is job satisfaction u-shaped in age

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Journal of Occupat-ional an d Organtzat-ional Psychology {V)9G),(>^, 5 7 - 8 1 Printed in Great Britain 5 7 1996 The British Psychological Society

Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age?Andrew Clark*

CEPREM AP, Paris, and DELTA, Paris

Andrew OswaldESRC Centre for Econom ic Performance, London School of Economics

Peter W arrInstitute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield, UK

It is generally believed that job satisfaction increases linearly with age. However, thereare persuasive arguments , and some empirical evidence, that the relationship is U-shaped, declining from a moderate level in the early years of employment and thenincreasing steadily up to retirement. T his paper investigates that relationsh ip, using sur-vey responses from a large sample of British employees. For overall job satisfaction, sat-isfaction with pay, and satisfaction with the work itself, a strong ly significant U -shap eis observed. Ordered probit techniques, which take account of the ordinality of satisfac-tion data, are used to analyse the relationship between these forms of satisfaction and alarge set of individual and job characteristics. Despite the inclusion of 80 control vari-ables, significant coefficients persist for the age and age-squared variables (the latter rep-resenting the non-linear component) . The paper thus provides s trong evidence for aU-sha ped relationsh ip between age and job satisfaction. Fu rthe rm ore , it is shown th at asimilar age pattern occurs for employees' context-free mental health, suggesting thatboth job satisfaction and context-free mental health are affected by non-job factors oflife-stage and personal circumstances. The importance of changes in expectations withincreasing age is emphasized.

There have been many investigations into the relationship between age and differentforms of job satisfaction. Significant variations across age are comm only found, w ith olderemployees tending to report higher satisfaction than younger ones (e.g. Doering, Rhodes& Schuster, 19 83 ; G len n, Taylor & Weaver, 1 977 ; W arr, 1992), Observed age differencesin overall job satisfaction are greater than those associated with gender, education, ethnicbackground or income (Clark, 1993;. Weaver, 1980).However, two questions remain unanswered. First, given that there is a positive rela-tionship between age and job satisfaction, is it simply linear or does it contain a non-linear component? And, second, what underlying variables can account for the pattern ofjob satisfaction differences between age groups?


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58 A ndretv Clark, A ndretu Oswald an d Peter Wan-In the first respec t, there is a discrepancy betw een early and more re cent findingsHe rzbe rg, Mausner, Peterson & Capw ell (195 7) suggested th at 'in general, morale is highamong young workers. It tends to go down during the first few years of employment. Th

low point is reached when workers are in their middle and late twenties or early thirtiesAfter this period, job morale climbs steadily with age' (pp. 5-6). This U-shaped patternwas interpreted in terms of new entrants to the labour market feeling positively aboutheir novel situation and their transition to adulthood; however, increasing boredom anda perception of decreasing opportunities was thought to lead to some reduction in job satisfaction during subsequent years. In due course, it was suggested, a person comes toterms with his or her occupational role (perhaps having moved out of relatively unrewa rding positions), and a subsequ ent increase in job satisfaction is observed.This general pattern was also reported by Handyside (1961) using data on the overaljob satisfaction of 1000 British men and women, but it has more recently received lim

ited support. Weaver (1980) presented mean overall job satisfaction scores (men andwomen combined) from seven General Social Surveys in the United States between 1972and 1978. In all years except one (1974), respondents aged below 20 reported the lowessatisfaction. The same finding was obtained in an Australian study by O'Brien & Dowling(1981). In H u nt & Saul's (197 5) data from male Australian w hite-collar employee s, age-squared (representing non-linearity) made no significant contribution to the prediction ofoverall job satisfaction.Overall job satisfaction scores obtained during 1977 in the US Quality of EmploymentSurvey were found to be U-shap ed with respect to age, bu t earlier investigations using thesame series (data gathered in 1969 and 1973) found particularly low satisfaction among

the youngest grou p (Q uinn & Staines, 1979). Janson & Martin (19 82), Kalleberg &Loscocco (1983) and W righ t & H am ilton (19 78) have reported detailed m ultivariate analyses of the 1973 data (which exh ibited no U-shap e). The presence of particular ly low jobsatisfaction among young employees appears to be generally accepted (e.g. Doeringetal., 1983).

Yet the account provided by H erzberg and colleagues has been supporte d m ore rece ntlyby Wa rr (199 2). In a study of two axes of job-related well-be ing (not satisfaction itself)a statistically significant U-shaped pattern was found, with elevated well-being at theyoungest ages. It would therefore be valuable to examine in an up-to-date inquirywhether non-linearity is present in respect of job satisfaction itself. That is the first aimof the present paper. We will use ordered probit techniques, which have the advantage oftaking into account the ordinality of job satisfaction values.

The second question in need of examination concerns the explanation of any positiveage gradient that is found. Why do older employees report greater job satisfaction thanyounger ones? Six arguments have been presented to account for that tendency.First, many older people move int o jobs wh ich have more desirable cha racteristics, as aresult of which they mi gh t be expected to be more satisfied (e.g. Jans on & Ma rtin, 198 2;Kalleberg & Loscocco, 1983; Wrig ht & H am ilton , 1978). These role transitions are sometimes examined in terms of different career stages. For example. Morrow & McElroy(1987) observed significantly more positive intrinsic job satisfaction in the 'maintenance'

stage than in the earlier 'trial' stage of a career. Ne vertheless , after statistically con trollingfor differences in key job attributes, a significant age difference in job-related well-being


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Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? 59Movement into more attractive jobs thus cannot completely account for the positive agegradient .

Second, there is evidence that older employees have specific work values which makemore attractive job characteristics that are less desirable to younger people. Wright &H am ilto n ( 197 8) and K alleberg & Loscocco (1983 ) (in secondary analyses of the samedata; see above) found tha t th e rated imp ortan ce of man y job features is stable across ages,but that income and promotion opportunities were of less concern to older employees. Ifemployees in general tend to be relatively dissatisfied w ith these characteristics, then theirgreater importance for younger workers will produce a positive relationship between jobsatisfaction and age.Several investigators have examined whether differences in measured work values canaccount for the increase in job satisfaction with age. As with job characteristics, above,differences in values can account for some of the age pattern. However, the independenteffect of age is retained in mu ltivaria te analyses even after th e intro du ction of controls forwork values (e.g. Clark, 19 96; Kalleberg & Loscocco, 198 3; W arr, 1 992).

