A Note on the Nonlinearity of the Age-Job-Satisfaction Relationship

A Note on the Nonlinearity of the Age-Job-Satisfaction Relationship

WAYNE A. HOCHWARTER,' GERALD R. FERRIS, AND PAMELA L. PERREWE College of Business

Florida State University

L. ALAN WITT Department of Management University of New Orleans

CHRISTIAN KIEWITZ Deprtment of Management

University of Alabama

Research assessing the relationship between age and job satisfaction has typically pro- vided mixed results. Inherent problems including limited samples and a failure to control for tenure and affective disposition have potentially contributed to these conflicting results. Moreover. a significant concern has been researchers' focus on detecting linear effects alone. In the current study, we statistically controlled for gender, supervisor and position tenure, quadratic tenure terms, and affective disposition (NA and PA) based on previous research regarding the relationship between these variables and job satisfaction. Finally, we used hierarchical polynomial regression to assess the form of the age-satisfaction relationship. Results confirmed that a U shape best characterized the relationship between age and job satisfaction. Implications of these findings as well as directions for future research are discussed.

Both practical and scientific considerations have promoted the importance of examining age in organizational research. The changing demographic trends in the U.S. labor market suggest an increasingly diverse and older work force in the future. Moreover, these changes offer concomitant challenges concerning how to effectively manage such employees, if indeed their attitudes and behavior differ markedly from younger workers. As a consequence, employee age has been an area of considerable research interest. For example, Lawrence's (1 996) review of the literature concluded that age has the potential to affect a variety of work attitudes and outcomes, such as commitment, performance, and selection. Given the importance of age as a meaningful construct in the organizational sciences, sub- sequent research needs not only to develop strong conceptual foundations, but also to attend to the various methodological considerations that will permit us to draw accurate conclusions from age-related research. The theoretical limitations

'Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Wayne Hochwarter, Department of Management, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1 110. e-mail: whochwa@garnet. acus.fsu.edu

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Journal ofApplied Social Psychology, 2001,31,6, pp. 1223-1237. Copyright 0 2001 by V. H. Winston & Son, Inc. All rights reserved.

1224 HOCHWARTER ET AL.

of this area of inquiry, in addition to methodological deficiencies of previous work, suggest a strong need for systematic research aimed at identifying the role of age in the organizational sciences.

One area of age-related research that has historically attracted considerable attention is the relationship between age and individual levels of job satisfaction (Aldag & Brief, 1975; Kalleberg & Loscocco, 1983). Unfortunately, the results of past studies have been mixed, which interferes with the ability to draw firm conclusions about the true nature of this relationship. We think that this situation can be vastly improved upon by addressing several problematic issues that appear to have affected past research efforts. Essentially, these issues pertain to the form of the age-job-satisfaction relationship, control variables, size and composition of samples, and sampling populations employed.

For instance, the predominant assumption that has driven research in this area is that linearity best characterizes the shape of the age-job-satisfaction relationship (e.g., Rhodes, 1983; White & Spector, 1987), yet several studies call into question the efficacy of this assumption (e.g., Bedeian, Ferris, & Kacmar, 1992; Handyside, 196 I ; Kacmar & Ferris, 1989). In addition, there has been considerable variability in the use of proper statistical controls in previous work, thus pre- venting a clear and accurate picture of the age-job-satisfaction relationship. A further example of a problematic issue concerns the fact that researchers have drawn samples from different populations. Indeed, Clark, Oswald, and Warr (1996) attributed some of the inconsistency in research results identifying a U- shaped age-job-satisfaction relationship to the fact that some studies sampled British employees, while others sampled Americans. They argued that although they found support for the U-shaped relationship in the United Kingdom, different types of labor markets and work environments might have differential effects on employee attitudes and behaviors.

Against this backdrop, the present study serves several purposes. First, hierarchical polynomial regression analysis is used to examine whether the age-satisfaction relationship is best characterized by linearity or nonlinearity. Second, it incorporates a number of important control variables in order to obtain a more accurate depiction of the magnitude of the relationship between age and job satisfaction. Third, the study utilizes a United States sample that varies on gender and job-type composition. Finally, the sample is large enough to ensure adequate power for statistical tests, which allows for comparisons with the results of prior research that was conducted on more limited samples.

