By Hamid Reza Alavi & Mohammad Reza Askaripur|Public Personnel Management
Self-esteem describes one's feelings regarding his or her value, or it is to consider oneself as a valuable person. This particular kind of consideration comes from all of the thoughts, feelings, emotions and experiences throughout one's life. On the other hand, job satisfaction is a concept that indicates the mental and spiritual enjoyment that one gains from his or her job through satisfaction of needs, interests and hopes. (1)
Hapak (1935) defines job satisfaction in relation to psychological, physiological and social factors. That is to say that it is necessary for a person to be satisfied physically, psychologically and socially to attain job satisfaction. (2)
The 20th century has been called the century of anxiety and psychological disorders (3) and one of the duties of managers is considering their staff/employees' mental health. Managers should always consider self-esteem and job satisfaction as two important elements in mental hygiene of the staff. (4)
Acquiring new skills and increasing abilities is one of the important factors in creating self-esteem in staff members.
Undoubtedly, job satisfaction is of great importance. There are at least three reasons that managers must pay attention to the job satisfaction of their personnel:
1. There is much evidence that unsatisfied individuals leave organizations or resign.
2. It has been proven that satisfied staffs are in better health and have longer life expectancy.
3. The effects of job satisfaction are carried outside the boundaries of an organization, and thus the individual's private life is also influenced by job satisfaction. (5)
Moorhead and Griffin (1989) define man's magnanimity as his belief in the degree of his value and usefulness in the organization. They also express that recent research shows that there is relationship between magnanimity and job performance, job satisfaction and searching for new a job. For example, a person with high magnanimity may want a job that has a higher position, but a person with low magnanimity may accept the status quo. (6)
Individuals with low self-esteem show such symptoms as physical complaints, depression, anxiety, decrease in general health, the attitude of attribution of their defeats to others, job dissatisfaction and decrease in performance, lack of educational success and interpersonal problems. (7)
Therefore, consider that self-esteem and job satisfaction are important from several points of view. Self-esteem and job satisfaction have important roles in improving the organizational psychological climate, and the self-esteem of the staff can lead them to their job satisfaction.
The importance of this research and the benefits accruing on doing it are as follows:
1. The satisfaction of personnel from different aspects of their jobs is made clear, and thus the manager can differentiate the weak points of the organization from its strengths and plan in a manner that allows the removal of those weaknesses.
2. The self-esteem of personnel is clarified: for example, to what extent do personnel feel they are successful in their affairs, their self-confidence, self-consciousness, self-deprecation, etc. This in turn allows personnel and managers to treat the probable weaknesses.
3. Discovering the relationship between different aspects would make clear the relationship between diverse aspects of personnel job satisfaction and their self-esteem. Thus, if this relationship were verified, it may be possible that increasing the self-esteem of personnel will increase the probability of their job satisfaction, and vice versa.
4. Considering the above, it can be said that the decrease in job satisfaction of some personnel may be due to their low self-esteem, thus, by increasing their self-esteem, an increase in their job satisfaction may be expected, and vice versa.
5. It is clear that there is relationship between self-esteem and job satisfaction in relation to age, sexuality, being single or married, record of service, and number of family.
Finally, it can be concluded that people with high self-esteem and high job satisfaction perform their work much better than others, and thus increase the output of the organization, which is economically beneficial to the organization. At the same time, they enjoy working with each other, cooperation and developing relationships, and this is also beneficial to the organization.
Thus, the hypotheses of this research are as follows:
Main hypothesis: There is relationship between self-esteem and job satisfaction of personnel.
Secondary hypotheses:
1. There is a relationship between self-esteem and satisfaction from the kind and the nature of the job;
2. There is a relationship between self-esteem and satisfaction from the manager or supervisor;
3. There is a relationship between self-esteem and satisfaction from co-workers;
4. There is a relationship between self-esteem and satisfaction from promotion in the organization;
5. There is a relationship between self-esteem and satisfaction from salary and wages in an organization.
Method
In this research, the descriptive method (from the kind correlation) was used.
The statistical populations of this research were the proficient (personnel) of the 18 organizations and general governmental offices of the province Kerman, Iran, a total of 620 people.
Three hundred and ten individuals were chosen from this population by the simple random-sampling method. Two hundred and seventy-four persons completed the research questionnaire.
