Occupational Stress, Work Environment and Job Embeddededness As Predictors of Job Satisfaction Among Female Teaching Staff of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki 1Dr

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American International Journal of Available online at http://www.iasir.net Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences ISSN (Print): 2328-3734, ISSN (Online): 2328-3696, ISSN (CD-ROM): 2328-3688

AIJRHASS is a refereed, indexed, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary and open access journal published by International Association of Scientific Innovation and Research (IASIR), USA (An Association Unifying the Sciences, Engineering, and Applied Research)

Occupational Stress, Work Environment and Job Embeddededness as Predictors of Job Satisfaction Among Female Teaching Staff of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki 1Dr. Ronald C.N. Oginyi, 1Ofoke S.Mbam, 2Chia Francis Joseph 1,2Department of Psychology and Sociological Studies, Ebonyi State University,Abakaliki 2National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Nigeria

Abstract: In contemporary societies, organizations are facing various challenges due to the kinetic nature of occupational stress, work environment and job embeddedness on job satisfaction of employees. One of the significant challenges for organizations is how to satisfy its employees in order to increase maximum efficiency, effectiveness, productivity and job commitment. The organisation must satisfy the needs of its employees in order to reduce occupational stress, poor working environment and stable job embeddedness. The objective of this paper is to analyse occupational stress, work environment and job embeddededness as predictors of job satisfaction. The study employed a cross sectional survey design. Data were collected through occupational stress scale, work environment scale, job embeddededness scale and job satisfaction scale. The target population consists of female teaching staff of Ebonyi State University,Abakaliki, South- Eastern Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was used for data collection from 300 female teaching employees. The result revealed a positive prediction between occupational stress, work environment and job embeddedness on employee’s job satisfaction. The study concludes that the organisations need to realize the significance of low occupational stress, good working environment and stable job embeddedness for maximizing job satisfaction and psychological well-being of employees. This paper may benefit society by encouraging employees to contribute more efforts to their jobs and may help them in their personal growth and development and also for the development of national economy. Hence, it is important for an organization to motivate their employees to work hard for achieving the organisational goals, vision and objectives.

Keywords: Occupational stress, work environment, job embeddededness, job satisfaction.

I. Introduction Over the years, organisations lacked the ability to understand the psychological impact of occupational stress, work environment and job embeddededness on their employee’s job satisfaction. Employee is an important component in the process of achieving the aims and objectives of an organization. To meet the objectives, goals and vision of the organisation, employees need a low stress and good working environment that allows them to work freely without issues that may restrain them from performing up to the level of their full potential (Abdul&Raheela.2014) .The objective of this research paper is to investigate occupational stress, working environment and job embeddedness as predictors of job satisfaction. A. Job Satisfaction Ajayi (1983) refers job satisfaction as the personal feelings of contentment or a compound of various attitudes, mental and emotional, which a worker has and exhibits towards his work situation. Gruneberge (1979) refers job satisfaction as an individual’s emotional reactions to a particular job. Weiss (2002) argued that job satisfaction is an attitude but points out that researchers should clearly distinguish the objects of cognitive evaluation which affect emotion, beliefs and behaviours. That is to say that we form our attitudes towards our jobs by taking into account our feelings, beliefs and our behavour. Job satisfaction is the effective orientation of individuals towards work roles that they are currently occupying. One could be said to be satisfied with one’s job to the extent that the job fulfills one’s dominant needs and values (Rextroat, 1992; Usman, 2005; and Clark, 2006). Lacoke and Lathan (1990) define job satisfaction as pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job experience. Luthan, (1998) posited that there are three important dimensions to job satisfaction: job satisfaction is an emotional response to a job situation. As such it cannot be seen, it can only be inferred. Job satisfaction is often determined by how well outcome meets or exceeds expectations. For instance, if organizational participants feeled that they are working much harder than others in the organization but are receiving fewer rewards, they will probably have

