rezumat spector job satisfaction

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Job satisfaction is : the extent to which people like or dislike their job an attitudinal variable - until the 1970’s it was researched mainly as a perspective of inherent need fulfillment but researchers today focus on the cognitive process of satisfaction the most frequently studied variable in organizational behavior research Importance of job satisfaction: Humanitarian perspective – people deserve to be treated fairly and with respect Utilitarian perspective – job satisfaction can lead to behavior that affects orginzational functioning Job satisfaction can be analyzed globally or on various aspects of the job. Common aspects of job satisfaction : Appreciation Communication Coworkers Fringe benefits Job conditions Nature of the work itself Organization itself Organization’s policies and procedures Pay Personal growth

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Page 1: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is :

the extent to which people like or dislike their job

an attitudinal variable - until the 1970’s it was researched mainly as a perspective

of inherent need fulfillment but researchers today focus on the cognitive process

of satisfaction

the most frequently studied variable in organizational behavior research

Importance of job satisfaction:

Humanitarian perspective – people deserve to be treated fairly and with respect

Utilitarian perspective – job satisfaction can lead to behavior that affects

orginzational functioning

Job satisfaction can be analyzed globally or on various aspects of the job.

Common aspects of job satisfaction :

Appreciation

Communication

Coworkers

Fringe benefits

Job conditions

Nature of the work itself

Organization itself

Organization’s policies and procedures

Pay

Personal growth

Promotion opportunities

Recognition

Security

Supervision

Correlations between some aspects lead to the distinction of 4 areas :

Rewards

Other people

Nature of the work

Organizational context

Page 2: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is usually measured with :

Questionnaires/surveys

Cheap

easy to standarize and quantify responses

Interviews

more expensive

answers offer extensive information

less constrained format allows unexpected aspects to come to light

used primarily as an initial step in designing a questionnaire

Different approaches have shown that other individuals can be, to some extent, aware of

another person’s job satisfaction (supervisor->employee, husband->wife, child-

>parent,observer->subject) but their opinions are never as reliable as asking the subject

itself.

The more reliable way of assessing job satisfaction is to use an existing scale.

Advantages:

Their reliability and validity was established in previous studies

They cover the major facets of satisfaction

They have been used a sufficients number of times to provide norms for

evaluation and comparisons within a given population (ex : private sector

managers in the United States)

They save the cost and time to develop a new scale from scratch

Disadvantages:

Limited to the facets that the developers chose to place in their instrument

They are applicable to most organizations but they are not very reliable for

very specific organizations and situations (a manufacturing company is

likely to have different satisfaction facets as opposed to a hospital)

Most scales are copyrighted and come with a cost for surveying

employees : the current price for copies of the Job Descriptive Index is

47$ per hundred.

Job satisfaction scales described in the book :

Scales which analyze facets of job satisfaction

Page 3: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

1. JSS – Job Satisfaction Survey

2. JDI - Job Descriptive Index

3. MSQ - Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire

4. JDS – Job Diagnostic Survey

Scales which analyze global job satisfaction (reminder aici )

1. JIG – Job in General Scale

2. Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire

JSS – The Job Satisfaction Survey

Assesses 9 facets of job satisfaction as well as overall satisfaction (by combining

all of the items)

The 9 facets are :

1. Pay – satisfaction with pay and pay rises

2. Promotion – satisfaction with promotion opportunities

3. Supervision – Satisfaction with the person’s immediate supervisor

4. Fringe benefits – Satisfaction with fringe benefits

Fringe or employment benefits, also known as benefits in kind, are compensations made to an

employee beyond regular wages or salaries. Some types such as paid vacation are fairly standard,

but others such as the use of a company jet are more rare. Different offers a company groups

together for an employee are collectively known as a fringe benefits package.

5. Contingent rewards – Satisfaction with rewards ( not necessarily

monetary) given for good performance

6. Operating conditions – Satisfaction with rules and procedures

7. Coworkers – satisfaction with coworkers

8. Nature of Work – satisfaction with the type of work done

9. Communication – Satisfaction with communication within the

organization

SCORING :

Page 4: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

The JSS can yield 10 scores – 9 facets and 1 total score

Each of the 9 subscales has 4 items(questiones) belonging to them.

Each item is scored by the subject from 1 to 6.

Items are generally scored in a positive direction if they are positively worded or

in a negative direction(reversed) if they are negatively worded.

Examples :

Item “ I feel I am being paid a fair amount for the work I do” is positively worded =>

1 = Disagree very much

6 = Agree very much

If the subject ticks 6 – Agree very much than the item is scored 6 points

Item “ Raises are too few and far between” is negatively worded =>

1 = Disagree very much

6 = Agree very much

If the subject ticks 6 – Agree very much than the item is scored 1 point, rather than 6 to be

relevant in accordance to the negativity.

