Job satisfaction (JS): a correlational study at Universidad de los Llanos

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18041/2619-4244/dl.36.12343

Keywords:

Job satisfaction, Well-being, Personal development, Flexibility, Workplace innovation

Abstract

This study offers a new perspective on the concept of job satisfaction in both regional and national contexts, particularly within the public sector, where research on the topic remains limited. The study was conducted at Universidad de los Llanos, as part of the Master’s in Business Administration program, with participation from the authors—one of whom serves as head of the University Well-being Division.

The research includes a theoretical discussion on the evolution and scope of the concept, proposing epistemic elements for its application in the workplace. The study concludes that public institutions are beginning to incorporate job satisfaction into their development and well-being policies, recognizing new practices that enhance employee adaptability within the organizational environment of the Colombian state.

Author Biographies

  • Jhon Monroy-Rodríguez , Universidad de los Llanos

    I am Jhon Freyd Monroy Rodríguez, born in Puerto López - Meta, Colombia, on October 20, 1982. My passion for numbers and administration led me to become a Certified Public Accountant. I have always believed that knowledge is power; this belief motivated me to further my education with a Specialization in Business Administration. Currently, I am pursuing a Master's degree in Business Administration, as I am committed to continuous professional growth.

    My professional journey has been remarkably enriching: I worked as an accountant for companies such as Dyscola SAS and Levinson Capital Software (CO) SAS, which provided me with a solid foundation in corporate financial management. Subsequently, I had the opportunity to join Universidad de los Llanos as a professional accounting specialist, an experience that opened doors to new challenges.

    Currently, I serve as the Head of the University Welfare Division at Universidad de los Llanos, a position that has enabled me to make a positive impact on many lives. One of my most significant achievements has been leading a student retention and graduation project, which secured approval and funding from the General Royalties System. This accomplishment fills me with pride as it directly contributes to our students' future success.

    It is deeply satisfying to see how, in my current role, we have substantially improved the well-being of our entire university community. Witnessing the positive impact on faculty, administrative staff, students, and alumni motivates me to continue working with even greater dedication each day.

  • Leda Bayona-Varón, Universidad de los Llanos

    Médica Veterinaria Zootecnista, Especialista en Gestión de Proyectos

    Universidad de los Llanos

  • Juan Montoya-Monsalve, Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    Postdoctor en Alta Gerencia y Política Pública

    Profesor titular, Universidad Nacional de Colombia

References

Hoppock, R. (1935). Job Satisfaction. Harper & Row.

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346

March, J. G., y Simon, H. A. (1958). Organizations. Wiley.

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., y Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The Motivation to Work (2ª ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Porter, L. W. (1962). Job attitudes in management: I. Perceived deficiencies in need fulfillment as a function of job level. Journal of Applied Psychology, 46(6), 375-384. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0047808

Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and Motivation. John Wiley & Sons.

Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. En M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (pp. 1297-1343). Rand McNally.

Smith, P. C., Kendall, L. M., y Hulin, C. L. (1969). The Measurement of Satisfaction in Work and Retirement: A Strategy for the Study of Attitudes. Rand McNally.

Hackman, J. R., y Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16(2), 250-279. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(76)90016-7

Mirvis, P. H., y Lawler, E. E. (1977). Measuring the financial impact of employee attitudes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.62.1.1

Mueller, C. W., y McCloskey, J. C. (1990). Nurses' job satisfaction: A proposed measure. Nursing Research, 39(2), 113-117. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-199003000-00014

Moorman, R. H. (1993). The influence of cognitive and affective based job satisfaction measures on the relationship between satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior. Human Relations, 46(6), 759-776. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679304600604

Brief, A. P., Butcher, A. H., y Roberson, L. (1995). Cookies, disposition, and job attitudes: The effects of positive mood-inducing events and negative affectivity on job satisfaction in a field experiment. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 62(1), 55-62. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.1995.1030

Spector, P. E. (1997). Job Satisfaction: Application, Assessment, Causes, and Consequences. SAGE Publications.

Judge, T. A., Locke, E. A., y Durham, C. C. (1997). The dispositional causes of job satisfaction: A core evaluations approach. Research in Organizational Behavior, 19, 151-188.

Brief, A. P. (1998). Attitudes in and Around Organizations. SAGE Publications.

Schneider, B., Smith, D. B., Taylor, S., y Fleenor, J. (1998). Personality and organizations: A test of the homogeneity of personality hypothesis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(3), 462-470. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.83.3.462

Warr, P. (1999). Well-being and the workplace. En D. Kahneman, E. Diener, y N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology (pp. 392-412). Russell Sage Foundation.

