Himalayan Journal of

Education and Literature

Open Access

Review Article
Job Satisfaction: An Overview
Dr. C. Somashekher
Professor, Dept. of Sociology, Bangalore University, Jnana Bharathi Campus, Bengaluru-56, India
*Corresponding Author
DR. C. SOMASHEKHER
Article History
Received: 20.06.2021
Accepted: 30.06.2021
Published: 10.07.2021
Citations:
Somashekher, C. (2021); Job Satisfaction:
An Overview. Hmlyan Jr Edu Lte, 2(4) 32-35
Copyright @ 2021: This is an open-access
article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution license which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium for non
commercial use (NonCommercial, or CC-BY-
NC) provided the original author and source
are credited.
DOI: 10.47310/Hjel.2021.v02i04.002
Abstract: T his paper presents a brief sketch of the historical trends reflected in the
earlier investigations, which laid a strong foundation for the study of job satisfaction.
Job satisfaction has been studied extensively by industrial sociologists, psychologists,
experts in management, organizational behavior, and human resources to review the
gratification levels among the employees on the job, particularly to measure and
increase the quality and productivity. Hence, an attempt is made to analyze the
concept of job satisfaction, keeping in view its dimensions and determinants. T he
following paper aims to discuss and un derstand the significance of job satisfaction
and its implications for work organizations and society at large. T o study and measure
the level of job satisfaction among individuals is a much -needed process as the
individuals spend most of their waking life on the job which would have an impact on
the other institutions of social structure as well. Recently efforts are being made to
study general well-bein g which consists of job satisfaction as a part of it, as these
trends would shape the future of the job market and society. It also elucidates the
relationship between job satisfaction and productivity and organizational performance
in a work context. Apart from these, factors influencing job satisfaction and variables
of it are also taken into account for the discussion .
Keywords: Determinants, Historical trends, Job satisfaction, Organizational
performance, Work organizations .

INTRODUCTION:
Job satisfaction is deduced and analyzed in different ways by a different set of scholars or thinkers. It refers to a
favorable feeling of accomplishment of set goals at the workplace. Job satisfaction, however, is not all about individual
happiness, contentment and satisfaction within self, but rather about job fulfillment. Generally, it could be believed that
job discontent among employees may lead to a lack of motivation at work. According to Schultz (1982), job satisfaction
is primarily a psychological attitude toward one's work. Job satisfaction is described by Lofquist and Davis (1991) as an
individual's affirmative feeling towards the work environment as a consequence of the individual's appraisal of the
amount to which the work environment fits his or her needs. In the fields of human resource management and
organizational behavior, it is one of the most studied phenomena. Job satisfaction is described as a happy or positive
emotional state arising from a positive evaluation of one's job or work experiences (Schneider and Snyder, 1975; Locke,
1976).

It refers to their complete dedication to the tasks at hand, their job satisfaction, their relationships with co -workers,
strong leadership, a safe and affirmative work environment, and so on. Combining these factors will result in job
satisfaction. One can judge an organization's capacity to keep its men engaged in the workplace based on this. Pleasure
on the job, according to Aristotle, shows perfection in the task. In this view, it is self-evident that people who are
dissatisfied with their jobs cannot perform better. As a result of lower employee satisfaction and negative workplace
experiences, businesses and work organizations tend to lose people. As a result, it is solely the responsibility of these
work organizations to determine a higher level of employee satisfaction in order to ensure a sense of loyalty, higher
productivity, and lower absenteeism through direct measurements on the one hand, and to identify and resolve employee
dissatisfaction on the other (Mc Bride, 2002).

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C. Somashekher; Hmlyan Jr Edu Lte; Vol-2, Iss- 4 (July-Aug, 2021): 32-35
Work is an essential component in the life of every
individual. The majority of the employees concentrate
on their career development and this is referred to as
human development activity. Thus, the employees must
have the feeling of satisfaction, or else it may result in
frustration, anger, or depression among the workers. Job
satisfaction results in increased productivity, a better
quality of work, and commitment towards the
organization. The modern era is an ‘era of competition’
and the employees, as well as organizations, experience
a lot of pressure. The organization expects better
outcomes while employees expect better benefits.
