Work satisfaction as a function of the person—environment interaction

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE

17, 66-75 (1976)

Work Satisfaction as a Function of the P e r s o n - E n v i r o n m e n t Interaction JOHN W . SEYBOLT

University of Utah Drawing on the concept of person-environment fit, this research examined the general hypothesis that relationships between characteristics of the work environment and level of employee satisfaction are moderated by employee education level. Specifically, it was predicted that more organizational "inducements" (pay, job variety, task complexity) are required to satisfy welleducated employees than are needed to satisfy less well-educated individuals. Subjects were 926 male public sector employees. Results generally supported the research hypothesis.

INTRODUCTION The present study explores the relationships between three characteristics of the work environment (pay, job variety, task complexity) and personal work satisfaction, and the moderating effect of level of formal education on these relationships. The concept of the person-environment fit is used to predict differential levels of work satisfaction in a public sector workforce. The usefulness of such an integrative approach has been recognized (e.g., Katzell, 1957; Jahoda, 1961; Forehand & Gilmer, 1964; Opsahl & Dunnette, 1966; Pervin, 1968; Dawis, Lofquist, & Weiss, 1968; Hackman & Lawler, 1971; Kohn & Schooler, 1973) and the present research works within this framework to examine the organizational "inducements" required for employee satisfaction. LEVEL OF FORMAL EDUCATION Perhaps one of the more salient characteristics which the worker brings to his job is his educational level, which is an important and conceptually complex variable affecting both the worker's performance and his work attitudes. It has been found that educational level influences the worker's expectations concerning job rewards as well as his job perceptions in general, such that the higher the education, the higher the worker's expectations (Morse, 1953; Vollmer & Kinney, 1955; Klein & Maher, 1968; Penzer, 1969). Because of this influence of educational level on perceptions and expectations it follows that educational level should have significant moderating effects upon the relationship between work environment characteristics and work satisfaction. Address reprint requests to John W. Seybolt, Department of Management, University of Utah College of Business, Salt Lake City, UT 84117. 66 Copyright ~) 1976 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

WORK SATISFACTION

67

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORK ENVIRONMENT: PAY, JOB VARIETY, TASK COMPLEXITY Previous research-has found that the pay an individual receives and the work he performs are of major significance to him. Because of the importance of pay in satisfying various individual needs (Lawler, 1971; Opsahl & Dunnette, 1966), it is probable that pay may be crucial in the determination of attitudes not only toward pay, but toward work itself. In addition, there is general agreement that the specific task a worker does has great impact upon his attitudes toward work and toward his life in general (e.g., Breer & Locke, 1965; Hulin & Blood, 1968; Porter & Steers, 1973). Kohn and Schooler (1973) vigorously support this view with the thesis that "adult occupational experience has a real and substantial impact upon men's psychological functioning" (p. 97). They further state that two of the most critical aspects of the work task are its variety and complexity. That these two task attributes (variety and complexity) are distinct from each other is emphasized by Kohn and Schooler (1973), who argue, for example, that a task may consist of extremely complex operations performed with a great deal of repetitiveness such that the task can be simultaneously complex and low in variety. From the research mentioned above it is clear that a worker's pay, the variety of his job and the complexity of his tasks should have significant effect on his job satisfaction. JOB SATISFACTION Some of the most comprehensive work concerning job satisfaction has been carried out by Smith, Kendall, and Hulin (1969) with their development of the Job Description Index. These researchers identified five facets of job satisfaction: satisfaction with pay, co-workers, promotions, supervision, and the work itself. Since the primary interest of the present study was in the specific work the individual does, the facet labeled "satisfaction with the work itself" was examined.

HYPOTHESES In general, it is hypothesized that there is an interaction between work environment clharacteristics and individual worker differences such that the higher the level of formal education, the higher the level of pay, job variety, and task complexity necessary for work satisfaction and, conversely, the lower the level of formal education, the lower the level of pay, job varielLy, and task complexity necessary for work satisfaction. From this the specific hypotheses follow: (a). In a job with low pay, variety, and complexity an individual with lower education will be more satisfied with his work than an individual with higher education will be.

