Job satisfaction and life satisfaction: A profile analysis

The form of the relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction was examined through a profile analysis of subgroups of respondents. Survey respondents were classified as high on job satisfaction and life satisfaction, low on job satisfaction and life satisfaction or in two intermediate categories (low on one, high on the other). Results of discriminant analysis indicated that the four subgroups could be systematically characterized by different profiles. Prediction of the subgroup in which an individual would be classified, based on the profile, was not highly reliable, however.     

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.     

Francophone life satisfaction and civic culture: A meta-analysis of the Canadian case

Inglehart's notion that variation in civic culture accounts for cross-national differences in life satisfaction is tested for the case of Canadian Francophones. The data base is 15 national level surveys, containing in total 96 satisfaction questions asked between 1963 and 1991. It is contended that Quebec, the home of the majority of Canada's Francophones, historically has had a comparatively weak civic culture, which from Inglehart's hypothesis would predict low satisfaction. Using graphical analysis of general life satisfaction data this prediction is upheld, with the exception of a brief interval in the late 1970s. The same conclusion is reached using all 96 data points in a weighted least squares meta regression analysis, containing variables to denote five separate domains of satisfaction     

A new look at life and job satisfaction with sunbelt MBA's

Work and extra-work correlates of life and job satisfaction for a sample of MBA graduates (N=1495) are compared to those for a probability sample from the general public using the Rice, Near, Hunt model for analysis. For both groups, the unique relationship between life and job satisfaction is quite weak, however, predictability of job satisfaction is significantly different for MBA's.¹     

Life satisfaction among San Francisco Chinese-Americans

This study investigates variables that predict life satisfaction in a group of 142 San Francisco Chinese-Americans by utilizing Campbell, Converse and Rodgers' model (1976) of life quality. While objective demographic variables failed to make a significant contribution, satisfaction level with life domains examined (i.e., work, health, marriage/singlehood, friendship and biculturality) accounted for 37% of the variance in life satisfaction, with all but the combined work domain satisfaction score emerging as significant predictors of overall life satisfaction. Subgroup analyses reveal biculturality satisfaction as the most powerful predictor of life satisfaction in immigrants, but not in American-borns, for whom level of friendship satisfaction is most predictive of life quality. These findings and their implications are discussed.     

Job satisfaction as an indicator of the quality of employment

It is suggested that the quality of employment should be assessed from the value perspectives of the employer and of society as well as the perspective of the worker. The prevailing conception of the nature of job satisfaction, and the associated measurement methods, provide useful but unnecessarily limited indicators of the quality of employment. An enlarged conception is offered as to the nature of job satisfaction, its causes, and its possible consequences. The implications of this conception for the utility of satisfaction measures as social indicators are examined as to three aspects: (1) The psychology of job satisfaction; (2) The sociology of job satisfaction; (2) The approach and technology of using subjective satisfaction measures in conjunction with other indicators. The view is expressed that direct measures of subjective job satisfaction are an essential component in any effort to make comparisons or monitor changes in the quality of employment, but that such measures, like other subjective and objective indicators, have ambiguous meaning if used alone.     

Life satisfaction: A study based on the organization of personal projects

A methodology about personal project was used to understand perceived life satisfaction. Variables derived from the Personal Project Matrix were shown to explain variability in reported life satisfaction in two separate studies (university and professional samples). The results indicated that personal projects of students had been organized in systems and these systems' properties had meaningful effects on life satisfaction. A cross-validation analysis revealed that professionals' projects did not show the same systemic feature which students' projects had. But some variables such as projects performed in general places, stress, and amount of reported obstacles discriminated life satisfaction scores meaningfully.     

Ceo Satisfaction and Firm Performance in Family Firms: Divergence between Theory and Practice

This study employs structural equationmodeling (LISREL 8.0) to investigate a model of therelationship between chief executive officer (CEO) joband life satisfaction, as well as the relationshipbetween CEO job and life satisfaction and firmperformance. Consistent with recent research, ourmodel also includes several potential mediators of thejob/life satisfaction relationship – overall stress,work conflict, nonwork conflict, and nonworksatisfaction. We rely on questionnaire data from 221owner/managers of family owned and controlledautomobile dealerships. Results indicate that CEO joband life satisfaction are more strongly correlatedthan among average American workers, as predicted, butthat there is no moderator effect on firm performance.Nor does life satisfaction mediate the relationshipbetween job satisfaction and firm performance.Contrary to theory, there are no significantrelationships with firm performance. Theorganizational implications of CEO satisfaction forfirm performance are considered.     

