Needs, perceived need satisfaction opportunities and satisfaction with occupation

Abstract

If major motives are satisfied in the context of work and career, then satisfaction with occupation should be a function of the discrepancy between personal needs and perceived potential of occupation for satisfying needs, particularly among those for whom occupation constitutes a major source of satisfaction (e.g., men rather than women), and in the instance of occupationally relevant needs, such as need achievement. The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule, a special rating scale, and a questionnaire were administered to 108 men and 95 women teachers. As predicted, discrepancy scores correlated .25 (p < .01) with occupational satisfaction for men, and .02 (ns) for women. Achievement need discrepancies were consistently related to occupational satisfaction. Other findings confirmed that occupation is psychologically more central for men. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)