Sex, Family Wage-Earning Status, and Satisfaction with Work

Past examinations of the job-related sources of worker satisfaction, though numerous, have ignored the possible influences of sex and family wage earning status. Developing logic to suggest that working women with combined family and occupational roles bring unique job requirements into the workplace, this article derives and evaluates two models of the antecedents of satisfaction for working men and women. Multiple regression and covariance analyses of the 1972-1973 Quality of Employment data indicate that men and women do respond differently to certain conditions of their employment. Specifically, nonbreadwinning working women are found to place greater emphasis on having convenient or comfortable jobs. This difference is shown to argue for interaction models of worker satisfaction. Explanations of these findings and their applied implications are discussed. © 1985, SAGE PUBLICATIONS. All rights reserved