Work characteristics and satisfaction at work in the healthcare sector: a person-centered examination using Bayesian Informative Hypothesis Testing

Work characteristics may independently and jointly affect well-being, so that whether job demands energize or deplete employees depend on the resources available on the job. However, due to methodological reasons and the inclusion of variables lacking in occupational specificity, mixed results on their joint effects have emerged so far in literature. In this study, we adopted a person-centered approach and Bayesian informative hypothesis testing to (a) identify different patterns of interactions of job demands and resources in a sample of healthcare employees, and (b) determine the degree to which these patterns are associated with job satisfaction. We involved a sample of 1,513 employees and collected data on salient job demands and job resources, and job satisfaction. Results of the Latent Profile Analysis revealed four latent configurations: high strain-isolated (high demands, low resources), resourceless (mixed demands, low resources), resourceful (low demands, high resources) and active job (medium-high demands, high resources). These profiles were differently associated with job satisfaction: we found the highest support for the hypothesis stating that the active job profile was the most satisfied, while the high strain-isolated profile was the less satisfied.