Ways by which Comparable Income Affects Life Satisfaction in Hong Kong

Proponents of social equality attribute low life satisfaction to income inequality in society, an inequality which occurs when most people have relatively low income and only a few have high income. In contrast, range-frequency theory and other social comparison theories predict that when most people have low income, they are satisfied because of the absence of relative deprivation among themselves. This prediction essentially suggests that that the size of the group of individuals with comparable income (i.e., income parity) sustains their life satisfaction. This theoretical prediction, however, does not consider their desire to be distinctive. By incorporating the notion of optimal distinctiveness, the size of income parity may have a quadratic effect on the individual’s life satisfaction. This is a hypothesis that receives support from the present study in Hong Kong, China. The study finds a saddle point of income parity size associated with the lowest life satisfaction, other things being equal. Furthermore, middle-income individuals have income parity size equal to or above this saddle point. They would have higher life satisfaction with increased income parity size, which therefore leads to a more enlarged income inequality. Others, however, may have higher life satisfaction with reduced income parity size. Hence, reducing income inequality would have mixed effects on people with different levels of income.

Cross-cultural variations in predictors of life satisfaction: An historical view of differences among West European countries

Using survey data collected in 1976 from respondents in ten West European countries, we compared four sets of predictors of life satisfaction: job satisfaction, nonwork satisfaction, working conditions and living conditions. Results indicated that, although levels of satisfaction varied somewhat by country, significant predictors of life satisfaction were quite similar among the countries. These results present a picture of relationships among these variables in an historical context.     

African urban life: Components of satisfaction in Sierra Leone

This comparative study finds relatively high satisfaction with the quality of life in three Sierra Leonean towns, but there are notable differences between men and women and between the towns in which domains support this satisfaction. The standard of living achieved, and the job and income which make it possible, are the most important factors in satisfaction with the quality of urban life, but the limits on women's mobility are indicated by the greater emphasis they place on housing and neighborhood. Dissatisfaction among the relatively advantaged, with their own position and with the country's progress in development, reflects the political disaffection of some members of this group.     

Job satisfaction in the marine and estuarine fisheries of Guinea-Bissau

This paper examines aspects of job satisfaction among small-scale fishers in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. The willingness of fishers to change métier or occupation is a central aspect of study, and gains relevance from the global degradation of marine environments. The author concludes that small-scale fishers are generally satisfied with the extent to which their and needs of self-realization and social life are met. They also express satisfaction with the state of the natural environment. However, fishers are less pleased with the fulfillment of basic needs and with the performance of fisheries managers.     

Grade level differences in school satisfaction

Despite evidence that children and adolescents are much more dissatisfied with the student role than adults are with the worker role, sociologists and psychologists have devoted much more effort to examining adult age differences in job satisfaction than grade level differences in school satisfaction. In this study, scores from a 3-item school satisfaction measure were analyzed via a 12 (Grade Level) by 5 (Ethnicity) by 2 (Gender) ANOVA. Twenty-five percent of the 431 330 public school students surveyed in the state of Arizona endorsed none of the school satisfaction items. Grade level was nonlinearly related to school satisfaction. School satisfaction decreased over grades 1–8 and did not vary across grades 9–12. Ethnicity and gender did not moderate the grade level-school satisfaction relation.     

The influence of peers and parents on youth life satisfaction in Hong Kong

This investigation attempts to measure the relative influence of peer and parental influence on the perceived life satisfaction of two groups of secondary students in Hong Kong. Data on 1906 students from 30 schools were collected through the use of a self-administered questionnaire. Respondents were asked to rate their level of satisfaction on 26 different domains of life on a seven-point scale, ranging from very satisfied to very dissatisfied, as well as their satisfaction with life in general. These 26 items were combined to form six summary indices of life satisfaction: school life, family life, acceptance by others, government, media, and living environment. Two independent variables were used in the analysis of life satisfaction: peer orientation, and parent orientation. Both are composite indices and measure the adolescent's attachment to and identification with his peers or parents. It was found that parent orientation is a better predictor of life satisfaction than peer orientation. Adolescents who are high on parent orientation are more satisfied with every domain of life. They are also more satisfied with life in general. The relationship between peer orientation and life satisfaction is not a clear-cut one. Adolescents with strong peer orientation are more satisfied with school, media, government, and acceptance by others, but are less satisfied with family. There is no significant relationship between peer orientation and environment. The younger adolescents in our sample tend to perceive a higher level of satisfaction than the older adolescents in every domain of life as well as life in general.     