AIJRHASS 16-257; © 2016, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 161 Ofoke et al.., American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 15(2), June-August, 2016, pp. 161-170 a negative attitudes towards the work, the boss or co-workers. On the other hand, if they feel they are being treated very well and being paid equitably, they are likely to have positive attitudes towards the job. Job satisfaction represents several related attitudes which are most important characteristics of a job about which people have effective response. These to Luthan are: the work itself, pay, promotion opportunities, supervision and coworkers. Evan (2001) described job satisfaction as a state of mind encompassing all those feelings determined by the extent to which the individual perceives his/her job related needs as being met. Blum, Robbin and Judge (2011) expressed it as an individual’s general attitude towards his/her job. Mertler (2002) defined job satisfaction as the willingness to perform a task. Job satisfaction is defined as a situation where an employee begins to compare the actual job outcome to the desired job outcome which is the result of an affectionate reaction to a given job situation (Rad & Yarmohammadin, 2006). In general, it can be said that job satisfaction is an affective reaction to a job that results from the person’s comparison of actual outcomes with those that are desired, anticipated, or deserved (Oshagbemi, 2000). Mosadeghrad, Ferlic and Rosenberg (2008) see job satisfaction as the way people behave to perform their job in their organizations. B. Occupational Stress Occupational stress can be defined as a disruption of the emotional stability of the individual that induces a state of disorganization in personality and behaviour (Nwadiani, 2006). A stressor may be defined as any demand made by the internal or external environment that upsets a person’s balance and for which restoration is needed (Larson, 2004). Job stressors may refer to any characteristic of the workplace that poses a threat to the individual (Bridger, Kilminster, & Slaven, 2007). Occupational stress can be defined as the experience of unpleasant, negative emotions that may lead to tension, anxiety, frustration, anger and depression resulting from aspects of work (Salami, 2003). According to the current World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition, occupational or work- related stress is the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope (Henry & Evans, 2008). Lazarus and Folkman (1984) defined stress as a relationship between a person and his environment which is appraised as tagging and endangers his or her well-being. Stanton, Baizer, Smith, Parra, & Ironson (2001) defined job stress as something in the work environment that is perceived as threatening or demanding, or is something in the work place which may characterize an individual’s work experience, which may also induce feelings of being overwhelmed or nerve-wacked. Higher levels of work related stress can lead to organizational problems, such as low productivity, increased absenteeism and low turnover, as well as individual employee problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, and ill-being (Mostert, Rothmann, Mostert, Nell, 2008). C. Work Environment According to Jain and Kaur (2014) work environment involves all the aspects which act and react on the body and mind of an employee. If the working environment is congenial, fatigue, monitory and boredom are minimized and work performance can be maximized. Work environment is one of the comprehensive concepts of an organization because it includes aspects of physical, psychological and social working conditions. The work environment can have a positive or negative effect on psychological well-being of employees. In organizations with high job demands and high pressures tend to increase employees job stress. Organization seeks to eliminate the negative aspects of the work environment so that employees are satisfied with their works (Jain & Kaur, 2014) Mehbood and Bhutto (2012) the concept of work environment is a comprehensive one including the physical, psychological and social aspects that mark up the working condition. Also, work environment involves all the aspects which act and react on the body and mind of an employee. They also described work environment as the environment in which people are working and a wide category that incorporates the physical scenery (e.g moise, equipment, heat), fundamentals of the job itself (e.g. work load, task, complexity),extensive business features (e.g, culture, history) and even extra business background (e.g. industry setting, workers relation). Abdul and Raheela (2015) stated that work environment consists of two broader dimensions such as work and context. Work includes all the different characteristics of the job like the way job is carried out and completed, involving the tasks like task activities, training, control on one’s own job related activities, a sense of achievement from work, variety in tasks and the intrinsic value for a task. Different factors within the working environment such as wages, working hours, autonomy given to employees, organizational structure and communication between employees and management may affect job satisfaction (Lane, Esser, Hotte, Anne, 2010). D. Job Embededness Mitchell, Hottom, Lee, Sablynski, Erez (2001) refers Job embeddedness as the collection of forces that influence employee retention. Ivancevich, Konopaske, Matteson (2011) refers Job embeddedness as an employee’s connection with other employees within organization, fit with the job/organization/community, and sacrifices that would be made if he or she were to leave the organization. Yao (2004) defines job embeddedness as the combined forces that keep a person from leaving his or her job. Job embeddedness is a theory of turnover suggesting that a combination of many factors that determine whether employees stay with a firm. Job embeddeness represents a broad series of influential factors for employee retention. The keys of the job embeddeness is as follow: (1) the degree of connection of individuals and others or activities (2) the degree of similarity or fitting of job, community and other aspects of individual living (3) loss of personal turnover (Holtom, Mitchell, & Lee, 2006). Zhao, and

