Stay positive: studying the change patterns in academics' job and life satisfaction during the Covid-19 pandemic through growth curve modeling
ISSN: 2049-3983
Article publication date: 31 August 2022
Issue publication date: 28 August 2023
Abstract
Purpose
During the Covid-19 outbreak, universities around the globe were closed or went online due to lockdowns implemented to curb the pandemic's spread. This study aims to examine the changes in Malaysian academics' job and life satisfaction during a testing four-month period, from the beginning of the first Covid-19 lockdown until two months after it ended. It also assesses the impact of affective states and age group on these two constructs.
Design/methodology/approach
In this longitudinal study, the authors collected data from 220 academics in Malaysia at three time points in 2020, namely the beginning of the lockdown (April), the end of the lockdown (June) and two months after the lockdown (August). The authors applied multivariate latent growth curve (LGC) modeling to study changes in job satisfaction and life satisfaction. In addition, we added age group, as a time-invariant covariate, as well as positive and negative affect, as two time-varying covariates, to our LGC model. The authors estimated the LGC model using the EQS 6.4 statistical package.
Findings
The results show that both job and life satisfaction were stable over time, although their means were below the average. Positive affect was a significant predictor of both types of satisfaction, and age group was a significant predictor of job satisfaction.
Practical implications
The main implication the authors draw from this study is connected to job and life satisfaction's mean values being below average. In line with the affective events theory (AET), the authors recommend paying particular attention to work environment features, such as providing sufficient infrastructure for employees working from home and keeping social relations intact. Especially young academics should receive sufficient support.
Originality/value
The study is one of a limited number that examined longitudinal effects during the Covid-19 pandemic in the domains of human resource management and organizational behavior. Hence, this study expands our knowledge of employees' affect and attitudes during an unprecedented global health crisis, particularly in the under-researched area of the Malaysian higher education sector.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to appreciate the staff of the Malaysian Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN) for their continuous support. The first author dedicates the paper to his late mother, Zahra Soltan Zamani, and his father, Ali Naghi Ghasemy, for their unconditional care and love, and is grateful to Zeynab Khodaei and Ilia Ghasemy for their patience, support, love, and understanding.
Funding: This research was supported by the grant FRGS/1/2019/SS05/USM/02/5 from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia to Majid Ghasemy.
Ethical issues: The performed procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (USM/JEPeM/19090523) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Participation in this study was voluntary, the respondents had the option to leave the study at any time, information was anonymized, and the article does not include images that might identify the participants.
Data availability statement: The sample covariance/mean matrix (N = 215) for estimating the final model is provided in Table A3.
Declaration of conflicting interests: No conflict of interest is declared by the authors with respect to the design and implementation of this research work.
Citation
Ghasemy, M. and Frömbling, L. (2023), "Stay positive: studying the change patterns in academics' job and life satisfaction during the Covid-19 pandemic through growth curve modeling", Evidence-based HRM, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 271-294. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBHRM-09-2021-0207
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited