Pay and Employees' Satisfaction .satistaction is an evaluative term that describes an attitude of liking or disliking. Pay satisfaction, therefore, refers to an employee's liking for or dislike of the employer's compensation package, including pay and benefits.. Even though at least 3,500 scholarly articles have been written about pay satisfaction, research on it is not very definitive.. It has failed to find convincing evidence that workers' satisfaction leads to increases in productivity. And although it seems logical to assume that employees derive satisfaction from being paid well or getting desired benefits or services, this is a very subjective conclusion. In fact, the sheer complexity of reward systems made up of numerous components like base pay, bonuses, benefits, and services makes it even more difficult to research employees' satisfaction. The clearest indication of satisfaction may be patterns of absenteeism and turnover. Edward Lawler developed a model based on equity theory to help explain dissatisfaction and satisfaction with pay. The distinction between the amount employees receive and the amount they think others arc receiving is the immediate cause. If they believe the two amounts are equal, pay satisfaction results. The feedback loop between the employee's perception and fairness and subsequent work behavior leads to fluctuations in output." Expectancy theory can also be used to get employees to motivate themselves, on the basis of their views of what they want and how they can get it. Research conducted by Simons found which components of the pay system will lead to satisfaction.differed by the type of workers: Industrial workers preferred interesting jobs more than high pay;hotel workers preferred high wages above everything else.