The relationship between job satisfaction, worldviews and demographic variables in mental health professionals

Past research has identified a number of variables that seem to have a correlation with job satisfaction. The current research is exploratory, and attempts to inquire into how the existential worldview theory proposed by F. Ibrahim may have a correlation to job satisfaction. The participants of the study were 76 clinical social workers and licensed counselors in the state of Illinois. It was hypothesized that a correlation existed among the selected demographic and professional variables, and worldview with job satisfaction. Pearson product correlation and ANOVA were applied to analyze the research data. In addition, the thematic responses of participants to open-ended questions were integrated into the discussion of the findings. Additional ad-hoc and post-hoc analyses were performed where necessary. Analysis showed that most of the participants experienced intrinsic satisfaction and held an optimistic worldview. Correlation results showed a weak correlation among the variables to job satisfaction. Some other important findings were the relationship of strength of religious beliefs, years of work experience, gender, and theoretical orientation with job satisfaction.;The implications of the findings to counselor educators and clinical practitioners are discussed, especially how the different facets of job satisfaction and the existential worldview could be integrated into graduate education.