Fisher, C. D. (2000). Mood and emotions while working: Missing pieces of job satisfaction? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21(2), 185-202. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1379(200003)21:2<185::AID-JOB34>3.0.CO;2-M

Spector, P. E., Zapf, D., Chen, P. Y., y Frese, M. (2000). Why negative affectivity should not be controlled in job stress research: Don't throw out the baby with the bath water. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21(1), 79-95. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1379(200002)21:1<79::AID-JOB964>3.0.CO;2-G

Judge, T. A., Bono, J. E., y Locke, E. A. (2000). Personality and job satisfaction: The mediating role of job characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(2), 237-249. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.85.2.237

Parker, S. K., Wall, T. D., y Cordery, J. L. (2001). Future work design research and practice: Towards an elaborated model of work design. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 74(4), 413-440. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317901167460

Brief, A. P., y Weiss, H. M. (2002). Organizational behavior: Affect in the workplace. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 279-307. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135156

Bravo, M. J., Peiró, J. M., y Rodríguez, I. (2002). Satisfacción laboral. En J. M. Peiró y F. Prieto (Eds.), Tratado de Psicología del Trabajo. Vol. I: La actividad laboral en su contexto (pp. 343-394). Síntesis.

Gil Hoyos, O. M., Torres Taborda, S. L., & Montes González, H. A. (2020). Las fuentes de financiación como estrategia de crecimiento empresarial y su impacto en la generación de valor económico de las micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas. Dictamen Libre, 27: Julio-Diciembre, 191-198. https://doi.org/10.18041/2619-4244/dl.27.6652

McCrae, R. R., y Costa, P. T., Jr. (2003). Personality in adulthood: A five-factor theory perspective (2ª ed.). Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203428412

Fritzsche, B. A., y Parrish, T. J. (2005). Theories and research on job satisfaction. En S. D. Brown y R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career Development and Counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work (pp. 180-202). John Wiley & Sons.

Campion, M. A., Mumford, T. V., Morgeson, F. P., y Nahrgang, J. D. (2005). Work redesign: Eight obstacles and opportunities. Human Resource Management, 44(4), 367-390. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20080

Caspi, A., Roberts, B. W., y Shiner, R. L. (2005). Personality development: Stability and change. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 453-484. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141913

Johnson, W., McGue, M., y Krueger, R. F. (2005). Personality stability in late adulthood: A behavioral genetic analysis. Journal of Personality, 73(2), 523-552. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00319.x

Beehr, T. A., Glaser, K. M., Beehr, M. J., Beehr, D. E., Wallwey, D. A., Erofeev, D., y Canali, K. G. (2006). The nature of satisfaction with subordinates: Its predictors and importance to supervisors. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36(6), 1523-1547. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00070.x

Schat, A. C. H., Kelloway, E. K., y Desmarais, S. (2005). The Physical Health Questionnaire (PHQ): Construct validation of a self-report scale of somatic symptoms. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10(4), 363-381. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.10.4.363

Tsaousis, I., Nikolaou, I., Serdaris, N., y Judge, T. A. (2007). Do the core self-evaluations moderate the relationship between subjective well-being and physical and psychological health? Personality and Individual Differences, 42(8), 1441-1452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.10.025

Morgeson, F. P., y Humphrey, S. E. (2006). The Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ): Developing and validating a comprehensive measure for assessing job design and the nature of work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(6), 1321-1339. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.6.1321

Heller, D., Watson, D., Komar, J., Min, J.-A., y Perunovic, W. Q. E. (2007). Contextualized personality: Traditional and new assessment procedures. Journal of Personality, 75(6), 1229-1254. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00474.x

Harrison, D. A., Newman, D. A., y Roth, P. L. (2006). How important are job attitudes? Meta-analytic comparisons of integrative behavioral outcomes and time sequences. Academy of Management Journal, 49(2), 305-325. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2006.20786077

Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., Wanberg, C. R., Glomb, T. M., y Ahlburg, D. (2005). The role of temporal shifts in turnover processes: It's about time. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 644-658. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.4.644

Ones, D. S., Dilchert, S., Viswesvaran, C., y Judge, T. A. (2007). In support of personality assessment in organizational settings. Personnel Psychology, 60(4), 995-1027. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2007.00099.x

Judge, T. A., Klinger, R., Simon, L. S., y Yang, I. W. F. (2008). The contributions of personality to organizational behavior and psychology: Findings, criticisms, and future research directions. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(5), 1982-2000. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00136.x

Hosie, P., Sevastos, P., y Cooper, C. L. (2007). The 'happy productive worker thesis' and Australian managers. Journal of Human Values, 13(2), 151-176. https://doi.org/10.1177/097168580701300207

Zelenski, J. M., Murphy, S. A., y Jenkins, D. A. (2008). The happy-productive worker thesis revisited. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(4), 521-537. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-008-9087-4

Funder, D. C. (2008). Persons, situations, and person-situation interactions. En O. P. John, R. W. Robins, y L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research (3ª ed., pp. 568-580). Guilford Press.

