The Compensatory Effect of Belonging to Different Organizational Levels on Job Satisfaction

Belonging to the workplace is pivotal for employees’ job satisfaction. In the current research, we aim to show how different organizational levels serve as alternative sources of belonging, compensating one for the other in their contribution to job satisfaction. The results of two field studies of administrative employees (Study 1, n = 620) and faculty members (Study 2, n = 624) in a public university revealed the proposed compensatory mechanism. As hypothesized, the lower belonging members experienced in their immediate work context, the more strongly belonging to the organization as a whole predicted their job satisfaction, and vice versa. The lower belonging to the organization they experienced, the more strongly belonging to the immediate context predicted their job satisfaction. The findings were consistent when belonging to the immediate context was assessed as an individual (Studies 1–2) as well as a collectively-shared experience in one’s environment (Study 2). These results illustrate the interplay between organizational levels, suggesting important theoretical and practical implications.