How do Coping Strategies Correlate with Job Satisfaction

Scores?

Introduction

• Individuals spend about a third of their lives at work

– (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009)

Introduction

• Everyone encounters stressful situations on a daily basis . . .

Introduction

• The coping strategies we employ can vary based on our perception of the situation and our personality . . .

• (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010)

Purpose of Study

• This study was designed to examine association between individual coping tendencies and overall job satisfaction.

COPE

• Individual coping strategies– (COPE; Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub, 1989)

• Multidimensional inventory of coping responses to stress.

• Subscales into two clusters.

– Adaptive coping strategies

– Questionable coping strategies

– Active coping

– Planning

– Suppression of competing activities

– Restraint coping

– Seeking social support (instrumental & emotional)

– Positive reinterpretation & growth

– Acceptance

Adaptive Cluster

–Denial

–Behavioral disengagement

–Mental disengagement

–Focus on & venting of emotions

Questionable Cluster

Job Satisfaction

• Job Satisfaction Scale – (JSS; Macdonald & Macintyre, 1997)

• Overall satisfaction with job situation

– Relationship with supervisor

– Type and level of work

– Compensation

Hypothesis #1

• Participants who scored higher on adaptive coping strategies will also score higher on job satisfaction scores.

Hypothesis #2

• Participants who score higher on more questionable coping strategies will tend to score lower on job satisfaction scores.

Participants

• Participants

– 25 undergraduate psychology students in an advanced course at Seattle University

• Gender

– 70% women - 30% men

• Age

– Mean age 22.1 (SD=1.8)

Measures

• Job Satisfaction Scores – (JSS; MacDonald & MacIntyre, 1997)

•Individual coping strategies–(COPE; Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub, 1989)

COPE

• Thirteen scales– Problem-focused– Emotion-focused– Disengagement Behaviors

• Two clusters subscales

– Adaptive coping strategies– Questionable strategies

• Internal consistency - (Cronbach's α = .45 - .92)– High test-retest reliability (r = .46 - .86) & (r2 = .42

- .89)– Demonstrates both convergent and divergent validity

– Measured on a 4-point scale• Range

– 1 = I usually don't do this at all to 4 = I usually do this a lot

• Higher scores indicating that the individual tends more toward that type of behavior

COPE

JSS

•Job Satisfaction Scale -(JSS; Macdonald & Macintyre, 1997)

- Cronbach’s alpha reliability for this scale (α = .77)-No gender difference-No occupational difference-Older employees more satisfied

JSS

• Scoring – sum of items indicating total job satisfaction

- Ten items -(1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)

Procedures

• A packet of five self-report paper and pencil surveys were distributed to students in two classes to complete in no particular order.

• Most were completed in class and a few were retained and turned in later.

ResultsHypothesis #1 – “adaptive” coping strategies

would be positively correlated with higher job satisfaction.– r(23) = .36, p<0.08 (not significant)– Effect size = 13% of job satisfaction can

be predicted by adaptive coping skills – Small relationship

• (Cohen, 1988)

• Results do not support hypothesis #1

Results

Hypothesis #2 – “questionable” coping strategies would be negatively correlated with higher job satisfaction.

– r(23) = -.003, p<0.99 (not significant due to sample size)

– Effect size = no effect

• Results do not support hypothesis #2

Discussion – Adaptive Coping

• Significance – small sample size; results approached significance

• Positive correlation

• Small effect size

• Age relevance

– Future study with more diverse group

• Results showed no significance or effect size

• “Questionable” coping tendencies do not increase job satisfaction, but neither do they decrease it

Discussion – Questionable Coping

• Participant demographic factors– Age– Years of Experience– Number of Jobs

• COPE subscales and JSS revealed relationships worth exploring further

– Positive Reinterpretation and Growth• Empirical and theoretically based• Leads to active and planning actions

Future Research