Work orientation and the contingency of job satisfaction and subjective well-being on annual income

Income is only weakly associated with both job satisfaction and subjective well-being (SWB) in the United States, a surprising finding in light of the importance placed on financial status in capitalistic societies. To explain this, we examined intrinsic and extrinsic work orientations as potential moderators of the effects of financial compensation on job satisfaction and SWB. Masters of Business Administration students (N + 124) completed measures of work orientation and, four to nine years later, reported their current salary and completed measures of SWB and job satisfaction. As predicted, income had relatively strong positive effects on job satisfaction and life satisfaction for individuals high in extrinsic orientation, but negative effects on life satisfaction and positive affect for individuals high in intrinsic orientation. These findings are discussed in terms of cognitive evaluation theory and the utility of considering values as moderators when studying the effects of resources on job satisfaction and SWB.