Individual Characteristics and Job Satisfaction: Measuring Relationships Described in a Job Satisfaction Tripod Framework

The present paper is concerned with the study of job satisfaction; specifically, job satisfaction of employees who are working for an Australian telecommunications company in Western Australia. As the title suggests, the specific focus of the paper is on the analysis of the relationships between an individual’s characteristics and the level of job satisfaction. By the term ‘individual’s characteristics’ is meant the personal characteristics of an individual such as age, gender and educational level. The current research emphasises the relationships between specific individual characteristics and the level of job satisfaction measured by two instruments, viz., the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and the Job Descriptive Index (JDI). In this study, the author proposes a conceptual framework for analysing the determinants of job satisfaction. This conceptual framework which the author has named the Job Satisfaction Tripod (JST) model attempts to identify factors affecting the level of job satisfaction. Using the Job Satisfaction Tripod model as a framework for the analysis, the study is designed to explore the strength and the significance of relationships between independent variables such as age, gender, educational level, organisational tenure, managerial rank, and the dependent variable, job satisfaction level. Background to the Study Arguably, one of the earliest studies on employee satisfaction was the Hawthorne study at Western Electric, which led organisational research into the ‘human relations movement’ (Locke 1976; Topolosky 2000). “Two years after Mayo’s preliminary report on the Hawthorne studies appeared, Hoppock (1935) published the first intensive study of job satisfaction” (Locke 1976, p.1299). Since that time, a substantial amount of research has been conducted on this topic (Rahim 1982; Vroom 1964). More recently, Blau (1999) suggested that job satisfaction could be the most frequently researched work attitude in organisational behaviour literature. However, as Gruneberg (1976) noted, despite the tremendous amount of information available, the findings related to the nature of job satisfaction were still inconclusive as the nature of job satisfaction was complex and the term was unclear among the researchers involved. Therefore, the current research was carried out to further examine the nature of job satisfaction and to add new findings from the Australian telecommunications company to the existing evidence regarding job satisfaction. Looking at the vast body of research, analysis and publications, three major schools of thought in the field can be identified in relation to the factors conducive to employee job satisfaction. Locke (1976, p.1300) described these three historical trends in the following way: The Physical-Economic School emphasized the role of the physical arrangement of the work, physical working conditions and pay. The Social (or Human Relations) School, beginning in the 1930s, emphasized the role of good supervision, cohesive work groups, and friendly employeemanagement relations.The contemporary Work Itself (or Growth) School emphasizes the attainment of satisfaction through growth in skill, efficacy, and responsibility made possible by mentally challenging work. Based on the three major schools of thought, it is clear that the study of job satisfaction should encompass at least three essential elements, namely, physical conditions, a person, and the job itself. The proposed Job Satisfaction Tripod model is based largely on these three branches of enquiry.