DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
5.3 INFERENTIAL STATISTICS RESULTS
• It could be that petrol attendants were not sincere with their responses because of the nature of their relationship with their employers.
• Petrol attendants have retained low standing in the occupational status hierarchy.
Such standing therefore has major implications in viewing being a petrol attendant as a career of choice. This could mean that petrol attendants are not interested in their jobs and are only viewing it as a temporary stop until they land a better job.
like parents and siblings who are not working or children of siblings who passed away.
In settings like these, women find themselves in a supportive family environment where it can be assumed that their parents or siblings take care of house chores thus taking away the role conflict these women would have experienced if they had dual career responsibilities.
5.3.2 Age and Job Satisfaction
Age and job satisfaction were found to be significantly related. One way analysis of variance was conducted on the two variables and revealed no differences from subjects falling between the ages of 18 and 40 who felt moderate feelings of job dissatisfaction.
Respondents between the ages of 41 and 45 displayed neutral feelings followed by those between the ages of 46 and 50 with moderate feelings of satisfaction and lastly respondents over 50 years expressed feelings of satisfaction. The results therefore suggests that job satisfaction increases with age, where for this particular case, the age of 40 is seen as the defining point for negative feelings with this job. After this age subjects experience neutral feelings (41-45 years) which can be interpreted as a point where they are going through an adjustment phase, that is, adjusting to their job situation thus leading to the next phase where they are starting to accept their situation (between the ages of 46 and 50).
The least squared difference test showed that the older age group is satisfied than the younger groups. It could be that the older group has come to terms with circumstances of their jobs and have adjusted their expectations when compared to the younger groups.
Assuming that the longer serving attendants mainly come from the older group then what
is mentioned by Hadland (2002) puts the older attendants in a better position. Hadland
(2002) mentions that dealers pay their long serving staff better rates and treat them
differently as they are considered to be loyal. The service of the longer serving petrol
attendants is also recognised by the oil company in an award ceremony where their travel
and accommodation expenses are fully paid for. What the results highlight here with
regards to the persistence of moderate levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction is the
earlier suggested reason that these workers lack involvement in their jobs and as such
their feelings are not strongly affected by their job experiences across all the different age groups.
5.3.3 Marital Status and Job Satisfaction
The one way analysis of variance reveals that there are differences between married and single individuals with respect to job satisfaction. The results of the mean scores indicate that single individuals are moderately dissatisfied with their job while the married individuals were found to be moderately satisfied. There was only one respondent who was divorced and his expressed satisfaction was close to that of married individuals. The least squared difference test was not carried out because of lack of representation for the divorced group meaning that comparison was between the two groups (single and married) of which differences have already been observed.
Job satisfaction is one aspect of feelings of satisfaction with life in general. It was reasoned that petrol attendants are not involved with their job, meaning that for them, work is not a central life interest. The moderate satisfaction displayed by the married individuals could mean that they derive satisfaction from their family lives which then impacts on their job satisfaction. This is the essence of the spillover hypothesis which states that satisfaction in one area spills over into the other area.
5.3.4 Educational Status and Job Satisfaction
One way analysis of variance results concluded that there are significant differences
between the educational status groups with respect to job satisfaction. The mean scores
reveal moderate level of satisfaction from the group with lowest educational
qualifications. The moderate satisfaction level was found to decrease with increasing
qualifications up to standard 9, beyond which dissatisfaction was expressed (that is,
respondents with matric and beyond expressed moderate levels of dissatisfaction with
their job). The results thus suggest an inverse relationship between educational status and
job satisfaction.
The results of the least squared difference test show that the satisfaction level of respondents with matric and higher qualifications significantly differ from that of respondents with qualifications below matric. There was however no difference between those with matric and those with post matric qualifications.
High level of educational qualifications relates to skill and ability possession and individuals with skills and ability may be dissatisfied with jobs which do not allow for the application of their skill and this may be the case for those petrol attendants with matric qualifications and higher. Since educated people tend to have higher aims and aspirations, those petrol attendants with higher educational status probably view this job as a temporary stop until a better job comes their way. Comparing their position with that of other people with similar qualifications but better placed is likely to raise feelings of dissatisfaction with their jobs.