Age and the Organizational Sciences

At least partially as a result of an interest in individual differences as well as a fundamental implicit belief that aging is associated with qualitatively different work-life experiences, organizational scholars have consistently promoted the

AGE AND JOB SATISFACTION 1225

role of age as an explanatory variable (e.g., Forteza & Prieto, 1994; Wan, 1994). A limitation of work on age, however, has been its lack of a strong conceptual foundation. Research in this area continues to be a challenge, despite some recent conceptual contributions intended to address these theoretical deficiencies (Lawrence, 1987, 1996). These contributions reinforce the notion that better theory development is essential to any major advancements of the role of age in the organizational sciences. For instance, better theory will be highly instrumental in reconciling the conflicting results of past research. In addition, these theoretical efforts need to be supplemented with proper methodological controls and statistical analyses. One area of age-related research that would benefit from such theoretical and methodological improvements is concerned with the age-job- satisfaction relationship, which is the focus of the present paper.

Age-Job-Satisfaction Research

Much of the early research on age and job satisfaction tended to report a positive linear relationship between these variables (e.g., Doering, Rhodes, & Schuster, 1983; Glenn, Taylor, & Weaver, 1977; Weaver, 1978, 1980; White & Spector, 1987). For example, Rhodes’ (1 983) review of eight different studies concluded that job satisfaction increased proportionally with age. Moreover, O’Brien and Dowling (1981) found that age remained a significant linear predictor of satisfaction even after controlling for relevant factors in both task and work environments.

However, one has to take into account that a number of rather unobtrusive factors might have contributed to the preoccupation with linearity as characteriz- ing the predominant form of the age-job-satisfaction relationship. One of those factors is the potential reporting bias that stems from exclusively testing for linear relationships in age-satisfaction research. Specifically, studies finding such a relationship are published, but those failing to find a significant linear effect remain a feature of the file-drawer problem (Rosenthal, 1979). That is, failing to test for nonlinear effects could effectively bias our assessment of the true form of the age-job-satisfaction relationship by only reporting linear relationships in the literature. Indeed, a nonsignificant linear relationship between age and satisfaction may obscure a significant nonlinear association if researchers do not probe further for such a pattern. In this regard, MacCallum (1 998; MacCallum & Mar, 1995) noted the importance of checking for nonlinear effects in all organizational research. Failure to do so by simply opting to examine linear and moderator relationships might lead to spurious findings (Lubinski & Humphreys, 1990). With respect to the present paper, the fact that age typically explains no more than 4% to 5% of the variance in job satisfaction (Kacmar & Ferris, 1989) suggests that examinations of relationship forms other than linear ones are needed.


Indeed, the notion that age and job satisfaction may be related in a nonlinear fashion is not a new one. More than 40 years ago, Herzberg, Mausner, Peterson, and Capwell (1957) suggested that a U-shaped relationship might best character- ize the relationship between age and job satisfaction. Since that time, however, little attention has been paid to this notion. This has occurred despite the fact that recent conceptual appeals (e.g., Forteza & Prieto, 1994; Warr, 1994) and empirical work (e.g., Clark et al., 1996; Kacmar & Ferris, 1989) have stimulated increased interest in, and have yielded support for, a U-shaped relationship as reflecting the age-job-satisfaction relationship.

Theoretical evidence for a nonlinear relationship between age and job satisfaction comes from several sources. Clark et al. ( I 996)’ for example, found support for a U-shaped relationship and proposed that employees early in their careers (between the ages of 20 and 30 years) have both high expectations and limited understanding of what makes a job “good” or “bad.” From a practical perspective, full-time employment for many younger workers may represent their first job out of college. Simply receiving pay may put a positive slant on work in these early years. As a career proceeds, determining that one’s expectations were too lofly may trigger a downward trend in satisfaction. An awareness of other job situations, coupled with potential pay-compression issues, may pro- mote a negative view of one’s existing job. Herzberg et al. (1957) contended that an increase in job satisfaction in a later career stage is a function of simply pos- sessing more rewarding jobs. With respect to later career stages, Miller and Form (195 1) argued that upper-level positions are not generally available to younger employees. They suggest that the power and prestige inherent in these positions will lead to heightened levels of job satisfaction.

