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The relation of job satisfaction to Vocational Preferences among teachers of the educable mentally retarded
Journal
of Vocational
Behavior
8, 13-18
(1976)
The Relation of Job Satisfaction to Vocational Preferences among Teachers of the Educable Mentally Retarded
Department
J. D. WIGGINS of I%blic Instruction,
Dover, D&ware
The job satisfaction of 110 teachers of the educable mentally retarded was significantly and usually substantially correlated wltb the Social, Artistic, and Realistic scales of the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI). The direction of these correlations was consistent with theoretical and commonsense expectations. Job satisfaction was not significantly related to certification, degree, or teaching level. The implications of the results for the selection and placement of teachers and for HoBand’s theory are discussed
The personal and environmental characteristics that lead to job satisfaction remain unclear and often contradictory. The present study is another attempt to clarify the relation of vocational interests to job satisfaction. In contrast to most earlier investigations, this study is concerned with a very homogeneous occupational group-female teachers of the educable mentally retarded-and almost the total population of such teachers in a single state.
METHOD Job satisfaction was assessed by the Hoppock Job Satisfaction Blank (HJSB) (Hoppock, 1935), and vocational preferences were assessed by the six vocational interest scales of the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) developed by Holland (1965). The relationship among the personal-professional characteristics of the teacher sample, as reported in a teacher questionnaire, and the relations of these characteristics to the HJSB and VP1 variables were also examined In all, 15 variables were used, which were: teacher age; total years of teaching experience; number of years as teacher of the educable mentally retarded; number of years in present position; the Hoppock Job Satisfaction Address DE 19901.
reprint
requests
to the author,
13 Copyright
@ 1976
by Academic
Press, Inc.
Department
of Public
Instruction,
Dover,
14
J. D. WIGGINS TABLE 1 Correlations among Vocational Interest, Job Satisfaction, and Tea&ii Experience Variable@ Variables
1
2
3
4
1. Age 2. Years as teacher of EMR 3. Total years as teacher 4. Years in present position 5. HJSB total score 6. Realistic scale score 7. Investigative scale score 8. Social scale score 9. Conventional scale score 10. Enterprising scale score 11. Artistic scale score
1.00
.72 1.00
-78 .84 1.00
.73 .94 .81 1.00
5
6
-.22 .29 -.16 .30 -.07 .21 -.ll .25 1.00 -.54 1.00
I -.17 -.08 -.20 -.I1 -.04 .Ol 1.00
8
9
10
-.48 .29 -.09 -.37 .26 -.12 -.40 .18 -.ll -.36 .21 -.08 .56 -.31 -.03 -.46 .36 -.12 .30 -.18 .24 1.00 -.57 .12 1.00 -.Ol 1.00
11 -.41 -.35 -.33 -.34 .29 -.26 .42 .66 -.39 .30 1.00
aCorrelations of ,19 are significant at the .05 1eveL Correlations of .24 or above are significant at the .Ol level (based on 108 dfi.