Cooper, W. H., y Withey, M. J. (2009). The strong situation hypothesis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 13(1), 62-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868308329378

Hogan, R. (2009). Much ado about nothing: The person-situation debate. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(2), 249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2009.01.022

Srivastava, A., Locke, E. A., Judge, T. A., y Adams, J. W. (2010). Core self-evaluations as causes of satisfaction: The mediating role of seeking task complexity. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77(2), 255-265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.04.008

Rego, A., Ribeiro, N., y Cunha, M. P. (2010). Perceptions of organizational virtuousness and happiness as predictors of organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 93(2), 215-235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0197-7

Bellou, V. (2010). Organizational culture as a predictor of job satisfaction: The role of gender and age. Career Development International, 15(1), 4-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620431011020862

Grant, A. M., Fried, Y., y Juillerat, T. (2010). Work matters: Job design in classic and contemporary perspectives. En S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 1. Building and Developing the Organization (pp. 417-453). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/12169-013

Ferguson, T. D., y Cheek, R. (2011). How important are situational constraints in understanding job satisfaction? International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(22), 221-227.

Funder, D. C., Guillaume, E., Kumagai, S., Kawamoto, S., y Sato, T. (2012). The person-situation debate and the assessment of situations. Japanese Journal of Personality, 21(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.2132/personality.21.1

Wu, C.-H., y Griffin, M. A. (2012). Longitudinal relationships between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(2), 331-342. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025673

Thompson, E. R., y Phua, F. T. T. (2012). A brief index of affective job satisfaction. Group & Organization Management, 37(3), 275-307. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601111434201

Rode, J. C., Judge, T. A., y Sun, J.-M. (2012). Incremental validity of core self-evaluations in the presence of other self-concept traits: An investigation of applied psychology criteria in the United States and China. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 19(3), 326-340. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051812442964

Díaz-Fúnez, P. A., Mañas-Rodríguez, M. Á., Pecino-Medina, V., Salvador-Ferrer, C. M., y Llopis-Marín, J. M. (2016). El efecto modulador del clima organizacional en la influencia de la comunicación de funciones directivas sobre el conflicto de rol. Universitas Psychologica, 15(1), 383-394. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.upsy15-1.emco

Dierdorff, E. C., y Morgeson, F. P. (2013). Getting what the occupation gives: Exploring multilevel links between work design and occupational values. Personnel Psychology, 66(3), 687-721. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12023

Salessi, S. (2014). La satisfacción laboral: Una revisión de la literatura acerca de sus principales determinantes. Estudios Gerenciales, 30(131), 297-306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.estger.2014.04.004

Judge, T. A., y Zapata, C. P. (2015). The person-situation debate revisited: Effect of situation strength and trait activation on the validity of the big five personality traits in predicting job performance. Academy of Management Journal, 58(4), 1149-1179. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.0837

Seligman, M. E. P. (2016). Florecer: La nueva psicología positiva y la búsqueda del bienestar. Océano.

Satuf, C., Monteiro, S., Pereira, H., Esgalhado, G., Marina Afonso, R., y Loureiro, M. (2018). The protective effect of job satisfaction in health, happiness, well-being and self-esteem. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 24(2), 181-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2016.1216365

Pujol-Cols, L. J., y Dabos, G. E. (2018). Satisfacción laboral: una revisión de la literatura acerca de sus principales determinantes. Estudios Gerenciales, 34(146), 3-18. https://doi.org/10.18046/j.estger.2018.146.2809

Joshanloo, M. (2018). The structure of the good life: A cross-national study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(7), 2019-2036. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9924-4

Cardoza, M., Hidalgo, L., Peña, J., Pulido, L., y Torres, C. (2019). Satisfacción con la vida y satisfacción laboral. Revista de Investigación y Cultura, 8(1), 75-84. https://doi.org/10.18050/ucv-hacer.v8i1.1391

Bravo, M. J., y Rodríguez, I. (2019). Nuevas formas de trabajo y satisfacción laboral. En B. Delgado y B. Martín (Eds.), Nuevas formas de trabajo: Retos y oportunidades para el empleo y las relaciones laborales (pp. 143-165). Aranzadi Thomson Reuters.

Published

2025-04-18

Issue

Section

Scientific and technological research articles

Similar Articles

31-40 of 45

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.