A "situational"perspective on employee attitudes is used to interpret the relationship between age and work satisfaction among 434 employees of a Federal Government agency. Distinct age-satisfaction curves are discovered among three employee groups: a U-shaped curve among nonprofessionals, an upward-sloping double-bend curve among elite professionals, and a downward sloping curve among ordinary professionals. Employee perceptions of management climate, mobility possibilities, and personal influence all vary by subcontext and determine level of work satisfaction. Results are seen as supporting a situational rather than ontogenetic explanation of work satisfaction.
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