Do employees in the United States have less satisfaction now than in years past? Some recent surveys have suggested this may be the case.  One way to answer this question would be to study databases that go back several decades. This is what researchers at Wright State University and Central Michigan University have done. Nathan Bowling and his colleagues found three datasets that asked survey questions about job satisfaction. Two had data going back to the 1970s. 

Their results were reported in the April issue of The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist. Bottomline is they found job satisfaction “uniformly high from decade to decade” (p. 63). Bowling et al. stated, “job satisfactions scores were relatively high, and there appeared to be no systematic increases or decreases in job satisfaction over time” (p. 61). The figures below show the trends. [Note: The figures in the TIP article are incorrect. The correct figures below were obtained from the authors and presented here with the permission of TIP.]

The results suggest, as noted by the authors, that people are very adaptable. The past four decades have seen many significant changes in the workplace. Just consider the impact of technology from computers to the internet. Yet on the average, this study found people tend to be satisfied with their jobs. 

Figures used with permission.   

Bowling, N. A., Hoepf, M. R., LaHuis, D.M., & Lepisto, L. R. (2013).  Mean job satisfaction levels over time: Are things bad and getting worse?  The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 50 (4), 57-64. 

It is with sadness I write of the passing of Joseph F. Rychlak, the eminent psychologist, at the age of 84. I first mentioned Rychlak when I blogged about loving one’s job and the Howard and Bray AT&T Management Progress Study. Later I shared more about Rychlak and implications of his perspective for the workplace. He authored 17 books and over 200 papers, a scholarly body of work that psychology and philosophy scholars will be studying for many years.

I have many personal memories of this great man. I remember when I was a graduate student at Purdue, he came into my lab with a stopwatch. We were having a disagreement on a particular point of a study I had underway. “OK, Johnny, you got eight minutes to make your case.” So I did. At exactly eight minutes, he said, “My turn” and so the debate continued for an hour or so. He saw my side and then gave me his full support – but what an exhilarating hour we had.  

During the AT&T studies in the 1950s and 1960s, Rychlak directed over 350 interviews in which managers talked about their lives for several hours. Rychlak identified nine major life themes, predominant patterns of meaning that emerged in conversation, patterns that reflected  priorities and interests. Here are those themes in my words:

• Occupational. People for whom work was the true center of their lives. They talked mainly about their work and getting ahead. 
• Financial-acquisitive: People occupied with accumulating wealth, property and other possessions. People with this theme desired symbols of their success. 
• Locale-residential: For some, where they lived was the key. They liked their city, their community, their part of the state. Living where they lived was what they wanted most.  
• Service: People heavily involved in community activities (of a nonreligious nature), or serving the nation in the National Guard or Reserves.
• Ego-functional: Those mostly interested in self-development, such as pursuing more education, reading, physical activity, health.
• Religious-humanism: People engaged with their church, synagogue, mosque, or expressing humanistic values.
• Recreational-social: For some, enjoying their hobbies, going to movies, or socializing occupied their time. Work was a means to an end.  
• Marital-familial: People talking mostly about their spouse, children, in-laws. 
• Parental-familial: People talking mostly about their parents, siblings, old friends. 

We give meaning to our world. These are major themes by which we give meaning to our work and our lives. I can see myself here. My guess is you can see yourself too -- and people you know.

Image of Joseph Rychlak from the 1990s. He will be missed. Image used with permission.

Howard, A., & Bray, D. W. (1988). Managerial lives in transition: Advancing age and changing times. New York: Guilford Press.
Rychlak, J. F. (1982). Personality and life-style of young male managers: A logical learning theory analysis. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.      

More  from the interviews conducted about Joseph Juran for the PBS Special, An  Immigrant's Gift.

From an interview with Bob Scanlon on October 29, 1992, in Atlanta, Georgia. Bob Scanlon at that time was Director, Quality and Reliability Engineering for Southern Pacific Transportation Company. Scanlon got to know Dr. Juran during the sixteen years Scanlon worked for Caterpillar. 

Here Scanlon recalls asking Dr. Juran something different: advice on raising children. 

SCANLON: . . . I recall one conversation, as we 
were driving up to Aurora  . . . I have three 
daughters. And I was interested in getting a little advice on 
child rearing . . . I asked Dr. Juran . . . what 
advice would he give me on raising kids or  . . . through his experience, looking back, what was important, what wasn't?

And he just said: “Don't get hung up on the little issues. On the big issues, you'll know when 
it's time to take a stand, but don't get too inflexible. I guess the word would be, on the little things. Life's too precious to be 
fighting all the time.” I'm not 
articulating that very well but it was an interesting 
conversation. I enjoyed hearing his perspective on those 
kinds of issues. 

