The Impact of Social Context on the Relationship Between Individual Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism: The Roles of Different Foci of Job Satisfaction and Work-Unit Absenteeism

Building upon recent conceptualizations of different foci of job satisfaction and theories of social-contextual influence, we develop and test an integrative cross-level model of the individual relationships between both "externally focused satisfaction" (referring to job conditions) and "internally focused satisfaction" (referring to the work unit) and absenteeism. For both of these foci, we hypothesize differential three-way interactive effects of work-unit absenteeism patterns as characterized by their mean and dispersion levels, as well as individual satisfaction levels on subsequent individual absenteeism. Based on two German multi-level samples, our analyses demonstrate that the negative relationship between externally focused satisfaction and individual absenteeism is strongest in the presence of high mean and dispersion levels of work-unit absenteeism, whereas this relationship is weaker when either the mean or dispersion levels of work-unit absenteeism, or both, are low. In contrast, the negative relationship between internally focused satisfaction and individual absenteeism is strongest under conditions of low mean and dispersion levels of work-unit absenteeism, whereas this relationship is weaker when either the mean or dispersion levels of work-unit absenteeism, or both, are high. The present findings suggest that simultaneously improving individual internally focused satisfaction and reducing work-unit absenteeism is the most promising approach to reducing individual absenteeism