Overall Job Satisfaction Scale

Abstract

The Overall Job Satisfaction scale, developed by Taylor and Bowers in 1974, is a concise psychometric instrument designed to measure an employee’s comprehensive level of job satisfaction. Originating as part of a larger survey of organizations questionnaire, the measure functions as a composite index, aggregating employee self-reported satisfaction across several critical facets of the work environment. These facets include satisfaction with the work itself, co-workers, supervision, promotional opportunities, pay, career progress, and the organization as a whole, providing a single score indicative of overall affective response to the employment context.

Keywords

Job satisfaction, organizational psychology, employee survey, Taylor and Bowers, organizational behavior, turnover intention, psychometric scale, Likert-type scale

Authors

Taylor, J. C., Bowers, D. G.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Overall Job Satisfaction scale is to provide researchers and organizational practitioners with a rapid and reliable method for quantifying an employee’s general level of contentment within their current role and organizational context. By encompassing multiple key dimensions—including both extrinsic (e.g., pay, promotions) and intrinsic (e.g., work itself, progress) factors—the scale aims to capture the holistic affective state that defines overall job satisfaction. This measurement is crucial for organizational health assessments, intervention planning, and predicting behaviors such as absenteeism and turnover intention.

Construct

The scale operationalizes the construct of Overall Job Satisfaction as a global attitude formed by the summation of specific satisfactions across various job facets. While it utilizes multi-item responses covering specific domains (work group, supervisor, pay, advancement), the final measure is intended to reflect a single, overarching construct of satisfaction. The domains measured are considered integral components contributing to the final global assessment: satisfaction with the work, co-workers, supervision quality, promotional opportunities, compensation (pay), perceived career progress, and the overall organization.

Validity

Empirical research has supported the validity of the Overall Job Satisfaction scale through its expected correlational patterns with relevant organizational variables. Specifically, studies have demonstrated its predictive utility and construct coherence.

In research conducted by Singh (1994), overall job satisfaction was found to correlate negatively with employee equity comparisons drawn outside the organization. This suggests that employees who perceive their situation unfavorably compared to external benchmarks report lower overall job satisfaction. Furthermore, Larwood et al. (1998) established significant negative correlations between overall job satisfaction and both turnover intention and job market fluidity. These findings confirm that higher satisfaction levels are associated with reduced likelihood of employees planning to leave their jobs, particularly when external job opportunities are plentiful.

Reliability

The internal consistency reliability of the Overall Job Satisfaction scale has been assessed using Coefficient alpha (Cronbach’s Alpha) in subsequent studies. Reported Coefficient alpha values generally indicate acceptable, though modest, reliability for a short composite measure. Studies by Larwood, Wright, Desrochers, & Dahir (1998) and Singh (1994) documented alpha coefficients ranging narrowly from .67 to .71. While these values are below the stringent .80 threshold often desired for clinical instruments, they are considered adequate for early-stage organizational research and brief survey measures aiming for high predictive efficiency.

Factor Analysis

Information regarding formal factor analysis of the Overall Job Satisfaction scale is not explicitly provided in the primary source material (Cook et al., 1981) or the cited subsequent studies regarding its structure. Given that the scale combines seven distinct facets into a single overall score, it is generally treated as a composite index rather than a strictly unidimensional scale derived from factor analysis. The operational assumption is that a strong general factor of job satisfaction underlies the intercorrelation of the facet items, justifying the calculation of a single overall score.

Instrument

Test Type: Psychometric Self-Report Survey

Format: 7 items utilizing a 5-point Likert-type scale response format.

Language Available: Original English (subsequent translations may exist, but are not documented in the primary source).

Population Group: Employed adults in various organizational settings.

Age Group: Adult (Working population).

Population Details: Originally developed for use in general organizational surveys (Taylor & Bowers, 1974).

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of satisfaction for each item on a scale where 1 = completely satisfied and 5 = completely unsatisfied. Scoring typically involves reversing the items so that a higher score indicates greater satisfaction, and then summing or averaging the scores to produce the overall satisfaction index.

Keywords

Organizational commitment, work environment, scale validation, psychometrics, employee compensation, supervision, job satisfaction facets, Taylor and Bowers

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in the source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed in 1974 by Taylor and Bowers. The items were subsequently compiled and published in the compendium by Cook, Hepworth, Wall, & Warr (1981). Use of the items requires adherence to the copyright held by Academic Press (1981). Researchers should consult the original sources or the publisher for current permissions and usage fees, particularly if reproducing the scale commercially or in large-scale studies.

Reference’s

• Cook, J. D., Hepworth, S. J., Wall, T. D., & Warr, P. B. (1981). The experience of work: A compendium of 249 measures and their use. London: Academic Press. (Items were taken from p. 26. Copyright © 1981 by Academic Press. Reproduced with permission.)

• Larwood, L., Wright, T. A., Desrochers, S., & Dahir, V. (1998). Extending the concept of job satisfaction: The Job Market Fluidity and Job Satisfaction Index. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(1), 101–112.

• Singh, J. (1994). Boundary role ambiguity, perceived role conflict, and work outcomes: Socialization as a moderating factor. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(5), 693–702.

• Taylor, J. C., & Bowers, D. G. (1974). Survey of organizations: A machine-scored standardized questionnaire instrument. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.

Items of the Overall Job Satisfaction scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. All in all, how satisfied are you with the persons in your work group?
2. All in all, how satisfied are you with your supervisor?
3. All in all, how satisfied are you with your job?
4. All in all, how satisfied are you with this organization, compared to most?
5. Considering your skills and the effort you put into your work, how satisfied are you with your pay?
6. How satisfied do you feel with the progress you have made in this organization up to now?
7. How satisfied do you feel with your chance for getting ahead in this organization in the future?