FAMILY INFLUENCES ON THE JOB SATISFACTION OF EMPLOYED MOTHERS

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between job satisfaction and selected family variables that might constrain or enhance the job satisfaction of employed mothers. Results of stepwise regression indicate that four family variables were more useful in explaining variation in job satisfaction than six background variables that had been expected to influence job satisfaction. Results suggest that job satisfaction could be enhanced by increasing family support for women's employment.     

Factors affecting choice,satisfaction, and success in the female self-employed

The purpose of this study was to determine variables which predict occupational choice, satisfaction, and success in the self-employment of women. In order to investigate this question, a group of female owners was compared to groups of female managers and secretaries on six variables under consideration: achievement motivation, locus of control, sex-role “masculinity,” and availability of models for ownership—father, mother, and other. There were 47 women in each group.It was found that the six variables, considered simultaneously, discriminated among the three occupational groups. The owners were higher than secretaries in achievement motivation, locus of control internality, and sex-role “masculinity.” However, there were no significant differences between owners and managers on these variables. Owners had more parental models (both fathers and mothers) for ownership than either managers or secretaries. Owners, managers, and secretaries did not differ significantly in the number of nonparental models for ownership. Neither job satisfaction nor success in business ownership were found to be related to the six variables considered simultaneously.     

“Good mothering”: Maternal attitudes and mother-infant interaction

Two groups of mother-infant pairs, with infants aged 1 to 5 months, were recruited by child health nurses. One group (n = 10) of infants had rational difficulties, whereas the other group (n = 22) did not. The research team was blind to group membership. The mothers were interviewed about background variables, their cognitive-emotional orientation during pregnancy and early motherhood, their self-confidence as mothers, their satisfaction with support from their husbands, and living conditions. Mother-infant interaction was observed in à diaper change and à face-to-face situation. Comparisons between the two groups showed no differences with regard to background variables, while significant differences were obtained with regard to interview and observation data. The problem group reported less satisfaction with and focus on maternal role, less self-confidence as mothers, and less satisfaction with husband support and living conditions than the no-problem group. With regard to observation data, the no-problem group mothers and infants both showed higher levels of what was à priori regarded as desirable interactional behavior. Correlations between interview and observation data, calculated within the no-problem group, showed the same kind of connection between mothers' cognitive emotional orientation and interactional behavior as was indicated by the group comparisons.     

Job Satisfaction Differences Between Military and Ex-Military Personnel: The Role of Demographic and Organizational Variables

This study examines differences in job satisfaction between military and ex-military personnel and examines the contribution of demographic, dispositional, and organizational variables to those differences. Analysis of data from 571 current New Zealand Army personnel and 171 ex-Army personnel found that Army personnel rated significantly lower than the latter on overall job satisfaction and on 7 of 15 job satisfaction facets. For both groups, high leader support, low job conflict and pressure, and high challenge, autonomy, and job importance were related to high levels of job satisfaction. For Army personnel, low levels of negative affect (a propensity to have a negative outlook on life in general), shorter tenure, and low centralization and formalization also contributed to higher levels of job satisfaction. For ex-Army personnel, income contributed to higher levels of job satisfaction. There were a number of significant differences, however, between Army and ex-Army groups on job satisfaction predictors. These results suggest that differences in job satisfaction between the two groups may be due to (a) different variables that contribute to job satisfaction for each group and (b) different demographic and organizational variables between the groups. Despite a number of limitations, the findings highlight potential future directions for the investigation of interventions in the work environment to provide enhanced psychological rewards for military personnel.     

Nonresponse in Employee Attitude Surveys: A Group-Level Analysis

Purpose

Given the common practice of using employee attitude surveys as a group-level intervention, this study used a group-level approach to examine the relationship between group satisfaction and group nonresponse.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Samples from four large organizations enabled job satisfaction scores to be aggregated to the work group level and correlated with group-level response rates. Additional regression analysis was conducted to control for a number of confounding variables at the group level.

Findings

Aggregate job satisfaction showed significant associations with group-level response rates across each of the samples examined. Work groups with higher aggregate job satisfaction had significantly higher response rates. Regression analyses showed that, in addition to job satisfaction, work group size, heterogeneity in tenure, and heterogeneity in gender composition all had significant effects on response rates.

Implications

Social influence processes may operate at the group level to increase homogeneity of job-relevant attitudes and similarity in survey response behavior. Future research should be designed to investigate the effects of group-level variables on nonresponse.

