Matthew Gabriel F. Sta.

Maria Feb 22, 2019

Ethan De Los Santos

Andrei Villaniera

MPRACT1

Introduction

For some time, there has been a growing debate and discussion toward achieving

maintaining an equilibrium between work and non-work commitments. Rantanen, J., Mauno, S.,

Kinnunen, U., & Tement, S. (2013, as cited in Njeri 2004) suggests that employees invest much

of their time and energy at work to be able to make ends meet, as these people are busy looking

for means to attain money to provide for the needs of their families and themselves. Most of the

organizations in the country face the challenge on how to develop and manage employees in order

to unleash their full potentials at work. However, Njeri (2004, as cited in Bird 2006) suggests that

when employees come face-to-face with tight deadlines, unpleasant working environments, and

other stressor present, they start to question their individual roles, challenging their ability to

effectively balance time allotted for work and life needs.

Theory and Hypothesis/Hypotheses

Conservation of Resources (COR) theory is considered to be a stress theory which

describes the motivation that drive peoples strengthened current resources, while looking for new

means that would correlate with one another. (Hobfoll, 1988). This theory explains that when

people are threatened with loss, are lost, and are faced with failure to gain significant resource,

they elicit a negative reaction toward life in general.

Principle 1. The Primacy of Resource Loss

The first principle of COR theory is that resource loss is disproportionately more salient

than resource gain. This principle posits that given equal amounts of loss and gain, loss

will have significantly greater impact. Moreover, resource gains are seen as acquiring their

saliency in light of loss. That is, in the context of resource loss, resource gains become

more significant.

Principle 2. Resource Investment

The second principle of COR theory is that people must invest resources in order to

protect against resource loss, recover from losses, and gain resources. These two principles,

then lead to 3 major corollaries of COR theory and one critical finding that has emerged

from the literature and which follows from these 3 corollaries.

Corollary 1. Those with greater resources are less vulnerable to resource loss and more

capable of orchestrating resource gain. Conversely, those with fewer resources are more

vulnerable to resource loss and less capable of resource gain.

Corollary 2. COR theory states that those who lack resources are not only more vulnerable

to resource loss, but that initial loss begets future loss. This is a critical aspect of the theory,

because it predicts that loss cycles will occur quickly and powerfully. Further, at each

iteration of loss in the sequence, the cycle will gain in strength and momentum.
 Corollary 3. Mirrors corollary 2, stating that those who possess resources are more capable

of gain, and that initial resource gain begets further gain. However, because loss is more

potent than gain, loss cycles will be more impactful and more accelerated than gain cycles.

Finally, it both follows theoretically, due to the lifelong nature of loss and gain cycles

across people’s lifespans, that resources (or their lack) tend to aggregate in what we have

come to call resource caravans. Thus, resources aggregate in resource caravans in both an

immediate and a life-span sense. Research by Cozzarelli (1993) and by Rini et al. (1999)

support the idea suggested in COR theory that having one major resource is typically linked

with having others, and likewise lacking major resources is linked to lacking others

(Hobfoll, 1998a, b). In this way, although individual resources such as self-efficacy, sense

of control, social support, and social status are important in their own right and have their

own kinds of influence on mental health and functional performance, they are seldom

found singly. Rather, they run in herds, such that they attract each other, form building

blocks one for the other, and indeed may vanish in aggregate.

Alexithymia

Alexithymia is characterized by difficulty in identifying, describing, and expressing

emotions (Besharat, 2010). It is also defined as having a dysfunction on emotions in self and unto

others (Levant, 1998 as cited in Sullivan, Camic, & Brown, 2014). Greater levels of normative

male alexithymia will be associated with more negative attitudes towards seeking professional

psychological help (Sullivan, Camic, & Brown, 2014). In this study Alexithymia and Gender role

(specifically men) led to having lower tendencies in finding psychological help due to when gender

conditioning occurs, it causes the male to hold in their emotions and lead to emotional

expressiveness. Which also is a cause that as a reason in more to not look for psychological help
due to these facts. But when it comes to female, they are more likely to seek psychological help

when they have these types of problems. This explains that individuals high in alexithymia are not

able to think about problems of stressful situations, analyze problems, and find appropriate

solutions for the problems they encounter because they have a limited ability to think about and

use emotions to cope effectively with stressful situations (Besharat, 2010). Therefore, Male with

higher normative alexithymia and has a greater endorsement of traditional masculine ideology,

shows that they have negative attitude in seeking professional psychological help (Sullivan et al.,

2014).

