The Impact of Cultural Values on Worker Satisfaction: A Potential Explanation for Observed Racial Differences in Job Satisfaction

The present study examined how cultural values impacted the job satisfaction of 75 Caucasian-American and 80 African-American students currently working while attending college. Past research examining racial differences between Caucasian-Americans and African- Americans show the latter tend to measure significantly lower on reported measures of job satisfaction. The dispositional perspective argues that one explanation for this occurrence is that each group (because of their distinct cultural background) enters the workplace with specific needs and values. Because of this, the work experience will vary for each group. To date, the cause of the distinctive needs of each group has been attributed to race. Recently, researchers have begun to examine the possibility of such racial differences being partially due to cultural differences that exist between these two groups. The present study examines the impact of cultural values on worker satisfaction to help explain observed racial differences in job between Caucasians and African-Americans.

Using communalism and spirituality as cultural variables, hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine whether culture would significantly impact job satisfaction above and beyond race. Culture was not found to significantly impact satisfaction beyond race (which showed no significant impact). Control variables in this regression accounted for over 21% of variance in job satisfaction. When testing at the dimension level, culture was found to significantly impact supervisor and co-worker satisfaction beyond race and controls. Implications for using more complete approach to studying racial differences in work values are discussed.