JOB SATISFACTBON AND OCCUPATIONAL STATUS Thais for fhe Degree of M. A. MiCHIGAN STATE COLLEGE Howard E. Trier 1954 IIIIWWWWWIHHMHRI L 3 1293 09859 2911 t This is to certify that the thesis entitled J OB SATISFACTION AND OCCUPATIONAL STATUS presented by Howard E . Trier has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for _M_°£:___ degree in M05? “or p fe or JOB SATISFACTION.AND OCCUPATIONAL STATUS By Howard E. Trier A THESIS Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Psychology 1954 The author wishes to express his‘heartfelt thanks to Dr. nenry C. Smith, whose guidance and encouragement made this investigation possible; to Dr. Carl Frost and Dr. Frank Dumas whose aid proved invaluable, and to his fiancee ‘whose moral support was boundless. Special thanks must go to those industries through whose interest subJects for this study were made available. 338661 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES..................................... INTRODUCTION....................................... METHOD............................................. Bmployees..................................... Companies..................................... Questionnaire................................. Procedure..................................... RESULTS............................................ DISCUSSION......................................... SUHMKRY.AND CONCLUSIONS............................ REFERENCES......................................... .APEENDIX........................................... Page 1 (IIQQH 10 11 16 28 53 35 36 Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table I II III IV VI VII VIII XI XII LIST OF TABLES OCCUPATIONAL LEVEL AND J'CZB SATISFACTION. .. AN ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYEES USED IN THIS STUDY . . . . DIPLOYEES SHWING FREQUENCIES WITHIN (DCUPATIONAL CLASSES FOR EACH COMPANY . .. (ECU'PATIONAL STATUS CLASSIFICATIONS OF EDWARDS, WARNER, AND THE PRESENT STUDY ... PERCENTAGE OF DISSATISFIED AND SATISFIED moms IN EACH CCUUPATIONAL STATUS WITH THE AVERAGE SATISFACTION AT EACH STATUS O O O PERCENTAGE OF DISSATISFIED AND SATISFIED) EMPLOYEES WITH AGE AND SEX HELD CONSTANT IN EACH WCUPATIONAL STATUS WITH TIE AVERAGE SATISFACTION A'T EACH STATUS . . . PERCEIVED STATUS SCORES FOR OCCUPATIONAL CLASS ... THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE ABOVE FATHER'S (XECUPATIONAL STATUS AM) THE SAME UR BELOW FATHER'S (ECUPATIONAL STATUS . . . THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE EARNING memooo AND THOSE EARNING mums THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE WITH HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION 0R ABOVE“ AND THOSE WITH EIGHTH GRADE AND BELOW . . . THE DIFhERENCE BETWEEN THOSE OVER 40 AND THOSE UNDER 30 ... THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAIES AND FEMALES . 938° 14— “ 1'7 ” 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 ii Page Table XIII ANALYSIS OF ExfiuTUYm""S FROM THE THREE COMPARE COMPANIES WITH AVERAGE . SATISFACTION SCORES . . . 25 Table XIV SUMNLARY OF FACTORS CREATING DIFFERENCES IN JOB SATISFACTION . . . 26 INTRODUCTION Throughout the past decade, the number of investigations concerning Job satisfaction have grown, as evidenced through Happock and Rabinson'S'yearly reviews (8). These investi- gations have gone under various titles: morale, Jab satis- faction, employee incentives, etc. Some have investigated the satisfaction level as it is concerned with variables such as age, length of service, education, marital status, or with.departmenta1 variation. Still others have sought to relate satisfaction to specific features of the environment and have attempted to determine the relative importance of each. The primary purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between the social status of an occupation and the worker's satisfaction with.it. Eight interrelated hypotheses were tested. They are: (l) The higher the occupational status of an emplgyeeig occupation, the greater his satisfaction. rhis grew out of interest in a study done by Donald E. Super (10) who sent Job satisfaction questionnaires to nine- hundred members of hobby clubs. Of the original nine-hundred questionnaires 273, or 30.3%,were returned. In this study Super sorted occupations into six classifications of social status. Unskilled workers were not included in his analysis because of insufficient cases. Table I OCCUPATIONAL LEVEL.AND JOB SATISFACTION* ITO-'0 Status a s e sea is e o Classifications Professional 77 85 . 6% 13 14 .475 90 Managerial 28 '74 . 2% 10 25 . 8% 38 Commercial 56 41.9% 50 58.1% 86 Skilled 19 55.9% 15 44.1% 54 Semiskilled 10 47.5% 11 52.4% 21 E _1__g 5.3 99 36. 9 *Ampted ron Super 10 Hoppock ('7) also found that satisfaction was related to the social status of the occupation. He found that P93310331 M911, managers, and executives were more sat- /- isfied than subprofessional, business, and minor supervisory WW n“ '- an ...”! 5-.- J_ h'.”“.. _...,_14 groups, who were in turn more satisfied than either the .,. ,n_ ”M away" -.--%-—- “..., ...... ...... _»“-—ou4~.ss_m.—~W Y’F“ semiglgilled or unskilled. prpggyjumrized his findings this way: ' The determining factor, it seems to us, is most likely to be a synthesis of statuses-“the status of the individual within his occupation and the status of the occupation in the comunity--combining to determine the relative status of the individual in the social and economic group with which he identifies himself. On the basis of these results “LEEPEEEQLhit social. \‘4 status is an_ important determinant of job satisfaction. / MHifl..__r—.r-H-—'—" Unfortunately, certain weaknesses are evident in both studies. Hoppock's was conducted during a depression.Its age (1935) also subtracts from its current value. Super's study suffers from a selection weakness. His mil questionnaire received only a 30.5% return from an already select hobby club group. . He had nimepresentatives of the unskilled working group; W “i and only a small percentage of the country' s most numerous group, the semiskilled workers ,was represented. He further neglected to provide controls for such factors as sex, income, age, and employing companies. (2) The hi er the worker thinks his r a on laces the social status of his occupation, the ggeater will W. ‘ It is the assumption of this hypothesis that the worker's conception of where his Job is on that status ladder is a function of how he thinks his neighbors, friends, and family perceive it. The studies of Warner (12) on the relation be- Ween social class and occupational status are relevant to this hypothesis. kund- the...at§t§$-TSX§EQQ-YB-Bucompos‘e_d of seven structures: (1) occupation, (2) clique: (3) association, (4) §°n°fil9 (a) church, (6) family, and (7) politics.