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Summary
Using a sample of hospital employees this study addressed whether job satisfaction mediates the relationship between absenteeism predictors and absenteeism and how well absenteeism predictors explained different measures of absenteeism. The results suggest that job satisfaction is not a mediator and that the independent variables explain more variance in records-based time lost than in self-reported time lost or self-reported absence frequency. Implications are discussed in terms of using job satisfaction as a mediator as well as the viability of alternative measures of absenteeism. Copyright # 2000 John Wiley &Sons, Ltd.
Introduction
Since Brooke and Price's (1989) pioneering effort at presenting a causal model of absenteeism, only two other researchers (Gellatly, 1995; Hendrix and Spencer, 1989) have used structural equation models to explain absenteeism. The present study uses the Brooke and Price model as a foundation; however, the focus of our study is not on empirically testing their model, per se. Rather, the two goals are: (1) to determine whether job satisfaction mediates the relationship between absenteeism predictors and absenteeism; and (2) to assess the extent to which these predictors explain different measures of absenteeism.
The role of job satisfaction in predicting absenteeism
As Johns (1997) notes, theory development in the absenteeism literature has followed a number of general themes. One of the more common models proposes absenteeism is largely a behavioral response to dissatisfaction with some aspect of one's job. Another stream of literature rejects the role of job satisfaction as an antecedent to absenteeism, focusing instead on the role of demographics and work and non-work constraints. Meta-analyses have lent support to both the attitudinal response perspective (Hackett, 1989; McShane, 1984; Scott and Taylor, 1985) and the non-attitudinal constraints and control view (Farrell and Stamm, 1988; Hackett and Guion, 1985; Spector, 1986).
Research on the effect of job satisfaction on absenteeism has focused primarily on bivariate relationships. Consequently, these studies may suffer from the missing variables problem. That is, a number of variables that have been linked to employee absenteeism are also related to job satisfaction (e.g., role conflict). Thus, observing a significant relationship between role conflict and absenteeism may be a spurious finding created by the relationship between role conflict and job satisfaction. Only by testing multivariate models can researchers determine the...