Third, it seems probable that older workers will come to lower their expectations insome respects. Younger people may have high expectations, which, being modified by theexperience of jobs which do not meet their standards, are diminished in later years. Suchreduced comparison standards are likely to generate more positive work attitudes, as theperceived gap between actual and ideal work becomes smaller. If older people come toseek less from any possible job, then comparative assessments of their own position rela-tive to other possibilities will give rise to more positive feelings about their own job.Clark & Oswald (1996) and Clark (1994) have provided evidence that this comparativeprocess operates in relation to perceptions of income.A fourth possible explanation of the positive age gradient is in terms of cohort differ-ences. The members of older generations in a study may, for example, have always beenmore satisfied with their jobs. In order to examine this possibility directly, it is desirableto compare individuals or surveys over a period of years. Such research is not widely avail-able, but in general the evidence for cohort differences in job satisfaction is not strong(Glenn & Weaver, 1985; Janson & Mart in, 1982).Fifth, some of the observed differences between age groups might be accounted for byvarying rates of participation in the labour force. Whereas more than 90 per cent ofBritish men aged between 25 and 55 are economically active at present, only just overtwo-thirds of those between 55 and 65 are in the labour market; for women, these valuesare about 70 per cent and 35 per cent (e.g. Department of Employment, 1993). Olderemployees are therefore somewhat less representative of their age group in comparisonwith younger ones; it is possible that, through greater self-selection into the sample, theyhave more positive work attitudes than those who are no longer employed.Ne verthe less, tha t effect, if it occurs, is unlikely to be large; some older people outsidethe labour force may in practice have been excluded against their will. Furthermore, theexplan ation is less relevant to early investigations into age and job satisfaction, since olderpeople's participation rates declined substantially only in the 1970s and 1980s.Differential sample composition was of less concern prior to that period, but a positiveage gradient has been found at all times.A sixth possible explanation of the greater job satisfaction of older employees is in


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Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? 61overall positive age gradient, can that be accounted for in terms of a substantial range ofpotential moderators, with special reference to demographic and job-related characteris-tics and a range of work values? And does the age pattern of context-free mental healthparallel tha t for job satisfaction, such th at non-job factors are likely to contrib ute to bo th?

MethodThe data used in th is paper are drawn from the British Household Panel Study funded by the Economic andSocial Research C ouncil. The paper uses the first (19 91) wave of this survey, which provides information on arandom sample of 10 000 individuals, including 5192 employees; the latter are investigated here. Numbersof employees in each age group in the analyses of overall job satisfaction were: 16-1 9 years, 410; 20- 29 years,1296; 30-39 years, 1301; 40-49 years, 1234; 50-59 years, 724; 60+ years, 227. The large number ofteenagers in the sample is particularly noteworthy, in that investigations into U-shaped relationships withage require an adequate subsample in that range.

Information was obtained through interviews in a respondent's home, covering household composition,fina nces , personal and family backg rounds, employment characteristics, history and att itud es, and feelings ofhappiness and general mental health. Further details ofthe BHPS survey are available in Buck et al. (1994);see also Clark (1996) and C lark & Oswald (1996).

Variables and analysesThe d ependent variables in the analyses to be reported here concern job satisfaction and general m ental h ealth.For the former, a respondent was asked how satisfied or dissatisfied he or she was with specific aspects of hisor her job and 'how satisfied you are with your present job overall'. Responses ranged from 1 to 7, where 1was identified as 'not satisfied at all', 4 was 'neither satisfied nor dissatisfied', and 7 was 'completely satisfied'.Findings are examined here in respect of overall job satisfaction (above), satisfaction 'with the total pay,including any overtime or b onuses' (an aspect of extrinsic satisfaction), and satisfaction 'with the actual workitse lf (an example of intrinsic satisfaction). The measure of overall job satisfaction is designed to summarizeseven previous questions about specific aspects of satisfaction with work (promotion, pay, relations with man-agement, job security, ability to use initiative, work itself, and hours).

Factor analysis revealed that overall job satisfaction is strongly correlated with the first principal compo-nent o fth e seven individual job satisfaction questions. The three measures of satisfaction used in the analysis(overall, with pay and with work itself) are strongly correlated amongst themselves: a cross-tabulationbetween any two of them produces a X^Od) statistic of over 1 000. Fu rthermo re, there is a strong correlationbetween the General Health Questionnaire measure and the measures of job satisfaction, the ;|f^(72) statisticfrom the cross-tabulation always being over 100 and thus significant at the 0.1 per cent level.It is invalid to treat ordinal satisfaction data of this kind as though they were cardinal (e.g. Bryman &Cramer, 1990, pp. 65 ff.). The analyses have therefore been carried out using an ordered probit technique.This is an econometric procedure which permits the analysis of ordered categorical information (such as belowaverage, average, above average, or, as in this paper, numerical categories which respondents choose to reflecttheir evaluation of some characteristic). Standard econometric techniques for the analysis of continuousdependent variables are not appropriate for ordered categorical data, as, for exam ple, someone with job satis-faction of six is not twice as satisfied as someone with job satisfaction of three.The ordered probit procedure chooses estimates b to maximize Zln (pi), where pj is the estimated proba-bility o fth e observed response and the sum mation is over all ofth e observations in the data set. For a seven-level ordered response with outcomes labelled / = 1-7, the proba bility of observing level /' is

P J = F(x'b)+ x ' b ) - F ( x ' b )+ x'b) - F(2 + x 'b)


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62 Andrew Clark, Andrew Oswald andPeterwhere P is the cumulative normal distribution. The estimated probabilities sum to 1. Thefiveadditional variables a2-a(, are estimated by the procedure. Positive coefficients in the ordered probit regressions mean thhigher levels of job satisfaction are more likely to be observed (i.e. are estimated tooccur with higher probability). Say that an individual; has characteristics Xj such that xy'b = - . 7 . Then the estimated probabilitth a t; reports overall job satisfaction of7 is F(- . 7 ) = 24.2 per cent. Another individual, k, may have different characteristics which are more conducive to reporting higher levels of job satisfaction, for example a lowelevel of education. Say that x^ 'b = .5, then the estimated probability that k reports overall job satisfactionof 7 is F( .5) = 30.8 per cent. Further details ofthe ordered probit technique are contained in Zavoina &McKelvey (1975 ); see also Machin & Stewart (1990).

Associated with this general approach to measurement, we describe age patterns not in terms of meanvalues (which assume cardinality) butas the proportion of high scorers (6 or 7 on the scale described above)The paper appears to be the first in the occupational psychology literature to use ordered probit techniquesIt also applies a meth od, using simple calculus, to allow minim a of a U-shape in age (or any other con tinuousvariable) to be calculated from estimated satisfaction equations.The second dependent variable in this investigation is a person's score on the 12-item General HealthQuestionnaire (GH Q) (Banks, Clegg, Jackson, K emp , Stafford & Wall, 1980; Goldberg, 1972). The GHQ i

a self-administered screening test for detecting non-psychotic psychiatric disorder, covering feelings of strain,depression and inability to cope, anxiety-based insomnia, and lack of confidence. Responses are made on afour-point scale of frequency of a feeling in relation to a person's usual state, with the two highest values indi-catmg potential ill-health. The number of such 'unusual' feelings is conventionally taken as indicating theprobability that a person is a potential non-psychotic m edical 'case'. In relation to the 12-item GHQ, a per-son with three or more responses at the 'unusual' level is conventionally viewed as above the 'case' threshold.On this basis, for the initial cross-tabulations respondents were defined as either a potential case or as a noncase. The latter individuals may in these terms be described as 'mentally healthy'. In order to maintain con-sistency of scoring direction between theGHQ and the measures of job satisfiiction (where high scores arepositive), theproportion of 'mentally healthy' employees at different ages (rather than the proportion of'cases') will be examined.The later regression analyses also userecoded GHQ responses, such that higher scores represent higher

levels of well-being. This recoded score is produced by taking people's answers to the 12 GHQ questionsand summing the number of times a person responds at the 'usual' level. With this method, the lowestpossible well-being score corresponds to no responses in the 'usual' category; the highest w ell-being arises ifan individual always describes his or her feelings in the 'usual' category.The po tential predictor variables in the study are listed in Tables 2, 3, 4 and 6. The definitions of these arepresented inAppendix 1, and means and standard deviations are given inAppendix 2.

