Job satisfaction among detention officers - Assessing the relative contribution of organizational climate variables

Based on a survey of all detention officers in Maricopa County, AZ, this st udy tests the hypothesis that measurements of climate have a direct effect on a detention officer's level of general job satisfaction, and that these observed effects remain statistically significant when individual character istics of the officer are controlled. Additional analyses test the hypothes is that male and female officers are influenced in a similar manner by orga nizational climate variables, although the magnitude of that influence vari es by gender. Results suggest that climate variables have a greater impact on job satisfaction than individual level variables. The data, however, ind icate a more complicated relationship between job satisfaction and gender. These results indicate a need to consider the conditioning effect of gender on the relationship between organizational climate and job satisfaction in such a highly sex-typed occupational setting as a jail facility. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.