Job satisfaction theories related to productivity

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University of Lincoln

Job satisfaction theories related to productivity

Occupational Psychology

Papadopoulos Sotirios

Level III

Tutor : Gougousi Melina

In the field of occupational psychology, researchers have shown a great amount of interest regarding the relation of job satisfaction with work behavior. The nature of job satisfaction and its various elements such as emotional, behavioral and cognitive ones made the research more complicated, since the association of job satisfaction and productivity is not transparent. The research outcomes did not support the relation of job satisfaction and concluded that this relation is not important (Berry, 1998, Vroom, 1964).

        The lack of job satisfaction may lead an employee becoming constantly absentee or walk out, although it seems that the factors that influence these behaviors are different. Evidence supporting this notion derives from a research by Mowday, Steers & Porter (1979). The findings showed that absenteeism, at variance with walking out that seems to be influenced by job satisfaction and well thought action, is an unaffected deed unrelated to job satisfaction. Support to the view that absenteeism is an impulsive behavior comes from the findings of another research that suggests that job satisfaction does not strongly relate with constant absence and quitting may become a problem for the organization(Petty, McGee & Cavender, 1984, Statt, 1994, Smith, Kendall & Hulin, 1969), although other research showed that quitting could be useful for an organization (Blau, 1987, Miller, 1980, Sousa – Poza, A. & Souza – Poza, A. A. 2000).

        Various theories were proposed regarding the factors that influence job satisfaction. The factors that seem to influence the perceived quality of a job were categorized into three groups (Cooper & Williams, 1994):

  • Organizational policies and methods. This factor includes aspects such as payment, advancement opportunities, supervision and decision-making procedures that all influence the employee’s job satisfaction.
  • The other work characteristics such as the amount of work, its environment, feedback, autonomy and the variety of skills comprise this group and are also influential in job satisfaction.
  • Personality aspects of the employee constitute the last category: stress tolerance ability, self-esteem and general life satisfaction. A great amount of theories was proposed regarding these factors (Smith, 1998, Judge, & Watanabe, 1993, Miller, 1980).

One of the first efforts to comprehend and analyze job satisfaction was Maslow’s need hierarchy theory (Maslow, 1954, Bellott & Tutor, 1990). Maslow has ranked individual needs according to their importance. In the lower level he placed physiological and safety needs. Those are the ones that control behavior, but only until they are fulfilled. When that happens the second level which consists of esteem and belongingness needs is activated. This principle of activation affects job satisfaction, in terms of making the employee have an active need constantly (because when one level of needs is fulfilled the next one is activated). Nevertheless it results in making job satisfaction seem impossible and may even have the opposite result: dissatisfaction.

According to Murray’s manifest need theory (Murray, 1938), in terms of the present level in the need hierarchy, different people might be motivated by and satisfied with various conditions. It is also considered that all needs, under certain conditions, are of the same importance. The difference which makes this model notable is that it also considers differences among people within the importance of different need levels. For example, employees who feel a great need of achievement are expected to fulfill this need of theirs with problem-solving and successful performance of their tasks, whereas employees with a strong need of affiliation are expected to achieve the fulfillment of their need via developing social relationships with their colleagues. As a result, the work types most suitable for a specific person in terms of their needs can be easily predicted. Besides one can easily foretell whether a specific employee’s needs will be fulfilled or not.

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As is expected, the need approach to job satisfaction has numerous problems and drawbacks. For starters, the aspects of need are not clearly described and the set of needs that affect behavior in different situations is not distinct or even complete (Jewell, 1998). Regardless of its problems the need for dominance, affiliation and achievement, which can be considered as work-related needs, are apt to lead to the formulation of hypotheses about the job satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Argyle, 1989).

Another theory concerning the reasons that lead to either satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the work area, is Locke’s value theory (Locke 1976). Locke ...

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