Summary #7 what works best?
Job satisfaction: an attitude on how people feel about their jobs, as well as various aspects
of the job. Extent to which people like their jobs.
- Global: overall feeling toward a job
- Facets: satisfaction with different aspects of the job
Culture
Satisfaction is highest in Scandinavia & lowest in eastern
Europe.
Individualism/collectivism satisfaction with social
aspects of work
collectivist countries + satisfied with coworkers than individualist
Culture that’s tolerant of large power distances less satisfied with their jobs.
Assessment of J. S
= almost always by asking people how they feel about their jobs, (questionnaire or
interview)
Job satisfaction measurements
1. JDI (Job Descriptive Index)
= 5 facets of J.S. are measured
Work
Supervision
Pay NOT recommended to add facets to have a global J.S.
Promotion opportunities
Co-workers
each item is an adjective or short phrase that is descriptive of the job. Possible responses are
“yes,” “uncertain,” and “no.”
Most thoroughly validated
Most popular with researchers
Can 5 facets encompass all aspects of J.S.?
2. MSQ (Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire)
= items ask about 20 facets of job satisfaction
2 versions: long (100 items) & short (20 items).
Long: measures all 20 facets individually
Short: measures global (intrinsic & extrinsic satisfaction)
- Intrinsic: satisfaction with nature of task itself; how people actually feel
- Extrinsic: satisfaction with other aspects of work such as benefits/pay
Good reliability & evidence for validity
How have the items been classified in intrinsic & extrinisic?
3. JIG (Job In General) Scale
= scale of global J.S. (does not reflect facets)
The scale has good reliability and correlates well with other scales of overall job
satisfaction.
The sum of facets & global JS are separate things, falsely treated as the same thing.
facets often correlate well with overall job satisfaction.
presumes that all facets have been assessed
presumes that each facet makes an equal contribution to global satisfaction.
unlikely that each facet has the same importance to every individual
, Environmental antecedents of job satisfaction
Job characteristics
a. skill variety
b. task identity
c. task significance Hackman & Oldham’s theory of job characteristics
d. autonomy
e. task feedback
these 5 factors together combine into the job scope/complextity
Idea is that the higher the job scope the higher the J.S. correlation is 0.45
The job characteristics were assessed with questionnaires given to the employees
themselves. (like job describe positive report + scope) = bidirectionality
problem
Quasi experimental studies increasing levels of core characteristics resulted in
increased job satisfaction
BUT; effect is short-lived. Get used to job changes, job satisfaction @ baseline
level;
Pay
Associated (to some extent) to global satisfaction, more related to the facet pay satisfaction.
it is the fairness with which pay is distributed (equity) that is a + important determinant of
pay satisfaction than the actual level of pay itself.
Hypothesis: Compare the pay and pay satisfaction of people across different jobs find
little or no correlation.
Hypothesis 2: people who all do the same job, make more money = more satisfied.
Research support from 2 studies
Research support that distributive & procedural justice are strongly correlated with
pay satisfaction
Justice
Pay satisfaction distributive justice has a larger correlation than procedural justice
Supervision satisfaction procedural justice is more important than distributive
Personal antecedents of job satisfaction
Personality
High Negative affectivity perceives everything negatively (regardless of actual conditions)
low J.S.
Correlation is -.27
External locus of control perception that one cannot control rewards (fate, luck, others)
low J.S.
Low Neuroticism and high extraversion + J.S.
Age
Curvilinear relation first high J.S., Drop around 30 years, increase in J.S. with age.
An important confounding variable with age is tenure/experience
Gender
No difference in J.S. Women are more easily satisfied with low pay/autonomy jobs
Job satisfaction: an attitude on how people feel about their jobs, as well as various aspects
of the job. Extent to which people like their jobs.
- Global: overall feeling toward a job
- Facets: satisfaction with different aspects of the job
Culture
Satisfaction is highest in Scandinavia & lowest in eastern
Europe.
Individualism/collectivism satisfaction with social
aspects of work
collectivist countries + satisfied with coworkers than individualist
Culture that’s tolerant of large power distances less satisfied with their jobs.
Assessment of J. S
= almost always by asking people how they feel about their jobs, (questionnaire or
interview)
Job satisfaction measurements
1. JDI (Job Descriptive Index)
= 5 facets of J.S. are measured
Work
Supervision
Pay NOT recommended to add facets to have a global J.S.
Promotion opportunities
Co-workers
each item is an adjective or short phrase that is descriptive of the job. Possible responses are
“yes,” “uncertain,” and “no.”
Most thoroughly validated
Most popular with researchers
Can 5 facets encompass all aspects of J.S.?
2. MSQ (Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire)
= items ask about 20 facets of job satisfaction
2 versions: long (100 items) & short (20 items).
Long: measures all 20 facets individually
Short: measures global (intrinsic & extrinsic satisfaction)
- Intrinsic: satisfaction with nature of task itself; how people actually feel
- Extrinsic: satisfaction with other aspects of work such as benefits/pay
Good reliability & evidence for validity
How have the items been classified in intrinsic & extrinisic?
3. JIG (Job In General) Scale
= scale of global J.S. (does not reflect facets)
The scale has good reliability and correlates well with other scales of overall job
satisfaction.
The sum of facets & global JS are separate things, falsely treated as the same thing.
facets often correlate well with overall job satisfaction.
presumes that all facets have been assessed
presumes that each facet makes an equal contribution to global satisfaction.
unlikely that each facet has the same importance to every individual
, Environmental antecedents of job satisfaction
Job characteristics
a. skill variety
b. task identity
c. task significance Hackman & Oldham’s theory of job characteristics
d. autonomy
e. task feedback
these 5 factors together combine into the job scope/complextity
Idea is that the higher the job scope the higher the J.S. correlation is 0.45
The job characteristics were assessed with questionnaires given to the employees
themselves. (like job describe positive report + scope) = bidirectionality
problem
Quasi experimental studies increasing levels of core characteristics resulted in
increased job satisfaction
BUT; effect is short-lived. Get used to job changes, job satisfaction @ baseline
level;
Pay
Associated (to some extent) to global satisfaction, more related to the facet pay satisfaction.
it is the fairness with which pay is distributed (equity) that is a + important determinant of
pay satisfaction than the actual level of pay itself.
Hypothesis: Compare the pay and pay satisfaction of people across different jobs find
little or no correlation.
Hypothesis 2: people who all do the same job, make more money = more satisfied.
Research support from 2 studies
Research support that distributive & procedural justice are strongly correlated with
pay satisfaction
Justice
Pay satisfaction distributive justice has a larger correlation than procedural justice
Supervision satisfaction procedural justice is more important than distributive
Personal antecedents of job satisfaction
Personality
High Negative affectivity perceives everything negatively (regardless of actual conditions)
low J.S.
Correlation is -.27
External locus of control perception that one cannot control rewards (fate, luck, others)
low J.S.
Low Neuroticism and high extraversion + J.S.
Age
Curvilinear relation first high J.S., Drop around 30 years, increase in J.S. with age.
An important confounding variable with age is tenure/experience
Gender
No difference in J.S. Women are more easily satisfied with low pay/autonomy jobs
