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.