ResultsThree forms of ob satisfactionTable 1 describes the distribution of the three forms of job satisfaction for different agegroups of employees, in terms ofthe percentage of respondents who are 'highly satisfied'(reporting the two highest satisfaction scores of 6 or 7). The first three columns show thepattern for overall job satisfaction. Column 1 shows that 59.06 per cent ofthe youngestage group are overall highly satisfied; this percenrage first declines with age beforeincreasing to its maximum of 75.52 at 60 years or above. The same curvilinear pattern isweakly present in data for women alone, but is particularly strong in the results from malerespondents; the proportion of men highly satisfied with their job drops substantiallyafter 1619 years, before increasing in later decades.

Columns 4 to 6 repeat these analyses for extrinsic job satisfaction, using data aboutsatisfaction with pay For the sample of employees as a whole and for women only, noU-shape is visible between age and satisfaction with pay, when the latter is indexed in


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Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? 63Tab le 1. Age and three forms of job satisfaction: Percen tage of employees who are 'highlysatisfied' (responses of 6 or 7)

16-19 years20 -29 years30 -39 years40 -4 9 years50-59 years60+ yearsAll agesN

OverallA ll

59.0653.8855.9458.5965.9475.5258.555192

job satisfactionWomen

59.6358.4164.4765.4373.8881.9964.832499

M en58.5949.6148.5651.3158.6870.4752.732693

Satisfaction with payA ll

28.7729.2633.3635.3841.2058.2834.615183

Women25.2630.5240.9239.7847.5763.3938.642492

M en31.6228.0626.8030.6935.3854.4130.882690

Satisfactionwith

All54.7955.7160.9066.4473.9885.0563.325193

1 work iiWomen54.6759.6265.3567.8079.3785.3766.482502

cselfM en

54.8852.0257.0664.9869.0384.8060.382692

Note. These numbers refer to weighted data.

common below 20 years, with an overall U-shape with respect to age. Finally in Table 1,the last three columns show the results for a measure of intrinsic job satisfaction, namelysatisfaction with work itself. There is again a U-shape in men's satisfaction, but that pat-tern is not visible for women nor for the entire sample in the percentages of 'highlysatisfied' responses examined in this analysis.The stronger presence of a U-shape for men than for women might perhaps arise fromthe fact that the female subsample includes a higher proportion of part- t ime employees,who may not display that pattern with age. The analyses in Table 1 have therefore beenrepeated for full-time workers only (those working 30 hours or more each week). For over-all job satisfaction, the pat tern is barely changed: overall satisfaction values follow closelythose in Table 1, except that fewer full-time workers aged 60 and above indicate highoverall satisfaction than in the total sample (63.33 vs. 75.22 per cent). For full-timeemployed women, there is a stronger U-shape in overall job satisfaction than for the totalfemale sample shown in Table 1, but the figures for men (already showing a U-shape forall male employees) are barely changed.Analyses of satisfaction with pay for full-timers alone confirm the presence of a U-shaped relationship with age for men, but (as for the entire sample) that is not seen for allfull-time workers nor for full-t ime women. In respect of satisfaction with the work itself,for the sample of full-time employees there exists a strong U-shape between age and sat-isfaction with the work itself, and this is retained for full-time male employees.

The percentages in Table 1 (and outlined above for full-time employees alone) are help-ful in summarizing one extreme aspect ofthe distribution of scores: the percentage whoare 'highly satisfied'. However, proper tests ofthe relationship between age and satisfac-tion need to be based on the full distribution of responses rather than merely on extremescores. The complete distribution of scores will therefore be used in formal significancetests ofthe linear and non-linear components ofthe age relationship. These tests will also


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64 Andrew Clark, Andrew Oswald an d Peter Warris possible that any curved relationship with age is an artifact of omitted influences. Fotexample, perhaps income has a U-shaped effect and, being correlated with age, mislead-ingly gives the impression tha t there is a curved effect a ttribu tab le to age. For well-kno wnreasons, multivariate analyses are needed.

Table 2 thus presents the results of ordered probit regressions in which overall jobsatisfaction is the dependent variable. The first column confirms the significant positiveassociation w ith age th at is visible in Table 1. Colum n 2 is an equa tion which has age andage-squared as its only independent variables. Both of these coefficients are highlysignificant: where a is age and .r is satisfaction, this equation has the form: s - -0.036


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Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? 65Table 2 . Equations fot ovetall jo b satisfaction: Ordeted probi ts , with standatd ettots inparentheses

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5Age 0.01(0.001)***Age-squared/100MaleHealth excellentHealth goodRace blackRace AsianEducation highEducation mediumLog incomeLog hoursUnion memberEstablishment size 1-24Establishment size 25-199Region dummies (18)Industry dummies (10)Occupation dummies (9)Job tenuteWork values: 1st mentionPromotion prospectsTotal payRelations at work

Job securityActual work itselfHoutsWork values: 2nd mentionPromotion prospectsTotal payRelations at workJob securityActual work itselfHoursMarital statusMatriedSeparated

DivorcedWidowedNu m ber of own children in household

11Z3 +Number in household

A

6 +Constant -0.83(0.05)***N 5140Log-likelihood -8288.9

-0 .04(0 .007)*** -0 .03(0 .009)***0.059(0.0089)*** 0.054(0.01)***-0 .23(0 .04)***0.38(0.05)***0.19(0.04)***

-0 .05(0 .15)-0 .07(0 .14)-0 .37(0 .05)***-0 .25(0 .04)***

0.04(0.04)-0 .19(0 .05)***0.10(0.04)*-0 .10(0 .04)*0.14(0.05)**0.06(0.04)

Yes*Yes***Yes*

-0.05(0.13) 0.41(0.20)*5140 4478- 8 2 6 6 . 8 - 7 0 3 7 . 5

-0 .04(0 .009)***-0 .055(0 .011)***-0 .20(0 .04)***0.39(0.05)*** '0.20(0.04)***

-0 .08(0 .15)-0 .10(0 .14)-0 .35(0 .05)***-0 .22(0 .04)***-0 .07(0 .04)-0 .21(0 .05)***

0.10(0.04)*-0 .08(0 .04)*0.14(0.05)**0.06(0.04)

YesYes***Yes*-9.8E-6(8.5E-6)

-0 .11(0 .11)-0 .30(0 .07)***0.26(0.08)**0.19(0.06)**0.06(0.06)0.20(0.11)

-0 .12(0 .08)-0 .12(0 .05)*0.20(0.06)**0.08(0.06)0.06(0.06)0.00(0.08)

0.28(0.22)4452- 6 9 2 8 . 9

-0 .05(0 .01)***0.076(0.013)***-0 .22(0 .04)***0.38(0.05)***0.19(0.04)***

-0 .07(0 .15)-0 .14(0 .14)-0 .33(0 .05)***-0 .22(0 .04)***0.07(0.04)-0 .19(0 .06)***

0.10(0.04)**-0 .09(0 .04)*0.13(0.05)**0.06(0.04)

YesYes***Ye s

9.5E-6(8.6E-6)-0 .12(0 .11)-0 .31(0 .07)***0.26(0.08)**

0.18(0.06)**0.06(0.06)0.17(0.11)-0 .12(0 .08)-0 .13(0 .06)*0.20(0.06)**

0.08(0.06)0.07(0.06)-0 .02(0 .08)0.15(0.06)**0.03(0.13)0.11(0.08)0.31(0.15)*

-0 .03(0 .06)-0 .05(0 .07)0.26(0.10)*-0 .05(0 .07)0.06(0.08)0.09(0.08)0.02(0.09)-0 .08(0 .13)

0.41(0.25)4440- 6 8 9 4 . 5


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66 Andrew Clark, Andrew Oswald andPeter Warrpossible 'comparison' effects such as this); high income is not significantly associated withoverall job satisfaction; long hours reduce satisfaction; managers are more satisfied andunion members less satisfied; and overall job satisfaction is higher in smaller establishments.

