Overall job satisfaction: How good are single-item measures?

John P. Wanous, Arnon E. Reichers, Michael J. Hudy·1997·Journal of Applied Psychology
DOI 10.1037//0021-9010.82.2.247

Abstract

A meta-analysis of single-item measures of overall job satisfaction (28 correlations from 17 studies with 7,682 people) found an average uncorrected correlation of .63 (SD = .09) with scale measures of overall job satisfaction. The overall mean correlation (corrected only for reliability) is .67 (SD = .08), and it is moderated by the type of measurement scale used. The mean corrected correlation for the best group of scale measures (8 correlations, 1,735 people) is .72 (SD = .05). The correction for attenuation formula was used to estimate the minimum level of reliability for a single-item measure. These estimates range from .45 to .69, depending on the assumptions made.

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Overall job satisfaction: How good are single-item measures? https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1037//0021-9010.82.2.247
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Wanous, J. P., Reichers, A. E., & Hudy, M. J. (1997). Overall job satisfaction: How good are single-item measures? Journal of Applied Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-9010.82.2.247

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