‘ In particular, they found that 84% of the highest class in a New England comunity were working in the professional and proprietary occupations, while 79% of those from the lower class were employed in the semiskilled Jobs. Those in the middle classes were scattered proportionately. The various industries of the community were also categorized into dif- ferent social classes. The results of these studies imply that one of W factors in Job satisfaction is the ...,fl—nn. “1.. occupational stains ”of the. Job. Robert Bullock (3) tried to uncover social factors related to Job satisfaction. He found that 13 of 59 questions in this area were significantly related to Job satisfaction. Of these 13, five directly pertained to the individual's idea of his family's and neighbor's perception of his Job status. . These results strongly suggest that the “amtigudes of one' s M familyfiamd. neighbors are closely related to one's £9,291“ i§£aot19n (3) Mlozees above the gtatus level or their father's occupation are loge satisfied. Warner's (12) studies support this hypothesis, since a higher occupation than one's father is evidence 01 upward mobility. (4) mlgyeeg receivipg higher wages are more satisfied. Studies done by Centers and Cantril (4) indicate gins; the higher a person's income, the more ”likely he is to he a “ -.—..—I> m-u—“m—‘fl—F—xlfl’w *- 'Hu“ -'-""'---- satisfiedwith hienlob. However, these studies were not controlled for other variables. This hypothesis has the- oretical and practical importance. According to Warner (12), income is an important correlate ox social status. Accord- ing to popular opinion, it is the most important factor in job satisfaction. (5) In the game occumtion, workers with less education \ "‘\ are more satisfied with their Ijobs. Those employees who have overcome educational dei 1- AID-Ir— A“ WWW ., A“, 1.... .au. ...-u— \ ciencies will be more satisfied than others who have not -“Hm Ah. MAL-... “in.“ M“ progressed beyond their educational promise. R. J. Young (14) hints at this in his article concerning the unhappiness of workers on their jobs. (6) Olde works s are more satisfied than younger ones in x~> the same occupgtion. Benge and COpell (1) conducted a study in five confec- tionery plants of a company which showed satisfaction rising with age till the peak was reached at 55. Here again no j controls for other variables were evident. The hypothesis it is consistent with the idea that older workers with longer aegis: would have gained through their seniority many evidem‘cgs'pf superior status in the group.” ('7) Women are more satisfied than men in the Lame occupatiogg. ‘7“ Although many writers have suggested that females can be happier on less desirable jobs, there is no clear-cut evidence that this is so. This hypothesis can be inferred from social class assumptions: women, having greater dif- ficulty achieving occupational status, might well be more satisfied than men at the same level. (8) Workeps are more satisfied in companies which contribute ‘ R“ to their occupational status. This hypothesis is based on the assmnption that com- panies can add substantially to the worker's sense of belong- ingness and consequently to his status and that there are wide differences in the extent to which companies actually do. METHQD -.-' a“ C‘ ‘ \ Thuml method employed in this studyhsnsistedof _ .... 4 _._. .-...zrnr-vrr" ‘A‘ administering am anonymous questionnaire to 240 employees 9:91" industrial firms in Michigan. The employee sample, the companies visited, and the procedures used are described below in greater detail. hployees The subjects fgr__th_i_swstudy were “taken from signin- dustrial plamts both in and around midwestern Michigan. in analysis of their occupational status, age, income, education, and father's occupational status is shown in Table II. Table II A1! ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYEES USED IN THIS STUDY Occupatiom Mean Mean W Status Age Income Occupational Education M F Statufl faggr) i 58.5 7,545 5.1 11.7 52 1 55 2 52.5 4,555 5.5 11.6 14 19 55 5 59.5 4,250 4.0 10.0 47 1 4s 4 53.2 4,095 5.9 10.1 71 21 .92 5 57.5 4,058 4.2 9.9 52 2 54 Average W M63. 10. ,1 4 0 ‘ Companies Table III shows a further breakdown of the subjects of this study by occupational status and company. Table III morass SHOWING FREQUENCIES WITHIN OCCUPATIONAL a...“ CLASSES FOR EACH comm Occupations? fiotor Machine Milk Wood Screw Furniture Total $2511: 1 16 4 5 5 1 55 I “ 2 s s 6 5 s 0 55 5 s 16 5 15 2 5 4e 4 . is 26 25 25 0 2 92 5 5 6 10 5 0 10 54 m 4 51 i 2 o ,‘\“‘A‘ v, The nature of the companies used is indicated in the discussion below. They are arranged in order of size. Motor Company, (1250 non-unionized employees) Located in a small central city, this company produces fractional horsepower electric motors. Enploying mostly female labor (8'75), the work is light assembly or production line type. The company is the home office of several out- state plants and as a result has a large office staff. The wages paid compare with those of the locality but are under those of Michigan's auto plants. The working conditions are clean and light, and management is well respected. Machine Compggy (230 non-unionized employees) Located in a small town near the previous company, this one produces shaker screens, foundry, and mining machinery. The work is heavy machine shop work with all men (215) engaged in production. Wages are very good, as are the working conditions. Management is arbitrary, refusing to rec0gnize either a union or individual rights. Milk Cmm(83 unionized employees) I Located in a large city, this creamery bottles and delivers milk. Work here varies from Janitor and repeti- tious removing of bottles from the line to garage truck repair and house to house delivery. Working conditions are about average for this type of work. Wages are far above those of similarly