68

JOHN W. SEYBOLT

(b). In a job with medium pay, variety, and complexity an individual with medium education will be more satisfied than the individual with higher or lower education will be. (c). In a job with high pay, variety, and complexity an individual with higher education will be more satisfied with his work than an individual with lower education will be.

METHOD

The Sample The sample was drawn from a public sector work population comprised of muncipal and county employees, using stratified random sampling procedures (Mendenhall, Ott, & Sheaffer, 1971). The sample included over 380 different job classifications within four major occupational categories (professional and managerial, clerical, service, manual). This sample workforce is noteworthy because of the variety of occupations involved. The full range of occupations in the county and municipal government is represented in the sample and, as such, it offers perhaps the most comprehensive survey to date of the work attitudes of local and county government workers. For the present study the total male sample was examined (N = 926). The Survey An attitude survey was administered to the county and muncipal employees in groups of from 5 to 100 over a 3 wk period. The survey itself was a part of a larger project designed to examine the introduction of productivity bargaining in the public sector. Instruments (a). Work environment characteristics. Three work environment characteristics were measured in the study: pay, job variety, and substantive complexity of work. The measures of variety and substantive complexity of work were adopted from the work of Kohn and Schooler (1973). A portion of a routinizatior~ of work index developed by Kohn (1969) was used to measure job variety. Kohn (personal communication, 1973) suggested that the most critical aspect of this index was the issue of repetitiveness or variety of work tasks. Therefore, the following questions was adopted from Kohn (1969) to measure the amount of perceived variety which the individuals felt their jobs offered. Does your work involve doing: (1) the same things in the same way repeatedly, (2) the same kinds of things in a new or different way, (3) a number of different kinds of things. While this measure was of necessity a one-item, self-reported measure, there is evidence that such a measure is a valid indicator (in terms of

WORK SATISFACTION

69

agreement with outside observer job ratings) of actual variety on the job. Hackman and I_,awler (1971) used a measure similar to the present one and found strong correlations between self-ratings and supervisor's ratings (r = .87) and with independent measurements by outside researchers (r = .94). Therefore, it is assumed that the self-report measure employed here was closely related to the actual variety on the job. The measure of substantive complexity of work was derived from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles' (DOT, 1968) development of indices to evaluate three types of work complexity (work with data, people, and things) related to the mental, interpersonal, and physical requirements of jobs. Fine (1968;) contended that the lower level DOT ratings indicate less complex work with mostly prescribed duties and higher level DOT ratings indicate more complex jobs with mostly discretionary duties. The applicability of these ratings to specific jobs is suggested by Kohn and Schooler (1973) who found that measures of task complexity as reported by individual job holders themselves were highly and significantly related to the DOT complexity ratings for those same jobs. In the present study an overall measure of task complexity was developed (Seybolt, 1975) and individual jobs were rated as low, medium, or high in terms of substantive complexity. The pay level of all workers was obtained from organizational records, and salaries were divided for convenience of analysis into the following categories: (1) Less than $11,000 per year, (2) $11,000 to $13,999 per year, (3)/> $14,000 per year. (b). Level of formal education. The worker's level of formal education was obtained through self-report. For convenience of analysis, educational background was trichotemized into the following three categories: (1) Grade school completed, indicates lower educational attainment; (2) High school completed, indicates medium educational attainment; (3) College completed, indicates higher educational attainment. (c). Work satisfaction. T h e " satisfaction with the work itself" scale from the Job Description Index of Smith, Kendall and Hulin (1969) was used to measure work satisfaction. This instrument is one of the most widely researched measures of job satisfaction, with a wealth of validation data supporting its use. The correlation matrix in Table 1 shows the relationships between the variables examined in the study. PROCEDURE In the prediction of work satisfaction, two way analysis of variance techniques Were used to determine the significance of any main or interaction effects of the level of formal education and work environment characteristics. The analysis employed was that suggested for analysis of var-

