The impact of life events on job satisfaction

Georgellis, Yannis; Lange, Thomas; Tabvuma, Vurain

Abstract

Employing fixed effects regression techniques on longitudinal data, we investigate how life events affect employees' job satisfaction. Unlike previous work–life research, exploring mostly contemporaneous correlations, we look for evidence of adaptation in the years following major life events. We find evidence of adaptation following the first marriage event, but we find that the birth of the first child has a long-lasting impact on employees' job satisfaction. Our findings also suggest that there is a general boost in job satisfaction prior to first marriage and to a lesser extent prior to the birth of the first child, consistent with evidence of anticipation. Accordingly, our study provides some of the first evidence on the dynamic effect of non-work related factors on job satisfaction and it introduces a novel methodology and a new perspective for investigating the dynamic interaction between the work and life domains.

Citation

Georgellis, Y., Lange, T., & Tabvuma, V. (2012). The impact of life events on job satisfaction. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(2), 464-473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.12.005

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Dec 29, 2011
• Publication Date: 2012-04
• Deposit Date: Nov 25, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Vocational Behavior
• Print ISSN: 0001-8791
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 80
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 464-473
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.12.005
• Keywords: Job satisfaction, Adaptation, Anticipation, Fixed effects, Work–life interface
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2824336