JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Vol 10,347-359 (1989)

Paths to the job satisfaction of

bank employees
UMA SEKARAN
Department of Management, Southern Illinois Universiiy at Carbondale, Carbondale, IL 62901,
U.S.A.

Summary Using a sample of 267 bank employees, this study traced the paths to the job satisfaction
of employees at the workplace through the quality of life factors of job involvement and
sense of competence. Results indicated that personal, job, and organizational climate
factors influenced the ego investment orjob involvement of people in theirjobs, which in
turn influenced the intrapsychic reward of sense of competence that they experienced,
which then directly influenced employees’job satisfaction. Implications of these findings
for managers are discussed.

Introduction
The quality of work life experienced by employees in organizations has been an area of
investigation by researchers for several years now. Quality of work life has been assessed basically
in terms of the extent of satisfaction that employees experience with various facets of their jobs
such as with the work itself, the work environment, pay and promotion. Apart from being an
index of the quality of work life criterion, job satisfaction is also related to employees’ ego-
involvement in their jobs - i.e. job involvement (see Rabinowitz and Hall, 1977, for a review of
this literature) - and the psychological rewards they experience in feeling that they have had
some impact on, and gained mastery over their work environment - i.e. a sense of competence
(Sekaran and Wagner, 1980). The variables of job involvement, sense of competence, and job
satisfaction are considered to be three of the indices of the quality of work life (Cherns and Davis,
1975; Taylor, 1975). The correlates of job satisfaction have been studied extensively over the past
several decades since job satisfaction has been found to be related to such organizationally
relevant important variables as absenteeism and turnover.
The United States has been witnessing, over the last few years, her slow but steady
transformation from an industrial to a service-oriented society and America’s labor force, today,
is decidedly service-oriented. Over 70 per cent of the private labor force is working to supply
services, and banks have been one of the 10 high-growth service industries (Schewe and Smith,
1983).The vitality of the banking industry and the performance of its employees are important for
the economy of the U.S.as a whole. Strong correlations among the quality of work life factors
and reduced absenteeism and turnover, high goal commitment, and increased performance and
productivity have been established by several researchers (see for instance, Curry, 1986; Futrell
and Parasuraman, 1984; Motowidlo, 1984). This study investigated the paths to the job
satisfaction of bank employees, via the two quality of work life variables -job involvement and
sense of competence - taking into consideration certain other critical factors that employees
interface with in the work place on a daily basis.

0894-37961 891040347-1 3$06.50 Received I9 January 1988

Q 1989 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Final Revision 28 June 1988
348 U. SEKARAN