rated Jobs. Management deals fairly with the workers entirely through the union. Wood Cmag (51 non-unionized employees) ‘ Located in a small lake town this company produces advertising layouts, minly in wood, for larger corporations, along with its own line of school furniture. With many ex- perienced cabinet makers, the company employs 17 women doing packing and sanding. Working conditions are very light with the usual dust problems of wood working plants. Wages paid are not above average for small towns, but workers earn bonuses through’a company wide profit sharing program. Management recognizes and cooperates with workers under all 10 circumstances. ‘Workers are well represented on all pro- duction and screening committees. Screw'Compagz (41 non-unionized employees) A screw machine works located in a small town close to a large city; Because of the nature of its work, the com- pany only permitted the executive and clerical staff to participate in the present study. The plant is new, modern, and clean. wages are average. Management is progressive and expects the office personnel to be the same. Furniture Cgmpagy (25 non-unionized employees) Located in the same city as the motor company, this plant produces its own line of wrought iron furniture. Help consists of largely semdskilled and unskilled workers. ‘Wages are very low and working conditions are poor. The:management, however, is progressive and is trying, with the workers, to solve its problems. Questionnaire The queStionnaire (Appendix) consisted of fourzmajor divisions. The Iirst page constituted the cover letter. It wasrmmmeographed on the clficial college stationery and briefly explained the study, emphasized'the emission of the subject's name, and mentioned that a maximum time of only fifteen.mdnutes was needed for completion of the fees. The questionnaire itself followed. It consisted of the second section which was the measuring instrument_for_gdb , “'41—. ##-~-— -" 11 “WW- ThaaWEflaassi 93-391393? f???" scale with five responses offered; “the minimum satisfaction __ aflpu‘ha *ud-‘w W s ”93533131”. the maximum 50. This scale was constructed 1' by Robert P. Bullock (3) , of the Bureau of Business Research of Ohio State University. Adapted from Hoppock's scale, it was validated at Ohio State University on 53 male class members with work experience, '70 ex-employees of an animal registration association, and 100 present employees of the same association. Test retest coefficient of reliability was .94. Successive split-half coefficients of reliability of .93, .94, and .90 were obtained when administered to the three samples. Validity was obtained through comparison with Judgnents by a panel of “experts“ and by comparisons with objective criteria. The third section of the questionnaire consistedof figgggrlachoice questions concerning the “91:32:19?” cep’tyihonsof how__his family, friends, and neighbors, perceived his occupational status. The fourth and final ”99,124.93.” the questionnaire contained personal, baghgrougdflinfwtion questionsjaboutwthe’worker'sfigog 361. education, etc. uifl'fl "‘ Procedure It was decided in planning the study to obtain an adequate sample from all the occupational classes from dif- ferent companies. It was thought that the best method of presentation would be for the interviewer to personally A -AAIJ' M -. swam 12 1:81]: with each subject, explaining the objectives of the study and what was desired of the subject. In five of the six companies it was handled in exactly this manner. The Machine, Milk, Wood, Screw, and Furniture companies all allowed the questionnaire into the plant prOper. At all times employees were picked from as many occupational classes and jobs as feasible. . The subject was first informed of the aims of the in- terview and further informed of management's cooperation. He was then assured of the confidential nature of the study through three aspects: (1) He was told not to place his name any place on the questionnaire; (2) The questionnaire was placed by the subject within a blank envelope and sealed; (3) The subject was informed that the questionnaires would be treated as confidential, with no person‘i'rom‘fie company allowed access to them under any circumstances.‘ In the Wood company this procedure was varied slightly. The management had called a company wide meeting for other reasons and at the conclusion of the meeting the questionnaire was presented to the whole group. After questions were allowed, the group dispersed to their regular work stations where the completed questionnaires were picked up. In the Motor Company the entire procedure was varied. The management felt that with a large percentage of women on similar production jobs in a non-union plant, giving such 15 a questionnaire to several of the women while ignoring others would be apt to seed rumors causing feelings of both in- security and defensiveness. Further, many of the jobs are production line type which would have necessitated placing a relief womn on the line while the subject stopped work to complete the questionnaire. For these reasons it was decided to utilize a mailed questionnaire. Picked from the company file‘s randomly were 125 names of peeple divided pro- portionately according to the number employed in the various occupational classes. From these, 41 questionnaires (35.6%) were returned. The cover letter attached to each question- naire was considered apprOpriate and sufficiently explanatory for mailing. Upon the collection of the data, total satisfaction .. scores for each were computed by adding questions 1 through \ 10, as Bullock did. The total score of the employee's con- “ _ ....- -w~-..-..--.,-~ —" "' ception of how his primary group perceived his job was v-.._.Mln.ur-M-“M‘ I." in ‘ t F,” similarly computed throughflsuming questions 11 through 15. .a. .mr Classification of Ijobs by occupational status. Through the use of the information pertaining to the worker's job title and the type of work performed his occupational status was determined. As shown in Table IV, the system for determining occupational status used in this study was-an adaptation of Edwards' (5) and Warner's (13) systems. 14 Table IV OCCUPATIONAL STéL‘I‘US CLASSIFICATIONS OF mushy, mammn Amp THBJ PRESENT STUDY —— _' Edwards warggpj _gresent Study ‘V. Professional 1. Professional 1. Professional Executive 0. Farmers l. PrOprietors 2. Semiprofessional managers . 