Job Satisfaction, Motivation and Performance

The relation between job satisfaction and job performance is among one of the most widely studied topics within work psychology. This chapter provides the definition for job satisfaction and job performance. It discusses the causal nature of the relation between job satisfaction and job performance. The chapter describes the factors that influence the strength of the job satisfaction-job performance relation and also discusses the role of motivation in the job satisfaction-job performance relation. Job satisfaction might impact task performance via effects on behavioural readiness. This possibility directly speaks to the motivational role of job satisfaction, that is, job satisfaction may influence performance by causing employees to display more effort, persistence and proactive initiative. Job satisfaction is also potentially related to other indices of job performance, including organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs), counterproductive work behaviours (CWBs) and employee withdrawal. Meta-analyses have found that global job satisfaction is positive related to OCBs and negatively related to CWBs.