Liu (2010) job embeddeness represents a series of general factors which affect retention decision making of employees, which not only include job factors, such as contact with colleagues, fitting of personnel and posts and community service activities sponsored by the organization, etc, but also include some non-work factors, such as responsibilities of individual, family and the community. Mitchell et al (2001) conceptualize job embeddeness as including one’s links to other aspects of the job (e.g. people and groups), perception of person-job fit and the sacrifices involved in leaving the job. Job embeddeness represents a broad collection of factors that influence an employee’s decision to remain in or leave an organization (Takawira, 2012). In general job embeddeness can be defined as a connection between employee with their organization and community that make them stay in the organization with firm. Mitchell and Lee (2001) identified the critical aspects of job embeddeness as the extent to which people have links to people on the job or their community; the extent to which they fit or are a good match with their job and community; and the ease with which they would have to give up or sacrifice things if they were to leave their job (Takawire, 2012). Job embeddeness therefore consist of three dimensions: “fit” with the job, organization and community; “links” to other people, teams and groups and the “sacrifice” associated with changing jobs. Fit: Fit refers to an employee’s perceived compatibility of comfort with the organization as well as his or her job. According to the theory (Mitchell, et al; 2001) an employee’s personal values, career goals and plans for the future should fit with the larger corporate culture and the demands for his or her immediate job (e.g skills, abilities and job knowledge). Michell et al (2001) argue that the better the fits, the higher the likelihood that an employee will feel professionally and personally tied to the organization. According to Mg and Feldman (2007) high levels of embeddeness may indicate that the individual’s career has been progressing well, but embeddeness can also mean a lower likelihood of discovering and taking advantage of other career opportunities (Takawira, 2012). According to Mitchell et al (2001) links are formal or informal connections between an employee and the organization or other employees. Job embeddeness suggests that a number of strands connect an employee and his or her family, psychological and financial web that includes work and non-work friends, groups, the community, and the physical environment where they live. As the number of these links increase, embeddeness is greater and the larger the number of links between the person and the web, the greater the likelihood that an employee will stay in the organization (Holtom et al; 2006 in Takawira, 2012). Sacrifice: According to Mitchell, et al (2006), sacrifice captures the perceived cost of material or psychological benefits that may be forfeited by leaving the job, for example, an employee might experience personal loss such as giving up colleagues or interesting projects when leaving an organization. There are less visible, but still important potential sacrifices suffered by leaving an organization (e.g opportunities for advancement, flexible work hours and job stability. In addition, various advantages accrue to individuals who stay long enough in an organization. For example, sabbatical leave is granted after five years of employment at several universities. Thus, taking a new job elsewhere could mean given up these accrued advantages (Takawira, 2012).

II. Literature Review A. Impact of Occupational Stress on Job Satisfaction Ahlam and Hassan (2012) investigated factors associated with occupational stress and their impacts on organizational performance in a Sudanese university. Using a total of 150 male and female employees from different departments with various educational levels. Results indicated that on average the employees experienced high degree of job stress. Job stressors affected the general physical health of employees, their job satisfaction and performance as well as their commitment negatively. Daniel, and Moses (2013) examined stress and job satisfaction among journalists in Benue state, Nigeria. Using a sample of 153 journalists comprising 129 males and 24 females from 31 print and electronic media organizations in Benue state. Data collected was analyzed using correlation analysis and T-test. Result revealed significant negative relationship between stress and job satisfaction among journalists. Result also indicated differences between male and female journalists in their levels of job satisfaction but found no differences in their levels of stress. Deprez and Racymaeckers (2012) examined a longitudinal study of job satisfaction among the population of professional Flemish journalists by means of two surveys conducted in 2003 (N= 1, 026) and 2008 (N=682). Both surveys focus on intrinsic and extrinsic variables linked to job satisfaction as well as on several predictors of job satisfaction such as type of contract, job function, age, and gender. The result revealed that the degree of job satisfaction seems to be related to the type of contract (Freelance or employed on a permanent basis) and the job function. They also noticed a clear gender element in the discussion: Female journalists are not less satisfied but showed to have more difficulties to combine the journalistic job with private and family life. Senem and Ozgur (2014) investigated the relation between work-family conflict, job stress, organizational commitment and job performance: A study on Turkish primary school teachers, found a concrete negative effect of work-family conflict on job stress and partial effect on organizational commitment. Result also indicated that job stress causes a negative effect on organizational commitment.

