Stability and change in job satisfaction at the transition from vocational training into “Real Work” 1This article is based on the research project “Work Experience and Quality of Life in Switzerland: Work, Stress and Personality Development” funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation within the Swiss Priority Program “Switzerland: Towards the Future” (Grant No. 5004-047898 to N. K. Semmer [principal investigator] and J.-P. Dauwalder [co-principle investigator]).

The dispositional approach to job satisfaction was tested in a sample of young people. Questionnaires were administered shortly before the end of vocational training and again one year later. Stabilities in job satisfaction were investigated in terms of mean changes, autocorrelations, and an index of individual consistency. Autocorrelations were lower for job satisfaction than for the Big Five personality dimensions and for an index measuring the centrality of work in life. Change in mean levels in job satisfaction and in centrality of work was higher for those who changed employer than for those who did not. Autocorrelations and consistency scores of leavers were lower for job satisfaction but did not differ for centrality of work. Controlling for personality dimensions did not lead to significantly lower stabilities. Since stability in job satisfaction was lower for leavers but still significant, and since there was a small but significant correlation between neuroticism (as a measure of negative affectivity) and individual consistency scores for job satisfaction, it is concluded that the dispositional approach does get some support, but only to a modest degree, explaining between 10 and 15 per cent of the variance. Situational influences should, therefore, not be underestimated. The use of different indicators for stability is recommended for future studies.