Expectation and Performance: Which one influences perceptions of job satisfaction? - Paper Example

The research question to the study is Expectation and Performance: Which one influences perceptions of job satisfaction? Therefore, it aims at identifying which between expectation in the workplace and performance will have the most effect on how employees perceive their job satisfaction. The objectives of the study are to identify how expectations impact perceptions of job satisfaction and to determine how performance changes the perceptions of job satisfaction.' The study is accurate and focused because it focuses on the analysis of preconceived perceptions and performance and their effects on the individuals satisfaction in their jobs. The data collected and analysis done identifies that preconceived expectations will impact the perceptions of job satisfaction while performance has no effect on these perceptions. It is clear because the authors bring out what information they expect to gain from carrying out the study. As the authors introduce the paper they capture the studies they carry out between two groups of college students and their GPA and employees and their individual performance at work. The study also clearly states the various propositions that come up in the paper, and they are specific and up to a point. The study has various delimitations especially on issues of reliability and validity of the data collection and analysis procedures which the researchers deal with through the use of appropriate data collection and analysis methods.

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Theory

The study applies the adaptation process theory and the opponent process theory to develop a theoretical framework for the research. Both theories are applied as the authors explain the issue of behavior versus cognition in preconceived expectations and performance and their impact on job satisfaction. According to the opponent-process theory, individuals emotional response to a particular stimulus is often controlled by a given physiological mechanism involving a series of feedback loops that sense and respond to various changes including physiological and affective. The study initially identifies that various antecedents will contribute to the job satisfaction developed by the employees. These antecedents may include redesigning the workplace to include preferences of the employees thereby creating a comfortable environment for the employees. The study identifies that such stimuli will have a significant effect on the job satisfaction of the employees. Therefore the authors bring in the opponent process to further describe the issue of various environmental stimuli and how they contribute to how the individual will react physiologically or effectively. The authors make use of ideas from other researchers including Thoresen, Bono, and Patton to add to the quantity and quality of their paper. The authors seek the professional opinion from other sources to make sure that their study is supported by the appropriate literature review. It focuses on different concepts which the authors clearly bring out including job satisfaction where the researchers use a substantial amount of literature review to create the basis of the concept and explain the issue of job satisfaction in the various working environments. In the introduction of the paper, the authors make the assumption that the preconceived expectations of a given target including an event or a person will significantly influence the view of the person towards the target. They give an example of people going to watch a movie whereby those who go to the theater with a lower expectation will rate it highly compared to those who go to watch it with high expectations and will give it a lower rating.

The authors clearly state the null and alternative hypothesis for the study which is: Hypothesis 1: expectations for performance will have more significant influence on perceived job satisfaction (Walker, 2016). Hypothesis 2 states that individuals with lower expectations for performance will have significantly lower levels of satisfaction than those individuals with higher expectations (Walker, 2016). The study, therefore, identifies research methods and collects and analyze data that focuses on either approving or refuting either of the hypotheses. Throughout the study, the author utilizes critical information relevant to their study from various scholarly sources. Their aim is to identify as much valid and reliable information that will contribute to their topic. The authors use more than twenty sources that are relevant to the topic to develop their paper. These sources are used in a scholarly and academic way which ensures that the paper developed is of the right quality. The paper applies analytic writing where there is a comparison to identify the relationship amongst three variables which are preconceived expectations, performance and job satisfaction. The study assesses and evaluates various concepts within the study including the influence of expectations on job satisfaction while comparing it to the influence of performance on job satisfaction.