Mansoor, Fida, Nasir and Ahmad (2011) examined the impact of job stress on employee job satisfaction among employees from the telecom sector from Pakistan and found that stress is negatively related to employee’s job satisfaction. Ahsan, Abdullah, Fie and Alam (2009) investigated the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction among public university academician from Klang valley area in Malaysia. The determinants of job stress examined include, management role, relationship with others. Workload pressure, home work interface, role ambiguity and performance pressure. The results show that there is a significant relationship between four of the constructs tested and a significant negative relationship between stress and job satisfaction. Results of a study of naval personnel of Malaysia in which the relationship between stress and job satisfaction was examined, revealed that occupational stress was negatively associated with job satisfaction (Nor-Liyana & Mansor, 2009). Mescol (2011) investigated the relationship between stress and job satisfaction among 70 Romanian academics, stress was indicated by the levels of depression and anxiety. The results indicated that: a) there is a negative correlation between stress and job satisfaction; b) women report a high level of anxiety and depression and a low levels of job satisfaction and found to be significantly different on male counterpart. Malhotra and Chadha (2012) said that 60.8% employees responded that stress is negatively related to employee turnover, when the stress in the organization increase, the more employees shows their tendency to leave the organization. This is the easiest way for the employees to escape from the stress; and 50.8% employees in the organization reacted that stress badly impact upon the performance of the employees. Affum-Osei and Azunu (2015) examined relationship between occupational stress and Demographic variables: A study of employees in a commercial bank in Ghana. Using a total of 206 employees were randomly selected from 10 branches of a commercial bank in Ghana. The result showed that majority of the employees were moderately and highly stressed with females workers recording the highest level of occupational stress compared to their male counterparts. The study further indicated that, there is evidence of significant relationship between occupational stress and demographic variables (gender, age, qualification experience and marital status).Adegoke (2014) investigated the effects of occupational stress on psychological well-being of police employees in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. Using 250 police employees from five local government areas of Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. Results showed significant effects of work-stress, frustration and depression on psychological well-being of police employees. Elena (2013) examined the relationship between occupational stress, job satisfaction and work engagement. Three psychometric instruments were used in order to examine the association between the variables and the predictive values of occupational stress. It is also determined the moderating effect played by demographic variables of the 238 participants included in the research. Statistical analysis highlighted the negative, medium and low correlations between the subscales of the independent variables and that of dependent variables and that certain occupational stress sources are predictors of the dimensions specific to job satisfaction and work engagement. The results obtained from the moderating analysis show that five demographic variables have a moderating effect on the relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction subscales. Abdul (2012) examined the relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction. The case of Pakistan, Universities. The result indicated no significant relationship found between job satisfaction and overall occupational stress; inverse relationship was found between the occupational stress and overall job satisfaction in faculty members of private universities. No relationship between the occupational stress and overall job satisfaction in the case of both male and female faculty members of universities; young age university teachers are more sensitive to the occupational stress and job satisfaction; and no significant relationship was found between the occupational stress and overall job satisfaction in faculty members of universities across the nature of job; visiting, contract and permanent. Robbins (1996) conducted a study while examining the occupational stress and job satisfaction. The result showed relationship between job satisfaction and occupational stress, also moderated by number of factors like relevant placement, clarity of job role, level of responsibility and designated power factors like job importance, uniformity, autonomy and identity improve the job satisfaction, while low level of empowerment, less control over work and unfair interference of higher management increase stress and overall dissatisfaction. Sattar and Jamil (2004) conducted a research study to find out the effects of stress on job satisfaction of head teachers at elementary level. Sample of the study were thirty heads (15 male and 15 female) of elementary schools of laborecity. The results of the study showed that most of the head teachers at elementary level were in stress and it was negatively affecting their job satisfaction. In some cases, females were more stressed and in some the male heads were more stressed decreasing their level of job satisfaction. B. Impact of Work Environment on Job satisfaction. Sunday, Omoloba and Mayowa (2013) investigated job satisfaction and work environment of primary health care nurses in Ekiti State, Nigeria: An exploratory study. A total of 216 nurses were recruited but only 161 nurses responded to the instrument administered. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from the study revealed that there was a significant positive strong correlation between, overall work environment and the general job satisfaction of the nurses (r=0.55, P<0.01). “Provisions of modern equipment for work” and “increment/prompt payment of salary” were the most prominent factors in work environment that the nurses perceived as capable of increasing their job satisfaction (54.7% and 49.7% respectively). Ending and Truma

