Do Satisfied Older Employees Perceive More Social Support Over Time? A Cross-Lagged Examination

Perceived social support has traditionally been examined as an antecedent of well-being, including job satisfaction. The current study offers a new perspective in which job satisfaction can be both an antecedent and outcome of support in older employees. Two wave data from 910 older employees who participated in the Health and Retirement Study were used to test the hypotheses using a cross-lagged panel model. The results indicate that job satisfaction predicts subsequent perceived support from both supervisors and coworkers. However, perceived support from either supervisors or coworkers does not predict subsequent job satisfaction. The discussion suggests that unsatisfied employees, who likely are in greater need of support from their supervisors and peers, perceive having less support available to them. Practically, interventions aimed at increasing satisfaction might also benefit employees’ perceived support, and organizations could leverage our findings to create more favorable work environments.