Job Satisfaction of Construction Workers in China: Asymmetric Effects of Job Attributes in Heterogeneous Social Information Contexts

Given the significance of worker satisfaction for both individual well-being and project performance, growing scholarly and managerial attention has focused on how specific job attributes effectively promote job satisfaction. However, extant research often assumes a linear relationship and an individual-isolated perspective, failing to distinguish dissatisfaction-sensitive attributes from satisfaction-enhancing factors and to delineate the role of social contexts. Drawing on the Kano model and social information processing theory, this study aims to explore how task- and relationship-related job attributes exert asymmetric effects on worker satisfaction and how these effects vary across social information contexts. Empirical analyses based on nation-wide survey data from China reveal that while job satisfaction among construction workers is generally low (particularly among males, unmarried individuals, and younger generations), they tend to evaluate relationship-related attributes (e.g., life and work support from peers) more positively than task-related attributes (e.g., financial and developmental rewards). Further penalty–reward contrast analysis shows that most attributes exert asymmetric penalty (dissatisfaction-related) and reward (satisfaction-related) effects and can be categorized into basic (must-be dissatisfaction preventers), performance (more-is-better satisfiers), and excitement factors (unexpected satisfiers). Furthermore, these effects vary across social contexts. In contexts dominated by negative attitude- and action-based social information about the construction industry, all job attributes operate as basic factors, exhibiting stronger associations with dissatisfaction than with satisfaction; as contexts become more positive, task-related attributes increasingly operate as performance factors, and more relationship-related attributes emerge as excitement factors, showing stronger links with satisfaction. This progression suggests that as workers receive increasingly positive social cues, their expectations shift from avoiding losses and meeting basic needs to pursuing gains and fulfilling higher-order relational needs. The findings contribute to a deepening understanding of how worker satisfaction is contingently shaped by both structural and social contexts and offer implications for managers to more efficiently enhance employee well-being.