Which is a Better Predictor of Job Performance: Job Satisfaction or Life Satisfaction?

Abstract

Will people who are happy with their jobs exhibit superior job performance? Researchers have examined the “happy worker is a productive worker” postulation for decades and concluded the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance is not as strong as one would expect. The current research investigates possible explanations, including operationalizations of the satisfaction and performance variables. Using information from 87 respondents and their supervisors, the addition of life satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior to the model was tested. Results moderately supported the addition of life satisfaction to increase our ability to predict in- and extra-role job performance.