Job satisfaction and subjective well-being in the multicultural workplace

Abstract

Although the interest in job satisfaction among scholars and practitioners is still significant, the subject literature that takes into consideration its links with the multicultural workplace is limited. Moreover, the results of prior research on the effects of cultural differences in the workplace on job satisfaction in multinational corporations (MNCs) are rather inconsistent. Thus, the aim of this chapter is to analyze how intercultural interactions relate to job satisfaction that is seen as an element of work-related subjective well-being. The research was carried out as qualitative and quantitative studies in subsidiaries of MNCs. The data was collected from managers and specialists working in these companies, whose occupational duties involve intercultural interactions. The empirical findings indicate that the thriving of those who participate in intercultural interactions was related to their job satisfaction and emotional balance, and as a result to their work-related subjective well-being. Thriving may play a mediating role in the relation between intercultural interactions and job satisfaction as well as in the relation between intercultural interactions and emotional balance.