Age and Tenure Considerations

An additional issue that needs to be addressed when conducting research on age is the naturally occurring relationship between age and tenure. Gordon and Johnson (1 982) maintained that there are a number of ways to conceptualize tenure and that each may uniquely impact the relationship between variables. An example for this contingency is a study of the relationship between absenteeism and the propensity to leave by Ferris and Rowland (1987), who found significant effects when employees’ tenure with their supervisors served as the moderating variable. Conversely, the same relationship failed to reach significance when organizational tenure was used as the moderator. This finding, coupled with the significant correlations reported between age and tenure (Doering et al., 1983), mandates that researchers control for multiple measures of tenure when design- ing studies that use age as a predictor. An additional issue when conducting research in this domain involves the consideration of dispositional factors that may artificially inflate job-satisfaction scores.


Affective Disposition and Job Satisfaction

Research suggests that work attitudes such as job satisfaction may be stable across time and situations (Gerhart, 1987; Staw & Ross, 1985), with some researchers arguing that there may be a genetic basis to job satisfaction (e.g., Arvey, Bouchard, Segal, & Abraham, 1989). As a consequence, researchers have spent considerable effort on the task of identifying personality variables that explain variance in job-satisfaction scores. These efforts yielded considerable evidence indicating that positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) are robust personality dimensions that represent the dispositional underpinnings of job satisfaction (Tellegen, 1982; Watson & Clark, 1984). Specifically, PA reflects the tendency to experience positive affective states, whereas NA reflects the tendency to experience negative states (George, 1992). Consistent with this asser- tion, past studies have shown that PA is positively correlated and NA is negatively correlated with job satisfaction (Brief, Burke, George, Robinson, & Webster, 1988; George, 1991). For example, Munz, Huelsman, Konold, and McKinney (1996) reported a correlation between job satisfaction and PA of .55, and -.46 between job satisfaction and NA.

Given the generally high correlations between these constructs, as well as the awareness that the relationship between job satisfaction and affective disposition is consistent over time and situations, controlling for the impact of PA and NA appears to be warranted in job-satisfaction research. Indeed, Wright and Cropan- zano (1 998) noted that failing to account for the effect of affective disposition on job satisfaction indexes might lead to spurious relationships. Thus, any research utilizing predictors of job satisfaction other than dispositions will provide more meaninghl contributions if the potentially biasing effects of PA and NA are controlled.

Contribution of the Present Study

Despite the progression of research on the age-job-satisfaction relationship, some challenges remain. Foremost, recent research has issued appeals or imple- mented procedures to control statistically for tenure (e.g., Kacmar & Ferris, 1989), personality characteristics (e.g., Forteza & Prieto, 1994; Wan, 1994), and a large number of various personal and work-related characteristics (e.g., Clark et al., 1996, controlled for the effects of 80 variables). Yet, control variables have been employed inconsistently across studies, thus interfering with the development of a clear picture of the magnitude and form of the age-satisfaction relationship. Another issue concerns the fact that some previous work has uti- lized limited samples that were predominantly, if not exclusively, comprised of a single gender (e.g., Kacmar & Ferris, 1989, sampled 8 1 female nurses). This drawback becomes particularly problematic in light of research that found that


both linear and nonlinear age-satisfaction relationships are variant across gender (e.g., Clark et al., 1996; O’Brien & Dowling, 1981). As a consequence, research needs to incorporate sufficiently large samples comprising both genders in order to examine adequately the age-job-satisfaction relationship.

The Present Study

The present study addresses the previously mentioned research challenges, in particular with regard to the form and magnitude of the age-job-satisfaction relationship. Specifically, an effort was made to gain the most accurate depiction of the age-satisfaction relationship by controlling for two types ofjob tenure: tenure in one’s position and tenure with one’s supervisor. The inclusion of these variables is deemed important because previous work has indicated that length of service operates as a suppressor variable that may mask the impact of age on job satisfaction (Gibson & Klein, 1970). Further, Bedeian et al. (1992) argued that there is more than one type of tenure and that tenure is a stable predictor of job satisfaction. In fact, Bedeian and his colleagues found that nonlinear tenure terms were more predictive of job satisfaction than were both linear and nonlinear age terms. Thus, both tenure and tenure2 terms were included in the current study.

