Community characteristics and job satisfaction: A field study of firefighters

This study examined the relation between community characteristics and job satisfaction in a field study of firefighters. The study attempted to explain the unique variance that home and work community characteristics provided beyond that which could already be explained by organizational and individual characteristics. Additionally, this study compared the contributions of subjective and objective measures of community characteristics as predictors of job satisfaction. This was accomplished by using both census data (objective) and individual perceptions (subjective) in the data collection process of community characteristics from firefighters.; Participants in this study provided street address, city, state, and zip code information for their home and work communities. This information was used to identify community characteristics from archival data sources that grouped community variables into five community sectors (i.e., Cultural, Political, Economic, Technological, and Ecological) representing a broad set of community characteristics. Participants were also asked to provide subjective assessments of each of the five community sectors, as well as an overall perception of the affluence of the community.; Previous research has supported a relation between community and job satisfaction. However, limited research has examined whether the characteristics of non-work communities may be an alternative and significant predictor of job satisfaction. There also has been no direct examination of the objective assessment and subjective self-reports of community characteristics. Both these issues will be investigated in this study. Additionally, this study will expand the current research on firefighters, as a unique but large subpopulation of public sector employees.*; *This dissertation is a compound document (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following system requirements: Adobe Acrobat.