Job satisfaction and perceptions of health

Workers' perceptions of health have become one focus of research on the costs of health care, yet little is understood about the relationship between perceptions of health and perceptions of work. An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted on a large southern university campus to determine if perceptions of select facets of work were related to perceptions of health. Results indicated that satisfactory perceptions of coworkers was the strongest predictor of current and future health perceptions, and the strongest predictor of perceptions of resistance to illness. Other significant job-facet predictors of health perceptions were autonomy, the work done on the present job, and pay. Satisfaction with supervision and opportunities for promotion were not predictive of health-perception measures. Implications for enhanced employee health include a greater emphasis on coworker relationships, especially in the current context of organizational change in business and industry.