Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)

The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) is a widely used tool to measure job satisfaction. It was developed by Weiss, Dawis, England, and Lofquist (1967) of the Vocational Psychology Research Unit at the University of Minnesota. The MSQ assesses an individual’s satisfaction with various aspects of their job and is used in both research and practical settings, including career counseling and organizational studies.

There are two main versions of the MSQ:

1. Short-form MSQ (20 items): This version asks respondents to rate their satisfaction with 20 different job facets, such as working conditions, pay, promotion opportunities, and coworkers. It’s often used when time is a constraint and a quick assessment is needed.
2. Long-form MSQ (100 items): This comprehensive version provides a more detailed evaluation, covering 20 aspects with multiple questions for each. It gives deeper insights into job satisfaction by providing facet-specific and overall satisfaction scores.

The MSQ measures three key dimensions of job satisfaction:

1. Intrinsic satisfaction: Refers to aspects of the job that are directly related to the nature of the work itself, like job tasks and responsibilities.
2. Extrinsic satisfaction: Involves external factors such as pay, benefits, and working conditions.
3. General satisfaction: Combines both intrinsic and extrinsic factors to give an overall measure of job satisfaction.

The MSQ is highly reliable and validated, making it useful for both academic research and applied organizational settings. It can provide insights into areas that may require improvement to enhance employee satisfaction and performance.




Psychometric Properties of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)

The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) is recognized for its strong psychometric properties, including high reliability, validity, and factor structure. Below is a summary of these properties:

1. Reliability of Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)

Internal Consistency: The MSQ exhibits excellent internal consistency. The Cronbach’s alpha for the Short-form MSQ typically ranges from 0.84 to 0.91 and 0.87 to 0.92 for the long form, indicating strong reliability (Weiss et al., 1967).

• For Intrinsic satisfaction: α ranges from 0.86 to 0.90.
• For Extrinsic satisfaction: α ranges from 0.80 to 0.85.

Test-Retest Reliability: The MSQ has demonstrated high test-retest reliability across different time intervals, ranging from 0.70 to 0.80, ensuring stability in the measurements over time.

2. Validity of Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)

Content Validity: The MSQ was developed based on extensive research on job satisfaction. Its items were selected to reflect a broad range of job-related factors, ensuring comprehensive content validity.

Construct Validity: The MSQ has been shown to accurately measure the constructs it is intended to measure, such as intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction. Factor analyses typically reveal a clear two- or three-factor structure corresponding to these dimensions.

Concurrent Validity: High correlations have been found between the MSQ and other established job satisfaction measures, such as the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), confirming concurrent validity.

3. Factor Structure of Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)

Factor analyses of the MSQ often identify two major factors:

Intrinsic satisfaction: Related to job content, such as the nature of work, independence, and responsibility.

– Extrinsic satisfaction: Related to external job aspects like pay, company policies, and work conditions.

The factorial validity has been replicated in diverse samples, demonstrating the robustness of the instrument across different populations.

4. Norms of Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)

The MSQ has been standardized on various occupational groups, ensuring broad applicability. Normative data are available for several industries, professions, and demographic groups, making it useful for comparison across diverse work settings.

5. Scoring of Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)

The MSQ  has instructed the employee to think and ask themself: How satisfied am I with this aspect of my job? on each item, it has a five-point rating scale.

1. 1. 1. Very Dissatisfied-. means I am very satisfied with this aspect of my job.
      2. Satisfied – means I am satisfied with this aspect of my job.
      3. Neither (dissatisfied nor satisfied)– means I can’t decide whether I am satisfied or not with this aspect of my job.
      4. Dissatisfied– means I am dissatisfied with this aspect of my job.
      5. Very Dissatisfied— means I am very dissatisfied with this aspect of my job.

Scoring procedure

• Intrinsic Satisfaction: Sum the scores of items related to intrinsic job factors such as creativity, responsibility, and independence. A higher score indicates greater satisfaction with the job itself.
• Extrinsic Satisfaction: Sum the scores of items related to extrinsic factors like salary, benefits, and job security. A higher score indicates satisfaction with external rewards.
• General Satisfaction: This is the overall average of the intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction scores, providing a global measure of job satisfaction.

20 scales of Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) are as follows-

1. 1. 1. Ability utilization– The chance to do something that makes use of my abilities.
      2.  Achievement.-The feeling of accomplishment I get from the job.
      3. Activity- Being able to keep busy all the time.
      4. Advancement– The chances for advancement on this job.
      5. Authority.- The chance to tell other people what to do.
      6. Company policies and practices-The way company policies are put into practice.
      7. Compensation.–My pay and the amount of work I do.
      8. Co-workers- The way my co-workers get along with each other
      9. Creativity-The chance to try my own methods of doing the job.
      10. Independence- The chance to work alone on the job.
      11. Moral values– Being able to do things that don’t go against my conscience.
      12. Recognition- The praise I get for doing a good job.
      13. Responsibility- The freedom to use my own judgment.
      14. Security- The way my job provides for steady employment
      15. Social service-The chance to do things for other people.
      16. Social status.-The chance to be “somebody” in the community.
      17. Supervision-human relations– The way my boss handles his men.
      18. Supervision-technical- The competence of my supervisor in making decisions.
      19. Variety– The chance to do different things from time to time.
      20. Working conditions– The working conditions. 

Manual for  The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)

Criticism of Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)

• Useful when an organization wants to measure the overall level of job satisfaction rather than specific aspects.
• Nagy (1996) criticized many of the standard measures of job satisfaction because these measures ask only if employees are satisfied with a particular aspect of their job, but not how important that job aspect is to them.

References

Weiss, D. J., Dawis, R. V., England, G. W., & Lofquist, L. H. (1967). Manual for the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Industrial Relations Center.

Fields, D. L. (2002). Taking the Measure of Work: A Guide to Validated Scales for Organizational Research and Diagnosis. Sage Publications.

Hirschfeld, R. R. (2000). Validity studies: Does revising the intrinsic and extrinsic subscales of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire Short Form make a difference? Educational and Psychological Measurement, 60(2), 255-270. https://doi.org/10.1177/00131640021970493