The impact of working conditions and personality traits on the job satisfaction of media professionals

Abstract

This article uses the happy-productive worker thesis as a starting point for assessing the chances that a media system is performing well. Personality traits, work conditions, and job-satisfaction levels of individuals from different media occupations in Switzerland (N = 259) were collected using standardized instruments from personnel psychology. Media workers more distanced from actual media production are more satisfied with their jobs than the working population, while those closer to production are less satisfied. A regression analysis identifies autonomy as the most important driver of job satisfaction for “media producers,” while “media seller’s” satisfaction is driven by the match of their work with personality extroversion and the perception of adequate compensation. This suggests that the drivers of job satisfaction differ according to the actual job role in the media industry.