Job Satisfaction

Fraziq and Maublakhsh (2015) found that stable and better working environments resulted

to increased job satisfaction. Spector (1997, as cited in Fraziq & Maublakhsh, 2015) suggested a

good working environment consists of employee safety, job security, good relations with co-

workers, recognition for good performance, motivation, and participation in the decision making

will result to a high level of commitment and a sense of ownership for their respective

organizations. Job satisfaction on the other hand is defined as “the extent to which a worker is

content with the rewards he or she gets out of his or her job, particularly in terms of intrinsic

motivation” as was stated in Statt, 2004). Fraziq and Maublakhsh (2015) suggests that people’s

job satisfaction depend on two kinds of factors -- motivational and hygiene factors, explained using

Herzberg et al., 1959’s Two-Factor Theory. Since both factors are significant and of great

importance, Baah and Amoako (2011, as cited in Fraziq & Maublakhsh, 2015) explains that the

presence of motivational factors in a working environment help employees find their worth with

respect to the value given to them by an organization, while the presence of hygiene factors
ultimately raises internal happiness of employees, later on resulting to the attainment of

satisfaction at work. Since bad working conditions restrict employees to portray their capabilities

and attain full potentials at work, Fraziq and Maublakhsh (2015) suggests that businesses should

realize the importance of a good working environment for it will establish an increase in employee

loyalty; attain higher levels of commitment; promote efficiency and effectiveness and; later on,

achieve high productivity rate at work, beneficial to all.

Life Satisfaction

Hagmaier, Abele and Goebel (2018) found that career satisfaction and life satisfaction are

positively associated both within and across time. Career Satisfaction refers to the overall

evaluation of the accumulated experiences in one's career (Bowling et.al., 2010 & Judge et. al.

1998, as cited in Hagmaier, et. al. 2018). Life Satisfaction on the other hand is defined as an overall

assessment of feelings and attitudes about, one’s life at a particular point in time ranging from

negative to positive (Diener, 1984). Hagmaier, et. al. (2018) suggested that the experience of one's

career practiced over a period of time affects life satisfaction. This was explained using the domain

model of life satisfaction (Campbell, Converse, & Rogers, 1976). This model states that an

individual's perceived level of satisfaction with life in general is related to levels of satisfaction in

various life domains. People with high life satisfaction will also experience his or her career and

work more positively than people with lower life satisfaction. This explains that the more centrality

a person assigns to his or her work over a given period of time, the stronger the impact of career

satisfaction on life satisfaction. In addition, by using the Self – Concordance theory (SCT) derived

from the self – determination theory (SDT) (Deci and Ryan’s, 1985), it depicted that “individuals

are happiest when stated goals match enduring interests and values. Those employees or people
are happier if they set self-concordant goals. They are most likely to attain personal goals. The

reason behind why employees are happier and their Job satisfaction rises is because they are more

able to attain their desired goals in life.

Hypothesis 1: Alexithymia will be negatively related to Job Satisfaction

Hypothesis 2: Alexithymia will be negatively related to Life Satisfaction

Method

Research Design

This study will utilize a correlational research design. As suggested by Fitzgerald S.,

Rumrill P., & Schenker J. (2004), correlational research design is a “type of non-experimental

research in which the researcher measures two variables and assesses the statistical relationship

between them with little or no effort to control extraneous variables”. In addition, it is a form of

design that provides factual data suggesting two or more variables are – or are not – related

(Bluman 2001, as cited in Ansong & Gyensare). This study tends to look whether Alexithymia

(Independent Variable) is negatively related to Job Satisfaction and Life Satisfaction (Dependent

Variable).