Blank total score (HJSB); the first six scales of the WI (Realistic, Investigative, Social, Conventional, Enterprising, and Artistic); teaching level (elementary, middle, or high school); type of position held (self-contained or resource room); highest degree earned; and certification status. The first 11 variables were treated as criteria for purposes of analysis. The HJSB score and variables 12-15 were used as independent (predictor) variables for discrimination of the other variables in a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) design. Subjects were 110 of the 126 known female teachers of the educable mentally retarded in Delaware. RESULTS The intercorrelations for the first 11 variables are reported in Table 1. As the table shows, an interesting pattern of relationships emerged from this treatment, with 69% of the correlations reaching significance at the .05 level or beyond, with more than half being significant at the .Ol level or beyond. The distribution of job satisfaction scores was used to form three groups: teachers with “high” satisfaction (N= 30), teachers with “medium” satisfaction (N= 51), and teachers with “low” satisfaction (N= 29). Teachers categorized as having high job satisfaction all reported HJSB scores of 23 or above. Typical HJSB responses for such members showed that they reported being enthusiastic about their respective jobs, felt satisfied most of the time, could not think of other jobs for which they would exchange
15
JOB SATISFACTION TABLE 2 Means and Univariate F Ratios for Interest and Teaching Variables Compared with Job Satisfaction” High
Medium
Low
Variable
(N = 30) HJSB Mean = 24.01
(N = 5 1) HJSB Mean = 20.15
(N= 29) HJSB Mean = 16.10
Univariate F ratio
Years EMR teacher Years as teacher Years in present position Realistic scale (VPI) Investigative scale (VPI) Social Scale (VPI) Conventional scale (VPI) Enterprising scale (VPI) Artistic scale (VPI)
32.60 4.00 8.93 3.40 1.27 3.00 9.80 1.73 3.87 6.23
33.76 4.16 6.63 2.94 1.98 4.65
38.24 5.79 9.52 4.17 4.07 3.31 4.62 3.86 3.52 3.83
1.93 1.10 1.40 0.93 21.60*** 3.73* 21.74*** 6.71** 0.53 10.61***
Age
8.78 2.29 3.88 6.53
“Overall F ratio = 5.09 (20, 196), p < .OOl. fp < .05. **p < .Ol. ***p < .OOl.
their
present
ones, and said that they liked their jobs better than most other
persons. Teachers categorized as low in job satisfaction scored 17 or less. For the group, typical responses showed indifference to present jobs, satisfaction was found in present jobs only about half the time, willingness to exchange present jobs for other ones, and their liking for present jobs were thought to be about the same as other people they knew in similar positions. The Medium group had scores of 18 through 22, with responses typically showing that they liked their jobs, were satisfied a good deal of the time, were not eager to change jobs but would do so if better ones came along, and thought they liked their present jobs better than most people in similar ones. The HJSB total score was then used as an independent variable in a basic MANOVA contrast as reported in Table 2. The overall F ratio of 5.09 (20, 196), significant beyond the .OOl level, indicated that the three classifications did strongly discriminate the dependent set. Of particular importance, it was found that this discrimination was limited to the VP1 variables, where the only scale score not related to job satisfaction (as represented by the HJSB score) was the Enterprising scale. There was no statistically significant relationship found between job satisfaction and the four time-related variables.
16
J. D. WIGGINS TABLE
3
Means Plus F Ratios for Type of Position Held by Study Group Membersa Self-contained (N = 63) TI Age Years EMR teacher Years as teacher Years in present position Job satisfaction Realistic Investigative
Social Conventional Enterprising Artistic
34.54 4.46 7.10 3.27 19.06 2.75 3.76 7.03 3.05 3.87 5.32
Resource (N = 47) R 34.74 4.66 9.26 3.55 22.09 1.79 3.96 9.21 1.89 3.66 6.30
F
ratio
0.01 0.04 1.86 0.14 30.25*** 6.37** 0.12 11.36*** 6.23** 0.47 3.28*
=Overall F ratio = 3.44 (11,98), p < .OOl. *p < .05. **p < .Ol. ***p < .OOl.