Because of the pressure the individuals experience
anxiety and stress. That is, the pressure to perform best
among the employees creates stress called ‘Job Stress’.
This may lead to reduced productivity, accidents, and
increased mistakes at work, promote absenteeism,
conflict with coworkers or management, lower morale,
physical and emotional problems as well. This finally
results in a low level of job satisfaction.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
Since Taylor’s scientific management and Mayo’s
Hawthorne studies, there has been an enormous out-put
of the empirical literature on nature, causes, correlates,
and consequences of job satisfaction. The scientific
management of F.W. Taylor focuses mainly on the
training of the employees to increase productivity,
which is assumed to be a source of job satisfaction in
work organization; whereas Hawthorne studies
intensify the implications of observation and
supervision for the tendencies and behavioral patterns
of the employees. Thus, it emphasized the significance
of teamwork and informal communication to derive
satisfaction from their respective jobs. Elton Mayo was
able to conclude that the level of job satisfaction could
be enhanced by giving more freedom to workers in
setting standards for their output and thereby
determining the work environment. He also realized the
good results of mutual interaction and co-operation
among the employees would lead to a high level of
social cohesion. This finding provided a strong platform
for the understanding of a social reality that people not
only consider monetary benefits but other purposes are
also taken into account while researching the factors
responsible for job satisfaction.
Locke (1969) estimated that the number of empirical
studies focusing on various dimensions of job
satisfaction might be around four thousand. Since,
then, for the last seven decades a great many more
studies have been published rendering alienation and
job satisfaction at work a happy hunting ground for
social scientists, behavioral scientist and management
scientists so much so, that these, particularly alienation
has come to be viewed not as a concept but an
independent perspective contemporary literature on job
satisfaction is characterized by a plurality of theoretical
perspectives. Despite this vast output of academic
33
enterprise, the progress in understanding the intricate
realities about alienation and job satisfaction among
workers is painfully slow and far being satisfactory.
Controversies, criticism, and polemics continue to exist
and plague so applied an area of academics as this.
While there is growing literature on the empirical
measurement of different aspects of job satisfaction and
alienation, very little has been done to develop an
integrated empirical, scheme to answer causative
queries about them.
Still more varied and diverse are the studies on
causes and correlates of job satisfaction. It would be
impossible to catalog the number of times that job-
enlargement, job enrichment self-pacing, autonomy,
decision participation, fringe benefits, supervisor
practices, pay level, and the like have been put forth as
the features of work whose manipulation would
increase employee satisfaction, commitment, and even
productivity. Up to the date of Hawthorne studies i.e.,
the 1920s, those engaged in industrial psychology and
sociology had been interested in examining the
implications of job conditions, physical conditions, and
equipment design on job satisfaction. Even the
Hawthorne studies were conducted initially to know the
effect of high-ting at place work as such they were also
known as illumination studies.
There are, however, many conceptual, operational,
and methodological bottlenecks in formulating a
scientific theory of job satisfaction. Concerning
methodology, there is no universal agreement or
consensus among those who study job satisfaction
about the methods and measures of job satisfaction. So
is the case even with the classification of job
satisfaction as high and low? Thus, there are no
universally accepted norms to follow in classifications
in the study of job satisfaction. Further, none of the
several measures of job satisfaction is fully satisfactory
as job satisfaction is a multidimensional phenomenon.
Many measures and conceptual schemes developed lack
applicability beyond a specific organization. As such,
all things considered, the general conceptual and
methodological state of theory and research in job
satisfaction must be considered as highly uncertain.
