Racial differences in job satisfaction among white and black mental health employees

Examination of the job satisfaction of paraprofessional and professional mental health employees has revealed that black employees were significantly less satisfied with their jobs then were white counterparts. A cultural explanation for these observed differences would hold that values and beliefs contributing to job satisfaction differ across race. This hypothesis was tested by separately factor analyzing 79 black and 222 white employee responses for black and white employees were compared using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and revealed six partially convergent job satisfaction themes. However, differences in the complexity and importance of analogous black and white factors supported the hypothesis that differing dimensions underlie job satisfaction for black and white employees.