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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 55 (2012) 1020 – 1026

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NEW HORIZONS IN EDUCATION

INTE2012

The Age and Job Satisfaction Relationship in

Higher Education

Tülen Saner*, Şerife Zihni Eyüpoğlu

School of Tourism and Hotel Management, Near East University, Lefkosa, 98010 North Cyprus
Business Administration Department, Near East University, Lefkosa, 98010, North Cyprus

Abstract

This study examined the age-job satisfaction relationship in higher education. The study instrument used was the
short form Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) which measures overall job satisfaction, intrinsic
satisfaction, and extrinsic satisfaction using 20 facets of the job. The instrument was personally administered to the
respondents. The population for the study consisted of academics in North Cyprus. The results show that the job
satisfaction levels of the older age groups of academics are on the whole higher than the younger age groups. Overall
job satisfaction and extrinsic satisfaction do not seem to indicate a linear relationship with age, with overall job
satisfaction and extrinsic satisfaction levels varying for different age groups.

Keywords: Job satisfaction; intrinsic satisfaction; extrinsic satisfaction; academics; age; North Cyprus.

1. Introduction

Our job is not only a main source of income but also an important part of our life that contributes
to our social standing (Sharma and Jyoti, 2009). In this respect the search for an understanding of the
causes of satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction experienced on the job is an ongoing area of interest for social
scientists, managers, and policy makers worldwide. Satisfied employees will be more productive and
remain with the organization longer, however dissatisfied employees will be less productive and more
inclined to quit (Sarker, Crossman, and Chinmeteepituck, 2003). Satisfied employees are also more likely

* Corresponding author. Tel.:+9-0392-223-6464; fax: +9-0392-223-6461.

E-mail address: saner@neu.edu.tr

1877-0428 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of The Association of Science, Education and Technology
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.593
 Tülen Saner and Şerife Zihni Eyüpoğlu / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 55 (2012) 1020 – 1026 1021

to be creative and innovative and come up with breakthroughs that allow an institution to grow and
change positively with time and changing market conditions (Sharma and Jyoti, 2009).
Job satisfaction has been defined in a variety of ways, the most widely used definitions in the literature
being those of Locke (1976), Dawis and Lofquist (1984), and Porter, Lawler, and Hackman (1975).
Locke (1976) defined job satisfaction as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the
appraisal of one’s job experiences. Dawis and Lofquist (1984) defined job satisfaction as the result of the
worker’s appraisal of the degree to which the work environment fulfills the individual’s needs, and Porter,
Lawler, and Hackman (1975) defined job satisfaction as one’s reaction against his/her occupation or
organization. In general, it can be said that job satisfaction is an affective reaction to a job that results
from the person’s comparison of actual outcomes with those that are desired, anticipated, or deserved
(Oshagbemi, 2000).
Research findings have indicated that many personal characteristics affect job satisfaction in
different and complex ways, these personal characteristics including gender, age, marital status, and
working experience, to name a few (Koustelios, 2001). Along with gender, age is probably the most
reseached characteristic in respect to its association with job satisfaction. A number of studies have
suggested that the importance of job attributes is age-related (Moyes, Williams, and Koch, 2006), though
the nature of the relationship between age and job satisfaction is not clear (De Nobile and McCormick,
2008). Many studies have suggested a positive relationship between job satisfaction and age (Aldag and
Brief, 1975; Ronen, 1978; Rhodes, 1983), while others have suggested a U-shaped or non-significant
relationship (Luthans and Thomas, 1989; Clarke, Oswald, and Warr, 1996). Siassi, Crocetti, and Spiro
(1975) reported higher levels of job satisfaction in workers over 40 than those under 40. Ronen (1978)
reported a linear relationship between age and job satisfaction in a sample of private sector production
workers but not in a sample of Israeli Kibbutz workers. Near et al., (1978) examined the relationship
between age, occupational level, and overall job satisfaction and found that the strongest predictors of job
satisfaction were rank and age. In his own review and analysis, Rhodes (1983) concluded that job
satisfaction was positively and linearly associated with age arriving at this conclusion after a review of
the findings from seven other separate studies (Aldag and Brief, 1975, Near, Rice, and Hunt, 1978;
Ronen, 1978; Siassi, Crocetti, and Spiro, 1975; Stagner, 1975; Staines and Quinn, 1979; Weaver, 1978).
In his study which examined the level of job satisfaction experienced by Greek teachers, and the
relationship between personal characteristics and specific aspects of job satisfaction Koustelios (2001)
found age to be a significant predictor of different aspects of job satisfaction. Additionally, Ssesanga and
Garrett (2005), in their study of the job satisfaction of university academics from Uganda, reported age to
be a significant influence on teaching satisfaction.
A wide range of research exists related to job satisfaction along with its causes and consequences
in various settings (mostly profit oriented), however much of this research has been conducted in the west
with even less evidence available from non-western nations (Maghrabi, 1999). Several studies have also
concentrated on workers within the industrial sector to the neglect of workers in higher education
(Oshagbemi and Hickson, 2003). Even less evidence is available related to job satisfaction in higher
education for non-western nations. Research focusing on job satisfaction in higher educational
organizations has indicated that, on the whole, academics are generally satisfied with their work.
Findings indicate that academics want work tasks that correspond to their personal interests and allow
them considerable autonomy in task selection and decision-making; they want a sense of achievement,
facilitated by feedback from supervisors; they want clarity as to what is expected of them and harmony
among the various people they work with; and they want salaries awarded equitably and at a level that
meets their expenses; and they want promotions to be awarded fairly (Kelly, 1989). The job aspects that
are most frequently perceived as responsible for low satisfaction are pay, university administration policy,
availability of resources, and working conditions (Kelly, 1989).
Dissatisfaction amongst workers is undesirable and dangerous in any profession, but it is suicidal
if it occurs in the teaching profession (Sharma and Jyoti, 2009). As Johnes and Taylor (1990) state, the
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goals of higher education are to provide in-depth knowledge, seek academic development, educate
students, as well as to coordinate national development demands (cited in Chen, Yang, Shiau, & Wang,
2006). None of these goals can be accomplished efficiently if low satisfaction or dissatisfaction exists
amongst academics. The job satisfaction of academics, their commitment, and their retention are crucial
to effective academic institutions (Saner and Eyupoglu, 2012). Academics find themselves in a
profession that is highly stressful. The requirements of career completion, excessive course loads that
tend to hinder research and insufficient payment are all factors that may cause financial and physiological
discomfort for individuals (Koyuncu, 2001). Unless they maintain positive attitudes towards their
profession they will inevitably fail in their professional career (Sirin, 2009).
The main purpose of this study is to examine the age-job satisfaction relationship in higher
education, more specifically academics in North Cyprus, and to identify which aspects of the job are
sources of satisfaction and which are source of dissatisfaction. The results of this study will enable
university authorities and policy makers to develop and implement policies towards the improvement of
the undesirable conditions and the strengthening of the desirable conditions, reinforcing the higher-
educational system. Studies that examine this relationship in a Turkish cultural context are few thus
providing an ideal opportunity for research aiming to fill the gap in this field.

