The dispositional approach to job satisfaction: More than a mirage, but not yet an oasis

This paper readdresses the person–situation debate in organizational research. The wellknown arguments of Davis-Blake and Pfeffer (1989) are evaluated in light of research and theory that has transpired since the publication of their original critique. A new dispositional model of job satisfaction is then proposed. The model is based on several informational and action steps including exposure to work events and condition, as well as the evaluation, memory, retrieval, and expression of affect in the organizational context. Using this model, we discuss how dispositional affect can influence what is experienced in the workplace, how one evaluates it, and how it is expressed to others, including organizational researchers.

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This research examined relationships between alternative measures of affect and supervisory performance ratings. The first study showed that dispositional rather than state affect significantly predicted supervisory ratings of performance over time. Since the measures of affect differed on both content and temporal dimensions, a follow-up study was conducted to explicate the results. The second study found that a pleasantness-based measure of dispositional affect (Berkman, 1971a) again predicted rated performance over time, but activation-based measures of both dispositional and state affect (using PANAS scales) were not predictive of supervisory evaluations of performance. The implications of these findings in terms of research on affect and the longstanding pursuit of the happy–productive worker are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Journal of Organizational Behavior