Work ethic and life satisfaction among social workers in Massachusetts: the moderating effect of gender

ABSTRACT

Despite the belief that agreement with ideals of work ethic has positive effects on life satisfaction, empirical linkage of the association is sparse. Using a disproportionate stratified sample of 194 social workers in Massachusetts, results suggest that being female, being married, being employed full-time, and being satisfied with one’s job were associated with life satisfaction. Gender moderated the effects of work ethic on life satisfaction: For women, high levels of work ethic were associated with high levels of life satisfaction; for men, there was a much smaller correlation. Implications for practice, human service organizations, and research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Job satisfaction
• life satisfaction
• work ethic