The instruments of gathering data were closed questionnaire. The modifying variables mentioned on the the questionnaire were sex (man or woman), marriage (single or married), age (classified in four levels), record of service (classified in four levels), the amount of salary and the number of family.
The questionnaire of "Izanc" (1976) was used to assess the degree of self-esteem of the subjects. The questionnaire "job satisfaction" (Robbins, 1995) was used. The validity and reliability of these questionnaires were obtained: 0.9, 0.85, 0.952 and 0.979 respectively. Five different aspects (dimensions) of job satisfaction in this questionnaire are as follows:
Satisfaction from:
1. The kind of the job (educational, business, research, etc.);
2. Manager or supervisor (management and supervision, relations and communications, decision-making, planning, organizing, etc.);
3. Co-workers;
4. Promotion in the organization; and
5. Salary and wage benefits.
The questionnaire included 40 questions, which evaluate the above-five aspects of job satisfaction. That is, for example, to what extent personnel have satisfaction from their salaries or from the particular kind of the job they do, or from the decisions of their manager in the organization.
The Kruskal-Wallis test and the median test were used in data analysis.
Findings
The mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum of each of the variables self-esteem, satisfaction from promotion, satisfaction from salary and wages, satisfaction from the kind of work, satisfaction from manager or supervisor and job satisfaction are presented in Table 1.
Table 2 shows the amount of statistic T in the column chi-square, the degree of freedom in the column DF, the real levels of the test (P-value) in the column Sig.
The amount of job satisfaction and its five dimensions is a number that each of the subjects acquires from different sections of the job satisfaction questionnaire.
In Table 5, the correlation coefficient between the variable self-esteem and job satisfaction, and the correlation coefficient between self-esteem and the five dimensions of job-satisfaction, and the level of significance of the related test have been showed.
The results show that there is a positive relationship between self-esteem and the five dimensions of job-satisfaction.
The column (Sig.) shows that the hypothesis (H0) is rejected in all cases (because the calculated p-value is less than the ([alpha] = 0.01) in all cases).
Results
The analysis of the data, as described in the previous section, specified the following results:
1. There is a significant and meaningful relationship between self-esteem and the job satisfaction of personnel. This positive relationship coefficient shows that the personnel with high self-esteem have more job satisfaction as compared with personnel with low self-esteem. Therefore, the main hypothesis of this research was accepted and confirmed.
2. There is a significant (meaningful) relationship between self-esteem and the satisfaction from the kind and the nature of job. The correlation coefficient between self-esteem and the satisfaction from the kind and the nature of the job is (r =0.6422). This positive relationship coefficient shows that personnel with high self-esteem as compared with personnel with low self-esteem have more satisfaction from the kind and the nature of their jobs. Thus, the first secondary hypothesis of this research was verified.
3. There is a significant relationship between self-esteem and the satisfaction from manager or supervisor. The correlation coefficient between self-esteem and the satisfaction from manager or supervisor is (r = 0.4881). This positive coefficient shows that personnel with high self-esteem have more satisfaction from their manager or supervisor as compared with personnel with low self-esteem. Therefore, the second secondary hypothesis of the research was also confirmed.
4. There is a significant relationship between self-esteem and the satisfaction from co-workers. The relationship coefficient between self-esteem and the satisfaction from co-workers is (r = 0.4755). This positive relationship coefficient shows that personnel with high self-esteem as compared with personnel with low self-esteem have more satisfaction from their co-workers. Therefore, the third secondary hypothesis of the research was accepted.
5. There is a significant relationship between self-esteem and the satisfaction from promotion in the organization. The correlation coefficient between self-esteem and the satisfaction from promotion is (r = 0.5502). This positive relationship coefficient shows that personnel with high self-esteem as compared with personnel with low self-esteem have more satisfaction from the progress opportunities and promotion procedures in organization. Therefore, the fourth secondary hypothesis of the research was verified.
6. There is a significant relationship between self-esteem and satisfaction from salary and wages. The correlation coefficient between self-esteem and the satisfaction from salary and wages is (r = 0.5617). This positive relationship coefficient shows that personnel with high self-esteem as compared with personnel with low self-esteem have more satisfaction form their salary and wages. Therefore, the fifth secondary hypothesis of the research was accepted.