As is usually the case in examinations of employee well-being, the industry dummiesin Table 2 are statistically significant. These are a set of 10 dummy variables (coded 1 o0) to represent the 10 one-digit groups ofthe Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). Theomitted group in the analyses is SIC category nine (Other Services). Significantly loweoverall job satisfaction relative to Other Services was observed in five industries: metagoods ( - . 3 1 , / ' < .01), transport and communication (-.26,/> < .01), other manufacturing (- .25, / ' < .02), distribution (-.24,/ ' < .01), and banking, finance and insurance(-.15,/ '


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Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? 67by a single dummy variable for 'born in the 1950s' . As expected, this variable is consis-tently significant and negative. (To have found otherwise would have been surprising,given that the estimated ages of minimum satisfaction in Table 2 all fall in the mid-30s ,i.e. for people born in the mid-1950s. ) However, a log-likelihood test of the relativeexplanatory power of the 'U-shape' vs. the 'dismal fifties' explanations overwhelminglyprefers the former. Th is is not to say that there is no t ruth in the cohort explanation, as itsproper testing would require a good number of years of panel data, but that in the choicebetween the one explanation or the other, the U-shape explanation better fits the presentdata.

Tables 3 and 4 report results analogous to those in Table 2 for satisfaction with pay andsatisfaction with the work itself respectively. In Table 3, the coefficient on age alone issignificantly p ositive, as suggested by column 4 of Table 1. When both age and its squareare included as explanatory variables in column 2, age-squared is positive and significant,bu t age itself is insignificantly negative . However, once the additional control variables ofcolumns 3 to 5 are included, the estimate on age becomes negative and significant, whilethe age-squared term remains positive and significant. This pattern indicates a strong U-shaped relationship between age and satisfaction with pay once other relevant individualand job characteristics have been held constant. The ages at which this U-shaped rela-tionship minimizes are 19, 35, 36 and 39 for the estimates in columns 2 to 5 respectively.The estimate on age alone is also positive in Table 4, and again changes sign when age-squared and other terms are introduced. There is a significant U-shaped relationshipbetween age and satisfaction with the work itself in all of the last four columns, withrespective m inim a at ages 19, 2 3 , 25 and 28. The strong age -squared term reflects the dis-t inct non-linearity in the values reported in the seventh column of Table 1.Thus , once other relevant variables have been controlled, there is a strong andsignificant U-shaped relationship between age and both extrinsic and intrinsic job sat-isfaction. The age at which job satisfaction is at its minimum appears to be lower forintrinsic satisfaction than for extrinsic satisfaction.Several results from the overall job satisfaction regressions (Table 2) are replicated inTables 3 and 4. After controlling for other factors, good reported health is associated withhigher job satisfaction; women report higher satisfaction scores than men; more edu-cational qualifications and larger establishment size are negatively correlated with satis-faction with the work itself; and valuing promotion or pay is associated with lower paysatisfaction, whereas valuing pay and the actual work are associated with work satisfac-tion that is low and high respectively.N ot only is the U-shape found for all three of these measures of job satisfaction, the pat-tern persists when the sample is restricted to full-time employees, thus avoiding any pos-sible anomalies arising from employees with part-time (and often more intermittent)jobs. In overall satisfaction equations for full-time workers, the minima in the equivalentof columns 2 to 5 in Table 2 are 34, 36, 37 and 38 years. For full-time employees' satis-faction with pay, there is no convex relationship with age in the absence of control vari-ables. However, when controls are added, a significant U-shaped relationship emerges,with minima at ages 38, 39 and 40 corresponding to columns 3, 4 and 5 of Table 3- Forfull-time employees' satisfaction with the work itself, the minima are at 24, 27, 28 and30 years; in almost every case the estimated coefficients on age-squared are significant


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68 Andrew Clark, Andrew Oswald and Peter WarrTable 3 . Equations for satisfaction with pay: Ordered probi ts , with standard errors inparentheses

Column 1 Column 2Age 0.009(0.001)*** -0.009 (0.007 )Age-squared/100 0.023(0.0086)**MaleHealth excellentHealth goodRace blackRace A sianEducation highEducation mediumLog incomeLog hoursManagerUnion memberEstablishment size 1-24Establishm ent size 25199Region dummies (18)Industry dummies (10)Occupation dummies (9)Job tenureWork values: 1st mentionPromotion prospects

Total payRelations at workJob securityActual work itselfHours

Work values: 2nd mentionPromotion prospectsTotal payRelations at workJob securityActual work itselfHours

Marital statusMarriedSeparatedDivorcedWidowed

Nu mb er of own children in household123 +

Number in household23456+

Constant -1 .17(0.05)*** -0 .85(0.12)***N 5131 5131Log^ike lihood -95 59 .5 -9 55 5.8

Column 3-0.05(0.008)***0.064(0.011)***-0.27(0.04)***

0.20(0.05)***0.13(0.04)**-0.11(0.15)0.05(0.14)-0 .08(0.05)-0 .09(0.04)*

0.59(0.04)***-0.86(0.05)***-0.06(0.04)-0 .06(0.04)

0.06(0.04)-0 .02(0.04)Yes***Yes*Yes***

-0 .90(0.20)***4471- 8 1 3 2 . 6

Column 4-0.05(0.008)***0.067(0.011)***-0.23(0.04)***

0.20(0.05)***0.13(0.04)**-0.13(0.15)0.04(0.14)- 0 . 09 ( 0 . 05 )- 0 . 08 ( 0 . 04 )

0.60(0.04)***-0.86(0.05)***- 0 . 06 ( 0 . 04 )- 0 . 03 ( 0 . 04 )

0.04(0.04)- 0 . 01 ( 0 . 04 )Yes***Yes*Yes***

-1.4E-5(8.3E-6)-0 .27(0.10)*-0.21(0.06)**0.10(0.08)

0.04(0.06)-0 .01(0.06)0.20(0.10)*-0.27(0.08)**-0.21(0.05)***0.04(0.06)-0 .14(0.06)*-0.01(0.06)-0 .07(0.08)

-0 .84(0.28)***4445- 8 0 4 5 . 3

Column 5-0.06(0.01)***

0.08(0.013)**-0.25(0.04)***0.20(0.05)***0.13(0.04)**

-0.13(0.15)0.04(0.14)- 0 . 08 ( 0 . 05 )-0 .08(0.04)

0.60(0.04)***-0.85(0.05)***- 0 . 07 ( 0 . 04 )- 0 . 03 ( 0 . 04 )

