Job satisfaction: A meta-analysis of stabilities

Abstract

Evidence suggesting that job satisfaction is caused by individual dispositions is reviewed, and stability coefficients for job satisfaction in previous studies are analysed with a meta-analytic procedure. Previous longitudinal studies analysing job changer samples imply an upper limit estimate of 0.51 for direct dispositional influences on job satisfaction. A study of job changers considering the stability of working conditions suggests that this estimate has to be considerably corrected downwards. At present, it is concluded that it is more likely that dispositions indirectly affect job satisfaction via selection and self-selection processes. Implications for job satisfaction as a tool for organizational assessment are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.