With due attention to the above-mentioned results, all of the research hypothesis were verified and confirmed in the error level ([alpha] = 0.01).
Job satisfaction and its five dimensions (satisfaction from the kind of the job, satisfaction from manager or supervisor, satisfaction from co-workers, satisfaction from promotion, satisfaction from salary and wages) were tested in relation to each of the research modifying variables (age, sex, marriage, record of service, the number of family and the amount of salary) and the following results (in the error level [alpha]=0.01) were obtained:
1. There is no significant difference in job satisfaction and its five dimensions among personnel with different ages.
2. There is no significant difference in job satisfaction and its five dimensions among male and female personnel.
3. There is no significant difference in job satisfaction and its five dimensions among single and married personnel.
4. There is no significant difference between job satisfaction and its five dimensions among personnel with different records of service.
5. There is no significant difference in job satisfaction and its five dimensions among personnel with different numbers of family members.
6. There is no significant difference in job satisfaction and its five dimensions among personnel with different salaries and wages.
Discussion
The results of this research show the significant and meaningful relationship between self-esteem and job satisfaction (and its five dimensions).
Baron (1993) believes that a great number of personality variables have a relationship with job-satisfaction. These are such variables as self-esteem and the ability to resist stress. The more these variables are in people, the more they will have. Baron also says that job satisfaction has a relationship with the general satisfaction that people get from life. The more they have satisfaction from aspects of their lives not related to their jobs (work), the more they will have satisfaction from their job. (8)
Biabangard (9) says that persons' satisfaction from life is strictly dependent upon their feelings concerning their own value. Many scholars consider self-esteem as an important factor that can influence many aspects of one's life, that with increasing it, the other aspects of life are changed. Murhed and Griffin (10) define magnanimity as the degree of a person's belief in the extent that he is valuable and useful for his organization.
Biabangard (11) states that job-dissatisfaction is one of the symptoms of people with low self-esteem.
Robbins (12) says that self-esteem and several other personality characteristics are effective and determinant in the person's behaviors in organization.
Individuals with high self-esteem are mainly interested in cooperation with others. (13)
Waterman (1996) says that self-esteem has not only a relationship with social cooperation, but also with such characteristics as kindness, generosity, good will, etc.
Shariat nia (14) verifies the relationship between self-esteem and job-satisfaction.
Therefore, the results of this research about the relationship between self-esteem and job-satisfaction and its five dimensions are in harmony with previous research and theories.
The results of different research concerning the relationship of modifying variables (age, sex, marriage, record of service, the number of family, the amount of salary) with job satisfaction are different and contradict each other.
A research, in which the statistical population was engineers, nurses, teachers, post office staff, etc. of Tehran, showed that the variables marriage, sex, age and record of service had no effect on job satisfaction. (15)
A research done in Shiraz among teachers, and showed that women had more job satisfaction as compared with men, but this research didn't show any significant relationship between the variables record of service and age with job satisfaction. (16)
The result of a research that was carried out on 80 personnel of educational offices in district 5 of Tehran was that the role of individual differences (sex, age, record of service, marriage, the number of sons) in job-satisfaction is statistically insignificant. (17) The results of a research on the teachers in Tehran showed that female teachers had more satisfaction as compared with male teachers. (18)
A research conducted among the personnel of a productive firm didn't show any significant relationship between record of service and job satisfaction. (19)
Robbins (20) believes that there is no evidence showing the effect of sex on job satisfaction. There is much evidences that shows there is a significant relationship between age and job satisfaction in persons aged 60, and there is a considerable decrease in job satisfaction after this age. (21) But, older personnel tend to have more satisfaction from their jobs. That's because they acquire work experiences and their expectation will decrease and become more adapted to their work situation. On the other hand, younger personnel because of having higher and more expectations, tend to have less satisfaction and adaptation. (22)
Robbins (23) says that though there is much evidence showing that older personnel have more job satisfaction, but this relationship will not continue because of the effecting changes on technology at the present time. A lot of research shows that the married as compared with the single have more job satisfaction, but the cause-effect relationship is not clear. (24)
Since this research clarified that there is a relationship between self-esteem and the five dimension of job satisfaction, it is suggested to managers and employers to try to employ those persons whose self-esteem is higher than others so that their job satisfaction may be increased after employment.