0.04(0.04)-0 .01(0.04)Yes**Yes*Yes***

-1 .5E-5(8.4E-6)-0 .27(0.10)**-0.21(0.06)**0.10(0.08)

0.04(0.06)-0 .01(0.06)0.18(0.10)-0 .28(0.08)***-0.21(0.05)***0.04(0.06)-0 .13(0.06)*-0.01(0.06)-0 .07(0.08)

0.18(0.06)**0.05(0.12)0.07(0.08)0.13(0.15)

- 0 . 06 ( 0 . 05 )- 0 . 08 ( 0 . 06 )0.01(0.10)- 0 . 18 ( 0 . 07 ) *- 0 . 06 ( 0 . 07 )- 0 . 05 ( 0 . 08 )- 0 . 13 ( 0 . 09 )-0 .23(0.13)-0 .57(0.24)**4433- 8 0 1 3 . 0


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Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? 69Table 4. Equations for satisfaction with the work itself: Ordered probits, with standard errors inparentheses

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5Age 0.02(0.001)***Age-squared/100MaleHealth excellentHealth goodRace blackRace AsianEducation highEducation mediumLog incomeLog hoursManagerUnion memberEstablishment size 1-24Establishment size 25-199Region dummies (18)Industry dummies (10)Occupation dummies (9)Job tenureWork values: 1st mentionPromotion prospects

Total payRelations at workJob securityActual work itselfHours

Work values: 2nd mentionPromotion prospectsTotal payRelations at workJob securityActual work itselfHoursMarital statusMarriedSeparated

DivorcedWidowedNumber of own children in household123 +Number in household23456+Constant

-0.02(0.007)*0.041(0.0092)*** -0.02(0.009)*0.042(0.011)***-0.19(0.04)***0.28(0.05)***0.14(0.04)**0.06(0.15)0.35(0.15)*

-0.37(0.05)***-0.25(0.04)***0.02(0.04)-0.07(0.06)0.15(0.04)***-0.12(0.04)**0.24(0.05)***0.08(0.04)

YesYes***Yes***

-0.02(0.009)*0.041(0.011)***-0.16(0.04)***0.28(0.05)***0.14(0.04)**0.08(0.16)0.34(0.15)*-0.37(0.06)***-0.24(0.04)***0.02(0.04)-0.07(0.06)0.15(0.04)***-0.12(0.04)**0.22(0.05)***0.08(0.04)

YesYes***Yes***

1.3E-5(8.9E-6)-0.12(0.11)-0.26(0.07)***0.21(0.08)*0.10(0.06)0.16(0.06)*0.12(0.11)

-0.06(0.08)-0.06(0.06)0.16(0.06)*0.10(0.06)0.12(0.06)-0.07(0.08)

Log-likelihood-0.80(0.05)***5142-7841 .6

-0.26(0.13)*5142-7831 .6-0.33(0.21)4478-6710 .6

-0.40(0.23)4452-6628 .4

-0.03(0.01)**0.053(0.013)***-0.18(0.04)***0.28(0.05)***0.14(0.04)**0.07(0.16)0.27(0.15)-0.36(0.06)***-0.24(0.04)***0.03(0.04)-0.05(0.06)0.15(0.04)***-0.12(0.04)**0.22(0.05)***0.07(0.04)

YesYes***Yes***1.4E-5(9.0E-6)

-0.13(0.12)-0.26(0.07)***0.20(0.08)*0.10(0.06)0.17(0.06)**0.10(0.11)

-0.05(0.08)-0.06(0.06)0.16(0.06)*0.08(0.06)0.12(0.06)-0.10(0.08)0.02(0.06)-0.10(0.13)0.06(0.08)0.49(0.17)**

-0.02(0.06)0.05(0.07)0.22(0.10)*

-0.03(0.07)0.05(0.08)0.06(0.08)0.01(0.10)0.24(0.14)

-0.43(0.26)4440-6592 .4


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70 Andrew Clark, Andrew Oswald and Peter Warror better. There is thus a strong and robust U-shaped relationship between the threemeasures of job satisfaction and age, both for the complete sample and for full-timeemployees only.

Context-free mental healthH ow closely do age differences in G H Q scores m atch those for job satisfaction? If the rela-tionship between age and context-free mental health is similar to that between age andjob satisfaction, then non-job factors may be important in explaining the U-shapereported in the previous section. Table 5 presents age distributions in the same form asthose for job satisfaction earlier; high percentages in this analysis indicate more peoplewith good mental health. Results are very similar to those considered earlier. For the sam-ple as a whole, there is a U-shaped association in the raw data between age and context-free mental health; this is stronger for male employees than for female employees.

Table 6 summarizes the ordered probit analysis of GHQ scores, recoded so that highervalues indicate higher levels of mental health. The estimated relationship between ageand context-free mental health is similar to those between age and job satisfactiondescribed earlier. The recoded G H Q score is increasing in age when th at is the onlyexplanatory variable. When age-squared is added, the coefficient on age is negative andtha t on age-squared is positive, both strongly significant, im plyin g a U-sha ped relation-ship between age and mental health. This relationship is robust to the inclusion of thesame controls as used previously in the analyses of job satisfaction. After including all ofthese control variables, the relationship is of the following form: h - - 0 . 0 2 8 +0.00037^-squared. Employee mental health is a convex function of age which reaches itsminimum level at age 38. The turning points in the same analyses as in columns 3, 4 and5 of Tables 2, 3 and 4 are at ages 34, 37 and 37 respectively.

The findings in Table 6 are thus similar to those for overall job satisfaction in Table 2(where the min im um after intro duc ing c ontrols was found to be 36 years). How ever, feweradditional variables have significant independent effects on this context-free measure,with most job-related variables (income, hours, managerial status, union membership,establishment size, and the occupation and industry dummies) being insignificant. MaleTable 5. Age and context-free mental health: Percentage of employees defined as 'non-cases' in terms of the General Health Questionnaire

All Women Men16- 19 years20 -29 years30 -39 years40 -49 years50-59 years60+ yearsAll agesN

72.3369.1768.2568.0476.5179.6370.355016

66.7265.1865.4664.3674.0472.7566.662379

77.0772.9770.6971.9678.6984.6773.792556


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Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? 11Table 6. Equations for context-free me ntal health (G HQ ): Ordered prob its, with standard errorsin parentheses

Column 1Age 0.004(0.001)**Age-squared/100MaleHealth excellentHealth goodRace blackRace AsianEducation highEducation mediumLog incomeLog hoursManagerUnion memberEstablishment size 1-24Establishm ent size 25199Region dummies (18)Industry dummies (10)Occupation dummies (9)Job tenureWork values: 1st mentionPromotion prospectsTotal payRelations at workJob securityActual work itselfHoursWork values: 2nd mentionPromotion prospectsTotal payRelations at workJob securityActual work itselfHoursMarital statusMarriedSeparated

DivorcedWidowedNum ber of own children in household

123 +

Number in household23456 +

Constant 0.01(0.05)N 4892Log-likelihood -7623.8

Column 2-0.03(0.008)***0.041(0.01)***

0.58(0.15)***4892-7615 .3

Column 3-0.03(0.01)***0.046(0.012)***0.18(0.05)***

0.74(0.05)***0.46(0.05)***0.05(0.17)-0.08(0.16)

-0.11(0.06)-0.07(0.05)0.06(0.04)-0.12(0.06)

