Job Quality Indicators and Perceived Job Quality: The Moderating Roles of Individual Preferences and Gender

Abstract

Job quality is critical for policy makers, but little is known about the factors that shape perceived job quality among employees. This study aimed to explore the importance of several traditional job quality indicators: employment characteristics (type of contract, employment relationship, schedule predictability) and educational misfit (horizontal, vertical) in predicting perceived job quality. Additionally, the moderating roles of preferred employment characteristics and gender were tested. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted in a sample of 562 Spanish employees. The results demonstrated that all the indicators, except schedule predictability, were related (and contributed equally) to perceived job quality. Gender moderated the interaction effect between the current and preferred employment relationship. For women, the full-time preference boosted the effect of full-time jobs on perceived job quality, whereas for men, the part-time preference boosted this effect. The findings indicate the importance of adopting a contextual approach to perceived job quality, considering individuals’ preferred employment characteristics and gender.

Keywords

• : perceived job quality
• employment characteristics
• preferred employment characteristics
• gender
• educational misfit