WHY STUDY JOB SATISFACTION:
Job satisfaction nowadays tends to be a regularly
studied subject matter for scholars to investigate the
related factors to the process of deriving satisfaction
and opting for a comfortable life. Satisfaction is the
most likable and preferable content for all individuals of
all societies. The study of satisfaction on the job,
nowadays, has attracted the attention of social
scientists, behavior scientists, and management
scientists. Every worker, irrespective of the nature of
work, engaged in work tends to contribute to his
workplace by makings use of his experience,
opportunities, and skills. Every work situation would
enable an employee to establish new social relations
C. Somashekher; Hmlyan Jr Edu Lte; Vol-2, Iss- 4 (July-Aug, 2021): 32-35
with colleagues, supervisors, management, and other
people. Furthermore, jobs certainly would help to
impure financial conditions, shoulder responsibilities,
and plan the future. Thus, an employee prefers to
experience favorable feelings towards developing or
updating skills, establishing better social relations ,
improving the financial status, and planning a better
career. Such phenomena could be treated as a step
towards deriving satisfaction on the job.
Furthermore, job satisfaction is seen to be an
excellent predictor of employee intentions or decisions
to leave a job, as well as a significant indicator of
overall individual well-being. In everyday life, job
satisfaction is also vital. As a result, job happiness is a
major concern for both employers and employees.
Financial matters, promotions, colleagues, supervision,
the workload itself, appreciation, working environment,
and organization and management are all aspects that
contribute to job satisfaction (Judge et al., 2001). To
avoid the worst outcomes, such as loss of motivation,
apathy, unhappiness, poor productivity, absenteeism,
and even high turnover rates, poor working conditions,
overwork, low compensation, no opportunity for
progression or promotion, and a lack of recognition
must all be addressed immediately. Thus, job
satisfaction is becoming extremely important in the
workplace. Employers have realized that the "successful
and satisfied" their employees are, the better their
attitudes about work, the stronger their motivation, and
the higher their performance. The working environment
has a significant impact on job satisfaction in every
field of work. Employees who are dissatisfied with their
jobs frequently show little interest in their jobs, which
has a negative impact on business performance.
To summarize, job satisfaction refers to an
individual's level of happiness with his or her
employment, as well as performing a job that one
enjoys, doing it well, and being appropriately
compensated for one's efforts. It can also refer to a
person's enthusiasm for and enjoyment of their job.
When an employee is given the option, he or she is
more motivated to complete a task. A person is more
likely to be satisfied with their employment if they are
motivated to a greater extent to execute and complete a
task (Jalagat, 2016). Job satisfaction is believed to be
essential in archiving life satisfaction. Hence, priority
must be given to keeping employees satisfied and safe
which could yield positive results like high
productivity, increased level of loyalty, profits, work-
life balance, and positivity among employees. The first
and foremost advantage of job satisfaction is that
employee retention and satisfied employees hardly
think of leaving their current jobs. Thus, they must be
treated well in the organization with ample
opportunities for career development and better salaries.
The salient features of satisfied employees are: they
tend to compromise and adapt more and handle pressure
34
situations with relative ease; accept challenges; willing
to update new technology; participate in training
program; more accomplished with better performances;
happier and enjoyable; highly motivated; high morale;
positive in approach; productive and committed. The
best way of keeping away from stress, a source of
dissatisfaction, is to get involved in the process of work
which would enable individuals to feel a sense of
gratification forgetting the bad experiences and
feelings. Thus, employees satisfied with their job
seldom find time to indulge in dirty politics and spoil
their relations with their counterparts and employers.
For such employee loyalty to an organization would be
the first and foremost priority and the rest of the things
could be considered later.
FACTORS INFLUENCING JOB SATISFACTION:
Job satisfaction can be influenced by certain aspects
like personal, job-oriented management related, and
societal factors. Personal factors include employee’s
age, gender, education, marital status, family
background, socio-economic background, and so on.
Whereas, job integrated factors such as the work and its
nature, working conditions, the influence of internal and
external environment on the job that is not under the
control of management and the like are considered as
Job oriented determinants. These determinants play an
important role in the selection of jobs by the employees.
