Job Satisfaction and Performance: The Moderating Effects
of Value Attainment and Affective Disposition
Wayne A. Hochwarter
College of Commerce and Business Administration, The University of Alabama
Pamela L. Perrewe ´
College of Business, The Florida State University
Gerald R. Ferris
Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and
Robert A. Brymer
College of Business, The Florida State University
The job satisfaction–performance relationship is one of the most frequently examined
in the organizational sciences, yet one of the least successfully resolved. Research in the
area of subjective well-being suggests that the experience of work is multifaceted (Diener,
1984). Acknowledging the complexity and perhaps multifaceted nature of the job
satisfaction–performance relationship might lead to more fruitful efforts to understand the
dynamics of this association. In this study, we hypothesized and found support for the
contention that value attainment and affective disposition would demonstrate complex
interactions with performance and satisfaction. The sample consisted of 270 managerial
personnel of national hotel chains located across the United States. Three-way interactions
demonstrated that the strongest positive relationship between job satisfaction and perfor-
mance occurred when high value attainment was coupled with either high positive or low
negative affective disposition. Implications of these results and directions for future
research are discussed. © 1999 Academic Press
Intuitively, it stands to reason that the best performers would be the most
satisfied with their job (p 3 s) and that the most satisfied would exemplify the
best performers (s 3 p). The relationship between these variables has received
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Wayne A. Hochwarter, College of Commerce and
Business Administration, Box 870225, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0225. Fax: (205) 348-6695. E-mail:
whochwar@alston.cba.ua.edu.
Journal of Vocational Behavior 54, 296 –313 (1999)
Article ID jvbe.1998.1659, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on
296
0001-8791/99 $30.00
Copyright © 1999 by Academic Press
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.