Originality/Value

The current study adds to the literature by demonstrating that work group variables may play an important role in explaining nonresponse in employee attitude surveys. Because the processes underlying survey response are likely to be different at different levels of analysis, the investigation of nonresponse as a group-level phenomenon creates new opportunities for research and practice.     

Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity of Employment Counselors

The relationship of role conflict and role ambiguity to job satisfaction and other variables was examined in a national sample of 506 employment counselors. A survey was mailed to USES counselors in ten states. Regression analysis showed that the 11 personal and organizational variables included in the study accounted for only a small amount of the variance in role conflict or role ambiguity. On the other hand, role conflict and role ambiguity were negatively and significantly related to job satisfaction of the counselors. These stress variables were related positively and significantly to counselors' propensity to leave the agency. Privacy of counseling facilities and time spent in counseling activities were two variables contributing most to explaining variance in role stress. Both related negatively and significantly to role conflict and role ambiguity.     

Individual versus organizational predictors of job satisfaction and turnover among professionals

In a constructive replication and extension of previous research, the relative importance of individual (personality and professional attitudes) versus organizational (professional reward system and tenure) variables in predicting job satisfaction and turnover was investigated for the case of professionals. Support among a sample of computer specialists was found for the notion that, among professionals, individual variables are more important than organizational factors in predicting satisfaction with the work itself; but individual variables often played a major role in satisfaction with contextual aspects of the job as well. Organizational factors were found to be significantly predictive of satisfaction with all aspects of the job, but were the only significant predictors of turnover. Thus the importance of organizational factors over individual factors for professionals was supported more clearly for the behavioral outcome, turnover, than for attitudinal outcomes.     

The impact of role stress on workers' behaviour through job satisfaction and organizational commitment

Dysfunctions in role performance have been associated with a large number of consequences, almost always negative, which affect the well-being of workers and the functioning of organizations. An individual's experience of receiving incompatible or conflicting requests (role conflict) and/or the lack of enough information to carry out his/her job (role ambiguity) are causes of role stress. According to previous theory, role ambiguity and conflict decrease workers' performance and are positively related to the probability of workers leaving the organization. Job satisfaction refers to a positive evaluation of a job, while organizational commitment refers to an employee's attachment to the organization. The affective dimensions of organizational commitment and job satisfaction are considered to be important predictors of turnover intention, absenteeism, and job performance. In the literature, role conflict and ambiguity have been proposed as determining factors of workers' job satisfaction and their commitment towards the organization. The role of job satisfaction and organizational commitment were analysed as variables that should mediate between role ambiguity and conflict and employees' behaviour. The hypotheses were confirmed by means of path analysis carried out with data obtained from a sample of Spanish blue-collar workers employed by a bus company and a water supply company. Role stressors were negatively related to affective commitment mediated through job satisfaction. Affective commitment to the organization exerted a positive influence on performance and reduces the withdrawal behaviour analysed— intention to leave and absenteeism—although the strongest predictor of intention to leave was, in this study, job satisfaction.     

Effects of scheduling perceptions on attitudes and mobility in different part-time employee types

Recent research supports the existence of a typology of part-time employees with demographic and behavioral differences. This research suggests that part-timers should not be viewed as one homogenous group and that certain part-time employee groups have fixed external role attachments, while others have more flexible attachments. Applying the part-time typology and the classification of fixed versus flexible attachments from previous research, the current study examines differences in the relationships among scheduling perceptions, job attitudes, and employment mobility for part-timers. Consistent with Partial Inclusion Theory, we found that part-time workers classified as having more fixed outside role attachments have lower organizational commitment, job satisfaction, employment mobility, work status congruence, scheduling control, and scheduling satisfaction than those classified as having more flexible outside role attachments. Additionally, the flexibility of external role attachments moderates the relationship between scheduling variables and job attitudes and employment mobility. Implications for management and research are discussed.     

Workplace support, discrimination, and person-organization fit: tests of the theory of work adjustment with LGB individuals

The present study explored the links of 2 workplace contextual variables--perceptions of workplace heterosexist discrimination and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB)-supportive climates--with job satisfaction and turnover intentions in a sample of LGB employees. An extension of the theory of work adjustment (TWA) was used as the conceptual framework for the study; as such, perceived person-organization (P-O) fit was tested as a mediator of the relations between the workplace contextual variables and job outcomes. Data were analyzed from 326 LGB employees. Zero-order correlations indicated that perceptions of workplace heterosexist discrimination and LGB-supportive climates were correlated in expected directions with P-O fit, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to compare multiple alternative measurement models evaluating the discriminant validity of the 2 workplace contextual variables relative to one another, and the 3 TWA job variables relative to one another; SEM was also used to test the hypothesized mediation model. Comparisons of multiple alternative measurement models supported the construct distinctiveness of the variables of interest. The test of the hypothesized structural model revealed that only LGB-supportive climates (and not workplace heterosexist discrimination) had a unique direct positive link with P-O fit and, through the mediating role of P-O fit, had significant indirect positive and negative relations with job satisfaction and turnover intentions, respectively. Moreover, P-O fit had a significant indirect negative link with turnover intentions through job satisfaction.     

