This study examined the concept of job satisfaction among 798 employees of a
regional restaurant chain. The MSQ short form was used as the primary instrument.
The MSQ short form items were subjected to a principal component analysis
with varimax rotation. A four-factor structure was obtained as a result of the
analysis. The first two factors were named Extrinsic Job Satisfaction and Intrinsic
Job Satisfaction, the third factor was called Satisfaction From the Nature of the
Job, and the fourth factor was called Perceived Autonomy. This factor structure
differed from the original two-factor structure obtained by Weiss et al. (1967).
The uniqueness of the sample may be one of the reasons that a different factor
structurewas obtained. Restaurant employees as a category are different from any
of the occupational groups in which theMSQshort formwas previously used. The
literature has reported different factor structures for the MSQ short form. Moreover,
Weiss et al. reported more complex factor structures for several occupational
groups (e.g., socialworkers, office clerks, truck drivers, andwarehousemen). The
current study revealed evidence to support findings of several studies reporting
different factor structures for different occupational groups. It is suggested that