The scales most strongly related to job satisfaction were Social and Realistic, followed by Artistic, all significant beyond the .OOl level. The Conventional scale was related (p < .Ol), followed rather weakly by the Investigative scale variable which was also significant @ < .05). Generally speaking, the low job satisfaction group was the most divergent of the three groups, differing substantially from scores of both the medium and high groups on a number of variables. Note that both the high and medium groups scored significantly higher than the low group on the Social and Artistic scales (VPI), with the order exactly reversed for the Realistic and Conventional scales. A real pattern of differences appears to have existed between the high and low groups. This pattern of differences is also apparent between the low and the medium group. However, no significant differences were found between the medium and high groups. Four separate MANOVAs were then performed, using each of the dichotomous variables of teaching level, type of position, degree held, and certification status to see if they were related to job satisfaction or the VP1 scales. Each of the 11 continuous variables (found in Table 1) were used as dependent variables. As such multiple analyses magnify the possibility of Type1 error, the results should be considered as heuristic. The safest way to insure against Type I error would be to replicate the findings, but the analyses do provide a general picture of how these variables were related in the present study. Of these four analyses, only the MANOVA for type of teaching position
JOB SATISFACTION
17
(working in a self-contained classroom or in a resource room) was both statistically significant and theoretically relevant. These results are shown in Table 3. Resource teachers reported more job satisfaction than teachers in self-contained situations (p < .OOl). Resource teachers also had higher Social and Artistic scores (WI). In contrast, teachers in self-contained situations had higher scores on the Realistic and Conventional scales. The other analyses produced significant results. Certification status was significantly related to age and age-related variables (age, years as EMR teacher, years as teacher, years in present position), but was not significantly related to job satisfaction or to any VP1 scales. Teachers who had master’s degrees (N= 16), as opposed to teachers with bachelor’s degrees, had significantly higher job satisfaction scores and Social VP1 scores, and slightly lower Conventional VP1 scores. In the last MANOVA, teaching level was unrelated to any of the variables in question.
DISCUSSION The results are generalizable to the population of teachers of the educable mentally retarded in Delaware. Just how the present sample would differ from a national sample of teachers in the same speciality is not known, although gross differences would appear unlikely. Ironically, there is a greater need for an explanation of the substantial positive results than there is for any sampling weakness. Why did such a simple set of assessment techniques produce such positive results in an area of investigation noted for ambiguity and weak relations? Perhaps several fortunate coincidences led to the very positive outcomes: (1) The use of almost a total population in a single state may have provided a great range of vocational interest and job satisfaction. (2) The interest and satisfaction scales have high retest reliability and high internal consistency. (3) The use of a single and perhaps well-defined occupation reduces the ambiguities created when two or more occupations are grouped for study or a vaguely defmed occupation is assessed. Although this investigation was not planned as a study of Holland’s theory (1973), results, in retrospect, lend strong support to the hypotheses about person-environment interactions. In the typology, the code for special education teacher is SAL It is assumed that the environment for a special education teacher calls more for SAI characteristics than for R, C, and E characteristics. These oppositions mirror the main findings. There was a significant positive relationship between high job satisfaction and the Social and Artistic scales (VPI), with a significant negative relationship between high job satisfaction and the Realistic and Conventional scales (WI). The results suggest that the VP1 could be better used to predict a low
18
J. D. WIGGINS
level of job satisfaction than in predicting whether a person will find a medium or high level of job satisfaction. There are, undoubtedly, other factors that affect the level of satisfaction one will find on the job at the upper end of the continuum. However, the VP1 apparently can predict a low level of job satisfaction for persons whose environment-personality interaction is plainly not congruent, as in the case of a person scoring higher on the Realistic and Conventional scales of the WI. The VP1 could, therefore, be useful as a counseling tool with persons who are entering, or are already in, an incongruent environment. For personnel administrators, the findings suggest the importance of assessing a person’s needs, in addition to abilities, as a part of the counseling, hiring, and placement process. Further, the results imply that the selection of a job should include an evaluation of proposed work environments in terms of their potential for fulfilling the needs of the individual. Identification and precise measurement of the relevant variables have not yet been fully accomplished, and more research will be required before a technology can be developed specifically for use in individual cases.The results, however, support the application of the congruency principle and suggest, in particular, that we must assess the individual’s work-relevant needs in relation to the varying potentials of alternative jobs for job satisfaction. Although this investigation began as a job satsifaction study, the important findings would seem to be that Holland’s theory (and the VPI) have been validated for this particular sample. As his typological theory extends to all occupational groups, both the theory and the VP1 should be tested further.
REFERENCES Holland, J. L. (Manual) Vocational preference inventory. Palo Alto,.Califotia: Psychologists Press, 1965. Hoppock, R. Job satisfaction. New York: Harper, 1935. Received: December 9, 1975.