-0.05(0.04)0.04(0.04)0.003(0.05)0.01(0.04)

YesYesYes

0.07(0.25)4264-6489 .9

Column 4-0.3(0.01)***0.047(0.012)***0.18(0.05)***

0.73(0.05)***0.46(0.05)***0.14(0.17)-0.10(0.16)

-0.09(0.06)-0.05(0.05)0.07(0.05)-0.11(0.06)

-0.05(0.04)0.03(0.04)0.009(0.05)0.02(0.04)

YesYe sYe s

7.2E-6(9.4E-6)-0.04(0.12)-0.06(0.07)0.07(0.09)0.14(0.07)*0.05(0.07)0.05(0.11)0.03(0.09)0.005(0.06)0.008(0.07)0.02(0.07)0.03(0.06)0.06(0.09)

0.05(0.27)4238-6440 .6

Column 5-0.03(0.01)*0.038(0.014)**0.17(0.05)***

0.73(0.05)***0.45(0.05)***0.20(0.17)-0.08(0.16)

-0.09(0.06)-0.04(0.05)0.06(0.05)-0.11(0.06)

-0.05(0.05)0.04(0.04)0.01(0.05)0.02(0.05)

YesYesYes

6.1E-6(9.5E-6)-0.04(0.12)-0.06(0.07)0.06(0.09)0.15(0.07)*0.04(0.07)0.05(0.11)0.05(0.09)0.02(0.06)0.02(0.07)0.05(0.07)0.05(0.07)0.07(0.09)0.12(0.06)-0.27(0.13)*

-0.21(0.09)*-0.06(0.16)-0.17(0.06)**-0.10(0.07)0.04(0.11)

-0.01(0.08)-0.07(0.08)-0.00(0.09)-0.07(0.10)-0.24(0.15)0.05(0.29)4227-6401 .5


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72 Andrew Clark, Andrew Oswald andPeter Warremployees have higher levels of men tal health, which contrasts with the opposite findingfor male job satisfaction (e.g. Table 2 and Clark, 1993). Individuals reporting excellentor good general health also have better mental health, as do employees who value jobsecurity. Being separated or divorced is associated with poorer mental health. Employeeswith only one child have significantly lower levels of mental health than those with nochildren.

As a result of this similarity between the job satisfaction-age and mental heal th-agerelationships, it is t empt ing to suggest that the observed U-shape in the former entirelyreflects the latter; perhaps the U-shape has nothing to do with a job, but merely mirrorsth e way in which me ntal health changes with age. To test this possibility, the GHQ scorewas introduced into the fullest (column 5) specification ofthe job satisfaction regressions.If the hy pothesis is correct, then controlling for mental health should entirely remove anyU-shaped relationship between job satisfaction and age.The results show that mental health is indeed a strong predictor of job satisfaction, the;i^^-statistic for the inclusion ofthe 12 mental health dummy variables being significantat the 1 per cent level for all three measures of job satisfaction. How ever, in every case theage and age-squared variables remain significant at the 0.01 per cent level; a U-shapedrelationship persists between job satisfaction and age, with a minimum barely changedfrom those of Tables 2, 3 and 4. Hence it seems that, even though the same type of U-shape in age occurs for both job satisfaction and context-free mental health, there must besome work-related factors which uniquely explain the former.

Male and female well-beingTables 1 and 5 provided some initial evidence that the relationship between age and well-being maydiffer between men and women. However, those tables summarized merely the'highly satisfied' responses, and the complete distribution of scores needs to be examinedin each case. This is done in Table 7, which goes beyond previous analyses in presentingseparate estimates of the age variables for men and women corresponding to those inTables 2, 3, 4 and 6. For all specifications, there is a strongly significant relationshipbetween age and well-being when age is the only explanatory variable.

When age-squared is added (in column 2 of Table 7), a significant U-shape emerges forboth men and women in overall job satisfaction and context-free mental health, but onlyfor men in satisfaction with pay and satisfaction with the work itself. For women's satis-faction with the work itself, age is insignificant in column 2, although age-squared ispositive and significant.

As more controls are added (identical to those used in the previous tables), the correla-tion between age and well-being tends to become stronger. In column 5 of Table 7 thereis a significant U-shaped relationship in all measures of job satisfaction for both men andwomen. There is also a U-shaped relationship between age and women's context-freemental health; but, al though the estimates for men are signed correctly, there is (after allthe controls listed in Table 6) no significant association between age and the mental healthof male employees.The es t imated minima in column 5 of Table 7 turn out to be very sim ilar for men andwomen. For the four measures of well-being considered, the minima for men are, in tu rn ,


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Is jo b satisfaction U-shaped in age? 7 3Table 7. Jo b satisfaction and m enta l health ordered p rob it regressions by sex: Estim atedcoefficients on age

Overall job satisfactionM en

AgeAge-squared/100WomenAgeAge-squared/100Satisfaction with payM en

A geAge-squared/100WomenAgeAge-squared/100

Column 1

0.007***

0.01***

0.007***

0.01***Satisfaction with work itselfM en

AgeAge-squared/100WomenAgeAge-squared/100

Context-free mental healthM en

AgeAge-squared/100WomenAgeAge-squared/100

0.02***

0 0 2 * * *

0.004***

0.004***

Column 2

- 0 . 0 5 * * *0.07***- 0 . 0 3 * *0.05***

- 0 . 0 2 *0.04**-0 . 0020.02

- 0 . 0 2 *0.04***- 0 . 0 2

0.05***

- 0 . 0 3 *0.04**- 0 . 0 2 *0.04*

Column 3

-0 .0 7 * * *0.09***- 0 . 0 20.04*

-0 .1 0 * * *0.10***- 0 . 0 20.04*

- 0 . 0 3 *0.06***- 0 . 0 2

0.05**

- 0 . 0 30.04*- 0 . 0 4 * *0.05**

Column 4

-0 .0 7 * * *0.09***- 0 . 0 2 *0.04**

-0 .1 0 * * *0.12***- 0 . 0 2 *0.04**

- 0 . 0 3 *0.05**- 0 . 0 3 *

0.05**

- 0 . 0 30.04*- 0 . 0 4 * *0.05**

Column 5

- 0 . 0 8 * * *0.10***- 0 . 0 5 * * *0.07***

-0 .1 0 * * *0.13***- 0 . 0 4 * *0.05**

- 0 . 0 4 *0.06***- 0 . 0 4 *

0.06**

- 0 . 0 30.03- 0 . 0 3 *0.05*

Significant at the 5% level; **significant at the 1% level; ***significant at the 0.1% level.

Discuss ionThis paper has provided new information about two key issues. First, we have demon-strated in a recent large-sample study that overall job satisfaction is U-shaped in relationto age. With no other control variables, it declines on average until the age of approxi-mately 31 and rises thereafter. Second, ordered probit equations have been estimated inwhich a large number of control variables for personal characteristics, aspects of jobs andwork values are included. The existence of a robust and statistically well-determined U-shaped curve in age continues to be visible in the data. In the fullest specification, withapproximately 80 control variables, the strongly-significant U-shape between age andoverall job satisfaction has a minimum at age 36.This result persists for ordered probit analyses of both extrinsic and intrinsic job sat-


18/26

74 Andrew Clark, Andrew Oswald and Peter Warrtrinsic satisfaction minimizes is found to be lower than the minimum for extrinsic satisfaction. It was also shown that a U-shape in all the measures of job satisfaction exists foboth men and women separately, and that the minima are at similar ages across the sexesThe findings suggest that the curved relationship proposed by Herzberg et al. (195 7) is adeep structural correlation that is not due to the links between age and variables likeincome, health, family characteristics or job tenure.

