Facet Importance and Job Satisfaction

Two hypotheses concerning the moderating effects of facet importance were derived from Locke's (1969 , 1976) theory of job satisfaction. Questionnaire data concerning 12 job facets were collected from 97 working college students holding diverse jobs in different organizations. Moderated regression analyses of facet satisfaction showed facet importance to be a significant moderator for 9 of the 12 job facets. As hypothesized, the relationship between facet amount and facet satisfaction was generally stronger among respondents placing high importance on the job facet than among respondents placing low importance on it. Moderated regression analyses of overall job satisfaction showed facet importance to be a nonsignificant moderator for 11 job facets. As hypothesized, the relationship between facet satisfaction and overall job satisfaction generally did not change significantly as a function of facet importance. Discussion is focused on the need to recognize when facet importance plays a moderator role and when it does not. Also discussed is the relative usefulness of seven self-report procedures for measuring facet importance.