70

J O H N W. SEYBOLT TABLE 1 INTERCORRELATIONS OF VARIABLES IN T I l E S T U D Ya

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Work satisfaction Pay Education Variety Task complexity

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

1.00 .33 .10 .44 .22

1.00 .40 .29 .35

1.00 .13 .33

1.00 .25

1.00

a N = 883; all values significant at .01 level.

iance with unequal cell frequencies by Service (1972) and Francis (1973). To test the specific hypotheses of the study, the t statistic for multiple comparisons of means was used as recommended by Kirk (1968) for means that are orthogonal and which result from a priori or planned comparisons. Since the hypotheses predicted the direction of the mean differences, one-tailed tests of statistical significance were employed. The formula for the t statistic which was used was that recommended by Kirk (1968) for studies with unequal cell sizes. RESULTS Education x Variety ~ Work Satisfaction For this sample of male county and municipal workers, statistically significant results were found in the direction predicted by the hypotheses, as Table 2 indicates. In the analysis of variance procedure the results showed significant main effects for education (F = 4.56, p < .01) and for variety (F = 121.22, p < .0001). In addition, there were significant interaction effects of education x variety (F = 3.46, p < .01) as predicted. When t tests were performed to examine the specific hypotheses, significant results in the predicted direction were found. Those individuals with grade school educations in jobs with low variety were significantly more satisfied with their work than were those with high school educations in jobs with low variety (t = 2.85, p < .005) and they were also more satisfied than those with college educations in jobs with low variety (t = 1.16, p < . 15). Conversely, those individuals with grade school educations in jobs with high variety were significantly less satisfied than were those with high school educations in jobs with high variety (t = 1.43, p < . 10) and they were significantly less satisfied than were those with college educations in jobs with high variety (t = 1.99, p < .025). Furthermore, those individuals with high school, educations in jobs with medium variety were significantly more satisfied than either those with high school eduations in jobs with low variety (t = 1.66, p < .05) or those with high school

71

WORK SATISFACTION

EDUCATION

X

TABLE 2 VARIETY X WORK SATISFACTION VARIETY

medium

l OW (4)

11)

grade school

N = 32

28,35

34.41

12)

high school

(7)

H : 77

N : 77 36.77

(5)

(8)

N = 201

H = 75

24, 52

38.13

3)

N = 205 37,68

(6)

cellege

(9)

N = 57

N = 40

N = ll9

26,25

35,33

38.75

] Dependent Variable

N = 883

= Work S a t i s f a c t i o n

= 32.92 ANOVA RESULTS: F = 33.17

p<.O001

SOURCE: main e f f e c t s :

education . . . F = 4.56 main effects: variety . . . F = 121.22 interaction effects: education x variety .... F = 3.46

p<.Ol p<.O001 p<.Ol

TESTS OF SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES: cell cell cell cell cell cell

l>cell l>cell 5>cell 5>cell 7
3 2 4 6 9 8

t t t t t t

= = = = = =

1.16 2.85 1.66 1.35 1.99 1.43

p<.15 p<.O05 p<.05 p<,lO p<.025 p<.lO

(direction (direction (direction (direction (direction (direction

as as as as as as

predicted) predicted) predicted) predicted) predicted) predicted)

educations in jobs with high variety (t = 1.35, p < .10). Thus the results offered strong support for the hypotheses. Further, the interaction pattern found for this group of employees was disordinal, such that the "rank order of the 'treatments' changes" (Kerlinger & Pedhazur, 1973, p. 245). In other words, the two regression lines of the two treatments intersected within the research range of interest. Since the interaction was disordinal, it is not meaningful to interpret the main effects (Kerlinger & Pedhazur,

1973). Education x Pay ~

Work Satisfaction

As seen in Table 3, the results of this analysis were similar to those for the analysis of the education × variety interaction, however, here the interaction effects were not statistically significant. There were significant main effects for both education (F = 4.25, p < .01) and pay (F = 46.43, p < .0001). Comparing the individual cell means, there were significant

72

JOHN W.

