Job Satisfaction and Job Performance. A Meta-Analysis

The assumption that job satisfaction and job performance are related has much intuitive appeal, despite the fact that reviewers of this literature have concluded there is no strong pervasive relation between these two variables. The present meta-analytic study demonstrates that (a) the best estimate of the true population correlation between satisfaction and performance is relatively low (.17); (b) much of the variability in results obtained in previous research has been due to the use of small sample sizes, whereas unreliable measurement of the satisfaction and performance constructs has contributed relatively little to this observed variability in correlations; and (c) nine research design characteristics of a study are only modestly related to the magnitude of the satisfaction-performance correlation that will be obtained. In view of these findings, some of the major substantive and research implications of the job satisfaction-job performance relation are discussed.