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Men's Sexual Orientation and Job Satisfaction

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  • Drydakis, Nick

    (Anglia Ruskin University)

Abstract

This study investigates the differences in three aspects of job satisfaction – total pay, promotion prospects, and respect received from one's supervisor – between male heterosexual and gay employees in Athens, Greece. Gay employees are found to be less satisfied according to all job satisfaction measures. Affect Theory proposes that the extent to which one values a given facet of work moderates how dissatisfied one becomes when one's expectations are not met. Furthermore, the data enable us to estimate that gay employees' job satisfaction is not associated more (as compared to heterosexuals' job satisfaction) with adverse mental health symptoms. This finding is crucial given the rising interest between job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Finally, wage gaps against gay employees are found after accounting for basic asymmetries. Interestingly, however, the wage gaps grow for very dissatisfied employees and shrink for very satisfied employees. As long as, the general patterns in Greece suggest that homosexual employees face labour market discrimination, gay employees will report being less satisfied at work. Actually, in this study, job satisfaction is associated with wage inequality. This research initiates efforts to compare job satisfaction based on sexual orientation.

Suggested Citation

  • Drydakis, Nick, 2012. "Men's Sexual Orientation and Job Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 6272, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6272
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    Cited by:

    1. Nick Drydakis, 2015. "Effect of Sexual Orientation on Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Greece," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 162-187, January.
    2. Azman ISMAIL & Mohd Ridwan ABD RAZAK, 2016. "Effect Of Job Satisfaction On Organizational Commitment," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 0(1), pages 25-40, May.
    3. Karen Leppel, 2016. "The incidence of self-employment by sexual orientation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 347-363, March.
    4. Hammarstedt, Mats & Aldén, Lina & Swahnberg, Hanna, 2018. "(I Can’t Get No) Job Satisfaction? Differences by Sexual Orientation in Sweden," Working Paper Series 1241, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    sexual orientation; job satisfaction;

    JEL classification:

    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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