Happiness at Work

Andrew OswaldUniversity of Warwick, UK

With many thanks to Professor Andrew E. Clark (Paris) for data and helpful advice.

Job satisfaction and work happiness have been studied in two ways.

Method 1

By asking people what they want in a job.

Method 2

By studying the statistical determinants of job satisfaction.

What do employees say they want in a job?

People’s top two priorities:

People’s top two priorities:

• “Job security”

People’s top two priorities:

• “Job security”

• “Work that is interesting”

The next four priorities:

The next four priorities:

• “A job that allows me to work independently”

The next four priorities:

• “A job that allows me to work independently”

• “Opportunities for advancement”

The next four priorities:

• “A job that allows me to work independently”

• “Opportunities for advancement”

• “A job useful for society”

The next four priorities:

• “A job that allows me to work independently”

• “Opportunities for advancement”

• “A job useful for society”

• “High income”

We have data on all this, from the International Social Survey Programme, for 15 countries.

Job Values: Women

10

20

30

40

50

60

Per

cen

tage

1997

2005

Job Values: Men

10

20

30

40

50

60

Per

cen

tage

1997

2005

• Now to the literature on the determinants of job satisfaction.

Regression equations

Job satisfaction = f(Age, gender, pay, education level, workplace characteristics, job security, region, year…)

A typical question

• “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your job?”

• Answers from 1, 2, ... 7

• 7 = “Completely satisfied”

• 1 = “Completely dissatisfied”

Some cheery news:

• European levels of job satisfaction are high.

~ 5.4 out of seven

• In our work, we have new data on random samples from 35 countries.

Findings on job satisfaction

Findings on job satisfaction

Pay

Large workplace

Female

Job security

Education

Autonomy

Findings on job satisfaction

Pay positive

Large workplace

Female

Job security

Education

Autonomy

Findings on job satisfaction

Pay positive

Large workplace negative

Female

Job security

Education

Autonomy

Findings on job satisfaction

Pay positive

Large workplace negative

Female positive

Job security

Education

Autonomy

Findings on job satisfaction

Pay positive

Large workplace negative

Female positive

Job security positive

Education

Autonomy

Findings on job satisfaction

Pay positive

Large workplace negative

Female positive

Job security positive

Education zero

Autonomy

Findings on job satisfaction

Pay positive

Large workplace negative

Female positive

Job security positive

Education zero

Autonomy positive

On pay

On pay

• There is a lot of research that shows it is relative pay (particularly the ordinal rank of pay) that matters.

On autonomy

On autonomy

• Who controls the pace of work is important. It is OK if customers and colleagues do. Not when bosses or machines do.

On autonomy

• Who controls the pace of work is important. It is OK if customers and colleagues do. Not when bosses or machines do.

• Some evidence that it pays to give employees small freedoms (like the ability to move their desk slightly).

There is also an intriguing life-cycle pattern

• Watch out for mid-life, and don’t be too hard on yourself.

The U in job satisfaction through life

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

5.7

5.8

20 30 40 50 60 70age at date of interview

95% CI Fitted values

This mirrors a general mid-life psychological low period (or ‘crisis’) that is normal in humans.

The pattern of a typical person’s happiness through life

4.9

5.0

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

15-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70Age group

Ave

rag

e li

fe s

atis

fact

ion

sco

re

The probability of depression by ageMales, LFS data set 2004-2006

-0.01

-0.005

0

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990

Year of birth

Reg

ress

ion

co

effi

cien

t

Great apes also have a midlife low

• We recently published this finding in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (joint with A Weiss et al.)

Now, promotion:

Do you, and should you, want to be promoted?

“Leadership is associated with lower levels of stress”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2012.

• Gary D. Sherman et al.

• “Using unique samples of real leaders, including military officers and government officials ... leaders had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and lower anxiety.”

Yet new longitudinal research sheds doubt on the causality.

• Extra Status and Extra Stress: Are Promotions Good for Us?by David W. Johnston, Wang-Sheng Lee(June 2012) published in: Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 2013, 66 (1), 32-54

• Yes, promotion improves job security, pay perceptions and job satisfaction in the short term...

• “However, promotions have negligible effects on workers' health and happiness... mental health seems affected with .. a deterioration two years after promotion.”

Is work getting more stressful? [Yes]

Work by Francis Green, Keith Whitfield, et al.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1992 1997 2001 2006

%

Males Females

Proportion of High-Strain Jobs

Green (2008) Work Effort and Worker Well-Being in the Age of Affluence

Source: Skills Survey series

But should organizations want their workers to have high job satisfaction?

Very probably, yes.

Happiness makes people more productive.

Positive effects for organizations from job satisfaction

• Edmans, A. 2012. The link between job satisfaction and firm value, with implications for corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Perspectives 26, 1-19.

• Bockerman, P; Ilmakannus, P. 2012. The Job Satisfaction-Productivity Nexus: A Study Using Matched Survey and Register Data. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 26, 1-19.

The Edmans study

• “To address reverse causality, I measure firm value by using future stock returns ...

....Companies listed in the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America" generated 2.3% to 3.8% higher stock returns per year than their peers from 1984 through 2011.”

• The Bockerman paper studies data on 1000 establishments in Finland.

• It finds a strong correlation between job satisfaction and value-added-per-worker 2 years later.

A Warwick University study

• We studied 500 people in the laboratory doing a ‘white collar task’ under timed pressure.

• Those with recent family bad life events were less happy and less productive.

• A random sample were made to laugh for 10 minutes first – they were then 12% more productive.

Just before I close:

Job satisfaction and mental well-being at work are of interest in themselves.

But, more broadly, there seem to be deep links between mind and body.

The work of Sheldon Cohen

The work of Sheldon Cohen

The Cohen laboratory trials show less-stressed people have a stronger immune system.

Author(s): Ebrecht M, Hextall J, Kirtley LG, Taylor A, Dyson M, Weinman J

PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY    

Volume: 29    Issue: 6    Pages: 798-809    Published: JUL 2004 

In other words, happier human beings heal more quickly.

We need to understand these interconnections better.

Some ideas to end:

Conclusions

#1 There are clear patterns in job satisfaction found across the industrialized nations.

Conclusions

#2 High job satisfaction seems genuinely valuable for organizations.

Conclusions

#3 It is probably also valuable for people’s physical health.

Conclusions

#4 Bosses do have lower cortisol and higher job satisfaction, but it is not clear that promotion does that to them.

Conclusions

#5 There is some evidence that mental strain at work is a growing problem in Europe.

Conclusions

#6 Giving people small freedoms probably pays off commercially.

I know you believe in fun at work

Happiness at Work

Andrew OswaldUniversity of Warwick, UK

With many thanks to Professor Andrew E. Clark (Paris) for data and helpful advice.