Further, management-related factors consist of job
security, nature of work team, supervision, rate of
wages, promotion and transfer policies, timings and
hours of work, and sense of responsibilities. These play
a vital role in creating a sense of job satisfaction among
the employees. Thus, it can be stated that job
satisfaction is influenced by a different set of
determinants that decide upon performance as well as
job satisfaction. However, job satisfaction is considered
as a result of performance rather and not vice-versa.
And societal factors which are associated with
corruption, decimation based on caste, color and creed,
regional differences, etc will have implications for the
job satisfaction of individuals.
Job satisfaction is related to both organization and
employee as well. It determines the productive
efficiency of the organization while employee turnover,
absenteeism, alcoholism, irresponsibility, non-
commitment are considered as outcomes of job
dissatisfaction. However, it can be said that satisfaction
or dissatisfaction towards a job creates opinion towards
the job as well as the organization which results in
boosting up the morale of the employee.
Achievement and responsibility, according to
theorists, are the two significant motivating variables
that can be employed to increase work satisfaction.
Learning can be fostered, according to Noe (2005), by
providing staff with unique demanding goals and
objectives more effectively. Managers must set clear
and attainable goals for their personnel in this situation.
C. Somashekher; Hmlyan Jr Edu Lte; Vol-2, Iss- 4 (July-Aug, 2021): 32-35
This will help to provide employees with a sense of
accomplishment upon task completion, which may lead
to increased satisfaction. Organizations must also
empower and encourage their employees to take on
more responsibility. Such strategies do help to increase
employee satisfaction and make them more loyal,
committed, and have shared interests in their jobs.
Coming to variables in the study of job satisfaction
these are classified into two categories: a) personal
variables, b) organizational variables. Personal
variables include the personal characteristics of an
individual like age, sex, and educational qualification
which form the basis of the individual. Irrespective of
the organizational determinants these influence the job
satisfaction of the employees. Organizational variables
are occupational status, job content, considerate
leadership, pay and promotional opportunities, and
interaction within the work team. These variables
determine the job satisfaction of an employee. Apart
from these, there are several other variables too that
have been considered by different researchers while
researching the factors related to the job, employees,
and needs of the research.
Job satisfaction is measured in different methods.
Many experts have derived models to measure job
satisfaction. This includes;
 Likert scale by Rensis Likert
 Job Descriptive Index (JDI) method by Smith,
Kendall, and Hulin
 Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)
 Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS)
 Faces Scale
 Superior-subordinate Communication Model
 Emotional Dissonance Model
 Social Interaction Model
CONCLUSIONS:
Job satisfaction impacts mainly on productivity,
absenteeism, and turnover. Thus, by conducting
research efficiently one can find the reasons for both
job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. This will result in
the promotion of determinants for the former while
taking appeasement measures for the latter. It will
further support the work organization to increase the
levels of job satisfaction among the employees by
considering such aspects as grievance-handling
procedures, support for creative suggestions, cordial
analysis or evaluation of work performance, increase in
wages, praise for good performance, promotion
according to ability, the proper quantum of work,
freedom to seek help in solving problems, equal wages
for equal work, absence of unnecessary intervention and
35
criticism, satisfactory hours of work, availability of
leaves and rest, and so on. Hence, it can be concluded
that research on job satisfaction is need of the hour in
the present context which could help academicians,
employees, and organizations to perform better.
However, it is difficult to achieve complete
satisfaction, as it is a relative term and one cannot be
fully satisfied in a modest sense. He/she could still feel
that something is missing with him/her. Keeping this
point in view, it could be stated that employees cannot
be satisfied by themselves and by the employers as the
wants are unlimited and work situations are diverse.
Hence experts must take this fact into account while
measuring satisfaction levels. At the same time, one can
think about teaching and learning to achieve
satisfaction. How to be satisfied must be taught as a part
of syllabi content at the elementary level itself, so that
children can learn and get prepared to combat
dissatisfaction situations at work phenomena in the near
future.
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