Well-Being at Work: A Cross-National Analysis of the Levels and Determinants of Job Satisfaction

Publikations-Art

Zeitschriftenbeitrag (peer-reviewed)

Autoren

Sousa-Poza, A/Sousa-Poza, AA

Erscheinungsjahr

2000

Veröffentlicht in

Journal of Socio-Economics

DOI

10.1016/S1053-5357(00)00085-8

Seite (von - bis)

517-538

The aim of this paper is to analyze the levels and determinants of job satisfaction in a cross-national setting. This aim is accomplished using the latest Work Orientations data set from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). The survey was conducted in 1997 and, in this paper, data for 21 countries are used. The main results are: (i) workers in all countries are quite satisfied; this result also applies to the five Eastern European countries analyzed here. (ii) Denmark is the country with the highest job-satisfaction level. The United States is ranked seventh, Great Britain fifteenth, Japan nineteenth, and Russia twentieth. (iii) A comparison with the 1989 ISSP data set reveals that job satisfaction has declined in Germany and the United States in the 1990s. (iv) Using a bottom-up psychological model, in which we compare work-role inputs (e.g., effort) with work-role outputs (e.g., pay), we try to explain cross-national differences. Countries with high work-role outputs, in general, have a high job-satisfaction ranking, and vice versa. (v) Having an interesting job and having good relations with management are the two most important work-role outputs, and having an exhausting job is the most important work-role input. (vi) Workers in Eastern European countries tend to value high income.