Separate analyses have indicated that the U-shape is particularly strong for full-timeemployees only, in comparison with the sample of full-time and part-time employeestogether. It is also somewhat stronger for men than for women. Why might these differ-ences occur?Full-time (rather than part-time) employment is more likely to be viewed in terms ofprogress in a continuing career, so that a person's assessments of his or her current full-time position are more likely to include judgements relative to previous and future roles.

Those comparative judgements might give rise to declines in satisfaction after an initialperiod in the work force (as a job becomes seen as repetitive and restrictive) and anincrease in later years (as a current position is compared favourably with earlier ones). Astronger positive association with men's (rather than women's) age may also be expectedbecause men are more likely to be promoted as they age to more senior jobs, with attrac-tive characteristics such as autonomy, authority, increased income and status. In addition,men's withdrawal from unsatisfying jobs is more concentrated in later life, whereaswomen's may be spread out more evenly over the age distribution; the stronger U-shapefor men may th us be partly explained by a differential partic ipation effect.The present findings are based on single-item measures of job satisfaction, and it is

important to examine the appropriateness of that procedure. Whereas multi-i tem mea-sures are likely to be more reliable, most research with national samples has used singleindicators in order to meet tight constraints on interview time. There is considerable evi-dence that single-item measures are acceptably reliable and valid in this setting.Findings from comparisons between single-item and multi-item measures have beenshown to be extremely reliable and stable (e.g. Scarpello & Cam pbe ll, 1983). Validity evi-dence has been provided in terms of strong associations between single-item scores andthose from longer scales. For example, Warr, Cook & Wall (1979) reported a correlationof .70 between a single-item response and a 15-item scale of overall job satisfaction. Inaddition, correlations with job and other factors are found to be similar whether multi-item or single-item measures are used (e.g. Scarpello & Ca mp bell, 1983 ). Th at similarityis illustrated in the present investigation, where the pattern of associations between vari-ables is entirely consistent with results from multi-item instruments.Interpretation of findingsThe U-shape found here was not observed in several studies reported during the 1970s(see the Introduction), although it has recently been found in an investigation of otheraspects of occupational well-being (Warr, 1992). How might this inconsistency betweenfindings at the younger ages be explained?

One possibility is in respect of study dates. Before the 1960s and after the late 1980s acurvilinear pattern has been reported. It might be the case that during the cultural con-


19/26

Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? 7 5erally disenchanted with their new jobs, such that their early roles in the labour marketwere not accompanied by high job satisfaction. A lternatively, a national difference m igh tbe important; very low levels of job satisfaction among young employees have typicallybeen observed in USA, whereas recently observed U-shapes have come from the UK.Perhaps differences in the labour market in the two countries affect the job attitudes ofyou ng adults in a differentiated mann er.

Another possible interpretation is in terms of sampling at young ages. It is likely thatsome investigations have studied few employees below the age of 20. This would reducethe probability of identifying a statistically significant curvilinear pattern. In somestudies, the youn gest age groups exclude all those rema ining in edu cation, so tha t the jobsheld by the youngest age goups may lack attractive qualities available at older ages. Moregenerally, the present results indicate that male full-time employees are especially likelyto dem ons trate a U-sh aped relationsh ip with job satisfaction; hen ce, differences betwe enstudies in the gender composition of samples may have influenced the nature of findings.Whatever the explanation for this inconsistency in the literature, the present findingsdem onstrate th at the conventional account of age differences in job satisfaction (a contin-uous increase from very low levels at you ng ages; e.g. D oering et al, 1983) is not gener-ally valid. There is now a need to focus attention specifically on the factors which areassociated with either positive or negative associations between age and job satisfactionamong employees below the age of about 30. Under what circumstances is each relation-ship found? For instance, in cases where young employees progress through career stagesinto progressively more attractive jobs, a positive rather than negative association withage in the lower band would be expected. But when school leavers move into jobs whichthey at first enjoy bu t later discover provide little intrinsic or extrinsic reward s, it may beenvisaged that positive well-being associated with initial novelty would graduallydecline, leading to a negative association with age of the kind envisaged by Herzberget al. (1957). The more pronounced U-shapes for male employees and for full-timeemployees also deserve investigation; what is it about their jobs and careers that tendstowards a decline in each form of job satisfaction across the earlier years?

Th e In trod uc tion presented six possible explana tions of age differences in job satisfac-tion. As discussed there, two of these, sample selection (such that older people have agreater choice about whether to work or not, and a tendency for the potentially moresatisfied to decide to do so) and the cohort explanation, have not been directly tested.However, the findings show that job satisfaction typically rises from the early 30s, andwithd raw al from the labour force (normally at later ages) can at best only account for pa rtof this increase. Moreover, the presence of a group of dissatisfied workers born in the1950s as an explanation for the low satisfaction of workers who are currently mostly intheir 30s was found to be inferior to a general U -shape d relationsh ip betw een age and jobsatisfaction, with satisfaction falling smoothly until the mid-30s and then rising contin-uously thereafter.The analysis has allowed a direct test of three of the other explanations: job character-istics, work values and non-job variables. The inclusion of a wide range of potentialexplanatory variables in the ordered probit analyses has failed to remove the statisticallysignificant impact of age. This is particularly notable since the control variables werethemselves often independently important in predicting job satisfaction and they covered


20/26

76 A ndrew Clark, A ndrew Oswald an d Peter Warrfound to make an independent positive contribution to overall job satisfaction (Table 2),as did education (negative, after controlling for other factors) and managerial status(positive, as usually found). Attention was particularly directed at the role of key workvalues; although several of those were found to affect job satisfaction in the ordered pro-bit analyses, the significant contribution of age itself was retained. Hence, the U-shapedrelationship between age and job satisfaction is not accounted for by the job attributeswhich we have measu red, nor by indiv iduals' wo rk values, their level of educ ation or otherpersonal characteristics.

By examining the age distribution of context-free mental health (measured by theG H Q ) , it was possible to make inferences about the influence of non-job variables on indi-vidual w ell-bein g. For this sample of employees, the patte rn of reversed G H Q scores wasfound to parallel that for job satisfaction, with significant non-linearity revealed in anordered probit analysis. On the other hand, analyses revealed that the U-shape betweenage and job satisfaction rerhains strongly significant after controlling for mental health.These two findings suggest that wider personal and family developments which deter-mine context-free mental health are also important determinants of job-related satisfac-tion, but also that some factors independent of mental health cause job satisfaction firstto decline and then to rise with age.

The last of the possible explanations posited in the Introduction concerned the role ofthe individual's expectations about his or her career. Both job satisfaction and generalme ntal h ealth are likely to be influenced by an employee's current pe rception of his or herjob relative to expectations of wha t a job should enta il. (Clark, 1994 and Clark & Osw ald,1996, find evidence that comparisons such as these, with respect specifically to income,significantly influence job satisfaction.) If this study has adequately measured all of therelevant aspects of individuals and their jobs, then the U-shape in age might be largelyexplained by changing expectations or comparisons across time.

