Self-Employment and Job Satisfaction: Investigating the Role Self-Efficacy, Depression, and Seniority

Abstract:     
Many American workers perceive self-employment as a way of gaining greater autonomy and greater job satisfaction.However, little empirical evidence exists to support the belief that self-employment yields greater job satisfaction.To understand the relationship between job satisfaction and self-employment, this study examines the possibility that 1) self-employed individuals have unique personality traits the predispose them to evaluate their jobs positively and 2) individuals who have been self-employed for longer periods of time are likely to evaluate their job satisfaction differently than those who recently became self-employed. A literature review of the research regarding the interaction between self-employment and job satisfaction and between personality and seniority is presented.The data for this study are taken from the National Survey of Families and Households:Wave I, 1987-1988, and Wave II 1992-1994 (NSFH), and the advantages and limitations of this secondary data are discussed. The overall results indicate that self-employed individuals tend to report modestly higher levels of job satisfaction.The positive relationship between job satisfaction and self-employment may be partially explained both by the shared personality characteristics of self-employed individuals and by shared psychological distinctions among the self-employed, including levels of depression and self-efficacy.(AKP)

Keywords: Depression (psychology), Adults, Marital status, Occupational attitudes, Self-employment, Wage workers, Job satisfaction, Individual traits, Self-efficacy

Accepted Paper Series