Purpose and autonomy are better predictors of job satisfaction than pay and status, major study finds

The most satisfying jobs and fulfilling occupations are those that offer a strong sense of purpose and autonomy rather than high pay or prestige, according to what researchers are calling the most comprehensive study yet of job satisfaction. Led by Kätlin Anni at the University of Tartu in Estonia, the study analysed data from 59,000 individuals and 263 occupations as part of the Estonian Biobank project. The research, now published as a preprint on PsyArXiv, offers new insights into the complex factors that shape job satisfaction and how people feel about their work and wider lives.

Participants in the Biobank provided detailed information about their jobs, income, personality traits, and how satisfied they were with different aspects of life. The findings suggest that jobs which offer a sense of achievement and autonomy – such as clergy, medical professionals, and writers – tend to be the most satisfying.

By contrast, those working in kitchens, transportation, storage, manufacturing, sales, and survey interviewing were among the least satisfied with their work. Some of the most consistently low satisfaction scores were linked to highly structured roles with high responsibility, such as large-scale management positions.

Interestingly, when the researchers looked at overall life satisfaction—rather than job satisfaction alone—they found that roles such as psychologist, special-needs teacher, ships engineer and even sheet-metal worker scored highly. Jobs associated with lower life satisfaction included security guards, waiters, sales workers, and chemical engineers.

Perhaps most strikingly, the study found that income and job prestige had only weak correlations with how satisfied people were. “I was expecting the job prestige to be more associated with satisfaction, but there was only a slight correlation,” Anni said. “Jobs with a higher sense of achievement are associated with higher satisfaction, and even lower-prestige jobs can be quite fulfilling.”

Self-employment, the research found, was generally associated with higher satisfaction—likely due to the greater degree of independence and flexibility it affords. While the researchers believe many of the patterns they observed are likely to hold true in other countries, Anni cautions that cultural norms in Estonia could play a role in how jobs are perceived, and that findings should not be too broadly generalised.