A brief literature review and theoretical framework

Since job involvement, Sense of competence, and job satisfaction have been identified as three
quality of work life indices, the framework developed for the study attempted to trace the causal
connection among these variables so that managers and researchers can have an idea of which
variables will be most important to deal with and manipulate in the work setting.
Job satisfaction which is an index of the affective responses of employees to the work setting,
has been a variable of interest to administrators and researchers alike, for a long time. In addition
to the intrinsic desirability of having employees at the workplace who are satisfied, administrators
have also been concerned about the job involvement of employees which enhances the goal
commitment and reduces the turnover of employees (Jauch and Sekaran, 1978). Job satisfaction,
which has been studied extensively, is a function of several important variables - especially the
characteristics of the job itself (Hackman and Oldham, 1975), and the organizational climate
(Litwin and Stringer, 1968). Job characteristics have been shown in many studies to influence the
job satisfaction of employees (see for instance, the extensive review by Rabinowitz and Hall,
1977). Various organizational climate factors such as communication, participation in decision-
making, and stress have also been examined as to their relationship to job satisfaction and found
to be significant predictors. While two-way communication (Bateman, 1977; Price, 1972) and
participation in making job-related decisions (Patchen, 1970; White and Ruh, 1973) have a
positive effect on job satisfaction, stress has a negative relationship, in the sense that the greater
the amount of stress experienced by employees, the lesser is the extent of job satisfaction
experienced by them (Bhagat, 1982; Lyons, 1971). In addition, the work ethic value of individuals
has been shown to influence job satisfaction through the intervening variable of job involvement
(Kanungo, Misra and Dayal, 1975). The relationship between job involvement and job
satisfaction, and between sense of competence and job satisfaction has been documented by
several researchers as further discussed below.
Job involvement has been conceptualized as the identification of the individual with the job and
as a psychological self-investment of the individual in the work as a means of seeking some
expression of the self at work (Lodahl and Kejner, 1965). Job involvement has been found to be
related to the job characteristics of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and
feedback from the work itself (Hackman and Oldham, 1975; Rabinowitz and Hall, 1977). Job
involvement has also been investigated in the context of its relationship with the individual
difference variable of Protestant Ethic, a term which signifies the belief ‘Work hard and you will
get ahead. You are responsible for your destiny’ (Hulin and Blood, 1968). It has been found that
endorsement of the protestant ethic value and job involvement are significantly positively
correlated (Rabinowitz, 1975; Ruh and White, 1974). Similarly, job involvement has also been
found to be positively correlated to participation in decision-making (Patchen, 1970; Ruh and
White, 1974; Siege1 and Ruh, 1973), communication (Patchen, 1970; Sekaran, 1977), sense of
competence (Sekaran, 1977; Sekaran and Wagner, 1980), and to job satisfaction (Schuler, 1975;
Schwyhart and Smith, 1972; Weissenberg and Gruenfeld, 1948). Job involvement is, however,
negatively related to stress (Lyons, 1971; Sekaran, 1977). Job involvement is also related to sense
of competence, which reflects the confidence employees have in their own perceived competence
at work through the mastery of their work environment (Lorsch and Morse, 1974; Sekaran, 1977;
Wagner, 1974).
In sum, job involvement is related to job characteristics, the individual difference variable of
work ethic, and the organizational variables of communication, participation in decision-making,
and stress. It also influences sense of competence and job satisfaction.
 PATHS TO THE JOB SATISFACTION OF BANK EMPLOYEES 349

While job involvement denotes the extent of an individual’s identification with the job, sense of
competence is described as the intrapsychic reward that individuals experience because of a sense
of mastery they have gained over their environment. The term sense of competence was first
coined by White (1959). White referred to competence as an organism’s capacity to interact
effectively with its environment. White postulated that people have an exploratory motive and a
need for effectance - i.e. a need to interact with and make an impact on the environment. White
stated that the fitness to interact with the environment is slowly attained through prolonged feats
of learning but the effectance motivation wanes when a situation has been explored to the point
that it no longer presents new possibilities to attain efficacy. White compared the need for
effectance to Angyal‘s (1941) definition of life as a ‘process of expansion’. White (1960, 1963)
defined competence as the cumulative result of the whole history of transactions with the
environment, and described sense of competence as the subjective side of one’s actual competence.
Lorsch and Morse (1974) applied the concept of sense of competence to the work setting and,
like White, defined it as the confidence that one feels in one’s own competence. They further
described it as the intrapsychic feelings of reward that individuals experience when they have
successfully explored, interacted with, and mastered their work environment.
The job characteristics, organizational climate, and work ethic variables that are related to job
involvement are also related to sense of competence (see for instance, Lorsch and Morse, 1974;
Sekaran, 1977; Sekaran and Wagner, 1980; Tharenou and Harker, 1983; Wagner, 1976). Jobs
with skill variety, a stress-free work environment, two-way interactive communication, and a
sense of having participated in making work-related decisions, will all have a positive influence on
one’s confidence in one’s own work competence. These independent variables will thus have both
independent and interactive effects on job involvement and sense of competence. All these
variables will be correlated to job satisfaction as well, as explained earlier. The aim of this study
was to establish the causal connections among the variables so that there would be a better
understanding of how one can go about enhancing the quality of work life for employees.

