Anticipation of the Development of Job Satisfaction—Construct and Validation Results of an Indicator for Well-Being at the Workplace

Paul Jiménez^*, Anita Dunkl, Regina Stolz

Work, Organizational and Environmental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.

DOI: 10.4236/psych.2015.67084                

Abstract

In recent research on job satisfaction, the aspect of time and dynamics is gaining more and more attention. The Anticipation of the Development of Job Satisfaction (AD) is seen as a concept that looks at the estimations concerning the development of job satisfaction facets in the future. More specifically, as job satisfaction can be seen as an indicator for well-being, AD can be regarded as the estimation of future well-being at the workplace. The aim of this study is to present this construct and to investigate whether it can be empirically separated from related constructs. Therefore, the influences of certain state and trait characteristics connected to well-being were in the focal point of this study. In particular, the influences of job satisfaction, life satisfaction, learned helplessness, the core self-evaluations and state anxiety on anticipation of development of job satisfaction were analysed. The study was made in an Austrian institution of higher education with 213 employees participating. The results of structural equation modelling showed that the level of anticipation of the development of job satisfaction was a significant predictor for job satisfaction. Furthermore, satisfying indicators for discriminant validity to other regarded constructs could be found.

Keywords

Anticipation of the Development of Job Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction, Discriminant Validity, Core Self-Evaluations, Structural Equation Modelling

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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