Perceptions of Organizational Support and Affectivity as Predictors of Job Satisfaction
Abstract
Staw, Bell, and Clausen (1986) have suggested that employees bring a positive or negative disposition to the work setting, process information about the job in a way that is consistent with that disposition, and then experience job satisfaction or dissatisfaction as a result. Although this is not a universally held viewpoint, given such endeavors as the FAA Job Satisfaction Survey and managerial efforts to improve overall job satisfaction, the issue of employee disposition is important. Agency attempts to alter the work situation for the purposes of increasing job satisfaction could have limited potential for success to the extent that job satisfaction is a function of disposition. The present study tested several hypotheses examining both the main and interactive effects on job satisfaction of variables assessing the person (disposition) and situation (organizational climate) across several organizations. Disposition in this study refers to employee descriptions of how they generally feel in response the PANAS Affectivity scale developed by Watson and Clark. The PANAS is comprised of 20 adjectives that describe both positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect. Data were accumulated by meta-analysis from 1,491 employees in 35 different organizational systems. This included survey data from employees at the FAA Aeronautical Center (N=1,029) in Oklahoma City, Air Traffic Control Specialist trainees from the FAA Academy Nonradar Screen Program (N= 397) in Oklahoma City, and teachers from a rural public school system (N=65) in Illinois. Employees in each of those groups were participants in larger surveys of job satisfaction and other attitudinal factors that influence job satisfaction.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA277047
Entities
People
- L. A. Witt
Organizations
- Federal Aviation Administration