Consulting
of Vocational
Behavior
8, 13-18
(1976)
The Relation of Job Satisfaction to Vocational Preferences among Teachers of the Educable Mentally Retarded
Department
J. D. WIGGINS of I%blic Instruction,
Dover, D&ware
The job satisfaction of 110 teachers of the educable mentally retarded was significantly and usually substantially correlated wltb the Social, Artistic, and Realistic scales of the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI). The direction of these correlations was consistent with theoretical and commonsense expectations. Job satisfaction was not significantly related to certification, degree, or teaching level. The implications of the results for the selection and placement of teachers and for HoBand’s theory are discussed
The personal and environmental characteristics that lead to job satisfaction remain unclear and often contradictory. The present study is another attempt to clarify the relation of vocational interests to job satisfaction. In contrast to most earlier investigations, this study is concerned with a very homogeneous occupational group-female teachers of the educable mentally retarded-and almost the total population of such teachers in a single state.
METHOD Job satisfaction was assessed by the Hoppock Job Satisfaction Blank (HJSB) (Hoppock, 1935), and vocational preferences were assessed by the six vocational interest scales of the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) developed by Holland (1965). The relationship among the personal-professional characteristics of the teacher sample, as reported in a teacher questionnaire, and the relations of these characteristics to the HJSB and VP1 variables were also examined In all, 15 variables were used, which were: teacher age; total years of teaching experience; number of years as teacher of the educable mentally retarded; number of years in present position; the Hoppock Job Satisfaction Address DE 19901.
reprint
requests
to the author,
13 Copyright
@ 1976
by Academic
Press, Inc.
Department
of Public
Instruction,
Dover,
14
J. D. WIGGINS TABLE 1 Correlations among Vocational Interest, Job Satisfaction, and Tea&ii Experience Variable@ Variables
1
2
3
4
1. Age 2. Years as teacher of EMR 3. Total years as teacher 4. Years in present position 5. HJSB total score 6. Realistic scale score 7. Investigative scale score 8. Social scale score 9. Conventional scale score 10. Enterprising scale score 11. Artistic scale score
1.00
.72 1.00
-78 .84 1.00
.73 .94 .81 1.00
5
6
-.22 .29 -.16 .30 -.07 .21 -.ll .25 1.00 -.54 1.00
I -.17 -.08 -.20 -.I1 -.04 .Ol 1.00
8
9
10
-.48 .29 -.09 -.37 .26 -.12 -.40 .18 -.ll -.36 .21 -.08 .56 -.31 -.03 -.46 .36 -.12 .30 -.18 .24 1.00 -.57 .12 1.00 -.Ol 1.00
11 -.41 -.35 -.33 -.34 .29 -.26 .42 .66 -.39 .30 1.00
aCorrelations of ,19 are significant at the .05 1eveL Correlations of .24 or above are significant at the .Ol level (based on 108 dfi.