Theorized causal connections

Employees usually join the organization bringing with them their work values. As they interface
with the work and the organizational environment, they find themselves challenged (or not) and
‘turned on’ (or alienated) by their job and organizational factors. Based on their experiences,
individuals then make some deliberate choices as to the extent to which they want to get involved
in their jobs and invest themselves in work. That is, based on how employees perceive their job
and work environment, they could get minimally to highly involved in theirjobs. There is thus, a
time gap between their interfaces with the work environment and their ego-involvement in their
jobs. N o one completely identifies with the job or invests the self in the work before assessing what
the job entails and how conducive the work environment is.
When people get involved in their jobs, they spend greater amounts of time and energy at the
work place. That is, the more the employees engage in work behavior because of job involvement,
the greater will be their interactions with and explorations in the work environment. As
employees explore their work environment, have success experiences, and gain mastery at work,
they develop a sense of competence or confidence in their own competence. Because of this
psychological success feelings, they are likely to get even more involved in their work in
anticipation of experiencinggreater successes and more mastery. In essence, job involvement will
lead to a sense of competence, and greater sense of competence will lead to further job
involvement or ego-investment in the job. Thus, the two variables job involvement and sense of
competence will mutually reinforce each other.
350 U. SEKARAN

Not being alienated from the job (i.e. being job-involved to some extent at least) is a necessary
precondition for deriving job satisfaction - i.e. satisfaction from the work itself. Likewise,
individuals who feel inept in their job (no sense of competence) are not likely to derive job
satisfaction. It is not lack of job satisfaction that makes them inept, but it is the ineptness that
makes them dissatisfied with the job. Thus, to experience satisfactions at the work place, it is
necessary for individuals to be job-involved and feel a sense of competence at work.
Based on the above rationale, we can theorize that job characteristics, organizational climate
factors, and work ethic will directly influence both job involvement and sense of competence, and
that job satisfaction will be experienced through the two intervening variables -job involvement
and sense of competence. While job involvement and sense of competence will mutually influence
each other, it is sense of competence that will directly lead to job satisfaction, not job involvement.
The reason is that one can get very involved in the job and keep plodding along without
necessarily experiencingjob satisfaction. In other words, for some ‘work is workship’ and they will
continue to invest time and effort on the job. However, if one has success experiences on the job
and derives a sense of psychological success by feeling confident that he or she is making a
significant impact on the work environment and gaining mastery over the job, the individual will
derive satisfaction.
In effect, the theory postulated here is that the job, organizational climate, and work ethic
variables will have a direct influence on both job involvement and sense of competence, and sense
of competence will lead directly to job satisfaction. These relationships schematicallydiagrammed
in Figure 1 were tested in this study.

Independent lntervening Dependent

variables variables variable

-l

Job involvement
A
Job satisfaction
pGZGG] >
,f
I-[ 4- sense of competence

pq
[TaJkidanti)yl
1-1
i

Figure 1 . Theorized paths to job satisfaction

 PATHS TO THE JOB SATISFACTION O F BANK EMPLOYEES 351

Sample
A sample of 267 employees was drawn from 12 banks from the midwestern parts of the United
States. Care was taken to include large, medium, and small-sized banks in the sample and it was
ensured that there was a fair representation of employees at the clerical, supervisory, and
managerial levels from each bank. Thus, though individuals were not randomly selected, the
sample from each bank was representative of the population of employees in each of the banks.
The mean age of the respondents was 35. About 21 per cent had college degrees, and 83 per cent
were women.
Data collection
Questionnaires were administered by the researcher to groups of 10 to 30 people assembled in the
banks’ conference rooms during regular work hours. It took about 30 to 45 minutes for the
questionnaires to be completed, after which time they were personally collected by the researcher.
Complete confidentialitywas assured to the respondents.

Variables and measures and their reliabilitiesfor this study

The demographic variables of age, job level, education, and tenure were tapped through single
items. All the other variables excepting job satisfaction were tapped through a 5- or 7-point
Likert-type interval scale. Job satisfaction was tapped through the commonly used 72 items as
described below. The reliabilities for each of the measures for this sample are provided.

