The dispositional model of job attitudes revisited: Findings of a 10-year study.

Abstract

Research findings showing that satisfaction scores are stable over time led B. M. Staw and J. Ross (1985) to suggest that job satisfaction is rooted in dispositional mechanisms. The current study tested this hypothesis by administering a questionnaire to 166 U.S. Department of Defense employees on 2 occasions. Measures of job satisfaction (r = .37, p <.01) and job involvement (r =.41, p <.01) evidenced significant stability over the study's 10-year interval. Multiple regression analysis showed that job characteristics explained variance in the attitudinal measures after accounting for the variance due to attitudinal stability. In addition, regression results suggested that the success of job design interventions may be conditioned by personal characteristics (e.g., attitudinal stability-instability) of the individuals in the sample. By supporting both the dispositional and situational views of job satisfaction, current findings suggest an interactionist perspective.