Multiplicative and additive models of job and life satisfaction

Overall job satisfaction has often been specified as a multiplicative function of the satisfaction with and the perceived importance of more specific job facets. Correspondingly, overall life satisfaction may be conceptualized as a multiplicative function of satisfaction with and importance of various life domains. So far empirical research has tended to reject the multiplicative model. Correcting for the effects of acquiescence bias and using more appropriate statistical methods than in most previous studies, the multiplicative model is here shown to fit the job satisfaction data significantly better than alternative additive models. For the relationships between life domains and overall life satisfaction, however, the multiplicative model is again rejected. Possible reasons for these diverging results are discussed.