Job satisfaction
The dependent variable of job satisfaction was measured through the Job Descriptive Index
developed by Smith, Kendall and Hulin (1969). This 72-item measure taps the satisfactions
derived from the work itself, supervision, co-workers, pay, and promotion (Cronbach’s alpha =
0.77).

Job involvement
This intervening variable which taps the extent to which employees think of their work as a major
factor in their lives was measured by the six-item short measure developed by Lodahl and Kejner
(1965) (alpha 0.71).

Sense of competence
This second intervening variable which taps the intrapsychic feelings of confidence in one’s own
competence was measured by seven items from Wagner and Morse (1975) (alpha=0.87). The full
scale of 23 items was developed by Wagner and Morse based heavily on White’s writings (1959,
1960, 1963, 1967). The short seven-item measure was used based on Wagner’s recommendation
(personal conversation, 1980).

Job characteristics
Job characteristics included the dimensions of skill variety, autonomy, task identity and task
feedback. These four dimensions described below, were measured through the 17 items in the Job
Characteristics Inventory developed by Sims, Szilagyi, and Keller (1976).
352 U. SEKARAN

Skill variety Skill variety denotes the extent to which the job uses a number of different skills
that the individual possesses (alpha = 0.80).

Autonomy Autonomy taps the extent of freedom, independence, and discretion that the
employee has in scheduling and performing the job (alpha = 0.79).

Task identity This signifies the extent to which an individual performs a ‘whole’ and identifiable
piece of work (alpha = 0.75).

Task feedback This relates to obtaining clear and direct information about how one is
performing even as one is engaged in doing the job (alpha 0.69).

The three OrganizationaIclimate factors were tapped through the following measures:
Communication was measured using five items developed by Price (1972). Cronbach’s
alpha for this measure was 0.85.
Participation in decision-making was tapped through the five items from White and Ruh
(1973). Cronbach’s alpha = 0.88.
Stress was tapped through the nine items from Lyons (1971). Cronbach’s alpha 0.81.
Work ethic was tapped through the 19 items developed by Mirels and Garret (197 1). Work
ethic is a value orientation which exhorts the individual self to restless disciplined work
(Fullerton, 1959). The Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was 0.76.

Data analysis
After testing for the psychometric properties of the measures, path analysis was done to trace the
theorized paths to job satisfaction. Path analysis refers to a type of causal analysis that has much
in common with the simultaneous equation approaches of econometricians. Although most
models involving path analysis have used recursive systems, nothing restricts their application to
one-way causation (Namboodiri, Carter and Blalock, 1975). Path analysis applications usually
presume linear, additive, recursive equations with disturbance terms. A path coefficient may be

Table 1. Means and standard deviations of the variables examined

in the study (n 267)
Maximum
Variabie possibIe Mean S.D.

Job satisfaction 43 28.18 8.08

Job involvement 7 3.72 0.98
Sense of competence 7 4.75 0.72
Skill variety 5 3.80 0.82
Autonomy 5 3.81 0.78
Task identity 5 4.07 0.72
Task feedback 5 3.39 0.98
Communication 5 3.70 0.80
Participation in decision-making 5 3.13 0.98
Stress 5 2.46 0.63
Work ethic 7 4.49 0.62
 PATHS TO THE JOB SATISFACTION OF BANK EMPLOYEES 353

defined as a standardized regression coefficient and interpreted as a ratio of two standard

deviations (Land, 1969). It should be noted that the path coefficients are, in general, partial
coefficients, in the sense that they give the changes in the dependent variable for given changes in
the independent variable, with all of the remaining variables controlled or held constant
(Namboodiri et al. 1975).
The path analysis for this study involved regressing the eight independent variables against job
involvement first; then regressing the eight independent variables and job involvement against
sense of competence; and finally regressing the eight independent variables and the two
intervening variables of job involvement and sense of competence against job satisfaction.
Significant path coefficients should emerge if the theorized paths are substantiated.
To ensure that job involvement led to sense of competence which then led to job satisfaction,
and not the converse (i.e. that sense of competence led to job involvement, and job involvement
led to job satisfaction), another set of regression models were created. This time, the eight
independent variables were first regressed against sense of competence; then the eight independent
variables and sense of competence were regressed against job involvement; and finally, all 10
variables were regressed against job satisfaction.

