What are the reasons for which people contribute to humanitarian aid agencies? And what makes them more motivated? In this cross-sectional study, we relied on self-determination and situated expectancy-value theory to examine in an integrated model the degree to which expectancy for success, utility value, and perceived psychological cost predict self-determined motivation and, in turn, job satisfaction and commitment among humanitarian aid workers in Turkey. Path analyses with N = 147 Turkish employees (Mage = 27.49, SD = 9.85 years; 66.7% females) in humanitarian aid agencies showed that job satisfaction related to autonomous motivation, which was predicted by both utility value and expectancy for success. In contrast, controlled motivation failed to associate either with job satisfaction or commitment, while it was predicted positively by utility value and negatively by psychological cost. Amotivation emerged as a negative predictor of commitment and was predicted negatively by expectancy for success and positively by psychological cost. These results highlight the positive role of autonomous motivation, the negative role of cost, and the double function that utility value may serve. Practical implications for these findings are discussed.

The focus of existing research on perceived organizational support (POS) has largely been concentrated at the individual-level, leaving an understudied gap at a higher unit-level of analysis. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the multilevel relationship between employee POS and job satisfaction, emphasizing the moderating role of unit-level POS. We hypothesize, based on POS theory and social comparison theory, that unit-level POS serves as a contextual moderator for the relationship between individual-level POS and job satisfaction. Additionally, at the unit-level, we identify clan culture values and unit-satisfaction as correlates of unit-POS. We test our hypotheses using a Bayesian Multilevel Structural Modeling approach on 45 work units and 317 employees. The results show that at low levels of unit-level POS, individual-level POS is more important for employees’ job satisfaction. We furthermore found support for a positive association between unit-level POS, unit-clan culture, and unit satisfaction. Our results, and their notable theoretical and practical implications, are discussed.

Pay satisfaction is an important topic in core domains of human resource management, such as employee engagement, motivation, and job satisfaction. We present an overview of the research on pay satisfaction by conducting a bibliometric analysis to examine the performance and intellectual structure of the pay satisfaction literature, curated from 539 articles in the Web of Science between 1966 and 2024. Using citation and co-word analysis with VOSviewer software, we identified emerging themes, dominant trends, and critical knowledge gaps. Our review highlights (1) the most cited articles, (2) the most prolific authors, journals, countries, affiliations and (3) the major clusters or themes of research. The results provide practical insights for management and suggest future research directions to strengthen the strategic relevance of pay satisfaction in organizational contexts.

The increasing participation of women in the labour market has highlighted significant advancements but also inequalities that negatively impact women’s happiness and job satisfaction. This study aims to analyse the existing literature on women’s workplace happiness through a bibliometric review, identifying trends, leading authors, research areas, and critical gaps. Employing a systematic bibliometric review methodology, 307 scientific articles published between 2010 and 2024 in the Web of Science Core Collection database were examined. Findings underscore a growing focus on factors external to the work environment, such as gender roles, double shifts, stress, and mental health. Furthermore, the results reveal considerable fragmentation in scientific production and a lack of established academic benchmarks. Conclusions stress the urgent need for organizational approaches that comprehensively address these inequalities, promoting policies of reconciliation, intersectional inclusion, and emotional well-being programmes. The study offers directions for future research and practical applications for fostering more equitable organizational management.

This study examined the influence of leader–member exchange on volunteers’ job satisfaction and intention to stay, using supportive supervisor communication as a mediator. A regression analysis undertaken showed that the independent variable (leader–member exchange) had a direct and significant impact on the dependent variables (volunteers’ job satisfaction and intention to stay) in community-based organisations in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Further analysis showed that supportive supervisor communication partially mediated the influence of leader–member exchange on job satisfaction and intention to stay in the community-based organisations examined. These findings confirm previous findings about the impact of workplace relationships on volunteers’ attitudes and behaviours, especially as they relate to the influence of supportive supervisor communication on the relationship between leader–member exchange and the identified workplace outcomes in this study. Implications of the findings for the management of volunteers in community-based organisations are discussed.

Extensive variable-centered research guided by Self-Determination Theory (SDT) has provided insights into volunteers’ motivations in nonprofit and voluntary sports clubs. However, volunteers may have multiple reasons for engaging in volunteer work. By adopting a person-centered approach, the present study aimed to identify volunteers’ motivational profiles in sports clubs based on combinations of different motivational regulations as distinguished within SDT. Six profiles were retained, which differed in terms of volunteers’ need-based experiences, job satisfaction, work effort, and turnover intentions. Specifically, the findings pointed out the crucial role of relatively high levels of autonomous motivation for volunteers’ need satisfaction, job satisfaction, and work effort while relatively high levels of controlled motivation and amotivation were associated with need frustration and turnover intentions. Practical suggestions on how leaders can optimize their organization’s motivational environment are provided. This study urges researchers to develop motivational profiles in other nonprofit contexts.

A growing literature suggests social democratic policies, as exemplified by the welfare state and active labour market policies, promote higher levels of life satisfaction compared to the neoliberal agenda of austerity, smaller government and more ‘flexible’ labour markets. In this article, this inquiry is extended to low‐income countries. A theoretical argument is developed for why labour market regulation (LMR) (rather than social welfare spending or the general size of government) is a more appropriate locus of attention outside of the industrial democracies. The relationship between LMR and several measures of well‐being is then empirically evaluated, finding robust evidence that people live more satisfying lives in countries that more stringently regulate their labour market. Moreover, it is found that positive benefits of LMR on well‐being are the largest among individuals with lower incomes. The implications for public policy and the study of human well‐being are discussed.