We also controlled for both PA and NA, in view of a considerable body of research evidencing that job satisfaction is based on affective disposition (Arvey et al., 1989; George & Brief, 1992; Judge & Hulin, 1993; Judge, Locke, & Durham, 1997; Staw, Bell, & Clausen, 1986). Accordingly, many researchers suggest that individuals have stable and enduring traits that predispose them to viewing a multiplicity of situations in consistent ways (George, 1992).

Method

Participants and Procedure

Questionnaires were distributed to 2,022 individuals who were classified as professional employees (nonteaching and research positions) at a large university located in the southeastern United States. Potential respondents’ job level ranged from secretary to university president. Overall, 753 useable surveys were returned via intra-office mail for a total response rate of 37.2%. Participation was voluntary and anonymity was guaranteed. Ages ranged from 20 to 72 years, with a mean of 4 1.13 years (SD = 9.89). Position tenure ranged from less than 1 year to 36 years (M = 6.74, SD = 6.71), while tenure with one’s current supervisor ranged from less than 1 year to 20 years (M= 3.88, SD = 3.81). The sample consisted of 554 females (73.6%) and 190 males (25.2%); 9 additional respondents ( I .O0/o) who did not reveal their gender were excluded From all analyses.


Measures

Affective disposition, To measure affective disposition, respondents com- pleted the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). The measure assesses both PA and NA by asking participants to indicate the extent to which they experience 10 positive (e.g., interested and determined) and f 0 negative (e.g., distressed and hostile) emotions. Responses ranged from 1 (very little or not af all) to 5 (extremely). The internal consistency estimate was .90 for the PA subscale, and .88 for the NA subscale.

Job satisfaction. To measure overall levels ofjob satisfaction, we used a four- item subset from Quinn and Shepard’s (1 974) Job Satisfaction Index. The 5-point Likert-type format, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), has been shown to possess adequate reiiability estimates in past research (Eisenberger, Cummings, Armeli, & Lynch, 1997; Rice, McFarlin, Hunt, & Near, 1985). Representative items include “If a good friend of mine told me that he/she was interested in working here, I would strongly recommend it,” and “All in all, I am very satisfied with my current job.” The reliability estimate for this measure was -87.

Data Analysis

In addition to measuring the magnitude of the relationship between age and job satisfaction, we were also interested in its general form or shape. Specifically, it is conceivable that a linear U-shape or S-shape representation would surface. Thus, we used hierarchical polynomial regression to determine the shape of the relationship between age and job satisfaction (Cohen & Cohen, 1983). In the first step, gender and both measures ofjob tenure (i.e., position tenure and tenure with current supervisor) were entered. The second step included the two tenure2 terms. In the third step, affective disposition (i.e., PA and NA) was entered. Steps 4 through 6 added age, age*, and age3 terms, respectively. A nonlinear relationship between these variables would emerge if the higher-order age2 term explained additional variance beyond that explained by the age term. A positive beta in this step would indicate a U-shape relationship, while a negative slope would suggest an inverted-U shape (Kacmar & Ferris, 1989). Finally, if the age3 term explained a significant increment in explained variance beyond the squared term, an S shape, with two bends in a curve, would be present.