2. Clerical 3. Clerks 2. Clerks Sales 3. Craftsmen 4. Skilled 3. Skilled Foremen 5. PrOprietors 4. Operatives 6. Semiskilled 4. Semiskilled 5. Domestic 6. Protective 7. Service 8. Farm.laborers 9. Laborers, except 7. Unskilled 5. Unskilled farm Edwards' table of *Adapted from Edwards 5 **Adapted from warner (13 occupational classes was the 1940 edition of an alphabetical index of occupations compiled by the Census Bureau. warner subdivided and combined some of the occupational groups using as a criterion the level of skill that a jOb required and the prestige value attached to a job. ‘warner suggested that any difficulty in placing an crtt- ‘RI '3)‘ 15 occupation could be solved by using Edwards' complete study as a reference. Warner's classification was correlated with evaluated social class placement and achieved a correlation of .91. The present study by nature of its complete association with industry abbreviated the seven classifications into five by combining l and 2 and eliminating 5. The former was done to simplify placement into the professional class and the latter, because of the absence of any small proprietors within those industries studied. Both Edwards' classification and the 1950 edition by H. G. Brunsman (2) were used to place both the occupations of the employee and of his father. RESULTS The manner of testing each hypothesis and the results obtained will be presented in the following section. (1) The higher the occupational status of an employee's occmtion, the greats; his satisfaction. This hypothesis was first tested by separating the .3: if?» f' fl entire population into three groups: the indifferent or dis- ' satisfied, the mildly satisfied, and the highly satisfied. With a scale of possible scores ranging from 10 to 50 the average was determined to be 30. Somewhat arbitrarily, therefore, the division points were chosen as 34.9 and under, 3542.9, and 43 and over. Table V shows the number of both dissatisfied and satisfied employees in each occupational status and the average satisfaction at each status. Table VI shows the same information with age and sex held constant. The importance of these two variables will be shown later. The average job satisfaction scores shown in Table V were tested to determine any significance between them. The difference between the professional class and the unskilled class (4.?) was significant at the 1% level. Also the dif- ference between the professional and the semiskilled class (3.9) was significant, this time to the .01% level. However, the difference between the professional and skilled category We” 17 Table V PERCEIJTAGE OF DISSATISFIED AND SATISFIED EMPLOYEES IN EACH CCCUPATIONAI. STATUS WITH THE AVERAGE SATISFACTION AT EACH STATUS Occ . N Indifferent mdly Highly Total Av. Total 3 . 111 33:21:11 9d 3351::ng Satigfied ##Job Sat; 1 33 9.1 39.4 51.5 100% 42.7 2 33 6.1 48.5 45.5 100% 42.9 3 48 12 .5 52 .1 35 .4 100% 40.6 4 92 23.9 51.1 25.0 100% 38.8 5 34 29 .4 44 .1 26 .5 100% 38.0 Table VI PERCENTAGE OF DISSATISFIED AND SATISFIED EMPLOYEES WITH AGE AND SH m CONSTANT IN EACH OCCUPATIONAL STATUS i." v ‘ P WITH TIESAVERAGE SATISFACTION AT EACH STATUS Gee. I Indifferens' Mildly Highly Total Av. Total a. 21:32:; gfigd Saiigfied Satigfied Job. £9.34 1 27 11.1 40.7 48.2 100% 41.5 2 13 7.7 61.5 30.8 100% ' 41.1 3 38 15.8 65.8 18.4 100% 39.0 4 63 28.4 47.8 23.9 100% 38.1 5 25 26.9 57.7 15 .4 100% 36.8 18 was only of borderline significance (10% level). The regular trend together with the significance just mentioned seams to adequately support the hypothesis of difference between occupational status. . In Table VI (males) age is held constant in analysing this data. The differences between the professional class and the unskilled and semiskilled classes are both signif- icant at the 1% level. The difference between the profession- al class and the skilled class is also only of borderline significance (10% level). The trend evident in Table‘v is even more clearly shown here. With the elimination of the women in status 2 the one disruption in regularity is slim, inated. In both Table V and Table VI it is evident that a large percentage of workers are satisfied. In Table V the percentage of highly satisfied in status 1 are about twice those in status 5. In Table VI there are more than three times as many highly satisfied in status 1 as 5. In con- clusion, the hypothesis seams firmly supported. (2) The higher the worker thinks his pgimary group places the social status of his occupation, the speater will be his satisfaction. This hypothesis was first tested through computing a Pearson coefficient of correlation between satisfaction scores and the perceived status scores. The correlation found.between the two variables was a positive one of .89. -.‘ .1" | I - «...—43' 19 The average perceived status score for each occupational status was also computed (Table'VIII) with the significant differences calculated. The significance of the difference between the professional group and the unskilled and semiskilled is at the .01% level. Between the professional group and the skilled group the significance was borderline (10% level). Regularity is very evident in the distribution and adds to the support of the hypothesis. Table'VII PEBCEIVED STATUS SCORES FOR OCCUPATIONAL CLASS Occupational ONF_-§3rception of_- M 0131192le 1 33 21.5 2 35 21.3 3 48 20.6 4 92 19.1 5 34 19.9 These facts suggest that by measuring a worker's fe- elings about his primary group one can determine, to a large degree, the amount of satisfaction that he will report having with his jOb. (3) Egploxees above the status level of gpeir father'p occupation are more satisfied. 20 This hypothesis was tested through.matching those above their father's occupational level with.those, equated for occupational level, education, company, sex and pay, who 'were the same or below their father's occupational status level. This general procedure was used in testing all the hypotheses which.follow. Of the 37’matched pairs here, 31 were males and 6 females. The average age for those above their fathers income was 35.8 years while that of those below’was 34.2 years. The average income of those above was $4,524 per year and that of those below $4,513 per year. Table VIII indicates average satisfaction scores for both groups and the significant difference. TEDIO‘VIII THEIDIEEERENOE BETWEEN THOSE.ABOVE RATHER'S OCCUPATIONAL STATUS AND THE SAME ORifiELOW FATHER’S OCCUPATIONAL STATUS (H-37 Pairs) Above FatherTs Same or Below DIHerence CrItIcal Sig. Occupation Father'g Occ. patio 40.5 38.5 2.0 1.75 Not sig. The difference between the two groups was on1y‘borderline significance. However, the trend suggested supports the hypothesis (4) lo ees receivi hi er wa es are more satisfie . 