outcomes (consistency of diversity definitions and practices; general attitudes about diversity) were completely mediated by procedural justice perceptions. Results are discussed in terms of labeling theory and social control in identity representation, with implications for effectively managing diversity and organizational change.

Reported Job Satisfaction: What Does It Mean?

By reporting his satisfaction with his job or any other experience, an individual does not communicate the number of utils that he felt. Instead, he expresses his preference over available alternatives conditional on acquired knowledge of the past. This new interpretation of reported job satisfaction restores the power of microeconomic theory without denying the essential role of discrepancies between one's situation and available opportunities. Posterior human wealth discrepancies are found to be the best predictor of reported job satisfaction. Static models of relative utility and other subjective well-being assumptions are all unambiguously rejected by the data, as well as an economic model in which job satisfaction is a measure of human wealth. The posterior choice model readily explains why so many persons usually report themselves as happy or satisfied, why both younger and older age groups are insensitive to current earning discrepancies, and why the past weighs more heavily than the present and the future.

Effects of locus of control, occupational stress, and psychological distress on job satisfaction among nurses.

This study evaluated the effects of locus of control, occupational stress, and psychological symptom distress on reported job satisfaction in a sample of 34 practicing nurses. As predicted, greater work-related stress and higher psychological symptom distress were significantly negatively correlated with job satisfaction. External locus of control was also negatively associated with job satisfaction.

Faculty Status for Library Professionals: Its Effect on Job Turnover and Job Satisfaction among University Research Library Directors

The authors investigated the relationship between the job turnover and job satisfaction of ARL university library directors relative to faculty status. The findings were that there did, in fact, seem to be a positive relationship between job satisfaction and faculty status. The provision of staff release time to pursue scholarly endeavors was correlated positively with the directors' reported job satisfaction, whereas hollow faculty status, defined as nominal faculty status but without the provision of release time, was correlated negatively (both significant at the.05 level). Job turnover by itself was quite unrelated to the issue of faculty status.

The influences of gender and grade on perceived work stress and job satisfaction in white collar employees

Abstract A self-completion questionnaire survey was carried out, resulting in a sample of 675 white collar public sector employees. The survey examined the frequency of occurrence of work-based stressors and perceived control, and included a general measure of job satisfaction. The results revealed that higher levels of job satisfaction were reported by employees in higher grades. It was also observed that higher grades perceived more control within their working environment. No gender differenccs were found concerning reported stress problems, although significant differences were observed across grades in relation to role differentiation. Multivariate analyses revealed that grade effects were largely accounted for by differences in perceived control. Perceived control, role-based and organizational stressors as well as gender were the strongest contributors in predicting reported job satisfaction.

Biographical and Climate Predictors of Job Satisfaction and Pride in Organization

Abstract Six biographical and 14 climate perception correlates of employees' reported job satisfaction and pride in the organization in four public sector organizations were examined. The alpha reliability scores for the climate dimensions were satisfactory. Correlation analysis yielded correlations between climate factors and job satisfaction that ranged between -.12 and .51, with an average of .21. Correlations between climate and pride in the organization were nearly all positive but generally lower, ranging from -.08 to .53. A step-wise regression analysis was performed separately for each organization, on each of the two dependent variables (job satisfaction and pride). Overall climate factors emerged as more significant than biographical factors as predictors of satisfaction and pride. Predictor variables accounted for between 13% and 43% of the variance. Although some climate dimensions such as job variety, rewards, and recognition seemed to predict both satisfaction and pride, there were noticeabl...

Unionization and Job Satisfaction Among Professional Library Employees in Academic Research Institutions

Previous research pertaining mostly to blue-collar unionized workers indicated that the reported job satisfaction among these employees tends to be lower than among nonunionized workers. The present study concentrated on a professional group-professional librarians in academic research institutions-to reexamine the issue. By comparing the survey results of union and nonunion participants, this research found that the presence of unions has a negative relationship with job satisfaction. However, the results of this study did not support the argument that such a relationship is a product of union culture, as some researchers have suggested. Salary was revealed as a more consistent predictor of job satisfaction. There was also the suggestion that part-time employment status might relate to the survey participants' happiness with their job.

Understanding Job Satisfaction

This study explored various factors that affect teachers' and administrators' reported job satisfaction. The intent was to determine whether teachers and administrators in urban and suburban settings viewed job satisfaction differently. Factor analyses of job satisfaction data indicated that teachers and administrators perceive their jobs differently and that differences also exist within these groups when the urban and suburban contexts in which they work are considered. The major finding of this study is that job satisfaction is determined by both role and context. Thus the findings of this study imply specific action for enhancing satisfaction of educators based on role and contextual variables. The article concludes with a discussion of the findings in terms of implications for policymakers' behavior, actions, and policies.

Gender Differences in Job Satisfaction: Why Aren't Women More Dissatisfied?