Power Analysis

Given the limitations of past research as a result of small sample sizes, we made an effort to use a sufficiently large sample for the present study. Using Cohen’s ( I 988) algorithms and tables, power was computed for the three


Table 1

Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations Among Sturj, Variables

Variable M S D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Gendeld 1.75 0.44 - 2. Position

3. Supervisor

4. Negative affect 1.60 0.59 -.02 .02 -.03 -

5. Positive affect 3.72 0.68 .05 -.05 -.06 -.30* -

7. Jobsatisfaction 3.53 0.94 .04 -.05 -.04 -.39* .34* .01 -

tenureb 6.74 6.71 -.02 -

tenureb 3.88 3.81 .03 .45* -

6. Age 41.13 9.89 .02 .44* .24* -.06 .01 -

Note. N = 748. a l = male, 2 = female. bTenure was measured in years. * p < . O l .

predictor terms of focal interest; namely, the age, age2, and age3 terms. The objective here was to assess the likelihood with which we would be able to detect the unique contribution of those three terms in accounting for variance in job satisfaction after having controlled for gender, job tenure, and affective disposition. Assuming a small effect size, which is rather typical in social-science research (Cohen, 1988), power was calculated to be .91 (a = .05). Because this level of power exceeds the recommended value of .SO (Cohen, 1988), we concluded that the sample at hand provides us with sufficient power to be able to detect a significant relationship between age and job satisfaction.

Results

Table 1 reports the means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations among variables for each sample. Consistent with past research (e.g., Bedeian et al., 1992; Kacmar & Fems, 1989), age was not significantly correlated with job satisfaction (r = .01, ns). Table 2 provides the findings of the hierarchical polynomial regression analysis. Results indicate that gender, tenure, and the tenure2 term did not predict job satisfaction. As expected, affective disposition had a significant impact on job satisfaction in the expected directions (p = 0.25 for PA, and p = -0.32 for NA; AR2 = .211, p < .01). The first, simple age term was not significant. However, the age2 term added a significant increment to the model R2 (p = 0.77, M2 = .02 I , p < .Ol), indicating that the form of this relationship is not linear. Moreover, the positive beta coefficient suggests that a U-shaped


Table 2

Hierarchical Polynomial Regression Results for Age and Satisfaction, Controlling for Gender, Tenure, and Afective Disposition

Variable s Adj. R2 Adj. AR2 df Step 1

Gender Tenure in position Tenure with supervisor

Position tenure2 Supervisor tenure2

Negative affectivity Positive affectivity

Age

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5 Age2

Step 6 Age3

0.04 -0.05 -0.02 .001 .oo 1

0.22 0.04 .oo 1 .ooo

-0.32* 0.24* .212 .211*

0.03 .213 .oo 1

0.77* .234 .021*

- 1.68 .235 .001

3,728

5,726

7,713

8,709

9,708

10,707

Note. N = 748. * p < .01.

representation is present. Finally, the nonsignificant age3 term eliminated the possibility of an S-shaped association.

Having confirmed a U-shaped relationship between age and job satisfaction controlling for gender, tenure, tenure2, and affective disposition, we were interested in isolating the age at which job satisfaction reached its minimum level in each sample. To calculate this point, we used the following equation

where F is the age, B, is the intercept of the regression equation, and B2 is the beta coefficient for the age2 term, described by Stimson, Carmines, and Zeller ( I 98 1). The result from this analysis indicates that job satisfaction reached its lowest point at the age of 40.2 years for respondents in this sample. To further


3.0 ! 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 >60

Age

n=126 n=212 n=263 n=125 n =27

Figure 1. The mean level ofjob satisfaction across the five age categories.

delineate the shape of the relationship between these variables, we plotted mean levels of job satisfaction at 10-year increments (Figure 1). Absolute mean values were 3.57, 3.47,3.43,3.70, and 3.81 across the five age classifications. Given the relatively small sample sizes for the over-60 age category, caution should be exercised when interpreting the findings for this subgroup.

Discussion

Whereas the relationship between age and job satisfaction has been an active area of scientific inquiry in the organizational sciences for quite some time, inconsistent research results have impeded firm conclusions regarding both the form and magnitude of this relationship. The present study provides conceptual arguments to the effect that the form of the relationship between age and job satisfaction is best characterized by a nonlinear U shape. Our findings support this argument and thus corroborate previous research that has advocated a nonlinear U-shaped relationship between age and job satisfaction.

