MEASURES OF JOB SATISFACTION

(from Handbook of Organizational Measurement)
Price, James L & Mueller, C.W. Pitman Publishing, Inc.  1020 Plain Street,  Marshfile, Mass  02050

1. Brayfield and Rothe (1951)

a) Definition:   No Explicit definition but questionnaire refers to “how people  feel about different jobs”.
b) Questionnaire to collect data.  (18 questions) five responses each (Likert)
c) Validity:  Two sets of data provide adequate validity.
d) Reliability:  r=.77  (.87 with Spearman Brown corr)
e) Source: Brayfield, A.H., and H.F. Rothe.  1951.  An index of job satisfaction,
    Journal of Applied Psy.  35.307-311.

2. Quinn and Staines (1978)  The 1977 Quality of Employment Survey Ann Arbor, MI

a) Definition:  “affective reation to job”.  Intended as a “facet free” measure.
     Survey respondents in home setting.  Five questions (five responses)  e.g.,
     “All in all, how satisfied would you way you are with your job?”
b) Validity:  No data are presented with which to assess validity.
c) Reliability:  Cronbach Alpha of 0.77.
d) Comments:  Large national sample used.  Weakest of four measures.

3. Smith, Kendall, and Hulin (1969)  Job Descriptive Index

a) Difinition:  “..the feelings a worker has about his job..”
b) Questionnaire measures five dimensions..work, supervision, pay, promo,  and co-worker.
    (includes both descriptive & evaluative components. Scored yes, no, or ?
    (scoring by Smith et al.)
c) Validity:  Good convergent and discriminat validity
d) Reliability:  Good reliability.
e) Source:  Smith, P.C., L.M. Kendall, and C.L. Hlin.  1969
     The  Measurement of Satisfaction in Work and Returement.
     Bowling  Green State U, Dr. Patricia C. Smith, Dept of Psy. Bowling Green State U,
    Bowling Green, OH  43403

4. Weill, Dawis, England, and Lofquist (1967)  Minnesota Satisfaction  Questionnaire MSQ

a) Definition “fulfillment of the requirement of an individual by the  work  environment”.
    Intrinsic, extrinsic and General Satisfaction.
b) Questionnaire:  20 items (scored 1-5).
c) Validity:  Good construct validity (two sets of data).
d) Reliability:  r=0.9 (general);   .80 (extrinsic);   .80 (intrinsic).
e) Source:  Work Adjustment Project, Industrial Relations Center, University of Minnesota,
    Minneapolis, Minn  55455



Also:

5.  Job Satisfaction Survey, JSS (copywrite) Paul E. Spector

The Job Satisfaction Survey, JSS is a 36 item, nine facet scale to assess employee attitudes about the job and aspects of the job. Each facet is assessed with four items, and a total score is computed from all items. A summated rating scale format is used, with six choices per item ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree.” Items are written in both directions, so about half must be reverse scored. The nine facets are Pay, Promotion, Supervision, Fringe Benefits, Contingent Rewards (performance based rewards), Operating Procedures (required rules and procedures), Coworkers, Nature of Work, and
Communication. Although the JSS was originally developed for use in human service organizations, it is applicable to all organizations. The norms provided on Spector’s website include a wide range of organization types in both private and public sector.
 

For more information about the development and psychometric properties of the JSS, consult the following sources:

JSS (at Paul Spector's site)

Spector, P. E. (1985). Measurement of human service staff satisfaction: Development of the Job Satisfaction Survey.
American Journal of Community Psychology, 13, 693-713.

Spector, P. E. (1997). Job satisfaction: Application, assessment, causes, and consequences. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage.

The JSS is provided free for noncommercial educational and research purposes.

Job Satisfaction Survey, copyright Paul E. Spector, 1994, All rights reserved.

October 27, 1997