Components of job satisfaction in psychiatric social workers

A survey of 188 psychiatric social workers indicated an overall positive level of job satisfaction. Overall job satisfaction was found to be primarily determined by position satisfaction. The major correlate of position satisfaction was the professional respect received from other disciplines and not the specific tasks performed. These findings were interpreted as reflecting the obfuscating effect of hospital team interactions on job satisfaction. In these settings, the social workers were often so dependent on the quality of these team interactions to derive the variety, autonomy, and value in their work that it was difficult for them to keep subjectively clear the actual level of satisfaction with the work itself. Social work supervisors need to focus on developing a stronger sense of practice excellence and forging a subjective separation between task-derived achievement and interpersonal enjoyment. Results also showed the importance of educational and professional development opportunities in maintaining overall job satisfaction.