My take-away:  Great advice for leaders. “Don’t get hung up on the little issues . . . know when it’s time to take a stand, but don’t get too inflexible.” This theme is oft repeated but how well do we heed this advice? Consider:

"Often we allow ourselves to get all worked up about things that, upon closer examination, aren't really that big a deal. We focus on little problems and concerns and blow them way out of proportion" Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

“Choose your battles wisely. After all, life isn't measured by how many times you stood up to fight. It's not winning battles that makes you happy, but it's how many times you turned away and chose to look into a better direction. Life is too short to spend it on warring. Fight only the most, most, most important ones, let the rest go.” C. Joybell C.

“Learning to choose our battles wisely is not only a smart thing to do; it is a requirement to guard the sanity of our lives. As humans we have limited time, energy and strength, which means we cannot engage ourselves in all the battles that come our way.” Rev. Francis Burgula.

“Any fool can criticize, complain, condemn, and most fools do. Picking your battles is impressive and fighting them fairly is essential.” Dale Carnegie.


Burgula, F. (2007, August 2). Choose your battles wisely. Retrieved from http://www.fuelforfaith.com/fuel_for_faith_vault_articles_view.asp?ID=9

C. Joybell C. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/choose-your-battles-wisely

Carnegie, Dale. Cited by Judy Goldman in http://www.careerprofiles.com/career-coaching/blog-pick-your-battles-in-the-workplace/

Carson, C. (1996). Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff. New York: Hyperion. 

In Lean In Sheryl Sandberg wrote, “Fear is at the root of so many of the barriers that women face.” Fear or anxiety may be a factor limiting many careers, including men. The fears Sandberg identified may differ more among individuals than across gender. That is not to disagree with her point that more women should “lean in.” Here are the fears Sandberg listed (in her words) and my comments.  

Fear of not being liked.

We are social animals. We want to get along. Workplaces where people enjoy each others’ company are more likely to have lower absenteeism, lower turnover, less stress. Leaders know “you can’t please everyone.” It comes with being a leader.

Fear of making the wrong choice.

This “fear” may even be prevalent at the top levels of management where ambiguity often rules. A 2003 Financial Times article described a two year study of eight senior executives: “researchers unearthed many anxieties among their subjects: fear of inadequacy in the job, of not knowing enough, of losing their power base, of being set adrift by those above them or engulfed by the demands of those below them.” 

Fear of drawing negative attention.

In a review of fear in the workplace, Kish-Gephart, Detert, Trevino, and Edmondson (2009) discussed “deliberative defensive silence.” We remain silent to protect ourselves from real or perceived harm. A conscious, intentional decision. We assess the risk and judge the risk of action too great. This is a fear whistleblowers overcome.

Fear of overreaching. Fear of being judged.

These may be related to the fear of appearing incompetent.  Tomkiewicz, Bass, and Vaicys (2005) using the Fear of Appearing Incompetent scale found no difference overall between the 200 men and women in their study.

Fear of failure.

And perhaps fear of success. Fear of failure and fear of success are highly related. Some studies show differences between men and women. Others do not. Overall fear of failure appears to have a larger impact on performance than fear of success. Studying nearly 700 athletes, André and Metzler (2011) found men had more negative concerns relating to fear of success than did women.

And the holy trinity of fear: the fear of being a bad mother/wife/daughter.

Interrole conflict is a great source of stress. Large cultural and individual differences here. Work-life is rarely in balance. It is not a scale. It is a matter of choices and situations. If these conflicts have to exist, they should apply equally to men and women – but in our culture today they probably do not. Supportive institutional policies can help here as well as supportive work norms.

To quote Marti MacGibbon, “Courage is not the absence of fear, it is resistance to fear.”


André, N., & Metzler, J. N. (2011). Gender differences in fear of success: A preliminary validation of the Performance Success Threat Appraisal Inventory.  Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 12(4), 415-422.

Kish-Gephart, J. J., Detert, J. R., Trevino, L. k.,  & Edmondson, A. C. (2009). Silenced by fear: The nature, sources, and consequences of fear at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 29, 163-193.

MacGibbon, M. (2011, January). Never give in to fear. SuperVision, 72 (1), 9-10.

Maitland, A. (2003, Oct 14). Leadership and the fear of high-flying. Financial Times, 15.

Tomkiewicz, J., Bass, K., & Vaicys, C. (2005). Comparing fear of success and fear of appearing incompetent among African Americans' and Whites' business candidates. Equal Opportunities International, 24 (2), 19-29.

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/flowerfactor/5526424073/
Permission: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en