In order to explain the U-shaped relationship between job satisfaction and age, twoprocesses of expectation may be im po rtan t. F irst, young em ployees may feel satisfied withtheir job not only because of the novelty of their situation but also because the youthunemployment rate is high and they feel pleased to have a job in comparison with theirunemployed peers. However, their expectation may rise towards middle age, as more oftheir peer gro up find attractive jobs, with a consequen tial decline in the ir level of job sat-isfaction. Also, as workers gain labour market experience, they also acquire informationabout the nature of work to compare against their prior expectations regarding their ownjob, and this later comparison may be dissatisfying.

Very young workers may not have enough information about the world of work toknow whether their job is good or bad in relation to others; it is only with experience inthe labour market that they can make such firm judgements. In this sense it is moresatisfying to have hopes at the age of 20 about what one's job will be like at the age of 30than to realize that these expectations were too optimistic once that age is reached. Thisprocess may underlie the downward slope of the U-shaped relationship between job sat-isfaction and age.A second process concerns the relation of workers and their expectations in the later

wo rking years. Th e rise in job satisfaction at these ages, the upw ard slop ing par t ofth e U -shape, could come from reduced aspirations, due to a recognition that there are few alter-


21/26

Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? 11Alternatively, aspirations themselves could remain the same but older workers might putless weight on such comparisons, after realizing that their initial expectations have notbeen met.

Herzberg et al. (1957) suggested that the increases in job satisfaction from the low 30sresults from older workers' transition to more rewarding jobs. However, given the robust-ness of the age relationship after including income and job and demographic characteris-tics (a U-shape in age is retained despite the inclusion of many controls), it may be thatolder workers are more satisfied not only because they are better rewarded bu t also becausethey expect less or because they care less abou t such c omp arisons. The investig ation of agedifferences in expec tations and com parison s would seem a fruitful area for furtherresearch.Acknowledgements

The authors are gratefiit to Dominique Levy and three anonymous referees for helpful comments. The dataused in this paper were made available through the ESRC Data Archive. The data were originally collectedby the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-social Change at the University of Essex. Neither the original col-lectors of the data nor The Archive bear any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.

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78 Andrew Clark, Andrew Oswald an d Peter WarrMorrow, P. C. & McElroy, J. C. (1987). Work commitment and job satisfaction over three career stages.

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Social Research.Rose, D. , Buck, N , Gershuny, J . , Rose, D. & Scott, J . (19 94). Changing Households: The British Household PaneSurvey 1990-1992. Colchester, Essex: ESRC Research Centre Press.

Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is i t? Explorations on the meaning of psychological v/eU-be'ing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5 7 , 1 0 6 9 - 1 0 8 1 .

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Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 4, 1 0 3 - 1 2 0 .Received 24 January 1994; revised version received 4 October 1994

Appendix 1: Variables and definitionsOverall job satisfaction: Scaled 17 where 7 is the hig he st categ ory

Jo b satisfaction with pay: Scaled 17 where 7 is the hig hes t c atego ryJo b satisfaction with work itself: Scaled 1-7 where 7 is the highest categoryAge: Age of respondent at date of interviewMale dummy: Respondent is maleHealth dummies (3): Respondents classify their own health, compared with people of their own age. Categories:

excellent, good, and fair to very poor. Omitted category: fair to very poorIndian dummy: Respondent considers that they belong to the Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi racial groupBlack dummy: Respondent considers that they belong to the Black Caribbean, Black African or Other Black

racial groupEducation dummies (3): 'High'degree, teaching qualif ication or other higher qualif ication; 'Medium'nurs-

ing qualification, A -levels , O-levels or equivalent; 'Low' neither oft he above. Om itted category: 'Low'Log income: Natural log of usual monthly gross pay from respondent's main jobLog hours: Natural log of usual weekly hours (excluding overtime)Manager dummy: Respondent has some managerial or supervisory dutiesUnion member dummy: Respondent is a member of a recognized union at their workplaceEstablishment size dummies (3): Num ber of workers at establ ishment is


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Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age? 79Job tenure: Number of days that tespondent has been in current jobWork values dummies (8): Respondent chooses the im portant aspects ofa job from the following categories; pro-motion prospects; total pay; relations with supervisor or manager; job security; being able to use in itiative;actual work itself; hours; something else. Omitted categories: initiative and something elseMarital status dummies (5): Married; separated; divorced; widowed; never married. Omitted category: nevermarriedNumberofown children in household dummies (4): Number of the respondent's natural, adopted or stepchildren,under the age of 16, living in the same household as the respondent. Categories: 0, 1, 2, 3 + , Omitted cat-egory: 0Number in household dummies (6): Number of individuals in the household in which the respondent lives.Categories: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6+. Om itted category: 1

Appendix 2: Means and standard deviationsOverall job satisfactionSatisfaction with paySatisfaction with the work itselfGHQ 'unusual' responsesAgeAge-squaredMaleHealth-excellentHealth-goodHealth-fair to poorWhite/Chinese/otherBlackIndian/Pakistani/BangladeshiEducation-highEducation-mediumEducation-lowLog incomeLog hoursManagerUnion memberEstablishment size: 1-24Establishment size: 23- 19 9Establishment size: 2 00 +RegionInner LondonOuter LondonRest of south eastSouth westEast A ngliaEast MidlandsW Midlands conurbation

5.4964.4775.6611.43336.9681526.707.518

.331,483.186

.968,016.016,272.399.326

6,5483,422

.351,347

.351,349,297

.051,075,207,081,031,071,041

1,5181,9341,5492,32812,653996,033,300

,471,300,389,176,123,127,443,490,469,888,329,477,476,477,477,437,220,263,403,273,173,236,198


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80 A ndrew Clark, A ndrew Oswald and Peter WarrAppendix 2 (continued)

Greater M anchesterMerseysideRest of north westSouth YorkshireWest YorkshireRest Yorks. & HumbersideTyne and WearRest of northWalesScotland

.047.024.043.023.040.033.024.036.045.080.012.023.029.105.104.034.189.060.111.327.104.092.100.196.124.101.078.106.095

.211.152.204.151.196.180.152.185.207.271.107.150.167.306.305.182.391.238.314.469.306.289.300.397.329.302.268.308.294

AgricultureEnergyExtractionEngineeringOther manufacturingConstructionDistributionTransportFinanceOther servicesOccupationManagersProfessionalsAssociate professionalsClericalCraftPersonalSalesPlant operativeOtherJob tenure 1787.146 2319.449Work values first choicePromotion prospectsTotal payRelations with managerJob securityInitiativeWork itselfHoursSomething elseWork values second cboicePromotion prospectsTotal payRelations with managerJob securityInitiativeWork itselfHoursSomething else

.030.163.077.292.085.292.034.022.054.244.141.172.13416706 6

.172.370

.266.455.279.455.181.145.226.429.348.378.341.373.248


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Is job satisfaction U-shaped in age?Appendix 2 (continued)

81

Marital statusMarriedSeparatedDivorcedWidowedNever marriedNumber of own children in household

0123 +Number in household123456+

.602

.019.058.014.305

.667.142.142.048

.077.296.236.259.106.027

.489.135.234.119.460

.471.349.349.215

.267.457.424.438.308.162


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is job satisfaction u-shaped in age

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