scholarly journals Work satisfaction of the self-employed

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Sappleton ◽  
Fernando Lourenço

Studies on segregation in employment are suggestive of higher levels of job satisfaction in female-dominated occupational settings. This research investigates whether this effect is replicated in self-employment. We explore whether satisfaction differentials are related to differences in autonomy and working hours. Our hypotheses are tested using data from the European Social Survey. The final sample consists of 1079 males and 326 females. Our research suggests that differences in job satisfaction among self-employed men and women should not be attributed to gender but to gender composition of sector. Our study contributes to our understanding of gender within a sectoral perspective and the significance of work autonomy and level of working hours to improve work satisfaction of the self-employed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 682 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Lukeš ◽  
Manuel Feldmann ◽  
Federico Vegetti

In this study, we ask how work values impact different forms of labor market participation of young adults across Europe. We define work values as individuals’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to work and the value of work as the importance or centrality of work in individuals’ lives. We use data gathered from young adults in eleven European countries in the CUPESSE project to investigate the role of the two sets of values regarding employment and self-employment. We then replicate our analysis on a larger sample using data from the European Social Survey (ESS). Our findings suggest a high importance of nonpecuniary benefits for self-employment. Analyses based on both CUPESSE and ESS datasets clearly showed the high, positive impact that independence and creativity have on self-employment. We also show that extrinsic values, such as job security, are more important for employees than they are for the self-employed. Additionally, we find that the value of work in life does not differ between the employed and the self-employed. In sum, these findings suggest that values related to self-employment are not rooted in a general value of work, as Max Weber postulated in his Protestant Work Ethic nearly one hundred years ago, as much as in the aim to achieve personal satisfaction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Annink ◽  
Laura den Dulk

The work-life balance of the self-employed The aim of this article is to explain the work-life balance experiences of different types of self-employed workers across countries. The findings in this article are based on a PhD dissertation that includes six separate, published studies all with a cross-national comparative research design (Annink, 2017). These six studies include a literature review, an analysis of state support for the work-life balance of the self-employed, three empirical studies based on the European Social Survey (2004 and 2010) and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2013), and a qualitative study based on interviews with 50 independent professionals in three countries (the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden). The main conclusion is that different types of self-employed workers have different work-life balance experiences because their experiences are influenced by work and business characteristics and shaped by the national context in which they run their business. In particular, necessity self-employment and running a consumer-oriented business appear to have a negative effect on balance. Furthermore, the work-life balance of self-employed workers is shaped by policy, economic and cultural contexts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-141
Author(s):  
Kenneth D. Locke

Abstract. Person–job (or needs–supplies) discrepancy/fit theories posit that job satisfaction depends on work supplying what employees want and thus expect associations between having supervisory power and job satisfaction to be more positive in individuals who value power and in societies that endorse power values and power distance (e.g., respecting/obeying superiors). Using multilevel modeling on 30,683 European Social Survey respondents from 31 countries revealed that overseeing supervisees was positively associated with job satisfaction, and as hypothesized, this association was stronger among individuals with stronger power values and in nations with greater levels of power values or power distance. The results suggest that workplace power can have a meaningful impact on job satisfaction, especially over time in individuals or societies that esteem power.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
MARIUS R. BUSEMEYER ◽  
ALEXANDER H. J. SAHM

Abstract Rapid technological change – the digitalization and automation of work – is challenging contemporary welfare states. Most of the existing research, however, focuses on its effect on labor market outcomes, such as employment or wage levels. In contrast, this paper studies the implications of technological change for welfare state attitudes and preferences. Compared to previous work on this topic, this paper adopts a much broader perspective regarding different kinds of social policy. Using data from the European Social Survey, we find that individual automation risk is positively associated with support for redistribution, but negatively with support for social investment policies (partly depending on the specific measure of automation risk that is used), while there is no statistically significant association with support for basic income. We also find a moderating effect of the overall size of the welfare state on the micro-level association between risk and preferences.


2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Hamplova

In this article, educational homogamy among married and cohabiting couples in selected European countries is examined. Using data from two waves (2002 and 2004) of the European Social Survey, this article compares three cultural and institutional contexts that differ in terms of institutionalization of cohabitation. Evidence from log-linear models yields two main conclusions. First, as cohabitation becomes more common in society, marriage and cohabitation become more similar with respect to partner selection. Second, where married and unmarried unions differ in terms of educational homogamy, married couples have higher odds of overcoming educational barriers (i.e., intermarrying with other educational groups).