The scoring table will list negatively worded items with an “r” so that their score is reversed

using the following formula “ITEM X = 7 – ITEM X”

Page 5: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

Item scores for each facet are to be summed so that they range from 4 to 24 (1 is the lowest

possible score for an item and 6 is the highest and there are 4 items for each facet)

The total score ranges from 36 to 216 – there are 36 items in total with a minimum score of 1 and

a maximum score of 6.

Reliability

There are 2 types of reliability estimates which are important for evaluating a scale :

1. Internal consistency reflects the assessment of the same underlying variable. It is also

called coefficient alpha. The table below shows the coefficient alphas from a large

sample of individuals who completed the JSS. The lowest coefficient alpha is 0.60 for the

coworker subscale and the highest is 0.91 for the total scale. The widely accepted

minimum standard is 0.70.

2. Test-retest reliability reflects the stability of the scale over time. Reliability data for the

JSS are available from only one small sample of 43 employees. These reliabilities ranged

from 0.37 to 0.74. The relative stability of satisfaction is remarkable in a timespan of 18

Page 6: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

months during which several major changes occurred(reorganization, layoffs, change of

administration)

Validity

Validity evidence for job satisfaction scales is provided by studies that compared different scales

with one another on the same employees. Five of the JSS subscales (pay, promotion, supervision,

coworkers and nature of work) correlate well with corresponding subscales of the JDI which is

probably the most carefully validated scale of job satisfaction. These correlations range from

0.61 for coworkers to 0.80 for supervision.

Norms

Norms for the JSS are shown in the table below. The table shows the mean subscale and total job

satisfaction scores across many employees and many samples. Most samples represent a single

organization altough several represent two or more organizations.

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How people feel about work

A Gallup Poll in 1991 showed that 83% of Americans are satisfied with their job.

A Gallup Poll in 1995 showed that, of 18 countries around the world, 46% of people are

satisfied with their jobs.

The typical American pattern is to be with the nature of the work itself, coworkers and

supervision but not very satisfied with rewards

Page 10: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

Americans tend to expect to advance at work and experience an increase in standard of

living as a result of hard work -> they are often dissatisfied with their career and salary

progress.

Cultural and demographic differences in job satisfaction

o Age:

Research shows that age and job satisfaction are related

In general job satisfaction increases with age, especially after the age of

45.

Potential reasons:

1. expectations and values of Americans have changed over time so

older workers are more accepting of authority and expect less from

their jobs.

2. older workers have better jobs and more skill than their younger

counterparts due to more experience.

3. People adapt to the job b adjusting their expectations to be realistic

so they are happier with less as they get older

o Country differences

Studies show that there are differences in job satisfaction and in patterns

of facet satisfaction across countries but they do not provide much

insinght into the reasons for this.

Potential reasons :

1. Different work conditions

2. Differente expectations of people

3. Bias -> people are afraid to express dissatisfaction

o Gender

Relations between gender and job satisfaction have been extremely

inconsistent across studies

The very low correlations between job satisfaction and gender tend to

show that men and women would have the same levels of job satisfaction

despite having different jobs.

Potential reasons:

Page 11: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

1. Women may expect less from work and thus are satisfied with less

due to historic background

2. Men and women may have different values

o Racial differences in the United States

Studies are largely inconsistent about correlations between race and job

satisfaction

There is no clear evidence to support any distinguishable differences

between blacks and whites for job satisfaction

Antecedents of Job Satisfaction

Antecedents of job satisfaction can be classified into 2 major categories:

1. Job environment and factors associated with the job

2. Individual factors that the person brings to the job such as personality and prior

experience

Environmental antecedents of job satisfaction

Job characteristics theory

The monst influential theory of how job characteristics affect people is Hackman and

Oldham’s job characteristics theory

It states that people can be motivated by the intrinsic satisfaction they find in

doing job tasks.If work is enjoyable and meaningful, people will like their jobs

and be motivated to perform well.

The theory lists 5 core characteristics which can be applied to any job

1. Skill variety

2. Task identity

3. Task significance

4. Autonomy

5. Job feedback

Page 12: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

Skill variety, task identity and task significance indue experienced meaninfulnes

of work

Autonomy leads to feelings of responsibility

Feedback results in knowledge of results about the products of work

These 5 characteristics determine how motivating a job is.

A Motivation Potential Score or MPS can be calculated for a job :

MPS = [(SV + TI + TS)/3] * Auton. * Feed.

The theory also includes a personality variable : Growth need strength or GNS.

GNS reflects an individual’s need for fulfillment and it moderates the MPS.

