Job satisfaction as a construct has been defined differently by various scholars. The term
was first defined by Hoppock (1935) as a combination of psychological, physical and
environmental circumstances that causes a person to say, "I am satisfied with my job".
Among the most accepted definition of job satisfaction is by Locke (1969) who defines job
satisfaction as a positive emotional feeling, a result of one’s evaluation towards his job or
his job experience by comparing between what he expects from his job and what he actually
gets from it. Job satisfaction is the result of the interaction of the employees’ values and his
perception towards his job and environment (Locke, 1976).
Nasurdin and Ramayah (2003), citing the work of O’Reilly and Caldwell (1980), indicated
that both task and organizational rewards contribute to job satisfaction. Task rewards are
intrinsic rewards directly associated with the job such as interesting and challenging work,
variety and opportunities to use one’s skills. Organizational rewards are the tangible rewards
that are visible to others such as pay, promotion and comfortable working conditions.