Your Job Satisfaction may depend upon your Disposition rather than Job

Why are some people satisfied in jobs while many others are unsatisfied. Why don't I have a yes or no answer to, "Are you satisfied with job?". Will one who is presently unsatisfied, be satisfied over another job? These are many questions that many of us come face to face with. While there have been many researches in this regard. Following two are very interesting in that they suggest that the Job Satisfaction may be more dependent on your personal disposition than actual job.

Study 1 Stability in the midst of change: A dispositional approach to job attitudes.
Authors Staw, Barry M.; Ross, Jerry
Source Journal of Applied Psychology. 1985 Aug Vol 70(3) 469-480

Abstract of the Study

The authors analysed data on the job satisfaction of over 5,000 45-59 yr old males to investigate the dispositional argument that job attitudes are consistent within individuals, showing stability both over time and across situations. Data were collected longitudinally over multiple waves, with the majority of the sample assessed on job satisfaction during 1966, 1969, and 1971. Results show:

1. significant stability of attitudes over a 5-yr time period and significant cross-situational consistency when individuals changed employers and/or occupations.
2. Prior attitudes were also a stronger predictor of subsequent job satisfaction than either changes in pay or the social status of the job.

Implications of these results for developing dispositional theories of work behavior are discussed, along with possible implications for popular situational theories (e.g., job design, social information processing).

Study 2 The dispositional approach to job attitudes: A lifetime longitudinal test.
Authors Staw, Barry M.; Bell, Nancy E.; Clausen, John A.
Source Administrative Science Quarterly. 1986 Mar Vol 31(1) 56-77

Abstract of the Study
The research work examines the influence of affective disposition on job attitudes over long periods of time. Data were taken from an aggregation of 3 separate longitudinal studies that investigated the lives of selected individuals for over 50 yrs. The 1st study was the Guidance Study initiated by J. W. Macfarlane in 1928. It involved 248 original participants who were followed from birth to early adulthood. The Berkeley Growth Study was initiated by N. Bayley in 1928-1929 with 61 infants, and the Oakland Growth Study was begun in 1931 by H. E. Jones et al with 212 5th and 6th graders. Measures of affective disposition from as early as adolescence were used to predict job attitudes in later life. Results show that dispositional measures significantly predicted job attitudes over a time span of nearly 50 yrs. The implications are discussed in terms of both theories of job attitudes and organizational development activities that attempt to alter employee job satisfaction.

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