(2014) examined the affect of work environment, job satisfaction, organization commitment on OCB of internet auditors. About 162 copies of questionnaires were distributed by using in person and email. The data were processed using path analysis. The results showed that the work environment is an antecedent of job satisfaction and organizational commitment of internal auditors. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment significantly affect organizational citizenship behaviour of internal auditors. They concluded that good work environment leads to job satisfaction and organizational commitment of employees in organizations. Twoodman, Sawyaer, and Griffin (1993) examined two work environment characteristics in organization (1) group characteristics include norms, consistency in group, problem solving approaches using in the group; (2) organizational characteristics including rewards, recognition, strategy, structure, resources, organizational culture and technology. Both characteristics have the potential to encourage innovation and creativity. Bakotic and Babic (2013) showed that there was no significant difference in overall job satisfaction between workers who work in normal working conditions and workers who work in difficult working conditions. Workers who work in normal working conditions are more satisfied with working conditions than workers who work under difficult working conditions. Roclofsen (2002) showed that the work environment affects job satisfaction. Comfortable working environment reduce complaints and the level of absence for employees satisfied with their job. Organizations must be able to create a conducive working environment so as to improve or enhance job satisfaction and performance. Abdul and Raheela (2015) examined the impact of working environment on job satisfaction. Using 210 participants from educational institutes, banking sector and telecommunication industry operating in the city of Quetta, Pakistan using simple random sampling technique. The results indicated a positive relationship between working environment and employee job satisfaction. Skalli; Theodossions, and Vasileious (2008) showed that there is a positive link between work environment and intrinsic aspect of the job satisfaction. Buhai, Cottini, and Nielseny (2008) finds that a firm can increase its productivity through the improvement of physical dimensions of work environment (internal climate) and may have a positive impact on firms’ productivity. Catillo and Cano (2004) on the job satisfaction level among faculty members of colleges showed that if proper attention is given towards interpersonal relationships, recognition and supervision, the level of job satisfaction would increase. Sell and Bryan (2011) developed a model on job satisfaction by integrating economic variables and work envornment variables to study the reaction of employees in hazardous work environment with high monetary benefits and non-hazardous work environment and lo monetary benefits. The study showed that different psychosocial and work environment variables like workplace, social support has direct impact on job satisfaction and that increases in rewards does not improve the dissatisfaction level among employees. Chandraskar (2011) argued that an organization needs to pay attention to create a work environment that enhances the ability of employees to become more productive in order to increase profits for organization. It also argue that human to human interactions and relations are playing more dominant role in the overall job satisfaction rather than money whereas management skills, time and energy, all are needed for improving the overall performance of the organization in current era. Lee and brand (2005) showed that job satisfaction is increased by conducive working environment. Siwalankerto (2014) examined the impact of working environment towards employee job satisfaction. A case study in PT. X. The result revealed that simultaneously work environment factor is significant towards the employee job satisfaction and performance. Parvin (2011) conducted a research on the factors affecting employee job satisfaction of pharmaceutical sector. The result of his research was that working environment factor is one of the major influence of employee job satisfaction. Noah and Steve (2012) research aims on assessing the relation of work environment towards the job attitude and organizational commitment of employees in Nigeria settings, the result showed that work environment led significant influence towards employee job satisfaction and performance. C. Impact of Job Embeddedness on Job Satisfaction Brain, Wendy, and Ryan (2011) examining the job search-turnover relationship: The role of job embeddeness, job satisfaction, and available alternatives. The finding suggests that there may be a number of factors interacting to influence employee’s turnover decisions, indicating greater complexity to the process than described in prominent sequential turnover models. Son and Choi (2015) investigated the effect of job embeddeness and job satisfaction on turnover intention in nurses, using 216 nurses. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, Scheffe-test, one- way ANOVA, pearson correlation co-efficient and hierarchical multiple regression with the SPSS/WIN 210 version. Result indicated that job embeddeness was positively correlated with job satisfaction and negative correlation with turnover intention. Result also revealed that job embeddeness and job satisfaction accounted for 33.1% of the variance in turnover intention. Van, Coetzee and Takawira (2013) satisfaction with retention factors as predictors of the job embeddeness of medical and information technology services staff. Using 206 of early career medical and information technology services staff. Result revealed that Rentention factors such as training and development, career opportunities, supervisor support and the characteristics of the job (skills variety, challenge and antonomy) were shown to significantly predict the participant’s sense of job embeddeness. Job satisfaction with training and development opportunities was the best predictor of organizational fit, while satisfaction with career opportunities was the best predictor of organizational sacrifice. Lee, Mitchell, Holtom,

