Absence from work and job satisfaction

A taxonomic review of 29 studies reveals that the popular belief that job dissatisfaction is a major cause of absence from work has doubtful empirical basis. In an attempt to resolve the anomalies of method, findings, and interpretation used in past studies, a systematic investigation of the relatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied psychology 1976-12, Vol.61 (6), p.728-737
Main Authors: Nicholson, Nigel, Brown, Colin A, Chadwick-Jones, J. K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blue Collar Workers
Correlations
Employee Absenteeism
Human
Job Satisfaction
Studies
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Summary:A taxonomic review of 29 studies reveals that the popular belief that job dissatisfaction is a major cause of absence from work has doubtful empirical basis. In an attempt to resolve the anomalies of method, findings, and interpretation used in past studies, a systematic investigation of the relationship between job dissatisfaction and absence from work was carried out using 3 absence measures (time lost, frequency, and attitudinal indexes) and 5 job-satisfaction scales (a modified form of the Job Descriptive Index). Data were gathered from 1,222 male and female blue-collar production workers in 16 separate organizations in 4 contrasting technologies (clothing manufacture, foundries, continuous process, and bus companies). Results show that in most instances job dissatisfaction and absence from work were unrelated and that the lack of relationship was not attributable to artifactual or extraneous influences. It is concluded that the job-dissatisfaction theory of absenteeism is empirically unsupportable, and alternative conceptualizations of attendance motivation and potentially fruitful future research strategies are discussed. (47 ref)
ISSN:0021-9010
1939-1854
DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.61.6.728