MAJOR FACTORS OF JOB SATISFACTION AMONG SUPERVISORY PERSONNEL

RICHARD H BARNETT, Purdue University

Abstract

Job dissatisfaction affects both industry and the worker. Industry experiences slowdowns, work stoppages, and reduced productivity while the workers may experience a variety of dissatisfaction-related health problems. The magnitude of these problems is attested to by the high volume of research in the area of job satisfaction. Unfortunately for practitioners who need definitive information, and in spite of the volume of studies, little agreement exists on the nature of job satisfaction. This lack of agreement has hampered extension of the job satisfaction knowledge base and seriously hampered efforts to intervene in the worker's job satisfaction. The large variance in interpretation is, in part, attributable to the moderate correlations on which the interpretations are based. A major reason for the moderate correlations may be that the measure of job satisfaction used was a single, all-inclusive measure. Such a broad measure allows many extraneous variables to influence the outcome. Wanous and Lawler and Katz and VanMaanen have each recommended studies of the internal relationships among the facets that make up job satisfaction. Knowledge of these facets might permit more definitive analysis of the correlates of job satisfaction. In this study, the researcher collected measures of 20 facets of intrinsic job satisfaction from 187 subjects. Following reliability estimates of the facets, factor analytic techniques were applied to attempt to reduce the 20 measures of satisfaction into factors of job satisfaction. The factors discovered were not acceptable when judged by Thurstone's Criteria for Simple Factors, that is, the factors were correlated with each other rather than distinct. An alternative explanation for the results was developed, namely that the population studied was not a homogeneous group with respect to the facet structure underlying their satisfaction. Two possible areas investigated were factor structure differences by age and factor structure differences by management level. Neither of the alternative explanations were supported by factor analyses on the data when separated by age, by level, or by both age and level. A third alternative explanation of the results was suggested by Maslow's work on need structure: that the factor pattern underlying a person's job satisfaction is influenced by the person's overall satisfaction level. The sample was divided into thirds by general satisfaction level and the results were factor analyzed. The result of the factor analysis was the discovery of five distinct factors at each level of general satisfaction. The five factors found include: Internal Satisfiers, External Human Satisfiers, Physical Satisfiers, and two representing Physical Evidence of Satisfaction. The factors discovered meet Thurstone's criteria and appear at each level of satisfaction, however, the facet make-up of the factors and the influence of each facet on a given factor varies widely at the three levels of satisfaction. The results suggest that the factor pattern within job satisfaction may be dynamic based on general satisfaction of the subjects. These results show promise for further research to extend the knowledge of job satisfaction.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Occupational psychology

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