The mean and standard deviation on the variables of interest to the study and the intercorrela-
tion matrix are provided in Tables 1 and 2. As can be seen from Table 2, there is no extreme
multicollinearity among the variables (i.e. I X.6). It can be noted that sense of competence and
job satisfaction are significantly correlated to all the variables in the study and job involvement is
correlated to all but feedback from the job itself. Job autonomy and participation in decision-
making are significantly correlated to all the other variables, their correlation to each other being
0.6.
The results of the regression analyses tracing the paths from the independent variables to job
involvement, all nine variables to sense of competence, and all 10 variables to job satisfaction, and
the explained variance at each stage are shown in Table 3. As can be seen, work ethic (path
coefficient = 0.21; p<O.OOl), and the job characteristics of skill variety @ c = 0.16; p<0.05) were
the only two variables that significantly explained the variance in job involvement. For this
sample of bank employees, stress did not decrease their involvement in the job, nor did
communication, participation in decision-making, and the other job characteristics increase their
involvement. This perhaps has some relationship to the set-up in the banks as discussed later.
About 14 per cent of the variance in job involvement was explained by the eight independent
variables.
For sense of competence, apart from job involvement which had a path coefficient of 0.24 (p
<0.001), the personal variable of work ethic @c = 0.1 l), the job characteristics of skill variety and
task identity @c 0.23 and 0.16, respectively), and the organizational climate variables of stress
(pc = -0.15), and communication (pc 0.17), had significant path coefficients. Participation in
decision-making, autonomy on the job, and task feedback did not have significant paths to sense
of competence. One would expect that participation in decision-making and autonomy, in parti-
cular, would enhance sense of competence, and the results are intriguing. It is quite possible that
in the bank setting, participation in decision-making does not amount to much since most of the
policies are already laid down. For the same reason, job autonomy may not imply much freedom
to explore new ways of doing things, which is what would enhance sense of competence. However,
over 49 per cent of the variance in sense of competence was explained by the nine variables.
 c
v1
F
>
Table 2. Correlations among the variables of interest in the study (n = 267) ;d
>
z
Participation
Skill Job Task in decision- Work Job Sense Job
variety autonomy identity Feeback Stress Communication making ethic involvement of competence satisfaction
Skillvariety 1.00
Job autonomy 0.41) I .oo
Task identity 0.24* 0.56* 1.oo
Feedback 0.28* 0.48* 0.48* 1.00
Stress -0.167 -0.19* -0.06 -0.3s 1.00
Communication 0.21* 0.41* 0.30* 0.411 -0.58* 1.00
Participation 0.47* 0.60* 0.40* 0.45* -0.31* 0.46'1 1.oo
in dec. making
Work ethic 0.08 0.15t 0.09 0.07 4.04 0.05 0.14# 1.oo
Job 0.231 0.17t 0.14 0.07 -0.19* 0.19* 0.23* 0.24* 1.00
involvement
Sense of 0.45' 0.43* 0.38, OM* -OM* 0.47* 0.46* 0.23* 0.42* 1.00
competence
Job 0.39* 0.28* 0.W 0.35* -0.43* 0.37* 0.39* 0.llj 0.25* 0.52* 1.oo
satisfaction
*p <0.001.
t p <0.01.
$p <0.05.
 PATHS TO THE JOB SATISFACTION OF BANK EMPLOYEES 355