Self-Reported Satisfaction and the Economic Crisis of 2007–2010: Or How People in the UK and Germany Perceive a Severe Cyclical Downturn

Self-reported satisfaction measures respond to a great variety of socio-demographic characteristics as well as the job and living environment. In this paper we ask whether the recent financial market crisis has caused a deterioration of satisfaction not only for the unemployed but also for those out of the labour force and especially those in employment. The focus of our analyses is on the pattern of life, job and health satisfaction over time and the influence of unemployment rates, inflation rates and GDP growth. We compare the UK and Germany, two countries with different employment protection regulations and different consequences of the crisis for the labour market. For our analysis we use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and the British Household Panel Study for the period 1996–2010 and supplement this with annual information on macroeconomic indicators. We estimate Ordered Logit and OLS models, both with individual fixed effects. We find some limited psychological costs with respect to self-reported life satisfaction in the crisis years, and a considerable impact of regional and national unemployment rates. Looking at job and health satisfaction we get similar though somewhat weaker results.     

Relationships between overall and life facet satisfaction: A multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) study

We extended research on the construct validity of overall and life facet satisfaction measures by (a) estimating relations among satisfaction constructs disattenuated for measurement error, and (b) controlling for spurious effects of common method variance, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) data. Results indicated strong support for convergent and discriminant validity, as well as for significant method effects. Results also indicated that corrected correlations among latent satisfaction variables were similar to their observed counterparts, suggesting that the attenuating effects of measurement error tend to balance spuriousness interjected by common method variance. Suggestions for future research include determining boundary variables which influence the direction of the relationship between overall and life facet satisfaction, and for identifying subgroups of individuals within which these relationships are homogeneous.     

Life satisfaction among the rural elderly: What do the numbers mean?

Studies of life satisfaction among the elderly are based almost entirely on quantitative data, yet we have little knowledge of whether such data are consistent and valid representations of satisfaction. The present paper addresses this issue through a comparison of quantitative and qualitative data on satisfaction with housing, family, spouse, self-esteem, health, friends and life as a whole. The data were obtained from 15 elderly men and women living in rural Ontario who had participated in both a survey study of life satisfaction and an intensive qualitative study of loneliness, social activities and social relationships. The values selected by participants from scales of satisfaction were found to be fairly similar overall to judgements made by the investigators on the basis of qualitative data from interviews and diaries. But there were also a number of discrepancies across both participants and domains, and these discrepancies were not systematic. The scale values appear to be at best a superficial representation of participants' satisfaction. It is concluded that quantitative approaches are of limited utility in studies of the quality of life, and that they are most appropriately viewed as supplementary to approaches employing qualitative data and analysis.     

Geography of European Life Satisfaction

The vast majority of studies analyze life satisfaction at individual and/or country level. This study contributes with analysis of life satisfaction at the (sub-national) province level across multiple countries. The purpose of this study is to call attention to spatial aspects of life satisfaction. Literature does not discuss the fact that life satisfaction in one province may be related to life satisfaction in other provinces. This study shows that there are well-defined happiness clusters in Europe, but also some outliers.     

Predictors of satisfaction with life among second generation migrants

As a part of a comprehensive study of the psychological acculturation of Portuguese youth born in France, this paper examines the relationship between satisfaction with life and some psychosocial variables. The sample consisted of 519 Portuguese youth resident in Paris (47% were male and 53% female). The following instruments were administered to all subjects: the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Acculturative Attitudes Scales, the Social Anxiety Scale, two brief measures of (a) loneliness and (b) locus of control as well as a background inventory. As expected no gender differences were found, but there were significant effects on satisfaction with life related to religion, participation in an association, number of Portuguese friends and ethnic identity. Expressed satisfaction with life showed significant negative correlations with perceived difficulties of adaptation, marginalization, social anxiety, and loneliness; and positive correlations with integration and locus of control. Multiple regression analysis used to determine the significant predictor variables of satisfaction with life indicated that the strongest predictors were loneliness and perceived state of health.     

Complex measures of job satisfaction/dissatisfaction among professionals

The present study deals with concepts of work satisfaction/dissatisfaction and occupational commitment among professionals. It examines elements of job satisfaction and individual social background among four professional groups: Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers and Teachers, as well as their differences in level of job satisfaction/dissatisfaction. A two-stage principal components method was applied to data from the longitudinal study ‘Professions in Australia’ to obtain global measures of job satisfaction/dissatisfaction. Although there are some differences between professional groups in terms of work satisfaction/dissatisfaction, stemming, among other things, from the different prestige ascribed to each profession, to a large extent, they face similar ‘problems’ and derive similar ‘satisfaction’ from their professional work.