erceives that her or his organizational needs are satisfied by the job (Sisk, 1992, p. 322). Job satisfaction is also frequently defined within the context of the components of a job that affect perceptions of satisfaction, such as work, pay, promotion, coworkers, and supervision, as is done in the Job Descriptive Index (Smith, Kendall, and Hulin, 1969, pp. 27-44). For purposes of the proposed project, Locke's (1983, p. 1300) of job satisfaction is accepted as the essential conceptual definition.
The early efforts to measure job satisfaction resulted in the development of causal models (Locke, 1983, p. 1302). The causal models of job satisfaction were process-oriented in that attempts were made to identify and assess the types of organizational phenomena that influenced individual perceptions of satisfaction (Locke, 1983, p. 1302). Phenomenological factors incorporated in the causal models were primarily those associated with individual needs and individual values (Locke, 1983, pp. 1303-1306). The causal models then measured and assessed job satisfaction and the effects of job satisfaction on organizational outcomes primarily within the context of need-value conflict (Locke, 1983, pp. 1306-1307).
The causal models of job satisfaction did not provide the strength and preciseness of analysis required to accurately define the relationships between job satisfaction and various organizational outcomes, and to develop effective strategies to promote desirable organizational outcomes through the enhancement of job satisfaction (Blegen, 1993, pp. 36-41). Researchers then oriented studies toward the identification of the specific factors that affected job satisfaction (Locke, 1983, p. 1302). This body of work has come to be know as the content theories of job satisfaction, and includes the spectrum of theoretical and empirical work in the field of job satisfaction from Abraham Maslow to the present day (Scott, 1992, pp. 6-8, 34-72)....