The authors of the theory developed the JDS – Job Diagnostic Survey

The most popular alternative to the JDS is the JCI – Job Characteristics Index -> it is

considered more reliable because it has a greater number of items per subscale

Another alternative is the MJDQ – Multimethod Job Design Questionnaire which has the

main distinction of also including physical features of the job

The JDS is generally well correlated to job satisfaction levels across studies

The relevance of the JDS and other measurements of job characteristics for levels of job

satisfaction has been criticised as being somewhat inconclusive. Critical arguments:

The correlation between job characteristics and job satisfaction does not

necessarily prove that the first determines the second. Critics have argued that it

may be the job satisfaction which influences the subject’s perception of the job

characteristics

An study made in 1991 by Griffin showed that a major job redesign improved job

satisfaction levels immediately after the change but then it dropped back to the

same levels prior to the change within 2 years despite no more alterations of the

job characteristics. However the JDS score improved after the redesign and

remained constantly high for the 2 years showing that the impact of the job

characteristics was transitory

Organizational constraints

Page 13: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

Conditions of the job environment that interfere with employee job performance are

called organizational constraints.

Organizational constraints have been shown to affect both job performance and job

satisfaction

Rolve variables

A role is the required pattern of behavior for an individual in the organization.

Roles can be associated with positions and titles but they are not identical as each

individual can have several roles and different people with the same job can have

different roles.

A person develops a role by taking on a task that others assume will become that person’s

responsibility(managing the cofee pot)

Role conflict exists when people experience incompatbile demands

o Intra-role conflict involves different people at work or different functions(a

supervisor tells you to run an errand while another asks you to take a phonecall)

o Extra-role conflicts involves conflicts between work and non-work(family vs

work)

Role ambiguity occurs when the expectations of supervisors are not clear

Both role ambiguity and role conflict affect job satisfaction and are mainly associated

with supervisor satisfaction.

Work-family conflict

This conflict is especially troublesome for two-career couples with children and single

parents.

34% of Americans experience a considerable amount of work-family conflict.

14% of men and women felt that both parents should work outside of the home

39% said that one parent should work while the other stayed home to take care of the

children

Work-family conflict correlates with job satisfaction more for men than for women

Studies have shown that work-family conflict affects job satisfaction which in turn affects

parental practices which in turn affect children’s performance in school

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Organizational procedures to reduce the conflict such as a flexible schedule have been

shown to improve job satisfaction

Pay

The correlation between level of pay and job satisfaction tens to be surprisingly small

While pay level is not an important issue, pay fairness is very important

People are often concerned that other people with the same job earn more and as a result

become dissatisfied.

Job stress

Studies show that job stress can have a detrimental impact on both physical health and

emotional well-being, both short-term and long-term.

It correlates well with job satisfaction

Workload

Studies have been inconsistent regarding the correlation between workload(either

qualitative workload or quantitative workload) and job satisfaction

Control

Control is the freedom that employees are given to make decisions about their work

Control has a significant impact on job stress and job strains, especially psychological

ones however it has not been determined to have a direct impact on job satisfaction

An exception are employees whose work pace is determined by a machine or computer

where current studies show that the job satisfaction of such employees is lower due to a

lack of control.

The demand/control model

The demand/control model hypothesizes that control and job stressors interact in their

effects, including job dissatisfaction.

Research support for the demand/control model has been inconsistent

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While it is potentially important because of its implications for employee health and well-

being, the current lack of empirical support suggests that the model may be an

oversimplification of an issue

Work schedules

The standard work shift is 8 daylight hours per day for 5 weekdays each week.

Nonstandard work schedules are spreading : flexible work schedule, long work shifts,

night shifts and part-time work.

1. Flexible schedules

It is generally believed that flexible schedules have a positive impact on

job satisfaction but studies have been inconclusive regarding the extent of

the importance

2. Long shifts

The most commonly notes problem with long shifts is fatigue

Studies report that some employees who work 12 hours shifts have a

perceived notion of less fatigue due to having more free time – se vede ca

asta e gandire de americani unde daca ai tura de 12 ore automat nu mai

lucrezi 5 zile pe saptamana….riiiight

Long shifts have a general positive effect on job satisfaction as employees

will prefer working longer shifts to have more free time.

3. Night shifts

Both night shifts and rotating shifts have detrimental effects on employees

Employees working permanent night shifts eventually don’t suffer from

the same problems as those working rotating shifts(sleep disturbance,

digestive problems)

Temporary night shifts lead to lower job satisfaction than permanent night

shifts and permanent night shifts do not seem to affect job satisfaction

4. Part-time work

Despite being given less benefits(ex medical insurance) part-timers seem

to have a higher job satisfaction than full timers.

Page 16: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

This can be due to the fact that most part-timers will perceive their job as

temporary

Current research is not very conclusive on how and why reactions of part-

timers differ from full-timers.

Personal antecedents of job satisfaction

Studies have shown that some people are predisposed to like their jobs despite changing

jobs/employers while others are predisposed not to like their jobs.