A longitudinal and multi‐source test of the work–family conflict and job satisfaction relationship

Job satisfaction is one of the most frequently studied outcomes in the work–family conflict literature. This study extends the previous research examining the unique effects of work interfering with family (WIF) and family interfering with work (FIW) on job satisfaction by (1) controlling for family, personal, and job characteristics of dual‐earner couples, (2) employing cross‐sectional and longitudinal methods, and (3) predicting job satisfaction with a spousal rating of the target's WIF. Consistent with previous research, WIF was related to job satisfaction cross‐sectionally for men and women, and this effect existed beyond negative mood, job autonomy and monotony, and FIW. When predicting a change in job satisfaction a year later, and when using spouse rating of the target's WIF, WIF was predictive of women's job satisfaction but not men's, which is consistent with gender role theory. The fact that WIF predicted job satisfaction for women beyond affective and job characteristic variables, over time, and with non‐self reported measures, provides more confidence in this directional relationship than could previously be assumed. Societal and managerial implications are discussed.     

Contributions of a supportive work environment to parents' well-being and orientation to work

Examined the joint and unique contributions of informal social support in the workplace and formal, family-responsive benefits and policies provided by employers to the job-related attitudes and personal well-being of employed parents with a young child. Eighty married men, 169 married women, and 72 single women with a preschool child completed a survey concerning social support from co-workers and supervisor, utilization of family-responsive benefits and policies, readiness to leave the employer for additional benefits, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, role strain, and health symptoms. Among the findings: (a) Fathers and mothers expressed equal levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, but mothers reported more role strain and health symptoms; (b) nearly 48% of married women's organizational commitment was accounted for by measures of support in the workplace; (c) informal social support at work was significantly more important to men's well-being than that of women; and (d) formal, family-responsive policies appeared more consequential for the prediction of women's role strain, perhaps because of women's greater responsibility for adjusting work life to meet the demands of family roles.     

Does Positive Attitude Matter Only for Older Workers? Evidence from Simultaneous Estimation of Job Satisfaction,Wage and Positive Attitude in the United States

The current study tests two hypotheses. First, it claims that the worker’s job satisfaction is related not only to the objective variable wage rate, but also to the psychological variable positive attitude, and that all three variables are simultaneously related. Second, the study predicts that the psychological variable positive attitude as a covariate of job satisfaction matters more for matured adults who are already settled in their desired jobs than younger workers who may still be in search of their preferred employment. Using data on matured adults and younger adults from the United States and following a two-stage procedure the current study estimates job satisfaction, wage and positive attitude equations in a simultaneous equations framework. The study confirms the presence of this simultaneous relationship, and demonstrates that the job satisfaction of matured adults in fact is related to both objective (wage) and subjective (attitude) factors. For younger workers, however, wage, and not positive attitude, emerges as a significant covariate of their job satisfaction. Since positive attitude plays a significant role in the determination of their wages, it is related to their job satisfaction only indirectly through higher wages. Positive attitude thus benefits both older and younger workers thorough different channels. The study further presents interesting results on the covariates of wage and positive attitude which remain disguised when the simultaneous relationship among these three variables is ignored.     

Effects of service provider attitudes and employment status on citizenship behaviors and customers' attitudes and loyalty behavior

The relationship among job satisfaction, affective commitment, service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty were examined for a sample of 249 hairstylists and 1 of their corresponding customers. Employee satisfaction was positively related to service-oriented OCBs, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty, whereas affective commitment was not related to these outcomes. The extent to which the predictor variables interacted with one another and the role of employment status on these relationships was also explored. High levels of job satisfaction or affective commitment resulted in more service-oriented OCBs for employees and self-employed workers, whereas high levels of both resulted in more service-oriented OCBs for owners.     