Table 3. Path coefficients, associated probabilities, and Pearson correlations

from regression analysis tracing paths from job involvement to sense of
commtence and to job satisfaction
Probability
Path Fvalue forpc
coefficient for (df 1,265)
Variables @c) PC P
(a) For JOB INVOLVEMENT
Work ethic 0.2 1 12.83 0.001
Stress -0.12 2.65 n.s.
Participation in decision-making 0.10 1.28 n.s.
Communication 0.07 0.80 n.6.
Skill variety 0.16 5.68 0.05
Autonomy -0.02 0.03 n.s.
Task identity 0.05 0.53 n.s.
Task feedback -0.12 2.69 n.s.
& = 0.139
df = 8,258
F = 5.19
P = 0.001
(b) For SENSE OF COMPETENCE
Work ethic 0.1 1 5.58 0.05
Stress -0.15 7.19 0.01
Participation in decision-making 0.04 0.31 n.s.
Communication 0.17 8.20 0.01
Skill variety 0.23 20.75 0.001
Autonomy 0.03 0.16 n.s.
Task identity 0.16 7.64 0.0 1
Task feedback 0.08 1.89 n.s.
Job involvement 0.24 25.05 0.001
R' = 0.493
df = 9,257
F = 27.80
P = o.oO01
(c) For JOB SATISFACTION
Work ethic 0.001 0.01 n.s.
stress -0.24 13.93 0.001
Participation in decision-making 0.10 1.93 n.s.
Communication -.0.001 0.00 n.s.
Skill variety 0.18 8.68 0.0 1
Autonomy -0.10 1.83 n.s.
Task identity 0.07 1.21 n.s.
Task feedback 0.07 1.32 n.s.
Job involvement 0.03 0.28 n.s.
Sense of competence 0.28 16.13 0.001
& = 0.377
df = 10,256
F = 15.50
P o.Ooo1
356 U.SEKARAN

hdependent Intervening Deperdent

variables variables variable

0 24@<00011

rAutonomyl
1IITask identity
ITask
0.16(pC0.01)
i d eIn t i t v y

I 0.18(p<0.01)

-0.24(p<0.001)

Figure 2. Actual paths to job satisfaction

With respect to job satisfaction, as therorized, it was sense of competence @c = 0 . 2 8 ; <0.001)

~
and not job involvement (pc = 0.03; p = n.s.), which had a direct lead to job satisfaction. In
addition, the organizational climate factor of stress (p = -0.24; p <0.001), and the job char-
acteristic of skill variety (pc = 0.18; p <0.01) also had direct effects on job satisfaction. The total
explained variance in job satisfaction was 38 per cent.
The significant paths discussed above, are depicted in Figure 2.
The results of the next set of regressions tracing the paths from the eight independent variables
to sense of competence first, the nine variables to job involvement next, and finally, all 10
variables to job satisfaction, indicated that sense of competence had a significant path coefficient
to job involvement (pc = 0.35,p <0.001). This confirms the theory that job involvement and sense
of competence mutually influence and reinforce each other. However, as already discussed, job
involvement did not directly lead to job satisfaction, thus confirming the theory that though job
involvement and sense of competence have reciprocal causation, only sense of competence leads
to job satisfaction.

Discussion
The purpose of this study was basically to investigate the hypothesized causal connections among
the independent variables, the intervening variables and job satisfaction. The idea was that given
the fact that involvement, sense of competence, and job satisfaction are psychological and atti-
tudinal factors operating in employees at the work setting, we should have a better handle on what
the relationships among these quality of work life variables are. This would help us to enhance
 PATHS TO THE JOB SATISFACTION OF BANK EMPLOYEES 357

organizationally favourable outcomes by manipulating the significant variables in the work