On the other hand, a decrease in job satisfaction after employment may be due to decrease in self-esteem and with reinforcement of a person's self-esteem, the increase of his job satisfaction may coincide, and a decrease in job satisfaction may be due to a decrease in self-esteem, and thus by increasing self-esteem, an increase in job satisfaction may be expected.
In summary, one of the most important ways to increase job satisfaction of an organization's personnel is to increase their self-esteem, and one of the best methods for increasing self-esteem in personnel is to increase their job satisfaction in all of its dimensions.
Therefore, it is suggested that all of the managers try to increase the self-esteem of their personnel by increasing the satisfaction of their personnel from the kind of they job they do, the manager, co-workers, promotion, salary and wages in the organization. On the other hand, managers are recommended to increase job satisfaction of their personnel in all of its five dimension by increasing their self-esteem.
Notes
(1) French & H. Sward. The management dictionary, translated by Mohammad Saebi, the third edition, governmental management training center. (1998):339.
(2) M. Askarian. Human relations and organizational behavior, Tehran: Amir kabir publications. (1999):104.
(3) M. Parva. Industrial psychology, Tehran: Enteshar Company, second edition. (1991):14
(4) M. Saatchi. The applied psychology for managers at home, school and organization, Tehran: Virayesh. (1994):7.
(5) S. Robbins. Organizational behavior management, translated by Ali Parsaeyan and S. Mohammad Arabi, V. 1, Tehran: Business studies and researches institute. (1995):293.
(6) Moorhead & Griffin. Organizational behavior, translated by S. Mahdi Alvani and Kholam Reza Memar Zadeh, Tehran: Morvarid. (1996):73.
(7) I. Biabangard. The methods of increasing the self-esteem in children and youngsters, Tehran: Parents and educators association. (1997):79.
(8) Vahhabi. The study of the relationship between personality type and job-satisfaction among the three types realistic, social and impetuous, the M.sc thesis of Allameh Tabatabai university, Tehran. (1996):68.
(9) I. Biabangard, op cit, 13-14.
(10) Moorhead & Griffin, op cit, 73.
(11) I. Biabangard, op cit, 70.
(12) S. Rabbinson, op cit, 153
(13) N. Beranden. The power of self-esteem, translated by: Mina Ezami, Tehran: Puyandeh. (1996):95.
(14) K. Shariat Nia. The study of the relationship between job satisfaction with the self-esteem among the male teachers of Tehran schools, the M.sc thesis of Allameh Tabatabai university, Tehran. (1994)
(15) F. Vahhabi, op cit
(16) M. Abbasi Azad Galeh. The study of the relationship between controls with job satisfaction among the teachers of Shiraz, the M.sc thesis of Shiraz University. (1997)
(17) M. Taleban. The social analysis of job satisfaction, the M.sc thesis of Tarbiat Modarres university, Tehran. (1995)
(18) A. Khorshidi. The study of the effect of age, sex, work experience and control on the job satisfaction of teachers, the M.sc thesis of Islamic free university, the central unit of Tehran. (1992)
(19) A. Mellati. The study of the relationship between service record, level of education, control with the job satisfaction among the personnel of Zar productive factories, the M.A. thesis of Islamic free university, Tehran central unit. (1995)
(20) S. Rabbinson, op cit, 135.
(21) A. Cohrman. Organizational industrial psychology, translated by: Hasan Shokrkon, Tehran: Islamic culture and guidance ministry. The second edition. (1997):330
(22) K. Davis & J. Newstorm. The human behavior on work (organizational behavior), translated by Dr. Mohammad Ali Tusi, Tehran: governmental management instruction center. (1996):177
(23) S.Rabbinson, op cit, 134.
(24) S.Rabbinson, op cit, 135.
Authors
Sayyd Hantid Reza Alavi is assistant professor of the psychology and educational sciences department, faculty of humanities, of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. He has a degree in educational planning from Isfahan-Iran University and a Ph.D. in the philosophy of education from Tarbiat Modarres University of Tehran-Iran in 1995. He has been teaching at the university level in Iran for 16 years and has published three books, five papers, and various projects, lectures and workshops.
Mohammad Reza Askatipur is with the department of management, Islamic Azad University of Kerman.
From Entrepreneur published on Winter 2003