Modern personality psychology examines professional activity as one of the key spheres of life self-determination and personal development. According to many psychological studies, understanding the importance of professional development and improvement in the workplace is inseparable from a person's productive social well-being. Thereby, research in the field of continuous professional development, searching for mechanisms of developing professionalism, and creative self-improvement in various spheres of human activity: production, culture, society, becomes relevant [2].
At the same time, the interest in comprehending the subject of these categories traditionally leads scientists to research motivation for professional activity, attitude to work, and ideas of the prestige of the acquired profession. At the same time, an important aspect of this research area is the problem of an individual's satisfaction with their professional activity.
It seems that the problem of work satisfaction can be discussed at multiple levels, from assessing the safety of working conditions, compliance with social expectations and needs, the presence of professional difficulties and deficits achieving success in the profession and reaching the peaks of personal self-actualization (A. G. Asmolov, I. K. Adizes, G. P. Bessokirnaya, L. V. Vroom, F. Herzberg, M. S. Guseltseva, E. P. Ermolaeva, A. L. Zhuravlev, A. G. Zdravomyslov, A. V. Karpov, A. A. Kissel, D. A. Leontiev, V. A. Mazilov, A. K. Markova, T. D. Martsinkovskaya, A. M. Novikov, E.Yu. Pryazhnikova, V. D. Shadrikov, L. B. Shneider, A. V. Yurevich, V. A. Yadov, C. Johnson, L. Hammond, N. J. Salkind, etc.).
An analysis of the state of the problem shows that professional activity satisfaction can be a basic parameter measuring the quality of life of both an personality and a social group or even society as a whole, along with family well-being, health, spiritual and moral development, socially significant activities, etc.
The purpose of the article is to analyze the concept of «professional activity satisfaction» in the context of an individual's subjective well-being.
Professional activity satisfaction is correlated with such concepts as «professional well-being» (R. A. Berezovskaya), «subjective quality of working life» (V. A. Ryabov), as well as «psychology of professional health» (S. W. Butterworth, A. Linden, W. McClay), «happiness at work» (P. Warr), more commonly used by foreign researchers.
In Russian science, the professional activity of the working subject is considered mainly through the phenomenon of professional activity (K. A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, N. S. Pryazhnikov, A. N. Leontiev, S. L. Rubinstein), understood as a manifestation of subjective activity (L. G. Dikaya), engagement in work demonstrated in professional activity, which ensures the degree of interaction and the nature of relationships, and also reflects the hierarchy of an individual's motives, designed to ensure optimal human functioning in life. In this sense, work satisfaction becomes one of the significant characteristics of the quality of satisfaction of a person's psycho-emotional, personal, and social needs.
Research on a diverse range of professions—including educators, healthcare and academic staff, law enforcement personnel, and others—has established a robust correlation between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and levels of subjective and social well-being (Demidenko et al.; Krasnoshlykova et al.; Fedosenko; Fedyaeva; Shefer; Deci & Ryan).
This relationship is empirically demonstrated across various professional groups. For instance, a large-sample study (N=656) of industrial enterprise employees confirmed significant correlations between job satisfaction and distinct facets of subjective well-being, such as psychological strain and sensitivity, psycho-emotional state, mood variability, the significance of social environment, self-rated health, and satisfaction with daily activities [5]. Equally significant findings emerged from a study on sample of teachers (N=550), which identified that low job satisfaction correlates with high levels of anxiety, depression, psychosomatic symptoms, and cardiovascular deseases [4].
Research based on teachers’ satisfaction with their professional activities in the Kemerovo region allowed to identify the specifics of the emotional evaluative attitude towards the teaching profession in a large sample (N= 4767).
It revealed that teachers' axiological aspirations, which align with higher-order social needs for self-development and self-expression, positively influence their self-esteem and professional engagement. Moreover, the study found that key value orientations extend beyond the dissemination of knowledge, student development, upbringing, and socialization to include a creative approach to work, initiative, responsibility, and a commitment to continuous professional development [3].
