The Impact of Work Stressors on the Life Satisfaction of Social Service Workers: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

During the past several decades, there has been an increase in the number of studies that have examined the impact of the work environment on social service employees. Much of this research has focused on how the work environment helps shape the job satisfaction, job stress, and burnout of workers. Very little research has been conducted on the impact of the work environment on the life satisfaction of employees of social service agencies. This study explored the effects of work stressors (e.g., job dissatisfaction, work-on-family conflict, family-on-work conflict, job stress, role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, and dangerousness) on overall life satisfaction of employees of social service agencies, as well as the effects of life satisfaction on turnover intent. Multivariate analyses revealed that job dissatisfaction, work-on-family conflict, role ambiguity, and dangerousness had statistically significant effects on life satisfaction, and that age and life satisfaction had significant inverse relationships with turnover intention.