SEYBOLT

results in the direction predicted by the hypotheses. Those individuals with college educations were significantly less satisfied with their work in jobs with less pay than were individuals with grade school educations in jobs with low pay (t = 2.08, p < .025). Conversely, the individuals with grade school educations in jobs with high pay were less satisfied than those with college educations in jobs with high pay. These results, while in the predicted direction, did not reach statistical significance (t = 1.02, p < .20). For those individuals with medium pay there were no significant differences in work satisfaction, contrary to predictions. Education x Task Complexity ~ Work Satisfaction In the analysis of variance, significant main effects were found for both education (F = 3.72, p < .02) and for task complexity (F = 19.42, p < .001) on satisfaction with work, as Table 4 indicates. In addition, significant interaction effects were found for education × task complexity (F =2.46, p < .04). The interaction effects tended to be partially in the direction predicted by the hypotheses and cell mean differences were suggestive of this interaction. Those individuals with college educations in jobs TABLE 3 EDUCATION X PAY~WORK SATISFACTION PAY

<$II,000

grade school

high school

,000

il) N = 145

N = 44

31.08

36.16

(5)

:2) N = 286

N = 130

29.07

35.95

13) college

(7)

(4)'

N : 13

(5)

N = 84

(9)

(6)

35.38

37.64

B : 61

N = 66

N = 97

27.64

36.38

38.47 N : 926

Dependent Variable = Work Satisfaction = 32.96

ANOVA RESULTS:

F = 13.12

p<.O001

SOURCE: main effects:

education . . . F = 4.25 main effects: pay . . . . . F = 46.43 interaction effects: education x pay . . . . . . F = .92

p<.Ol p<.O001 NS

TESTS OF SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES: cell cell

l>cell 3 7
t : 2.08 t = 1.02

p<.025 (direction as predicted) p<,20 (direction as predicted)

73

WORK SATISFACTION

with low complexity were less satisfied with their work than those with grade school educations in jobs with low complexity. These differences did not reach statistical significance. Conversely, those with college educations in jobs with medium complexity were more satisfied with their work than were those with grade school educations in jobs with medium complexity (t == 1.71, p < . 10). In addition, those with high school educations in jobs with medium complexity were significantly more satisfied with their work than those with grade school educations in jobs with medium complexity (t = 1.84, p < .05). DISCUSSION The present study supports the proposition that level of formal education moderates the relationship between work environment characteristics and job satisfaction. Although the results showed significant main effects, an additive model cannot explain the results of the present study because of the significant interaction effects. In addition to the statistically significant support for the interaction predictions in the cases of

EDUCATION

TABLE 4 TASK COMPLEXITY~WoRK SATISFACTION

X

TASK COMPLEXITY

low

grade school

high school

(7)

N = 78

N = 63

30,37

30,51

N :

(5)

151

28,30

college

medium

(4)

(6)

N = 45

(8)

38.82

N = 196

N = 134

33.63

34,68

N = 21

N = 60

28.95

35,07

(9)

N = 131 35.61 N = 883

Dependent Variable = Work Satisfaction : 32.92

ANOVA RESULTS:

SOURCE:

F = 7.02

p<.O001

main effects: education . . . . . . F = 3.72 main effects: task complexity . . F = 1 9 . 4 2 interaction effects: education x task complexity . . . F : 2 . 4 6

p<.02 p<.O001 p<.04

TESTS OF SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES: cell cell cell cell cell

l>cell 5>cell 6>cell 6>cell 7>cell

3 4 4 5 9

t t t t t

= = = = =

.50 1.84 1.71 .83 1.22

NS p<.05 p<.lO NS p<.15

(direction (direction (direction (direction (direction

as predicted) as predicted) as predicted) not as predicted) not as predicted)