Accordingly, subjective well-being can be either directly or inversely related to satisfaction with professional activity: a high level of subjective well-being may be indicative of work satisfaction, and conversely, satisfaction with one's professional activity can induce a feeling of subjective well-being in life in general. Determining which factor is dominant in this case may become a prospect for our further research.
The methods for achieving job satisfaction are also of significant research interest. These are generally understood through two primary lenses: the organization of the professional environment and the development of employees' personal characteristics.
The former involves structuring the work environment through:
– facilitating interpersonal contacts;
– providing material and non-material incentives;
– managing and controlling work processes and content;
– leveraging the power of a collaborative management culture.
The latter focuses on fostering individual traits, such as:
– emotional response to the alignment between job expectations and outcomes;
– commitment to personal growth and professional development;
– the intensity of work-related feelings;
– an orientation toward self-improvement;
– the development of a positive self-concept [1].
In the context of a rapidly changing labor market, creativity and personal adaptability have become key determinants of professional well-being (e.g., K. Udinski, T. Amabile, R. Sternberg). Research indicates that satisfaction increases when employees perceive opportunities for self-realization, the implementation of new ideas, and professional growth. This is particularly crucial for individuals in creative fields, the IT sector, and entrepreneurship.
Another distinct factor contributing to work satisfaction is the employee's level of acceptance of the organizational relationship model. This includes alignment with the values promoted by leadership and cooperation with, rather than resistance to the force of the corporate culture.
A synthesis of existing approaches to enhancing professional activity satisfaction (focused on the social, personal, and value-based contexts) can be viewed not only as factor of professional well-being but also as method for managing its base characteristics. This integrated perspective offers individuals new avenues for improving their subjective psychological well-being and overall sense of happiness.
References:
- Berezovskaya, R. A. (2016). Professional'noye blagopoluchiye: problemy i perspektivy psikhologicheskikh issledovaniy [Professional well-being: Problems and prospects of psychological research]. Psikhologicheskiye Issledovaniya, 9(45), 2. https://inpsy.org/publications/berezovskaya_ra_professionalnoe_blagopoluchie/547_file_1.pdf
- Demidenko, N. N. (2022). Teoreticheskiye osnovy psikhologii professionalizma sub»yekta nauchno-pedagogicheskogo truda [Theoretical foundations of the psychology of professionalism of a subject of scientific and pedagogical work: A monograph]. Tver State University. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=48274176
- Krasnoshlykova, O. G., Shefer, I. V., & Sadretdinova, M. V. (2021). Rezul'taty issledovaniya «Udovletvorennost' pedagogov professional'noy deyatel'nost'yu» v kontekste realizatsii regional'nogo proekta «Uchitel' budushchego» [Results of the study «Teachers' satisfaction with professional activity» in the context of the implementation of the regional project «Teacher of the Future»]. Gumanitarnyye Nauki, (3), 48–62. (In Russ.) https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/rezultaty-issledovaniya-udovletvorennost-pedagogov-professionalnoy-deyatelnostyu-v-kontekste-realizatsii-regionalnogo-proekta/viewer
- Fedosenko, E. V. (2018). Lichnost' i professiya: k probleme udovletvorennosti trudom [Personality and profession: On the problem of job satisfaction]. Organizatsionnaya Psikhologiya i Psikhologiya Truda, 3(4), 90–114. (In Russ.) http://work-org-psychology.ru/engine/documents/document412.pdf
- Fedyaeva, I. Yu. (2020). Vzaimosvyaz' udovletvorennosti trudom s sub»yektivnym blagopoluchiyem i udovletvorennost'yu zhizn'yu rabotnikov promyshlennogo predpriyatiya [The relationship of job satisfaction with subjective well-being and life satisfaction of industrial enterprise employees]. Vestnik Vyatskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta, 1(135), 158–166. (In Russ.) https://vestnik43.ru/assets/mgr/docs/vyatsu/135(1)2020/fedyaeva.pdf
