An Exploratory Study of a Brief Measure of Job Satisfaction in School Psychology Faculty

Abstract

In this exploratory study, we adapted items from a previously-developed measure of job satisfaction, the Measure of Job Satisfaction (MJS), an instrument first developed for use with community nurses in the United Kingdom, to create a brief, 15-item instrument (Job Satisfaction - Brief) for faculty members of school psychology (N = 249) and practicing school psychologists, although the latter group is not discussed in this manuscript. In order to examine the underlying factor structure of the items adapted from the Measure of Job Satisfaction (MJS) instrument, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied in the JAMOVI Version 2.3.19.0 with maximum likelihood estimation to be implemented for the ordered categorical scale. Three factors were extracted from the data: Factor One: Satisfaction with Intrapersonal Development, Factor Two: Satisfaction with Professional Accomplishment and Advancement and Financial Compensation and, Factor 3: Satisfaction with Clinical Accomplishment. We discuss the uses for the measure and recommend future directions for research.