Figure 1: Hypothesized Research Framework

Participants

In order to gather the required data, the researchers will utilize an open sampling study

suggested by Curtis, E., Comiskey, C., & Dempsey, O. (2015, as cited in Fitzgerald S., Rumrill

P., & Schenker J. 2004) Open sampling is a non-probability sample that is selected based on

characteristics of a population and the objective of the study. Henninger, F., Fielder, S.,

Glöckner, A., & Hilbig, B. (2012, as cited in Curtis, E., Comiskey, C., & Dempsey, O. 2015)

suggests that it would be better if the participants will be chosen randomly to possibly reduce

or eliminate biased processing of probabilities that may be gathered while conducting the said

research. In particular, the study will use a total of 73 randomly-chosen working individuals

who are taking public transportations in accordance to Green (1991)’s rule of the thumb.

Measures

Alexithymia. Alexithymia will be measured using the instrument developed by Sullivan,

Camic, and Brown (2014). This instrument has 20 items that is intended to predicting

masculine ideology provide evidence to support the validity of the scale. Sample items are, “I

find it is very hard to cry” and “I don’t see see much value in talking about my feelings.”

Levant et al. (2006) reported that the alpha reliability in their study was .93.
Job Satisfaction. In measuring Job Satisfaction, the Job Description Index suggested by

Smith, P., Kendall, L., & Hulin, C. (1969, as cited in Tasios, T. & Giannouli, M. 2017) will be

used. It will involve a list of 72 questions that aims to ascertain the extent of job satisfaction to

which employees perceive themselves at the organization he/she is working for, specifically

with regards to the five pillars of pertaining to job satisfaction which include the work as whole,

salary, incentives, supervision, and co-employees. Respondents will be asked to rate their

satisfaction at work by using a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from (1) strongly dissatisfied to

(7) strongly satisfied. An example question may include “Taking everything into consideration,

how do you feel about your job as a whole?”.

Life Satisfaction. In measuring Life Satisfaction, the Life Satisfaction Index developed by

(Neugarten, Havighurst, & Tobin, 1961) will be used. It will involve a list of 20 questions that

aims to ascertain the extent of life satisfaction which employees perceives themselves,

specifically with regards to important correlated variables like income, health, and relationship

quality. Respondents will be asked to rate their satisfaction at work by using a 5-point Likert

scale, ranging from (1) strongly dissatisfied to (5) strongly satisfied. Sample items are “In most

ways my life is close to ideal,” “So far I have gotten the important things I want in life,” “The

conditions of my life are excellent,” “I am satisfied with my life,” “So far I have gotten the

important things I want in life,” and “If I could live my life over, I would change almost

nothing.”
Procedure

The participants of this study are comprised of employees who are working in any

valid organizations. The following steps will be conducted to investigate the Alexithymia leading

to Job Satisfaction and Life Satisfaction. The procedure will be for conducting the surveys that

starts by requesting a letter to Human Resource Manager to allow the survey in their company.

Once permission is granted, schedules for the distribution and collection of the survey

questionnaires will be sent to the employees working in that organization. Each participant would

be receiving a questionnaire. The participants would then proceed answering the questionnaire. In

order to ensure that they complete the questionnaire to their best ability, 20 minutes will be allotted.

After the survey has been completed, the questionnaires will be passed to the researchers with the

paper facing down for confidentiality purposes.

Data Analysis

In analyzing all relevant information along with the collected data gathered, the researchers

will be using Pearson’s correlation coefficient in investigating the role of Alexithymia on Job

Satisfaction and Life Satisfaction. The reason why the researchers opt to use Pearson’s correlation

coefficient is because it treats all variables equally and do not take into consideration whether a

variable has been classified as a dependent or an independent variable (Pearson Product-Moment

Correlation). In addition, the use of the Pearson’s correlation coefficient will be beneficial in

understanding the correlation among variables present in the study that may be classified either as

positive, negative, or no correlation at all.

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