21 ’lhis hypothesis was tested through dividing the N into two groups: those earning under $4,000 and those earning over $4,000. Employees were again matched as fully as possible on all variables. Those over $4,000 were matched 'to those under. The average income of those over $4,000 was $5,622, while that ofthose below was $3,000. The age of those above was 35.7 years and of those below 33.5 years. Table IX indicates average satisfaction scores for both groups and the significant difference. Table B THE DWE BETWEEN THOSE EARNING OVER $4,000 AND THOSE EARNING m (IS-53 Pairs) Over $4,000 Under $4,000 Difference CritiIal Sig. Ratio 40.2 37.9 2.3 2.53 2% Level of Confidence The difference between the two groups is significant and indicates strong support for this hypothesis. This means that wages are a significant determiner of the satiSfaction of a worker, even when such variables as company, age, and sex are held constant. (5) n the ame occu t on worker with less ed ation are more satisfied with their jobp. This hypothesis was tested by dividing the population into a group with high school education or above, and one with 22 eighth grade education and below. The pairs were again matched as closely as possible on all variables. The average age of those with the higher education was 38.9 years, and of those with the lower education 41.0 years. The income of those higher educated was $4,395 and of those with less education $4,383. Table X indicates average satisfaction scores and any significance. Table X m DIWE BETWEEN THOSE WITH HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION on ABOVE AND THOSE WITH EIGHTH GRADE AND 13mm (15.61 Pairs) High School Eighth Grade #Difference Sig: And Align And gel” 39.9 39.4 .50 Not sig. From inspection it is evident that there is no appre- ciable difference between groups tested for the effects of education. The hypothesis, therefore, is not supported. Level of education appears to have no relation to Job sat- isfaction in the present sample. (6) .Oldgr_ workers are more satisfied than younfige; ones in the same occupation. This hypothesis was tested by dividing the pepulation into one group of those 40 years and older anu one of those 30 years and younger. All factors were controlled in matching 23 the two groups. The average income of those under 30 was $3,946 and those over 40 $4,697. The average education uf the former group was 11.4 years and of the latter 10.6 years. Table XI indicates the average satisfaction scores and the significance of the difference. Table II THE DIFFERENCE m moss OVER 40 AND THOSE am so (B360 Pairs) 311:3:- 10 mm 0'__—'i'i’?D erence CW cal s g."— Mm . 41.9 38.3 3.6 3.56 .01% Level of Confidence . ‘The highly significant difference gives strong support to the hypothesis. (7) ‘ngen are more gatisfied than men in the game occupation. This hypothesis was tested by matching male subjects to female subjects on all available variables. The average age of the females was 33.4 years while that of the males was 34.3 years. The average income of the females was $2,981 while that of the males was $4,255. Table XI indicates the average satisfaction scores of each group and the significance of the difference. 24 Table XII THE DIFFERENCE BETIVHIEN MALES AND FEMALES (N-43 Pairs) mes Males V Difference Critical §ig. _ §a_tio 41.8 38.8 3.0 2.69 2% Level of Confidence Being aware that the male population within this sample had an average income of more than a $1,000 a year more than the females, nevertheless the females are significantly more satisfied than the males. The original mrpothesis is strongly supported within this study. (8)- Workers are more satisfied in companieg which contribute to their occupat 1031 statug. This hypothesis was tested through matching the workers of two of the companies to the workers of the third company. In this case, the workers of the Wood Company and the Machine Company were matched, being cOgnizant of all variables, with those of the Milk Company. Since only. these three companies had sufficiently representative samples, they were the only ones matched- Two of the others, the Screw Company and the Furniture Company, were lacking. in certain occupational classes, which eliminated them. The Motor Company was also eliminated since it had been sampled through a mailed questionnaire I rather than a face to face presentation. Table XIII shows 25 an analysis of the subjects used from each of the companies with average satisfaction scores. Table XIII ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYEES FROM THE THREE COMPARED COMPANIES WITH AVERAGE SATISFACTION SCORES Qonnanx F Averagg he Ange Income Average Sat. Wood 45 40.7 $3 .482 41.7 Hill: 45 36.9 $5,600 40.2 Machine 45 ' 39.7 $4 .922 37.3 The differences between satisfaction averages of the companies were tested. The difference between the Wood and Milk Comparw was not found to be significant. The difference between the Wood Company and the Machine Company was found to be significant at the 4% level. The difference between the Milk and Machine Company was also found to be at the 4% level of significance. Therefore, both the Wood and Milk Company were found to be significantly different from the Machine Company, but not from each other. The interpretation suggested for this difference is: those companies which did the most to add to the occupational status of its workers had the highest average Job satisfaction. The Wood Company with the bonus system which symbolizes to the worker that he is an integral working owner of the 26 company was the most satisfied of those compared. The further fact that the management within this company not only recognized the workers as individuals, but also utilized workers on such comittees as production and planningalso added to the worker's status. The Milk