2. Methodology

To measure the job satisfaction of the academics the short-form Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire (Weiss, Dawis, England, and Lofquist, 1967) was utilized. The Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire (MSQ) is one of the most widely used instruments in the measurement of job satisfaction
(Scarpello and Campbell, 1983) and its validity and reliability has been proven over the 40 years that it
has been in use. It has been used to measure job satisfaction in a variety of sectors, including education.
The short-form MSQ is composed of twenty facets, each facet represented with just one satisfaction item.
The short-form MSQ measures three satisfaction scales, namely intrinsic satisfaction, extrinsic
satisfaction, and overall job satisfaction. Intrinsic satisfaction refers to occupational conditions (how
people feel about the nature of the job’s tasks), and extrinsic satisfaction refers to environmental
conditions (how people feel about features of the job that are external to the work). Respondent
academics were asked to express the extent of their satisfaction with each of the 20 facets of their job on a
five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied). The original short-form
MSQ was translated into Turkish by the authors and tested on ten academics to test its validity and
reliability. The internal consistency of the translated questionnaire was 0.85, obtained using Cronbach’s
alpha coefficient. The questionnaire was accompanied with a personal information form in order to
determine the demographic variables of the academics that participated in the study.
The population for this study comprises academics from 5 of the North Cyprus universities. A
total of 600 academics were randomly approached with 412 agreeing to take part in the study, resulting in
a response rate of 69%. The questionnaires were administered in an interview format. Though extremely
time consuming, this method was utilized so as to ensure as high a response rate as possible, hence the
use of the short-form MSQ over the long-form. Of the 412 respondents, 67.7% were lecturers with a
master degree, 7.8% were lecturers with a PhD, 13.3 per cent were assistant professors, 4.6% were
associate professors, and 6.6% were full professors. The low number of respondents from the academic
ranks associate professor and full professor is an indication of their relatively small numbers in the
academic population in North Cyprus compared to the other ranks, though this is not surprising for a
developing country. However, it is not felt that these percentages have had an affect on the final results as
comparable studies conducted have also yielded both similar sampling percentages and similar results.
Such studies include Ssesanga and Garrett (2005) and Oshagbemi (1997). Just slightly over half the
respondents (53.4%) were male and 46.6% were female, and 63.8% were married and 36.2% were not
 Tülen Saner and Şerife Zihni Eyüpoğlu / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 55 (2012) 1020 – 1026 1023

