IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ariqol/v15y2020i4d10.1007_s11482-019-09720-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Job Characteristics and Life Satisfaction in the EU: a Domains-of-Life Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Clara Viñas-Bardolet

    (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, UOC
    University of Oslo, UiO)

  • Monica Guillen-Royo

    (University of Oslo, UiO)

  • Joan Torrent-Sellens

    (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, UOC)

Abstract

Working life has come to permeate every domain of life. Characteristics once thought to affect only the job domain have become important determinants of how people assess their daily lives. This article explores the influence of job characteristics on satisfaction with several life domains in 28 EU countries, asking: 1) What is the relationship between job characteristics and satisfaction with work and other domains of life? 2) Is the job domain more important for life satisfaction than other domains of life? Additionally, we apply a domains-of-life perspective to investigate possible differences in these relationships between high- and low-skilled workers, using data on white-collar workers from the third European Quality of Life Survey (3EQLS) and multiple Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions to estimate the models.Work–life balance and perceived job (in)security emerge as important determinants of satisfaction regarding all domains and both types of workers studied. Satisfaction in the work domain ranks fourth in contributing to overall life satisfaction, after the standard of living, family life and social life domains. This relatively low direct contribution to life satisfaction of the work domain is particularly visible among low-skilled workers. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for workers’ wellbeing of the increasing insecurity in the job market and the fact that meaning is often sought through work despite the effects of poor work–life balance on most life-domains.

