Job Satisfaction and Age: A Test of Two Views

Abstract

Previous impressionistic treatments of the sources of worker satisfaction have identified a stable, positive relationship between job satisfaction and age. But the current wisdom about this relationship remains largely at the level of zero-order associations and post-hoc explanations. Examining a national probability sample of 1,455 American workers drawn from the 1973 Quality of Employment Survey this research tests two explanations commonly found in this literature: (1) that the relationship between age and satisfaction is the result of generational differences in education and value systems (i.e., a cohort explanation) and (2) that this relationship is simply a function of older workers having moved into better jobs across their careers (i.e., a life cycle explanation). Analyses of covariance suggest that neither explanation is adequate, leaving the question of what accounts for higher levels of satisfaction of older workers unresolved. Explanations for these findings and suggestions for further research are offered.