工作对家庭的增益与中小学教师的工作满意度:职业认同的中介作用及其性别差异

探究工作对家庭的增益影响中小学教师工作满意度的过程机制。采用纵向设计对760名中小学教师进行问卷调查,时间点1测查人口学变量和工作对家庭的增益,时间点2测查职业认同和工作满意度。结果发现:(1)工作对家庭的增益能够显著正向预测工作满意度;(2)职业认同在工作对家庭的增益与工作满意度的关系中起部分中介作用;(3)性别对此中介过程的前半段路径具有调节作用,表现为男教师的工作对家庭的增益对职业认同的预测效力更高。结果表明:工作对家庭的增益显著影响中小学教师的工作满意度,职业认同在此影响过程中具有中介作用,且这一中介作用存在性别差异。     

Satisfaction et confort au travail. L’apport de la démarche implicative

A large body of research has investigated the psycho-organizational variables predicting satisfaction at work, but few studies have so far examined variables in the field of environmental psychology. Our study aims first to identify the impact of variables evaluating comfort at work (satisfaction with the work environment, attachment to the workplace) by comparing them with organizational variables known to be related to job satisfaction, and then to rank the relationships between these variables in a pseudo- implication sequence, based on statistical implicative analysis. The study involved 105 bank employees and confirms our theoretical model, showing that job satisfaction can be explained implicatively by the three other variables [(Comfort/Functionality => Control/privacy) => Workplace attachment] => job satisfaction.     

Moderating effects of perceived control and need for clarity on the relationship between role stressors and employee affective reactions

The authors examined the salience of perceived control and need for clarity as "buffers" of the adverse consequences of role stressors by using hierarchical regressions on role ambiguity and role conflict, with job satisfaction and psychological strain as the criterion variables. In a sample of U.S. and New Zealand employees, perceived control was directly associated with higher satisfaction and reduced strain but displayed no moderating effect on stressor-outcome relationships. Need for clarity, on the other hand, was a significant moderator of the relationship of role ambiguity and conflict to both satisfaction and strain; that finding suggests that researchers could give more attention to dispositional variables in examining the correlates of role stressors.     

Self-esteem,race, and job satisfaction

The present study investigated relationships between self-esteem (SE) and job satisfaction among black and white employees. The sample consisted of 523 (45% black) employees of a large, urban school system. There was a positive relationship between SE and job satisfaction for members of both racial groups. In addition, the correlation between need satisfaction and job satisfaction was stronger for high SE persons than for low SE persons. The relationships between two social reference variables (the perceived satisfaction of other employees and improved standard of living) and job satisfaction were, as predicted, stronger for low SE whites than for high SE whites. Among blacks, however, the social reference variables were strongly related to job satisfaction regardless of level of SE.     

The effects of transformational leadership behaviours on follower outcomes: An identity-based analysis

The aim of this study was to explore two of the mechanisms by which transformational leaders have a positive influence on followers. It examined the mediating role of follower's leader and group identification on the associations among different transformational leader behaviours and follower job satisfaction and supervisor-rated job performance. One hundred and seventy-nine healthcare employees and 44 supervisors participated in the study. The results from multilevel structural equation modelling provided results that partially supported the predicted model. Identification with the leader significantly mediated the positive associations between supportive leadership, intellectual stimulation, personal recognition, in the prediction of job satisfaction and job performance. Leader identification also mediated the relationship between supportive leadership, intellectual stimulation, personal recognition, and group identification. However, group identification did not mediate the associations between vision leadership and inspirational communication, in the prediction of job satisfaction and job performance. The results highlight the role of individualized forms of leadership and leader identification in enhancing follower outcomes.     

Understanding the employee job satisfaction depending on manager's fair treatment: The role of cynicism towards the organization and co-worker support

IntroductionThe present study claims that perceived interactional justice can be a significant antecedent of job satisfaction. In this relationship, cynicism towards the organization has a mediating role on the impact of perceived interactional justice on employees’ job satisfaction. In addition, co-worker support has a moderator role on the impact of employees’ cynic attitudes and behavior on their job satisfaction.ObjectiveThis study discusses the above mentioned theoretical research model and tries to clarify the relationship among present concepts.MethodTo this end, a cross-sectional research study has been performed with the participation of 1606 employees from various banks (public and private) in Istanbul/Turkey during the coronovirus pandemic.ResultsAccording to the findings of the research, perceived interactional justice has significant positive impacts on employees’ job satisfaction. In addition, the results indicated that cynicism towards the organization has significant mediating role between perceived interactional justice and job satisfaction. Subsequently, the findings confirmed that co-worker support has significant moderating role in the relationship between cynicism towards the organization and job satisfaction.ConclusionThis study helps to understand and evaluate the factors influencing attitudes towards work at the organizational and relational levels. All study variables and the possible relationship among these, are discussed in the literature review. Finally, the implications of study for both the individual and the organization are presented in the conclusion and discussion section.