This empirical study examined the effects of “negative” contact experiences with beneficiaries on charity volunteers’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment within a helping and caring charitable organization that for 3.5 years had operated an internal marketing program. It was hypothesized that negative experiences downwardly moderated (i) the impact of the charity’s internal market activities on satisfaction and commitment, and (ii) the influences of certain job attributes (autonomy, teamworking, and supervisory support) on these variables. Three personal characteristics (affect intensity, vulnerability to stress, and a person’s reasons for having become a volunteer) were also posited to moderate the effects of negative experiences on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Linkages between the last two variables and a volunteer’s desire to provide high-quality client services were explored. The results indicated strong connections between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and a volunteer’s personal commitment to providing high-quality services. Levels of organizational commitment were influenced positively and significantly by the charity’s internal marketing activities and negatively by the number of unpleasant client-contact experiences that a volunteer had to endure.

This study investigates the influence of workplace conditions on job satisfaction, focusing on environmental, occupational safety, and social factors, paying particular attention to gender interactions. Drawing on the European Survey on Workplace Health, Wellbeing, and Quality of Work Life, data from 514 employees in local companies and public organizations across six Southern European countries were analysed using discrete choice regression models. The empirical findings identify ventilation, ergonomics, social spaces, and safety training as the strongest positive drivers of job satisfaction, while repetitive work negatively affects it. The results show that women, highly educated employees, and those with permanent contracts report higher job satisfaction, with female workers benefiting most from ergonomic improvements and safety equipment. Managers should therefore prioritize improvements in workplace conditions – particularly ventilation, ergonomics, safety training, and job stability – while integrating gender-sensitive approaches to strengthen both employees’ well-being and organisational performance.

Workaholism and overcommitment are often defined as irrational or obsessive attachments to work, characterized by excessive work investment with negative consequences for health and well-being. However, the relationship between these constructs remains underexplored. In this study, we hypothesized that workaholism and overcommitment represent different stages of the same work addiction dynamic, with overcommitment mediating the relationship between workaholism and burnout. Additionally, we proposed that job satisfaction reinforces this addiction dynamic, strengthening the relationship between workaholism and overcommitment over time. Utilizing data from a three-wave longitudinal study (time-lag = 1 month) involving Italian employees, we tested a moderated mediation model. Our findings indicated that overcommitment at T2 fully mediated the relationship between workaholism at T1 and job burnout at T3. Moreover, job satisfaction at T2 significantly moderated this pathway, suggesting that higher job satisfaction leads to a stronger relationship between workaholism and overcommitment over time. In conclusion, our study highlights the exacerbating effect of job satisfaction on the link between workaholism and overcommitment, which can, in turn, increase employees’ burnout. This research represents the first longitudinal examination of workaholism and overcommitment as stages within the same process, rather than as distinct constructs.

In the UK and the Republic of Ireland, Official Veterinarians (OVs) are employed by the Food Standards Agency and the Food Safety Authority, respectively, as legal authorities for both animal welfare and food safety. However, little is known about job satisfaction in this profession which has the potential to impact professionals’ well-being and performance. Moreover, despite animal welfare issues being a reality that OVs witness, we do not yet understand how OVs perceive these issues at slaughter or whether this impacts job satisfaction. We assessed OVs’ perceptions on job satisfaction and views on welfare at slaughter across the UK and ROI, through an online questionnaire with 113 participants, which included socio-demographic information of participants and questions or statements about different aspects of job satisfaction and animal welfare issues at slaughter. While most OVs committed to their work they reported issues that may compromise job satisfaction, such as often experiencing loneliness at work, threatening situations and sleep disorders. Moreover, job satisfaction was often impacted by animal welfare incidents, and conflicts with food business operators were considered one of the greatest barriers to improving welfare at slaughter. There is also the likelihood of professionals’ individual ethical values being challenged since OVs are virtually certain to witness religious slaughter yet disagree with this practice to the extent that they consider it should be banned. We reveal significant challenges associated with the role of OV that justify creation of a support network to assist and safeguard this profession, as well as animal welfare at slaughter.

Recent technological advancements have facilitated alternative work arrangements. This paper investigates how flextime and working from home (WfH) relate to workers’ well-being using longitudinal data drawn from the Understanding Society study for the UK. It accounts for individual, job, and family characteristics while controlling for individual fixed effects. Additionally, it employs the Oster test to examine the potential influence of unobserved variables. Results show that men experience improved job satisfaction and mental health with flextime arrangements, while women predominantly benefit in terms of job satisfaction. Additionally, women adopting remote work report heightened satisfaction with job and life, and better mental health, whereas men primarily report greater job satisfaction. Interestingly, flextime effects are stronger for men, while WfH is more beneficial for women. Some heterogeneous effects are also found by parental status, age, and income groups.

While employees actively seek out workplaces that offer meaningful work experiences, the concept of meaningful work remains notably underexplored within the turnover literature. The present study addresses this gap by examining the role of work meaningfulness among knowledge workers and its direct and indirect effects on turnover intentions and job satisfaction through the lens of self-determination theory. Our findings show significant effects on turnover intentions and job satisfaction, with work meaningfulness emerging as a stronger predictor of job satisfaction, while still contributing to reducing turnover intentions. Most extant literature focuses on sources and ways to enhance work meaningfulness. We contribute to more recent research on its relationship with its outcomes especially the link with turnover intentions, offering insight into a relationship that has produced few, but conflicting,results.

Research experience is often important for academic and career development. This paper describes the implementation and impact of a training program for temporary research assistants (RAs) at an academic medical center. The program includes a 9-month didactic lecture series covering research and professional development skills, a Quality Improvement project focused on improving research processes, and manuscript writing. Overall, the program goals of increasing confidence, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and well-being, as well as providing an opportunity for career exploration, were met. Thus, this program has the potential to support temporary RAs and enhance their early research experiences.