Job Demands, Job Resources, and Job Satisfaction in East Asia

This study examines how job demands and resources influence job satisfaction in addition to job insecurity in East Asia, using job characteristics, working conditions, and job insecurity as three major domains of job quality. The data analyzed come from the 2005 International Social Survey Programme Work Orientations III questionnaire. Taken as a whole, this study found strong main effects of job demands and resources on job satisfaction but weak interactions between them on job satisfaction. Japan, Taiwan and Korea share many determinants of job satisfaction, in particular, workplace relation is the most important determinant of job satisfaction in the three countries. This finding reflects the significance of guanxi tradition on job satisfaction in East Asia, where collectivism prevails in contrast to individualism in the western society. In East Asia, the non-financial aspects of job quality have a greater effect on job satisfaction than the earning factor. The findings of this study further indicate that job resources (i.e., earnings, job content, and workplace relations) increase job satisfaction more than job demands (i.e., working hours, workloads, and work/family conflict) decrease job satisfaction.