Blank total score (HJSB); the first six scales of the WI (Realistic, Investigative, Social, Conventional, Enterprising, and Artistic); teaching level (elementary, middle, or high school); type of position held (self-contained or resource room); highest degree earned; and certification status. The first 11 variables were treated as criteria for purposes of analysis. The HJSB score and variables 12-15 were used as independent (predictor) variables for discrimination of the other variables in a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) design. Subjects were 110 of the 126 known female teachers of the educable mentally retarded in Delaware. RESULTS The intercorrelations for the first 11 variables are reported in Table 1. As the table shows, an interesting pattern of relationships emerged from this treatment, with 69% of the correlations reaching significance at the .05 level or beyond, with more than half being significant at the .Ol level or beyond. The distribution of job satisfaction scores was used to form three groups: teachers with “high” satisfaction (N= 30), teachers with “medium” satisfaction (N= 51), and teachers with “low” satisfaction (N= 29). Teachers categorized as having high job satisfaction all reported HJSB scores of 23 or above. Typical HJSB responses for such members showed that they reported being enthusiastic about their respective jobs, felt satisfied most of the time, could not think of other jobs for which they would exchange
15
JOB SATISFACTION TABLE 2 Means and Univariate F Ratios for Interest and Teaching Variables Compared with Job Satisfaction” High
Medium
Low
Variable
(N = 30) HJSB Mean = 24.01
(N = 5 1) HJSB Mean = 20.15
(N= 29) HJSB Mean = 16.10
Univariate F ratio
Years EMR teacher Years as teacher Years in present position Realistic scale (VPI) Investigative scale (VPI) Social Scale (VPI) Conventional scale (VPI) Enterprising scale (VPI) Artistic scale (VPI)
32.60 4.00 8.93 3.40 1.27 3.00 9.80 1.73 3.87 6.23
33.76 4.16 6.63 2.94 1.98 4.65
38.24 5.79 9.52 4.17 4.07 3.31 4.62 3.86 3.52 3.83
1.93 1.10 1.40 0.93 21.60*** 3.73* 21.74*** 6.71** 0.53 10.61***
Age
8.78 2.29 3.88 6.53
“Overall F ratio = 5.09 (20, 196), p < .OOl. fp < .05. **p < .Ol. ***p < .OOl.
their
present
ones, and said that they liked their jobs better than most other
persons. Teachers categorized as low in job satisfaction scored 17 or less. For the group, typical responses showed indifference to present jobs, satisfaction was found in present jobs only about half the time, willingness to exchange present jobs for other ones, and their liking for present jobs were thought to be about the same as other people they knew in similar positions. The Medium group had scores of 18 through 22, with responses typically showing that they liked their jobs, were satisfied a good deal of the time, were not eager to change jobs but would do so if better ones came along, and thought they liked their present jobs better than most people in similar ones. The HJSB total score was then used as an independent variable in a basic MANOVA contrast as reported in Table 2. The overall F ratio of 5.09 (20, 196), significant beyond the .OOl level, indicated that the three classifications did strongly discriminate the dependent set. Of particular importance, it was found that this discrimination was limited to the VP1 variables, where the only scale score not related to job satisfaction (as represented by the HJSB score) was the Enterprising scale. There was no statistically significant relationship found between job satisfaction and the four time-related variables.
16
J. D. WIGGINS TABLE
3
Means Plus F Ratios for Type of Position Held by Study Group Membersa Self-contained (N = 63) TI Age Years EMR teacher Years as teacher Years in present position Job satisfaction Realistic Investigative
Social Conventional Enterprising Artistic
34.54 4.46 7.10 3.27 19.06 2.75 3.76 7.03 3.05 3.87 5.32
Resource (N = 47) R 34.74 4.66 9.26 3.55 22.09 1.79 3.96 9.21 1.89 3.66 6.30
F
ratio
0.01 0.04 1.86 0.14 30.25*** 6.37** 0.12 11.36*** 6.23** 0.47 3.28*
=Overall F ratio = 3.44 (11,98), p < .OOl. *p < .05. **p < .Ol. ***p < .OOl.