74

JOHN W, SEYBOLT

variety and task complexity, the results generally supported the specific hypotheses of the study. Even when the results were not statistically significant, with few exceptions they were consistently in the direction predicted by the hypotheses. In conclusion, it is evident that an interactive approach is fruitful in the prediction of work satisfaction and that level of education is an important, although conceptually complex, variable to be considered. While level of educaton may be just as or more indicative of social status, cultural background, and personal needs as it is of ability or intelligence, it is clear from previous research that it leads to higher individual expectations. If the job and work organization do not meet the expectations of the highly educated individual, the results of the present study imply that the individual will be less satisfied than the individual with lower education in a similar job. However, the individual with lower education and therefore lower expectations will be satisfied when his lower expectations are met and will be less satisfied than the more highly educated individual in a job which offers more "inducements" than he expects. Therefore it behooves the organizational manager to consider the educational level of his workers in his selection, placement, and job redesign decisions if he is concerned with their job satisfaction. REFERENCES Breer, P. E., & Locke, E. A. Task experience as a source of attitudes. Homewood, Ill.: Dorsey Press, 1965. Dawis, R. V., Lofquist, L. H. & Weiss, D. J. A theory of work adjustment (A revision) (Vol. 18). Minneapolis, Minn.: Minnesota Studies in Vocational Rehabilitation, 1968. Fine, S. The 1965 third edition of the dictionary of occupational titles: content, contrasts, and critique. Kalamazoo, Mich.: W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 1968. Forehand, G. A., & Gilmer, B. von H. Environmental variables in studies of organizational behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 1964, 62, 361-381. Francis, I. A comparison of several analysis of variance programs. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 1973, 67, 860-865. Hackman, J. R., & Lawler, E. E. Employee reactions to job characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1971, 55, 259-286. Hulin, C. L. & Blood, M. R. Job enlargement, individual differences and worker responses. Psychological Bulletin, 1968, 69, 41-55. Jahoda, M. A social psychological approach to the study of culture. Human Relations, 1961, 14, 23-30. Katzell, R. A. Industrial psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 1957, 8, 237-268. Klein, S. M., & Maher, J. R. Education level, attitudes and future expectations among first-level managment. Personnel Psychology, 1968, 19, 195-208. Kerlinger, F. N., & Pedhazur, E. J. Multiple regression in behavioral research. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973. Kirk, R. E. Experimental design: procedures for the behavioral sciences. Belmont, Ca.: Brooks/Cole, 1968. Kohn, M. L. Class and conformity: A study in values. Homewood, Ill.: Dorsey Press, 1969.

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Kohn, M. L., & Schooler, C. Occupational experience and psychological functioning: an assessment of reciprocal effects. American Sociological Review, 1973, 38, 97-118. Lawler, E. E. Pay and organizational effectiveness: A psychological view. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971. Mendenhall, W., Ott, L., & Scheaffer, R. L. Elementary survey sampling. Belmont, Ca.: Duxbury Press, 1971. Morse, N. C. Satisfaction in the white-collar job. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1953. Opsahl, R., & Dunnette, M. The role of financial compensation in industrial motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 1966, 66, 94-118. Penzer, W. Educat:ion level and satisfaction with pay: an attempted replication. Personnel Psychology, 1969, 22, 185-199. Pervin, L. A. Performance and satisfaction as a function of the individual-environment fit. Psychological Bulletin, 1968, 69, 56-68. Porter, L. W., Steers, R. M. Organizational, work and personal factors in employee turnover and absenteeism. Psychological Bulletin, 1973, 80, 151-176. Service, J. A users' guide to the statistical analysis system. Raleigh N.C.: Student Supply Store, North Carolina State University, 1972. Seybolt, J. Job satisfaction and turnover as a function of the person-environment interaction, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Cornell University, 1975. Smith P. C., Kendall, L. M., & Hulin, C. L. The measurement of satisfaction in work and retirement. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969. U. S. Department of Labor. Dictionary of occupational titles. 3rd ed. Washington D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1968. Vollmer, H. M., & Kinney, J. A. Age education and job satisfaction. Personnel, 1955, 32, 38--43. RECEIVED: February 4, 1975