The main criticism of this concept is that job satisfaction can be stable across multiple jobs for

individuals because they tend to choose good jobs whereas others do not.

A 50-year lifespan longitudinal study showed that job satisfaction measured in adolescence

significantly correlates to job satisfaction measured up to 50 years later for the same individuals.

A different study showed that there is a genetic component of job satisfaction by studying a

group of identical twins and finding correlated job satisfaction levels. It is estimated that about

30% of the variance in job satisfaction is attributable to genetic factors.

Personality traits and job satisfaction

Locus of control

o Is a cognitive variable that represents and individual’s generalized belief in his or

her ability to control positive and negative reinforcements in life

o Many studies have shown a significant correlation between locus of control and

many work variables such as job performance, leadership behavior, perceptions of

the jobs, work motivation and job satisfaction

o It is generally believed that the connection between locus of control and job

satisfaction is job performance as people who perform better at their job are more

likely to be satisfied with their work

Negative affectivity

Page 17: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

o Also calles NA is a personality variable that reflects a person’s tendency to

experience negative emotions, such as anxiety or depression.

o Studies have shown that high NA results in lower job satisfaction

Person-job fit

Research on this matter looks at the interaction between job and person factors to see if

certain types of people respond differently to certain types of jobs.

Correlations were made such as people with high GNS(reminder aici) are more likely to

respond favorably to high-scope jobs but overall the aspect of person-job fit is elusive.

Potential effects of job satisfaction

Job performance

Studies show that the correlation between job satisfaction and job performance is

surpisingly low

It is currently believed that this is due to problematic job performance

measurements

Studies have also shown that it is more likely for job performance to cause job

satisfaction rather than the opposite

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

OCB is behavior by an employee intended to help coworkers or the organization.

OCB goes beyond the formal requirements of a job

OCB was categoriez into two types:

1. Altruism – behavior that helps other people

2. Compliance - doing what is required of the job without being closely monitored

and reminded.

Studies show a tendency for job satisfaction to lead to OCB but are inconclusive

regarding the actual reason behind it.

Page 18: Rezumat Spector Job Satisfaction

Withdrawal behavior

Theories hypothesize that employees who dislike their job will try to avoid them either by

quitting or by coming in late, skipping,etc.

Absence

o organizations are concerned about absence due to its high costs

o common sense would dictate that job satisfaction plays a critical role in an

employee’s decision to be absent

o however research has shown that correlations between job satisfaction and

absence have been inconsistent.

o The reason for absence should be considered when evaluation correlations

between job satisfaction and absence(being ill or fatigued for example).

o It has been shown that absence factors just as important or even more important

than job satisfaction are the organization’s policy for absence and family.

o A less restrictive policy as well as having primary child care responsibilities will

lead to more absence more consistently than low job satisfaction

Turnover

o Studies have been consistent about a correlation between job dissatisfaction and

tendency to find alternative employment.

o Alternative employment opportunities are important as a person is less likely to

quit without another job offer

o Labor market factors interact with job satisfaction in predicting quitting.

Burnout

o Burnout is a distressed emotional/psychological state experienced on the job

o Job satisfaction is an attitudinal response whereas burnout is more of an emotional

response

o There are 3 components of burnout

1. Depersonalization – the emotional distancing from direct care clients that

results in an uncaring attitudie toward others.

2. Emotional exhaustion is the feeling of fatigue and lack of entushiasm

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3. Reduced personal accomplishment is the sense that nothing of value is

being done at work by the person

o Burnout correlates highly with low job satisfaction

Physical health and psychological well-being

o Attempts to link job satisfaction to direct physiological measures of health have

not been successful

o Research has well established that job satisfaction does however relate to

psychological and psychosomatic symptoms such as : headaches, upset stomach,

anxiety and depression

Counterproductive behavior

o It is the opposite of OCB and it consists of either intentional or unintentional acts

committed by an employee which hurt the organization

o Aggression against coworkers,employers,sabotage,theft,etc.

o While this behavior has many causes it is often associated with job dissatisfaction

and reasearch has shown that a strong correlation exists

Life satisfaction

o life satisfaction refers to a person’s feeling about life in general

o it can assessed on the facet level as satisfaction with specific areas of life such as

family or recreation or it can be assessen globally as overall satisfaction with life.

o There are 3 major theories regarding how job satisfaction is related to life

satisfaction:

1. Spillover hypothesis suggests that feelings in one area of life affect feeling

in the other areas

2. Compensation hypothesis states that people will compensate for

dissatisfaction in one area of life by cultivating satisfaction in another

3. Segmentation hypothesis posits that people compartmentalize their lives,

making work and nonwork separate

o Research clearly favors the spillover hypothesis, with a moderate and positive

correlation between job satisfaction and life satisfaction.