Company which was slightly lower than the Wood Company offered the workers a union which added to both their security and their status through giving them true bargaining rights with the company. The third company, the Machine Company, offered the workers neither a union nor any representation on policy committees thereby keeping the worker mindful Of his lower status. As a result , this lower status brought about lower satisfaction as shown in these findings. What conclusions can be reached regardim the relative importance of the factors considered in this study to Job satisfaction? Table XIV smmzarizes the differences found in the order of their siZe. Table XIV SUM OF FACTWS CREATING DIWES IN JOB SATISFACTION Hypothesis , . Factor I I Differences. in §atisfact~ion Found 1 Occupational .Status (1-5) 4.7 8 Company (Wood -Maohine) 4.4 6 Age 40-50-) 3.6 7 Sex Femle-Ihle) 2.7 4 Wages ($5,622-33,0002 2.3 3 Father's Occupation Above-Same) 2.0 5 Education (H. S.- Elementary) .5 27 It is apparent that the differences in satisfaction created by extreme differences in occupational status are greater than those created by the range of any other factor considered in the present study. It is also to be noted that a difference of more than $2,600 in wages created less difference in satisfaction than did the status, company, age, and sex differences. This evidence strongly contradicts the common Opinion that wages are the most important deter- minant of Job satisfaction. The difference of the differences were tested and only found to be significant at the extremes. DISCUSS ION The first hypothesis which suggested a direct relation- ship between a worker's occupational status and his sat- isfaction has been supported significantly throughout this present study. Significant differences were found between . the top status and the bottom.twoand borderline significance between the top status and the third status. .A regular trend in the suggested direction further supported the hypothesis. ‘Also, the differences found here are greater when the factors of sex and age are controlled. These results are consistent 'with those found by both.H0ppock (7) and Super(10). The _ inconsistency of Super's percentage of those in the cnmmercial category was not evident in this study. Overall differences between the salaried classes as Opposed to the hourly paid are also emphasized in this study. Reasons for greater satisfaction, where in some cases actual take home pay is less, seems inherent in the social structure of life in this economy which places a greater emphasis and emotional reward on certain occupations. The second hypothesis which.suggested a greater satis- faction for those workers who thought their primary group perceived their occupation as higher was also supported sig- nificantly. Both a high correlation between Jab satisfaction 29 and perceived status and a significant difference between the professional class and the bottom.two classes were found. ‘Warner's (12) work seems consistent with the results found .here. These results also appear as supporting those findings of Bullock (3). The explanation appears to be in Warner's suggestion that status is a twofold phenomena, how the individual perceives it and how he imagines his family, friends, and neighbors perceive it. These results lend encouragement to investigations or workers' satisfaction by means of indirect questions. The third.hypothesis tendered the notion that if a worker's occupational status surpassed that of his father, he would be mere satisfied. The results of this study did not so clearly show this factor as did those of‘Warner (12). The difference was only of borderline significance. .Although a larger It might more clearly'establish this difference, it may also be a result of a growing lack of class conscious- ness within this country, where what the individual does, not his family,is hmportant. The fourth.hyp0thesis which stated that those receiving higher wages would be more satisfied was clearly established. . Support for studies done by Centers and Cantril (4) is found in this data. It was clearly shown that thOse receiving an average income of $5,622 per year were significantly more satisfied than those receiving $3,000 per year. ‘However, the relative importance of wages was less when contrasted 30 ‘with such factors as occupational status, company, age, and sex. .Although the differences found were not significant, the trend suggested that the common opinion regarding wages as being the most important determinant of jOb satisfaction is falsely grounded. The fifth.hypothesis, that lower education in an oc- cupation would result in greater satisfaction was not sup- ported. ‘Young's (14) results only hinted that it was an important factor and these results were inconsistent with those findings. .A selection factor sueh.as either income or age may have entered in here unawares to cloud the results. ,The sixth.hypothesis relating age to satisfaction was significantly substantiated here. The results seemed to be in harmony with those found by Benge and Cepell (1). It seems those very workers as they advance with age find that ' .their occupational status increases merely by being, in many cases, the workers with the most seniority or the most ex- perience. However, in the present study, in attempting to control for such.factors as sex, company, and education, it became increasing difficult to control for income. As a result, those subjects over 40 receive an average of'$900 more per year, a possible cause of increased satisfaction. Hewever, considering the relatively minor effect of wages, it seems unlikely that the wage differences could account for more than a small part of the differences. 