Mobility Potential and Job Satisfaction: Mixing Dispositional and Situational Explanations

Data from a dual employee-employer survey are used to investigate the extent to which employees' predictions of the mobility potential of their jobs affects their job satisfaction. Based on a match between the employee's and employer's assessments of the job's mobility potential, systematic variation by “match” groupings was found. Males more often than females match their employers' assessments of their jobs as providing mobility potential, and those in matched categories, whether mobile or not, have similar levels of job satisfaction. In addition, a great deal more variance in job satisfaction can be explained for workers who say their jobs do not have mobility potential than for others.