Date of Award
Fall 1981
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Ivanoff, John
Second Advisor
Topetzs, Nick
Third Advisor
Taft, Thomas B.
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship of job satisfaction to certain personality factors, vocational interests, demographic variables and organizational factors. Six null hypotheses were offered concerning the relationship between the: (1) experimental group and control group on job satisfaction, personality and vocational interest measures, (2) level of job satisfaction and congruency of measured vocational interest with present occupation, (3) level of job satisfaction and personality factors, (4) level of job satisfaction and demographic variables, (5) significant variables when combined in a linear discriminant function and (6) two measures of job satisfaction. To achieve the purposes of the study, two groups of subjects were drawn from a large industrial organization. The experimental group consisted of 60 volunteers for a career planning program. The control group consisted of 37 employees selected through a computer generated random list. The two groups were combined to form a third or total group. The instruments administered were: the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionaire [sic], the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory, the Job Descriptive Index, and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionaire [sic]. Statistical treatment of the data consisted of: one-way analysis of variance, chi-square, stepwise discriminant analysis, and Pearson-product moment correlation. Analysis of the data yielded significant results in several areas. The experimental (voluntary) group was found to be more expedient, tough-minded, self-reliant and independent than the control group. The job satisfied employees were found to be more emotionally stable, calm, adventurous, active, outgoing, experimenting, liberal and free-thinking than the job dissatisfied employees. The job satisfied group had also been in their present occupation for a significantly shorter period of time. The organizational variables along with years in present occupation and two of the personality factors were the combination of discriminators which best distinguished job satisfied from job dissatisfied employees. The JDI and MSQ were significantly correlated. All other analyses, including those dealing with vocational interest, were not significant. The results indicated that several psychological and demographic variables were useful in differentiating job satisfied from job dissatisfied employees. Major implications of the results and recommendations for future research were also presented.