This article analyzes gender differences in job satisfaction among full-time workers. Why do women report equal or greater job satisfaction than men in spite of objectively inferior jobs? Analysis reveals few differences between men and women in the determinants of job satisfaction when considering job characteristics, family responsibilities, and personal expectations. Little support is found for theories that men and women: (1) focus on different aspects of work in arriving at a given level of job satisfaction; (2) differentially condition their job satisfaction according to the extent of their family responsibilities; and (3) employ different personal expectations in evaluating their jobs. Two alternative explanations for women's relatively positive job attitudes are considered. First, women may arrive at a higher level of job satisfaction than men by using different comparison groups. Second, men may be more willing to verbalize dissatisfaction with work because of different socialization. The most likely explanation is that these processes operate in conjunction to produce greater reported job satisfaction among women.

Economic Sector and Job Satisfaction

In this article the relationship between economic sector and job satisfaction is explored. Given the absence of previous research, a framework relying on job satisfaction, dual labor market, and economic-segmentation literature is used to create two alternative hypotheses. If the externally defined objective characteristics of jobs are the critical factor in producing job satisfaction, then the “better” jobs in the core sector will result in job satisfaction differences favoring workers in the core. If individual needs and characteristics and the “fit” between these and job rewards are the critical factors in producing job satisfaction, then the workers in the core do not necessarily have an advantage; in fact the reverse may be true. These two hypotheses are tested using data from the 1973 Quality of Employment survey and two alternate measures of economic sector. Findings support the second hypothesis in that workers in the peripheral (or local and regional) sector have significantly higher levels of reported job satisfaction than those in the core (or monopoly) sector. We conclude that researchers need to consider economic sector as a source of variation in job satisfaction in addition to more conventional structures at the job and organizational level. Paradoxically, a consideration of economic sector may contribute to our understanding of the processes by which individual characteristics and job characteristics combine to create satisfied workers.

Need for achievement and women's careers over 14 years: evidence for occupational structure effects.

Previous research has demonstrated that achievement-motivated people perform better under working conditions of challenge, autonomy, and rapid feedback. These achievement-congenial conditions characterize entrepreneurial business and, among those occupations traditionally filled by women, teaching. Achievement motivation was measured in 117 women as college seniors and again 14 years later. Senior-year achievement motivation predicted later employment in teaching (including college). Career-involved women who had been highly achievement-motivated in college valued status mobility and working with people and reported job satisfaction from competition with a standard of excellence; however, women in different career situations differed in the relations between their achievement motivation in college and their later work values, job perceptions, and sources of satisfaction. Women highly achievement-motivated in adulthood valued achievement-congenial working conditions and status mobility and described job satisfaction from competition with a standard of excellence, especially if they were supervisors. Professors and businesswomen showed larger increases in achievement motivation over 14 years than did women otherwise employed. Thus, achievement motivation predicts women's career outcomes when their values and work situations, along with sex-differentiated occupational structures, are considered. Occupational structure effects on motives over time are discussed.

Union Effects on Job Attitudes

This paper examines differences in the reported job satisfaction of union members and nonmembers using a multiple equation model that treats union membership, wage rates, and reported satisfaction as endogenously determined. The results indicate that union members differ from nonmembers in how they assess their satisfaction with supervision, co-workers, and job content. Consistent with prior research, union members are found to report lower levels of satisfaction than nonmembers. Although many studies have attributed such findings to the availability of the “voice” option in unionized settings, analyses of the effects of employer tenure and grievance procedure use lend only partial support to the “exit-voice” hypothesis.

Leadership Orientation as a Moderator of the Relationship between Job Performance and Job Satisfaction of Mexican Managers

A survey of 82 Mexican managers in nine Mexican organizations was conducted. Managers completed measures of leadership style (LPC) and reported job satisfaction on the Job Description Index. Managerial performance on the individual and group level was rated by each manager's supervisor. Consistent with predictions based on the contingency model of leadership, task-motivated leaders evidenced much stronger relationships between job performance and job satisfaction than did relationship-motivated leaders.

Gender and job satisfaction during budgetary retrenchment

Employees of a comprehensive human services department were surveyed during a period of budgetary retrenchment to determine whether or not there were gender-related differences in reported job satisfaction levels or in the factors underlying job satisfaction. The study indicates that human service employees become much more androgynous during times of fiscal hardship. Administrators are urged to consider the conditions under which employees are operating when mounting efforts to enhance the job satisfaction of staff.

Job satisfaction related to tested congruence and differentiation

Tested personality-environment congruence and differentiation, singly and in combination, as measured by the Vocational Preference Inventory ( J. L. Holland, Palo Alto, California, Consulting Psychologists Press, 1977b), were predictive of reported job satisfaction for teachers employed in five subject matter areas. Time-related variables and sex were not significantly related to the job satisfaction measure used in the study.

Enjoyment of Work by Full-Time Workers in the U.S., 1955 and 1980

Enjoyment of Work by Full-Time Workers in the U.S., 1955 and 1980