ABSTRACT
Women report equal or greater job satisfaction than men in spite of objectively inferior jobs (Glenn et al. 1977). Women have been found on average to have less job autonomy, experience closer supervision, and have more limited promotional opportunities than men (Wolf and Fligstein 1979). This discrepancy between conditions and appraisals creates an anomaly that cries out for explanation. Researchers have had only limited success, however, in explaining this discrepancy. The major determinants of job satisfaction—job characteristics, family responsibilities, and prior expectations—operate in basically the same way for men and women. For example, it does not appear that women focus on different aspects of work (such as intrinsically rewarding aspects or time flexibility) in arriving at a given level of job satisfaction.