The scales most strongly related to job satisfaction were Social and Realistic, followed by Artistic, all significant beyond the .OOl level. The Conventional scale was related (p < .Ol), followed rather weakly by the Investigative scale variable which was also significant @ < .05). Generally speaking, the low job satisfaction group was the most divergent of the three groups, differing substantially from scores of both the medium and high groups on a number of variables. Note that both the high and medium groups scored significantly higher than the low group on the Social and Artistic scales (VPI), with the order exactly reversed for the Realistic and Conventional scales. A real pattern of differences appears to have existed between the high and low groups. This pattern of differences is also apparent between the low and the medium group. However, no significant differences were found between the medium and high groups. Four separate MANOVAs were then performed, using each of the dichotomous variables of teaching level, type of position, degree held, and certification status to see if they were related to job satisfaction or the VP1 scales. Each of the 11 continuous variables (found in Table 1) were used as dependent variables. As such multiple analyses magnify the possibility of Type1 error, the results should be considered as heuristic. The safest way to insure against Type I error would be to replicate the findings, but the analyses do provide a general picture of how these variables were related in the present study. Of these four analyses, only the MANOVA for type of teaching position
JOB SATISFACTION
17
(working in a self-contained classroom or in a resource room) was both statistically significant and theoretically relevant. These results are shown in Table 3. Resource teachers reported more job satisfaction than teachers in self-contained situations (p < .OOl). Resource teachers also had higher Social and Artistic scores (WI). In contrast, teachers in self-contained situations had higher scores on the Realistic and Conventional scales. The other analyses produced significant results. Certification status was significantly related to age and age-related variables (age, years as EMR teacher, years as teacher, years in present position), but was not significantly related to job satisfaction or to any VP1 scales. Teachers who had master’s degrees (N= 16), as opposed to teachers with bachelor’s degrees, had significantly higher job satisfaction scores and Social VP1 scores, and slightly lower Conventional VP1 scores. In the last MANOVA, teaching level was unrelated to any of the variables in question.
DISCUSSION The results are generalizable to the population of teachers of the educable mentally retarded in Delaware. Just how the present sample would differ from a national sample of teachers in the same speciality is not known, although gross differences would appear unlikely. Ironically, there is a greater need for an explanation of the substantial positive results than there is for any sampling weakness. Why did such a simple set of assessment techniques produce such positive results in an area of investigation noted for ambiguity and weak relations? Perhaps several fortunate coincidences led to the very positive outcomes: (1) The use of almost a total population in a single state may have provided a great range of vocational interest and job satisfaction. (2) The interest and satisfaction scales have high retest reliability and high internal consistency. (3) The use of a single and perhaps well-defined occupation reduces the ambiguities created when two or more occupations are grouped for study or a vaguely defmed occupation is assessed. Although this investigation was not planned as a study of Holland’s theory (1973), results, in retrospect, lend strong support to the hypotheses about person-environment interactions. In the typology, the code for special education teacher is SAL It is assumed that the environment for a special education teacher calls more for SAI characteristics than for R, C, and E characteristics. These oppositions mirror the main findings. There was a significant positive relationship between high job satisfaction and the Social and Artistic scales (VPI), with a significant negative relationship between high job satisfaction and the Realistic and Conventional scales (WI). The results suggest that the VP1 could be better used to predict a low
18
J. D. WIGGINS
level of job satisfaction than in predicting whether a person will find a medium or high level of job satisfaction. There are, undoubtedly, other factors that affect the level of satisfaction one will find on the job at the upper end of the continuum. However, the VP1 apparently can predict a low level of job satisfaction for persons whose environment-personality interaction is plainly not congruent, as in the case of a person scoring higher on the Realistic and Conventional scales of the WI. The VP1 could, therefore, be useful as a counseling tool with persons who are entering, or are already in, an incongruent environment. For personnel administrators, the findings suggest the importance of assessing a person’s needs, in addition to abilities, as a part of the counseling, hiring, and placement process. Further, the results imply that the selection of a job should include an evaluation of proposed work environments in terms of their potential for fulfilling the needs of the individual. Identification and precise measurement of the relevant variables have not yet been fully accomplished, and more research will be required before a technology can be developed specifically for use in individual cases.The results, however, support the application of the congruency principle and suggest, in particular, that we must assess the individual’s work-relevant needs in relation to the varying potentials of alternative jobs for job satisfaction. Although this investigation began as a job satsifaction study, the important findings would seem to be that Holland’s theory (and the VPI) have been validated for this particular sample. As his typological theory extends to all occupational groups, both the theory and the VP1 should be tested further.
REFERENCES Holland, J. L. (Manual) Vocational preference inventory. Palo Alto,.Califotia: Psychologists Press, 1965. Hoppock, R. Job satisfaction. New York: Harper, 1935. Received: December 9, 1975.
Consulting