31 The seventh hypothesis indicating a sex difference in satisfaction was supported by the data. A significant difference found here between matched females and mles seems a strong stimulus for further investigation to de- termine if this difference is inherent in the sexes or is truly a measure of Job satisfaction. The results indicate that women, perhaps because they realize that they have little Opportunity to achieve those top positions in the occupation and Job status system,are more readily satisfied at the lower levels. Since lower aspiration level usually indicates higher satisfaction level this appears to be at least a partial answer. An equally likely explanation is a selection factor: ‘women have less need to work. If they are dis- satisfied with a Job, they can quit more readily than men. The final hypothesis which suggested that those companies which help to increase the status level of their workers have greater satisfied workers was also supported. Viteles (ll) regarded WE‘W as means of increasing workers' status and he would have found a consistent support for his assumption in the present study. It seems quite probable that those companies which help to establish the worker as a member of an organized team, both needed and respected, will aid in establishing greater worker satisfaction. The area of both company bonus systems and union versus non-union plants is a fertile one and one which if adequately surveyed might 32 simplify many of management 's problems. The fact that rel- atively wide differences were found between companies in the present study appears to be of considerable practical sig- nificance for mnagement. They suggest that a company which institutes policies which raise the status of their workers could achieve greater increases in Job satisfaction than a company which increased average wages by thousands of dollars I) er yaar e SUMMARY AND C ONCLUSIONS A group of 240 workers in six different types of industrial organisations were given anonymous questionnaires measuring Job satisfaction. Data on personal background information such as age, sex. education, and the type of work were also collected. as well as information on their con- ception of how their family, friends, and neighbors rated their Job. ' From these questionnaires scores for both Job satis- faction and perceived status were tabulated. The workers' occupations, along with their father's were ranked according to a five class occupational status ladder, from professional at the tap to unskilled at the bottom. With this data eight hypotheses were tested through matching and statistics with the following results and conclusions: 1. The data showed a significant difference between the professional status and the semiskilled and unskilled status. A definite trend in the suggested direction was also shown. The higher the occupational status. the greater was the 36b satisfaction. 2. A high correlation (.89) existed between a worker's satisfaction and his opinion of his primary group's perception of his status. A significant difference 3. 4. 5. 6. '7. 8. 54 between the professional class perceived status and the semiskilled and unskilled perception of status was found. Workers at a higher occupational status than their fathers were more satisfied. The differences found were truly of. borderline significance . Workers receiving higher wages were significantly more satisfied. Workers with higher education were shown to be only slightly and insignificantly more satisfied than those with lower education Older workers were significantly more satisfied than younger workers. Femle workers were significantly more satisfied than males. Workers in em empanies‘wsre'significantly more satisfied than those in others. This appeared to be due primarily to differences in company policies affecting the status of the worker. 1. 2. 3. ,9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. REEERENCE3 Benge, E. J. and C0pell, D. F. iEmployee morale survey. Mbdern.Mgmt., 1947, 7, 19-22. Brunsman, H.G. .Al‘habeticaltlndex of Occupations and Industries. Washington D. C., U. S. Department of Commerce, 1950. Bullock, R. P. Social Factors Related to JOb Satisfaction. Columbus, Ohio, The Bureau of Business Research, College of Commerce and.Administration, The Ohio State University, 1952. Centers, R. and Cantril, H. Increase satisfaction and income aspiration. J..Abnorm. Soc. Psychol., 1946 4 ’ 64-69 0 Edwards, A. M; Alphabetical Index of Occupations and Industries. ‘washington.D. C., U. S. Department 0 Commerce, 1940. Guilford, J. P. Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education. New York, HeerawbHill,-1950. Hoppock, R. Job Satigfaction. New York, Harper, 1935. H0ppock, R. and Robinson H. Job satisfaction researches MbNemar, Q. Psychological Statistics. New'York,‘Wiley and Sons ’ 1949 0 Super, D. E. Occupational level and job satisfaction. J. of App. ngchol., 1939, 23, 547-564. ‘Viteles, M. S. IMotivation andiMopale in Industry. New 'York,‘W.'W. Norton, 1953. ‘Warner,‘w. L. The Social Life of a Rgdern Community, Yankee City Series-AVolume I.‘Yale University Press, 1941. ‘Warner,'w. L. Social Class in.America, A manual of Procedure for the measurement ofLSocial Status. Chicago, Science Research.Associates, 1949. Young, R. J. ,Reduce excessive turnover costs through proper evaluation. Eezsgnngl, 1950, 27, 75-79. APPENDIX M H ”F“ "— MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE EAST LANSING DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY Dear Sir: ‘do are making a study to determine the satisfaction of people with their Jobs, their companies, and their communities. Your company has been chosen as a representative one. an questionnaire is attached to this letter. Please answer all the questions. Notice that we ask you NOT to sign your name. Tie want you to feel free to answer the questions frankly. Some of the questions concern things we think may be related to your Job satisfaction. We would very much appreciate your cooperat ion in filling it out. It should take you no more than 15 minutes. When you have completed the questionnaire please place it in the envelope, seal, and return to us. If you have any questions either Dr. H. C. Smith. R. 0. Frost (under whom I am working at Michigan State College) or I will be glad to answer them. Thanks for your cooperation. Yours sincerely. Howard Trier 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The following statements will help you to describe how you feel about your Job. those statements which.most accurately and honestly tell how you feel about it . Place Think about your experience while working on this Job and check a check mark in front of the statement which best tells how good a Job you have . ____A. ____E. The Job is an excellent one, vory much above the average. The Job is a fairly good one. The Job is only average. The Job is not as good as average in this kind of work. The Job is a very poor one. very much below the average. Place a check mark in front of the statement which best describes your feelings.about your Job . .