Author(s):  
Dimiter Toshkov

AbstractThe link between age and happiness has been the subject of numerous studies. It is still a matter of controversy whether the relationship is U-shaped, with happiness declining after youth before bouncing back in old age, or not. While the effect of age has been examined conditional on income and other socio-demographic variables, so far, the interactions between age and income have remained insufficiently explored. Using data from the European Social Survey, this article shows that the nature of the relationship between age and happiness varies strongly with different levels of relative income. People in the lowest decile of the income distribution experience a ‘hockey stick’: a deep decline in self-reported happiness until around age 50–55 and a small bounce back in old age. The classic U-curve is found mostly in the middle-income ranks. For people at the top of the income distribution, average happiness does not vary much with age. These results demonstrate the important role of income in moderating the relationship between age and happiness.


2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby Gosden ◽  
Jacky Williams ◽  
Roland Petchey ◽  
Brenda Leese ◽  
Bonnie Sibbald

Objectives: To compare job satisfaction and stress levels of general practitioners (GPs) employed on salaried contracts with GPs on a 'standard' performance-related contract paid by fee-for-service and capitation. Methods: Job satisfaction and stress levels were assessed using data from two postal surveys of GPs: a national survey of 'standard' contract GPs carried out in 1998; and a survey of salaried GPs and their non-salaried GP employers in 1999. Differences in satisfaction and stress scores were assessed by t-tests; regression analysis was used to control for confounding factors and possible selection bias. Results: We achieved a response rate of 77% in the 1999 survey of salaried and non-salaried GPs; 48% of 'standard' contract GPs responded in the 1998 survey. We found that salaried GPs were as satisfied overall as both non-salaried GP employers and GPs on the 'standard' contract, even after controlling for confounding factors and selection bias. Salaried GPs were more satisfied with their remuneration, working hours and the recognition they got for their work. They experienced more stress with two factors but less stress with 19 factors compared with the 'standard' contract GPs. Conclusions: Overall job satisfaction levels among salaried doctors were similar to those of doctors on contracts paid by mixed fee-for-service and capitation. Future studies of job satisfaction levels under different doctor payment systems need to take account of the extent to which doctors have preferences for different types of contract if they are to derive unbiased results.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 336-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Márton Hadarics

We investigated how attitudes towards social equality can influence the relationship between conservation motivation (or openness) and personal ideological preferences on the left-right dimension, and how this relationship pattern differs between Western and Central & Eastern European (CEE) respondents. Using data from the European Social Survey (2012) we found that individual-level of conservation motivation reduces cultural egalitarianism in both the Western European and the CEE regions, but its connection with economic egalitarianism is only relevant in the CEE region where it fosters economic egalitarianism. Since both forms of egalitarianism were related to leftist ideological preferences in Western Europe, but in the CEE region only economic egalitarianism was ideologically relevant, we concluded that the classic “rigidity of the right” phenomenon is strongly related to cultural (anti)egalitarianism in Western Europe. At the same time, conservation motivation serves as a basis for the “rigidity of the left” in the post-socialist CEE region, in a great part due to the conventional egalitarian economic views.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Richardson

People vary widely in their attitudes towards how much their government should redistribute wealth. Evolutionary theory may shed light on why this variation occurs. Numerous studies have established an association between upper body strength and attitudes towards equality and wealth redistribution in males, showing that physically stronger men are more likely to hold self-serving beliefs on these issues. This effect is typically weaker or absent in women. A question that has received little attention is whether there are similar associations between other aspects of formidability and attitudes towards wealth redistribution. One such aspect is height. I tested this prediction using data from the European Social Survey, in a sample of 27031 people from 20 European countries. Results show that taller people are more likely to have self-serving attitudes towards government redistribution of wealth. The result was robust to numerous control variables and alternative model specifications, but the direct effects of height were small. Taller individuals were less supportive of government wealth redistribution overall, but were especially averse if they were also wealthier. Post-hoc analyses suggested that for lower income deciles, the association was reversed. For these people, there was a positive association between height and support for wealth redistribution. However, effects were equally strong in males and females, and so are not fully consistent with current evolutionary psychological theories of resource distribution.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark John Brandt ◽  
Anthony Aron ◽  
Megan Parker ◽  
Cristina Rodas ◽  
Megan Shaffer

A regularity in US American politics is that liberals have more policy consensus than do conservatives, and both ideological groups have more consensus than moderates (Ondish & Stern, 2018). The idea is that conservatives’ local conformity paradoxically results in less consensus than liberals at the national level. If this is the case, then the liberal consensus effect should also be observed in other countries. We test this using data from Europe. In the European Social Survey (Country N = 38, N = 376,129) we find that on average leftists have more consensus than do rightists; however, we do not find this using the Eurobarometer (Country N = 18, N = 375,830). In both data sources we also observe variation in ideological differences between countries. These results suggest that there is a liberal/leftist consensus effect that can be found in Europe and the United States, but there are also exceptions.


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