Job satisfaction and performance:: The moderating effects of value attainment and affective disposition

The job satisfaction-performance relationship is one of the most frequently examined in the organizational sciences, yet one of the least successfully resolved. Research in the area of subjective well-being suggests that the experience of work is multifaceted (Diener, 1984). Acknowledging the complexity and perhaps multifaceted nature of the job satisfaction-performance relationship might lead to more fruitful efforts to understand the dynamics of this association. In this study, we hypothesized and found support for the contention that value attainment and affective disposition would demonstrate complex interactions with performance and satisfaction. The sample consisted of 270 managerial personnel of national hotel chains located across the United States. Three-way interactions demonstrated that the strongest positive relationship between job satisfaction and performance occurred when high value attainment was coupled with either high positive or low negative affective disposition. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed. (C) 1999 Academic Press.