Journal of Applied Psychology1987, Vol. 72, No. 3, 366-373Copyright 1987 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.002I-9010/87/J00.75How Important Are Dispositional Factors as Determinants ofJob Satisfaction? Implications for Job Designand Other Personnel ProgramsBarry GerhartCenter for Advanced Human Resource Studies, New York State School of Industrialand Labor Relations, Cornell UniversityAccording to recent research, stable dispositional factors may result in considerable consistency inattitudes such as job satisfaction across time and situations. If true, this finding may have importantimplications. For example, Staw and Ross (1985) argued that "many situational changes such as jobredesign . . . may not affect individuals as intended." Such personnel programs "may be prone tofailure because they must contend with attitudinal consistency" (p. 478). The present article has twopurposes. Fiist, methodological and conceptual problems with the Staw and Ross assessment of theimpact of situational and dispositional factors on job satisfaction are discussed. Second, given Stawand Ross's focus on job redesign, this article examines the impact on job satisfaction of changes intwo very different measures of job complexity. Findings indicate that changes in situational factorssuch as job complexity are important predictors of job satisfaction, consistent with Hackman andOldham's (1975, 1976) job design model. In contrast, measurement problems preclude accurateassessment of the predictive power of dispositional factors. Contrary to the concern raised by Stawand Ross (1985) and Staw, Bell, and Clausen (1986), it does not appear likely that the success ofpersonnel programs will be significantly constrained by the influence of attitudinal consistency.Locke (1969) denned job satisfaction as "a function of theperceived relationship between what one wants from one's joband what one perceives it as offering". Presumably, this defini-tion points to the importance of both dispositional and situa-tional factors as determinants of job satisfaction. In practice,however, Mitchell (1979) suggested that personality variableshave received relatively little attention in empirical research ondeterminants of job attitudes. Similarly, Weiss and Adler (1984)argued that "researchers have barely scratched the surface onthe ways in which personality constructs may enter into theoret-ical systems" (p. 43). There is disagreement, however, concern-ing the need for future research on personality or dispositionalvariables as determinants of job attitudes. In Mitchell's view,the "secondary role" played by dispositional variables "seemsjustified and necessary" (p. 247). In contrast, Weiss and Adlerargued that "It is simply premature and unproductive to makeany normative statements about restricting the role of personal-ity in organizational research" (p. 2).The role of dispositional factors or traits' as determinants ofjob satisfaction has been examined in three recent empiricalstudies. Pulakos and Schmitt (1983) reported that high schoolstudents' instrumentalities for job-related outcomes measuredprior to taking a job were predictive of subsequent job satisfac-tion. In their view, this finding suggests that "personnel selec-I am grateful to John Boudreau, Peter Dowling, Lee Dyer, GeorgeMilkovich, and Sara Rynes for helpful comments on an earlier draft ofthis article.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to BarryGerhart, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cor-nell University, Ithaca, New York 14851-0952.tion might benefit from more attention to selecting individualswho have a higher probability of being satisfied" (p. 311). Analternative interpretation, however, is that people who expectedto receive relatively good jobs (i.e., had higher instrumentalitiesfor valued outcomes) were, in fact, more likely to receive goodjobs. These persons tended to be more satisfied because theyreceived better jobs, not because of any propensity to be satis-fied. To examine the impact of traits on job satisfaction, actualjob outcomes must be controlled.Staw and his colleagues conducted two studies designed toassess the impact of traits on job satisfaction. Staw, Bell, andClausen (1986) found that adolescent "affective disposition"was correlated with adult job affect. Although Staw et al. inter-preted this relation as evidence for the impact of traits on jobsatisfaction, the magnitude of the correlations was moderate,the sample sizes small, and control for job attributes limited,perhaps indicating a need to view these findings as suggestiveonly.In contrast to the Staw et al. (1986) study, Staw and Ross(1985) sought to investigate both traits and job factors as deter-minants of job satisfaction, consistent with Locke's definition.They examined the temporal stability of a single, global job-satisfaction item as a function of pay change, occupational sta-tus change, and previous global job satisfaction (measured 5years earlier). Data were from the mature men cohort of theNational Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience(NLS). Staw and Ross found that "satisfaction in 1966 was thestrongest and most significant predictor of 1971 job attitudes.' The term trail is used as a synonym for dispositional factors in thisarticle.366HOW IMPORTANT ARE DISPOSITIONAL VARIABLES?367Neither changes in pay nor changes in job status accounted fornearly as much variance as prior job attitude" (p. 475).Staw and Ross (1985) drew important implications fromtheir study. They argued that "it is difficult to conclude from thepresent data that situational effects will supersede attitudinalconsistency in most contexts" (p. 477). (Note that Staw andRoss attributed the predictive power of previous job satisfactionentirely to trait stability—the accuracy of this assumption isdiscussed later.) Regarding practical implications, they con-cluded that "many situational changes such as job redesign andorganizational development may not affect individuals as theyare intended" (p. 478; see Staw et al., 1986, for a similar argu-ment).These conclusions contrast sharply with the way many re-searchers view the relative importance of situational and traitfactors as determinants of job satisfaction (cf. Mitchell, 1979).At an applied level, the Staw and Ross (1985) conclusions, ifvalid, suggest the need for a major reexamination of the valueof personnel programs designed to aifect worker attitudes andconsequent behaviors through