Scale library · HRM & organizational behavior
Overall job satisfaction (MOAQ): Cammann et al. (1979)
This scale measures employees' overall satisfaction with their job rather than separate facets such as pay, coworkers or supervision. The three items belong to the Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire developed by the University of Michigan's Quality of Work group in the mid-1970s and are usually cited as Cammann, Fichman, Jenkins and Klesh (1979, 1983). Bowling and Hammond (2008) meta-analysed more than 70 studies and confirmed good construct validity. It suits theses on satisfaction, engagement and turnover intention among bank staff, teachers, nurses and office workers.
Cite the original, not the blog.
- Model or scale: MOAQ-JSS
- Constructs: 1
- Items: 3 (1 reverse-coded)
Original English items
Items marked (R) are reverse-coded: recode them before computing reliability or scale scores. Replace bracketed placeholders such as [system] with the name of the system, brand or organization you study.
Overall Job Satisfaction (JS, 3 items)
| Code | Item wording | Reverse-coded |
|---|---|---|
| JS1 | All in all, I am satisfied with my job. | No |
| JS2 (R) | In general, I don't like my job. | Yes |
| JS3 | In general, I like working here. | No |
Response scale
Agreement scale. The University of Michigan's 1975 MOAQ report (the forerunner of Cammann et al., 1979) used 7 points; the version in Paul Spector's scale archive (Spector, n.d.) uses 6 points (1 = Disagree very much … 6 = Agree very much). Many later studies use 5 or 7 points; sum or average the 3 items after reverse-scoring JS2.
Recoding reverse-coded items: 1–7 scale: new score = 8 − score; 1–6 scale: new score = 7 − score; 1–5 scale: new score = 6 − score.
Licence and permission
The items are published in MOAQ documents and academic articles and archived by Paul Spector on his website; we found no specific terms of use from the authors. Cite Cammann et al.
Sources (APA 7)
- Bowling, N. A., & Hammond, G. D. (2008). A meta-analytic examination of the construct validity of the Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire Job Satisfaction Subscale. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73(1), 63–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2008.01.004
- Cammann, C., Fichman, M., Jenkins, G. D., & Klesh, J. R. (1979). The Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire [Unpublished manuscript]. University of Michigan.
- Cammann, C., Fichman, M., Jenkins, G. D., & Klesh, J. R. (1983). Assessing the attitudes and perceptions of organizational members. In S. E. Seashore, E. E. Lawler, P. H. Mirvis, & C. Cammann (Eds.), Assessing organizational change: A guide to methods, measures, and practices. Wiley.
- Shaqiqi, W. (2025). Job satisfaction as a predictor of emotional labor among nurses: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Nursing Management, 2025(1), 8062261. https://doi.org/10.1155/jonm/8062261
- Shaqiqi, W. (2026). The mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between perceived organizational support and nurses' turnover intentions. Journal of Nursing Management, 2026(1), 2960879. https://doi.org/10.1155/jonm/2960879
- Spector, P. E. (n.d.). Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire (MOAQ) [Assessment archive]. Retrieved October 30, 2026, from https://paulspector.com/assessments/assessment-archive/job-attitudes/michigan-organizational-assessment-questionnaire-moaq/
Vietnamese translation
A Vietnamese translation of every item, with sample-size advice and studies that used the scale, is on the Vietnamese page for this scale.