Job Satisfaction: Study Finds Relatively High and Consistent Across Decades

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.