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Unrewarding Work, Coworker Support, and Job Satisfaction

A Test of the Buffering Hypothesis

Westat

JACK K. MARTIN

Kent State University

Beneficial effects of social support in the workplace have received only limited attention from sociologists. Workgroup interactions, especially social support received from coworkers, may significantly contribute to job satisfaction. This article assesses the effects of coworker support on job satisfaction, paying particular attention to the nature and influence of instrumental coworker support both relative to and in conjunction with affective coworker support. The authors expect that both affective and instrumental social support will exert significant and independent effects on these outcomes and that instrumental support will buffer the effects of nonrewarding work on job satisfaction. These hypotheses are tested in a series of ordinary least squares regression models. Data are drawn from a nationally representative sample of 2,505 full-time employees. Study findings are consistent with a main effects model of workplace social support. Suggestions for the absence of buffering effects, implications for industrial policy, and future research efforts are offered.

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