married. The greatest percentage of respondents (37.6%) were in the age range 21-30, 34.5% were in the
age range 31-40, 17.2% were 41-50, 6.1% were aged 51-60, and the remaining 4.6% were in the age
range 61 and above.
The statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 13.0 was used to analyze the data
collected. Analysis consisted of the computation of descriptive statistics in order to examine the different
job satisfaction levels of the academicians across the different age ranges and ANOVA in order to
understand the relationship between job satisfaction and age.

3. Findings and Discussion

The mean scores (M) and standard deviations (SD) for the job satisfaction of academics in North
Cyprus in relation to age can be seen in Table 1. Mean scores below 3.50 are considered to be more on
the “dissatisfied” side of the “satisfaction-dissatisfaction” scale with mean scores above 3.50 being more
on the “satisfied” side of the scale (Pearson and Seiler, 1983). As Table 1 presents the level of overall job
satisfaction experienced by the academics in all age groups are above 3.50 thus indicating job satisfaction.
The level of overall job satisfaction increases and continues increases until the 51-60 age group
and then starts to decrease, though only very slightly at the 61 and above age group. When we look at
intrinsic satisfaction again satisfaction experienced by the academics in all age groups are above 3.50 thus
indicating satisfaction. There is a steady increase from the younger age group up to 31-40 age group and
the satisfaction level remains almost constant during the 41-50 age group. Then a rapid increase
continues up to the maximum level experienced by the older age group. The extrinsic satisfaction scores
indicate that the 21-30 and 31-40 age group are dissatisfied with the 41-50 age group indicating only
moderate satisfaction. The 51-60 age group indicate an increasing level of satisfaction however a
decrease is experienced in the 61 and over age group. Therefore, extrinsic satisfaction indicates a
progressive increase from dissatisfaction to satisfaction starting with the 21-30 age group up until the 51-
60 age group (maximum level) after which a decrease is observed, though still indicating satisfaction.

Table 1 Age-Related Mean Satisfaction Scores

Overall Job Satisfaction Intrinsic Satisfaction Extrinsic Satisfaction

Variables
mean sd mean sd mean sd
21-30 3.60 0.66 3.70 0.64 3.41 0.78
31-40 3.70 0.69 3.82 0.73 3.45 0.75
41-50 3.74 0.61 3.80 0.63 3.63 0.66
51-60 3.95 0.38 3.98 0.36 3.89 0.55
61and over 3.93 0.53 4.03 0.51 3.73 0.63

The mean scores indicate that the overall job satisfaction and extrinsic satisfaction of academics
are not linear in relation to age. However, intrinsic satisfaction can be considered to have a linear
relationship with age. Support is also provided in Table 2 which indicates that the mean satisfaction
scores for overall job satisfaction and extrinsic satisfaction were found to be significantly different in
relation to age. This finding is consistent with the literature (Sharma and Joyti, 2009; Picket and
Sevastoss, 2003). Intrinsic satisfaction was found not to be significantly different in relation to age. This
indicates to us that overall job satisfaction and extrinsic satisfaction levels vary for different age groups
and are at maximum at the older age groups, whereas intrinsic satisfaction levels do not vary for different
age groups.
1024 Tülen Saner and Şerife Zihni Eyüpoğlu / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 55 (2012) 1020 – 1026

Table 2. Age-Related ANOVA

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Intrinsic Satisfaction

Between Groups 3.484 4 .871 2.028 .090

Within Groups 174.799 407 .429
Total 178.283 411
Extrinsic Satisfaction

Between Groups 7.540 4 1.885 3.507 .008

Within Groups 218.784 407 .538
Total 226.324 411
Overall Job Satisfaction

Between Groups 4.173 4 1.043 2.525 .040

Within Groups 168.157 407 .413
Total 172.330 411

4. Conclusion
The main purpose of this study was to examine the age-job satisfaction relationship amongst academics in
North Cyprus. The results show that the job satisfaction levels of the older academics are on the whole
higher than the younger academics. The findings indicate that overall job satisfaction and extrinsic
satisfaction levels vary for different age groups of academics (that is, a statistically significant
relationship exists between age and the two satisfaction measures). However, a statistically significant
relationship does not exist between age and intrinsic satisfaction. It is hoped that this study makes a
contribution to the job satisfaction literature, especially in Turkish cultural perspective.

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