Suggested Citation

  • Clara Viñas-Bardolet & Monica Guillen-Royo & Joan Torrent-Sellens, 2020. "Job Characteristics and Life Satisfaction in the EU: a Domains-of-Life Approach," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(4), pages 1069-1098, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:15:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s11482-019-09720-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-019-09720-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11482-019-09720-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11482-019-09720-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Duncan Gallie & Helen Russell, 2009. "Work-Family Conflict and Working Conditions in Western Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 445-467, September.
    2. Easterlin, Richard A., 2006. "Life cycle happiness and its sources: Intersections of psychology, economics, and demography," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 463-482, August.
    3. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J., 1996. "Satisfaction and comparison income," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 359-381, September.
    4. Bogdan Voicu, 2015. "Priming Effects in Measuring Life Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 993-1013, December.
    5. Janet Near & Paula Rechner, 1993. "Cross-cultural variations in predictors of life satisfaction: An historical view of differences among West European countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 109-121, May.
    6. Joan Torrent-Sellens & Jackeline Velazco-Portocarrero & Clara Viñas-Bardolet, 2018. "Knowledge-Based Work and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Spain," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(2), pages 575-612, June.
    7. Joseph Rode & Janet Near, 2005. "Spillover Between Work Attitudes and Overall Life Attitudes: Myth or Reality?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 70(1), pages 79-109, March.
    8. van Praag, B. M. S. & Frijters, P. & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A., 2003. "The anatomy of subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 29-49, May.
    9. Helena Lopes & Sérgio Lagoa & Teresa Calapez, 2014. "Work autonomy, work pressure, and job satisfaction: An analysis of European Union countries," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 25(2), pages 306-326, June.
    10. Nicolas Loewe & Mehdi Bagherzadeh & Luis Araya-Castillo & Claudio Thieme & Joan Batista-Foguet, 2014. "Life Domain Satisfactions as Predictors of Overall Life Satisfaction Among Workers: Evidence from Chile," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 71-86, August.
    11. Frey, Bruno S & Stutzer, Alois, 2000. "Happiness, Economy and Institutions," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 918-938, October.
    12. Bruce Headey & Ruut Veenhoven & Alex Wearing, 1991. "Top-down versus bottom-up theories of subjective well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 81-100, February.
    13. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2010. "How much does money really matter? Estimating the causal effects of income on happiness," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 77-92, August.
    14. Robert Cummins, 1996. "The domains of life satisfaction: An attempt to order chaos," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 303-328, January.
    15. Chang-ming Hsieh, 2004. "To Weight or not to Weight: The Role of Domain Importance in Quality of Life Measurement," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 68(2), pages 163-174, September.
    16. Sonja Drobnič & Barbara Beham & Patrick Präg, 2010. "Good Job, Good Life? Working Conditions and Quality of Life in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 205-225, November.
    17. Alex Michalos, 1985. "Multiple discrepancies theory (MDT)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 347-413, May.
    18. Sousa-Poza, Alfonso & Sousa-Poza, Andres A., 2000. "Well-being at work: a cross-national analysis of the levels and determinants of job satisfaction," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 517-538, November.
    19. Chang-ming Hsieh, 2016. "Domain Importance in Subjective Well-Being Measures," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 777-792, June.
    20. Andrew E. Clark, 2010. "Work and Well-Being," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 8(04), pages 17-21, January.
    21. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    22. Frances McGinnity & Emma Calvert, 2009. "Work-Life Conflict and Social Inequality in Western Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 489-508, September.
    23. Mariano Rojas, 2006. "Life satisfaction and satisfaction in domains of life: is it a simple relationship?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 467-497, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alessandro V. M. Oliveira & Bruno F. Oliveira & Moises D. Vassallo, 2024. "Airport service quality perception and flight delays: examining the influence of psychosituational latent traits of respondents in passenger satisfaction surveys," Papers 2401.02139, arXiv.org.
    2. Fazeelat Masood & Naveed R. Khan, 2023. "The More I Have Fun, the More I Experience Life Satisfaction: Gender Moderated and Engagement-mediated Model of Life Satisfaction," Paradigm, , vol. 27(1), pages 60-77, June.
    3. Dominik Buttler, 2022. "Employment Status and Well-Being Among Young Individuals. Why Do We Observe Cross-Country Differences?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 409-437, November.
    4. Sehoon Kim & Dae Seok Chai & Junhee Kim & Sewon Kim & Youngsoo Song, 2022. "Between Work Conditions and Job Outcomes: Testing a Nomological Network of Life Satisfaction," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1407-1431, June.
    5. Oliveira, Alessandro V.M. & Oliveira, Bruno F. & Vassallo, Moisés D., 2023. "Airport service quality perception and flight delays: Examining the influence of psychosituational latent traits of respondents in passenger satisfaction surveys," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    6. Catalina Nicolás-Martínez & María Concepción Pérez-Cárceles & Prudencio José Riquelme-Perea & Carmen María Verde-Martín, 2024. "Are Cities Decisive for Life Satisfaction? A Structural Equation Model for the European Population," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 174(3), pages 1025-1051, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Clara Viñas-Bardolet & Monica Guillen-Royo & Joan Torrent-Sellens, 2018. "Job characteristics and life satisfaction in Europe: A domains-of-life approach," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20180412, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    2. Chang-ming Hsieh, 2019. "Importance of Health and Relative Importance of Satisfaction with One’s Own Health: A Case of Frail Immigrant Older Adults," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 81-93, May.
    3. Maria Pereira & Filipe Coelho, 2013. "Untangling the Relationship Between Income and Subjective Well-Being: The Role of Perceived Income Adequacy and Borrowing Constraints," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 985-1005, June.
    4. Jorge Guardiola & Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo, 2013. "Weighting life domains with Data Envelopment Analysis," Working Papers 1311, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    5. Mariano Rojas & Karen Watkins-Fassler & Lázaro Rodríguez-Ariza, 2022. "The Life Satisfaction of Owner-Manager Entrepreneurs When the Business of Business is not only Business," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(4), pages 2251-2275, August.
    6. Jorge Guardiola & Andrés Picazo-Tadeo, 2014. "Building Weighted-Domain Composite Indices of Life Satisfaction with Data Envelopment Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 257-274, May.
    7. Clara Viñas-Bardolet & Joan Torrent-Sellens & Mònica Guillen-Royo, 2020. "Knowledge Workers and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Europe," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(1), pages 256-280, March.
    8. M. Joseph Sirgy & Min Young Kim & Mohsen Joshanloo & Dong-Jin Lee & Michael Bosnjak, 2020. "The Relationship Between Domain Satisfaction and Domain Importance: The Moderating Role of Depression," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2007-2030, August.
    9. Paul Dolan & Richard Layard & Robert Metcalfe, 2011. "Measuring Subjective Wellbeing for Public Policy: Recommendations on Measures," CEP Reports 23, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    10. Pervin Ahu Cerci & Devrim Dumludag, 2019. "Life Satisfaction and Job Satisfaction among University Faculty: The Impact of Working Conditions, Academic Performance and Relative Income," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 785-806, July.
    11. Akinori Kitsuki & Shunsuke Managi, 2023. "Importance Weighting in Subjective Well-Being Measures: Using Marginal Utilities as Weights for Domain Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1101-1120, March.
    12. Chang-ming Hsieh & Qiguang Li, 2022. "Importance Weighting in the Domain-of-Life Approach to Subjective Well-Being: the Consideration of Age," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 525-540, April.
    13. Maria Pereira & Filipe Coelho, 2013. "Work Hours and Well Being: An Investigation of Moderator Effects," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 235-253, March.
    14. Byela Tibesigwa & Martine Visser & Brennan Hodkinson, 2016. "Effects of Objective and Subjective Income Comparisons on Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 361-389, August.
    15. Dolan, Paul & Layard, Richard & Metcalfe, Robert, 2011. "Measuring subjective well-being for public policy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 35420, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Nicolas Loewe & Mehdi Bagherzadeh & Luis Araya-Castillo & Claudio Thieme & Joan Batista-Foguet, 2014. "Life Domain Satisfactions as Predictors of Overall Life Satisfaction Among Workers: Evidence from Chile," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 71-86, August.
    17. Luca Zanin, 2013. "Detecting Unobserved Heterogeneity in the Relationship Between Subjective Well-Being and Satisfaction in Various Domains of Life Using the REBUS-PLS Path Modelling Approach: A Case Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 281-304, January.
    18. Hajdu, Tamás & Hajdu, Gábor, 2011. "A hasznosság és a relatív jövedelem kapcsolatának vizsgálata magyar adatok segítségével [Examining the relation of utility and relative income using Hungarian data]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 56-73.
    19. Warn N. Lekfuangfu & Nattavudh Powdthavee & Mark Wooden, 2013. "The Marginal Income Effect of Education on Happiness: Estimating the Direct and Indirect Effects of Compulsory Schooling on Well-Being in Australia," CEP Discussion Papers dp1214, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    20. Junji Kageyama & Kazuma Sato, 2021. "Explaining the U-shaped life satisfaction: dissatisfaction as a driver of behavior," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 179-202, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:15:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s11482-019-09720-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.