EDUCATION, CONTROL AT WORK, AND JOB-SATISFACTION

The well educated are more likely than the poorly educated to engage in work that provides control over one's own work, control over people, and control over money, yet the total effect of education on job satisfaction is null. Using a representative sample of 557 Illinois workers interviewed by telephone in 1982, we find that education increases expected satisfaction indirectly by providing control at work, but decreases it (net of control at work), probably by raising workers' expectations. Control over one's own work, including job autonomy and nonroutine work, is positively associated with job satisfaction for all workers, but the effect is much stronger for the well educated. Control over money is positively associated with job satisfaction for the well educated, but negatively associated for the poorly educated. Control over others does not increase any group's expected satisfaction. © 1992.