Our results extend those of Kacmar and Ferris (1989) by addressing two limitations of their work. First, because Kacmar and Ferris’s sample consisted of females only, we extended the generalizability of their findings by sampling both females and males. Second, because the small sample size in their study was a noted concern regarding the interpretation of their results, we overcame this limitation by using a sufficiently large sample to ensure adequate statistical power. In addition, our results extend Clark et al.’s (1996) work by using a sample of United States employees. As mentioned previously, Clark and his colleagues noted that the U-shaped age-job-satisfaction relationship found with British respondents might not hold in the United States because disparities in the labor markets might affect job attitudes differentially. However, we believe that the study at hand promotes the generalizability of this relationship by offering clear


support for a U-shaped association between the variables of interest in a United States sample.

Another issue addressed by the present study pertains to an argument by Bedeian et al. (1 992) and concerns the question as to whether age is in fact a strong predictor of job satisfaction. Bedeian and his associates argued that the nonlinear relationship between tenure and job satisfaction was stronger than the age-job-satisfaction relationship and, hence, that tenure should be a better predictor of job satisfaction than age. Employing the same statistical methods as Bedeian et al., we found no evidence of a linear or nonlinear relationship between tenure and job satisfaction after controlling for age. It might be conceivable that tenure has a nonlinear relationship only with certain facets of job satisfaction, as noted by Bedeian et al., while age has the stronger nonlinear relationship with overall job satisfaction.

Finally, this paper highlights the fact that “more nonlinear modeling is needed” (Valentine, 1999, p. 1028) in the organizational sciences, as has been mentioned frequently by various researchers (e.g., Aiken & West, I99 1; Cohen & Cohen, 1983; Cortina, 1993; MacCallum & Mar, 1995; Ping, 1996). Unfortu- nately, only a limited number of studies have heeded this advice (for an excep- tion, see Rice, Gentile, & McFarlin, 1991)-a fact that may entail serious consequences. For instance, our analyses failed to detect a significant linear relationship between age and job satisfaction. If we had not tested for a nonlinear association between these variables, our study may well have become another addition to the file-drawer problem (Rosenthal, 1979). Hence, we would argue for richer and better-developed theory that challenges implicit, fundamental assumptions that phenomena in organizations are related with one another only in a linear fashion.

Limitations of the Research

The major limitation of this research is the sole reliance on cross-sectional, self-report data. Self-report data have the potential to inflate the observed relationships spuriously, thus introducing common method variance as a possible explanation for the findings. As James, Gent, Hater, and Corey (1979) noted, common method variance is a serious concern when there appears to be a general, systematic, and pervasive influence inflating the observed relationships. Yet, examination of Table 1 does not reveal uncharacteristically high correlations (the highest correlations are among the age and tenure variables). Therefore, common method variance does not appear to be a serious problem.

Directions for Future Research

Suggestions for future research in this area of study are threefold. First, as just noted, the use of cross-sectional, self-report data is limiting. Although examining


self-reported age (a seemingly objective variable) with attitude measures is less problematic than examining percept-percept relationships, there is a need to examine the age-job-satisfaction relationship longitudinally. This makes our second suggestion salient. Specifically, we contend that the high job satisfaction of young employees is a result of unrealistically high expectations and a general nayvet6 about their work environment (“Today’s college kids,” 1987). Further, we argue that the lower job satisfaction of employees in their 30s and 40s is a result of attempts to cope with the realization that their expectations may not be met and that they work in an uncertain, political, and thus stressful environment (Burke, 1988). Finally, we assert that the increase in job satisfaction for older workers is a result of an increase in perceived control and, because of experien- tial capital, their increased ability to cope with stressors (Aldwin, Sutton, Chiara, & Spiro, 1996). These conceptual arguments, although plausible and supported by theoretical and empirical research, should be tested specifically in light of the age-job-satisfaction relationship.

Finally, hture research is needed to examine the complexity of the relationships among age, tenure, and job satisfaction. Specifically, researchers should examine the conditions under which age versus tenure acts as a stronger predictor of job satisfaction. As noted earlier, the nonlinear relationship between tenure and certain facets of job satisfaction may explain more variance than the nonlinear relationship between age and those facets. Teasing out specific relationships among age, types of tenure, and facets of satisfaction can only help to advance theory and research.

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A Note on the Nonlinearity of the Age-Job-Satisfaction Relationship

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