Brayfield, A. H., and Rothe, H. F. (1951). An index of job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology 35:307–11.
Comments: The 18-item Job Satisfaction Index (JSI) provides an overall index of job satisfaction rather than measuring specific aspects.
Sample: Although different groups were used to develop the index, the final version of the index was given to two samples. The first sample consisted of 231 female office workers. The second sample consisted of 91 (49 men and 42 women) adult night school students attending classes in personnel psychology at the University of Minnesota.
Reliability: The scale was administered to 231 female office workers. The range of job satisfaction scores was 35–87. The mean score was 63.8 with a standard deviation of 9.4. The odd-even product moment reliability was 0.77, which was corrected by the Spearman-Brown formula to 0.87.
Validity: According to the authors, the individual items are evidence of face validity. In addition, 77 men who were members of an Army Specialized Training Program in personnel psychology at the University of Minnesota, were responsible for developing approximately 1,000 items. These items were edited and the remaining 246 items were sorted using the criteria established by Thurstone. The 77 adult judges agreed that the items expressed a feeling of sat- isfaction or dissatisfaction with a job and should therefore be included. An outside criterion was also used to establish validity. The scale was given to 91 adult night school students in classes in personnel psychology at the University of Minnesota. The 91 participants were then separated into two groups, personnel and nonpersonnel, based upon their employment. A comparison was made between the means of the two groups. Significant differences (0.05 level) were found between the two groups. Therefore, the evidence for the scale’s validity is based upon the nature of the items, the method used to develop the scale, and its ability to differentiate between groups.
References
Camp, W. G. (1987). Student misbehavior and job satisfaction of vocational agriculture teachers: A path analysis. ERIC ED 279 791.
Jones, J. J. (1983). The relationship between selected predictor variables and perceived job satisfaction of Oklahoma public school superintendents. EdD Dissertation, Oklahoma State University
Tharrington, D. E. (1992). Perceived principal leadership behavior and reported teacher job satisfaction. EdD dissertation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Job Satisfaction Index
1. My job is like a hobby to me.
2. My job is usually interesting enough to keep me from getting bored.
3. It seems that my friends are more interested in their jobs.
4. I consider my job rather unpleasant.
5. I enjoy my work more than my leisure time.
6. I am often bored with my job.
7. I feel fairly well satisfied with my present job.
8. Most of the time I have to force myself to go to work.
9. I am satisfied with my job for the time being.
10. I feel that my job is no more interesting than others I could get.
11. I definitely dislike my work.
12. I feel that I am happier in my work than most other people.
13. Most days I am enthusiastic about my work.
14. Each day of work seems like it will never end.
15. I like my job better than the average worker does.
16. My job is pretty uninteresting.
17. I find real enjoyment in my work.
18. I am disappointed that I ever took this job.
Scoring: Strongly Agree = 1; Agree = 2; Undecided = 3; Disagree = 4; Strongly Disagree = 5. The scoring for items 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15, and 17 is reversed. The scores range from a low of 18 to a high of 90. The lower the score, the lower the level of job satisfaction.