Methods/ Empirical basis/ Material for a quantitative methodology article

The method for data collection used in the study is administering questionnaires to participants from the two groups that were selected and after that data is analyzed through content analysis. The questionnaires contained a page participants would sign for consent followed by a page where they would fill in their demographic data. The paper identifies various inferential statistic concepts including the means for both groups and their standard deviations to identify how significant the influence of each variable, i.e., expectations and performance is in comparison with the job satisfaction of employees. The study also applies the use of ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) for the assessment of five conditions in the study. They include high expectations, and under performance indicated as H/U, high expectations and equitable performance indicated as H/E, low expectations and equitable performances indicated as L/E and low expectation and over performance indicated as L/O. To accept or refute the two hypotheses developed at the beginning of the study the researchers use analysis of variance between subjects by using the means for the two groups. The results indicated a significant effect in the L/E group where those with low expectations and equitable performance showed a significantly decreased satisfaction with their performance. On the other hand, those in the N/E group showed a significantly increased satisfaction in their performance. The study also aimed at simplifying the results and this was done through the division of the five conditions were further assessed as three main groups which included the low condition which included the L/E and L/O conditions. The neutral group was also developed and assessed and consisted of the N/E condition while the high condition contained the H/E and H/U conditions. The further assessment of these conditions as three enabled the better understanding of the influence of preconceived expectations versus the actual performance of the participating groups. The results indicated that those in the low condition indicated a lower level of satisfaction compared to the neutral condition and the high condition.

In general, the study applied thematic analysis as it qualitative data analysis. The method involves the analysis of main themes and points arising from the data collected from the study as the researchers try to explain the topic under study. As is evident from the study the main themes present in the study include expectations, performance and job satisfaction. Analysis of these themes indicated expectations have a significant influence on the overall job satisfaction of the participants as is evident through the results. The study, through a similar assessment of performance as that of expectations, indicated that performance did not have a significant effect on the overall job satisfaction of the participants. The results were presented in a table that contained the means and standard deviations for the data collected to ensure that the audiences would quickly identify the data. The study also presented data regarding the significance that was identified through the various methods of statistical data analysis. The theory proposed in the study was the opponent process theory which indicated the responses that would be expected from analyzing the expectations of the participants. Therefore the empirical worked towards the achievement of the analysis of the responses that were expected if employees had expectations and if they looked at their performance. The data indicated that preconceived expectations had a significant effect on the job satisfaction of employees while there was no indication of any influence of performance on job satisfaction. The research question aimed at identifying which between the two i.e. expectations and performance had the significant effect on job satisfaction which was answered by the empirical data from the study.

Results and conclusion

I believe that the results were presented, evaluated and interpreted in a professional way. The study utilizes inferential statistics and nonparametric methods of data analysis specifically ANOVA for its data analysis and interpretation. The data was also presented in the form of tables which made easy to interpret them. However, I feel that the way in which they were presented may not have been easily understandable to an individual who had not been in a statistics class if the authors would not have given a simple interpretation and general discussion of the results. The authors made sure to connect their theoretical framework to their results and conclusions. The result indicated to show how the various variables interact while the discussion involves the authors bringing back the theory presented in the initial stages of the study as they discussed the results. The study brings out the theoretical implications which are the influence of expectations on organizational behavior and the significance of these expectations on organizational behavior. It acts as a resource for future studies on organizational behavior and helps bring out gaps that will act as study areas for researchers who might want to delve into organizational behavior. The objectives were achieved because the study managed to identify the influence of expectations on job satisfaction which was significant and the influence of performance on job satisfaction which was not significant. The study has achieved the goal of analyzing how job satisfaction is impacted by expectations and performance and contributes a significant amount of knowledge to research in organizational behavior. The reliability and validity of its results warrant its use as a scholarly article for such studies in the future.

General assessment

The study was well organized as the researchers presented their work from the abstract to their conclusion. The abstract gives a summary of the study and the conclusions that were made after data analysis. The researchers identify the appropriate sources to use for the study. They effectively incorporate the ideas of these sources into their study and collect their data from contributions made by these sources. The literature review presented data on previous studies done on job satisfactions and behavior versus cognition which was necessary to provide the research to base its claims on. To give the audience the main idea the research is targeting the authors provide a clear and concise thesis statement in the introduction. Therefore as the public reads through the paper, there is the possibility to identify concepts and data that works towards accomplishing the thesis statement provided by the researchers.

The authors ensure to present all refer...