setting.
Before the implications of the results are discussed, a major limitation of this study in using
self-reported, cross-sectional data, has to be recognized. Tracing the paths in cross-sectional data,
to detect causal connections, though not ideal, has been recommended with the caveats that a
good theoretical basis is formulated, the data on the variables are on an interval scale, and the
relationships among the variables are linear and causal in nature (Kerlinger and Pedhauzur,
1973). This study conforms to these conditions and hence the results are interpretable.
It is important to note that work ethic had significant paths to both job involvement and sense
of competence (Table 3). Work ethic, which is a deep-rooted value orientation in individuals to
engage themselves in work in a disciplined manner, induces the employees to get ego-involved in
their jobs and helps them to develop a sense of competence as well. Thus individuals with good
work ethic values are valuable assets to the organization.
More importantly, the findings of this study provide support to the theory that if one wants to
increase the job satisfaction of individuals at the work place, just making them get deeply involved
in their jobs will not directly help them to increase the satisfactions they experience from the work
place. Increasing their confidence in their job competence, however, will. Skill variety also has a
direct path to job satisfaction in addition to its direct influence on both job involvement and sense
of competence. Stress, likewise, has a direct path (negative) to job satisfaction in addition to its
negative influence on sense of competence. This implies, that apart from making their work more
interesting, and reducing their stress, employees should also be facilitated to have success
experiences in their jobs which will progressively increase their confidence in their own
competence. It is by increasing their sense of competence that job satisfaction is directly
experienced. It has been found in previous studies that job satisfaction helps among other things,
the retention of personnel, decreases absenteeism and enhances commitment.
Apart from increasing job satisfaction, sense of competence has also been shown to increase job
performance. In their comparative study of high performing and low performing organizations
facing static as well as turbulent environments, Lorsch and Morse (1974) found that members of
successful organizations reported a significantly higher level of sense of competence than those
belonging to low performing organizations. This was true whether the organizations faced a static
or dynamic environment. This indicates that sense of competence may not merely lead to higher
job satisfaction but also to better job performance. Enhancing the sense of competence of
organizational members thus seems to be a useful goal for managers to pursue in organizations.
The question then arises as to how managers can help employees experience feelings of success
in the job. Byprogressively increasing the challenges in the job, by offering them risk support, by
praising them or rewarding them whenever a rather difficult job gets done well, employees can be
made to not only experience psychological success but can also be motivated to try harder since
success builds itself on previous success experiences. Progressively increasing the level of
complexity in employees’ work will give them opportunities to get deeply involved in and
experience frequent successes on the job. That is, by encouraging employees to try new and
difficult tasks without undue fear of punishment (risk support), managers will be motivating
employees to attempt to do more challenging work. Once successful in such tasks, employees will
increase their level of confidence in their own competence and experience high levels of job
satisfaction and even improve their job performance.
The results of this study offer several ideas on how to increase all three factors in the quality of
life. Though the simple correlation between job involvement and job satisfaction is significant (r =
0.25), we find that it does not directly lead to job satisfaction, but operates through the variable of
sense of competence. This implies that apart from the suggestions offered above, those who
358 U. SEKARAN

supervise bank employees can also increase sense of competence by reducing their stress (which
can be experienced from the tediousness of doing routine, boring tasks), and giving them
assignments where they can work from the beginning to the end of an identifiable job (task
identity) instead of working on small parts of a task where they cannot see the final form, shape,
or result of their output (see Table 3).
The findings of this study offer directions for further investigations in this area. Future studies
should be designed longitudinally to measure increases in job involvement, sense of competence,
and job satisfaction over time, and establish the causal connections more scientifically. Empirical
studies should also be designed to establish the relationship between sense of competence and job
performance. If the results of this study and Lorsch and Morse’s (1974) are replicated, the findings
will be useful inasmuch as they will heighten the awareness of managers to the importance of
enhancing psychological success experiences for employees at the work place. This awareness will
be very helpful to managers since creating an environment where employees can experience a
sense of competence would perhaps be much easier, compared to increasing other factors such as
pay and promotional opportunities - both of which are often beyond the control of managers in
organizations. Managers will be desirous of enhancing the sense of competence of employees
when they know that this will increase the job satisfaction and job performance of their
employees.

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