__pe. 3. C. _____D. E. I am very satisfied and happy on this Job. I am fairly well satisfied on this Job. I am neither satisfied nor dissatisfied-1t is Just average. I am a little dissatisfied on this Job. I am very dissatisfied and unhappy on this Job. Chock one of the following statements to show how much of the time you.are satisfied with your Job. A. B. HI! Most of the time. a good deal of the time. About half the time. Occasionally. SCIdOMo Place a check mark in front of the statement which best tells what kind of A. ____s. C. an organization it is to work for. It is an excellent organization to work for—~one of the best organizations~ I know of. It is a good organization to work for but not one of the best. It is only an average organization to work for. deny others are just as good. It is below average as an organisation to work for. are better. It is probably one of the poorest organizations to work for that I know of. Many others Place a check mark in front of the statement which best tells how'your feelings compare with those of other people you know. *A O _____B. ____c. _____D. E. I dislike my Job much more than most people dislike theirs. I dislike my Job more than most people dislike theirs. I like my Job about as well as most people like theirs. I like my Job better than most people like theirs. I like my Job much better than.most people like theirs. Place a check mark in front of the statement which best tells how you feel about the work you do on your Job. &. _____B. _____c. _____D. E. The work I do is very unpleasant. I dislike it. The work I do is not pleasant. The work is just about average. whether it is pleasant or not. The work is pleasant and enjoyable. The work is very enjoyable. I very much like to do the work called for on this Job. I don't have any feeling about 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 2 A. l . Check one of the following which best describes any general conditions which affect your work or comfort on this Job. ....9- General working conditions are very bad. .__;B. General working conditions are poor-not so good as the average for this kind of Job. .___0. General working conditions are about average, neither good nor bad. ____D. In general, working conditions are good. better than average. ___E. General working conditions are very good. much better than average for this kind of Job. Check one of the following statements which best tells how you feel about changing your Job. .__gA. I would quit this Job at once if I had anything else to do. .__;B. I would take almost any other Job in which I could earn as much as I am earning here. .__40. This Job is as good as the average and I would Just as soon have it as any other Job but would change Jobs if I could make more money. .__‘D. I am not eager to change Jobs but would do so if I could make more money. ___;E. I do not want to change Jobs even for more money because this is a good one. Suppose you had a very good friend who is looking for a Job in your line of work and you know of a vacancy in this organization which your friend is well qualified to fill. Would you: .__iA. Recommend this Job as a good one to apply for? .__iB. Recommend this Job but caution your friend about its shortcomings? .___0. Tell your friend about the vacancy but not anything else. then let him decide whether to apply or not? ___p. Tell your friend about the vacancy but suggest that he or she look for other vacancies elsewhere before apglying? .__43. Try to discourage your friend from applying by telling the bad things about the Job? On the line below. place a check mark to show how well satisfied you are with this Job. You may place your mark anywhere on the line either above one of the statements or between them. I I i I 1 Completely More dissatisfied About More satisfied Completely dissatisfied than satisfied half than dissatisfied satisfied and half Most of my friends think I have an excellent Job. strongly agree. agree. Neither agree nor disagree-~not sure. Disagree. Strongly disagree. 12. This organization is generally considered a good one to work for. _______A. Strongly agree. ____Bs Agree. ____0. Neither agree nor disagree--not sure. __ . Disagree. __ . Strongly disagree. 13. My family thinks I have a very good Job. ______A. Strongly agree. __ 0 Agree. ___* . Neither agree nor disagree-«not sure. ____' . Disagree. E. Strongly disagree. 14. Most of my neigbors think: my Job is a very good one. ___A. Strongly agree. ______B. Agree. ___9. Neither agree nor disagree-not sure. ____D. Disagree. ___L. Strongly disagree. 15. The presence of this organization in our community is a very good thing. ____A. Strongly agree. _____Bs 1,131.89. _______0. Neither agree nor disagree-«mot sure. _____D. Disagree. It Strongly disagree . Personal Backgron Information The following information is necessary for purposes of cross tabulation and analysis of data obtained on these forms. Please check the items as accurately as you possibly can. 1. Check the highest level of education which you have completed. _____n. fourth grade or under- _____B. Eighth grade. __ . Business school or technical school. _____u. Junior college. ______L. College with A. B. or comparable. ____F. Masters degree. G. Ph. D. degree. ......H. High school 2. Check one of the following to indicate the age group in which you belong. _____A. 20 years of age or younger. ______B. 20 to 30. __ s 30 to l4'0- _______Ds 40 to 50. ‘. 50 to 60. ____'s‘. Overl60. 30 Set A. Male B. Female 7. 8. 9. Please estimate your average income. ___‘A. Less than $2,000. ___;B. $2,000 to $4,000. 0. $h,000 to $6.000. . $6,000 to $8.000. . $8,000 to $12,000. P. Over $12,000. HI What is your official occupational titlel name the department in which you work (such as: accounting. central inspection. assembly, etc.). ——v name the company for which you work. Please tell what kind of work you do in your department. What was your father's occupation? J r‘f’l C”) - e Mar: @3313 r' M W M "Q1tsss1pi__;hiiu-hfi‘l'7 Mr '1 -‘ :3”- ‘7 111(31 '55 Aug 3 . why ' a?“ .,‘ 3 ‘F'T'A: 7‘7" ’3 ' km 1.4., ti ‘ ‘ n 4‘” " "‘4‘ '“"" OJ £2,'57 Mar [1’58 Apr 4 '58 It} 20 '53 Feb ‘4 59 26 Jun 59 "I7'11?@fil'fllflilflllfllllm