McDaniel and Hill (1999) examined the unfolding model of voluntary turnover: A replication and extension. The result of the study indicated that job embeddeness predict both intent to level and actual turnover, and was a better predictor of voluntary turnover than job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job search alternatives. Holtom and O’Neil (2004) tested the association of on-the-job embeddeness and turnover intention in the United States. Using 208 hospital employees and found a significant negative correlation between on-the-job embeddeness and turnover intention. Lee, Mitchell, Sablynsky, Burton, and Holtom (2004) proposed in their study that employees who are embedded on the job would be more likely to display higher in role (i.e; job performance) and extra-role (i.e. organizational citizenship behaviour) performance. They argued that because these individuals are socially enmeshed into the organization, and so are likely to cooperate with and assist co-workers on work- related tasks. They also proposed subsequently quit because they depend on their job financially to support their life in the community. In line with their propositions, they found that organizational embeddedness had significant relationships with higher levels of citizenship behaviour and job performance. Also they found that after controlling commitment, off-the-job embeddeness significantly predicted absence and subsequent turnover. Their results showed that different types of embeddeness increased attendance, retention, job performance, and citizenship behaviours. Cho and Ryu (2009) replicated the lee et al (2004) study by examining the relationship of on-the-job embeddeness with organizational citizenship behavior and job performance in South Korean employees. Apart from hypothesizing that organizational links, fit, and sacrifice would be related to OCB, they equally posited that OCB should mediate the relationship between on-the-job embeddeness and job performance. They were of the opinion that on-the-job embeddeness would lead to higher quality job performance. Their hypotheses were partially supported by the finding, that organizational links, fit, and sacrifice were positively related to OCB. They also found that OCB mediated the relationship between on-the-job embeddeness and job performance. Ng and Feldman (2010) examined the impact of job embeddeness on innovation related behaviours. Specifically, they examined three types of innovation-related behaviours: generating ideas, sharing ideas with colleagues, supervisors and spreading innovation throughout the organization; and working to implement those innovations themselves or helping others to so. They hypothesized that job would be positively related to innovation-related behaviours because embeddeness “fosters a strong sense of responsibility to contribute fully to long-time employers”. In support of their hypothesis they found that job embeddeness was positively related to higher levels of all three types of innovation related-behaviours. They concluded by saying that embedded employees were motivated to move forward the organization’s best interests and that displaying move innovation- related behaviours was a vehicle towards doing so. From the literature reviewed so far,result indicated that little research had been done on occupational stress work environment and job embeddeness as predictors of job satisfaction among female teaching staff in a non-western culture. Therefore more attention should focus on the independent variables upon the dependent variable. The objectives of this research therefore is to determine the contribution of occupational stress, work environment and job embeddedness in predicting job satisfaction among female teaching staff of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki. Based on this premise, the following research questions will guide the study: Does occupational stress, work environment and job embeddedness have significant relation on job satisfaction?. In view of the literature reviewed above, the research will test the relationship between occupational stress, work environment and job embeddedness on job satisfaction. The hypothesis below is developed to analyze the relationship between the variables. (I). There is no significant relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction among female teaching staff. (2). There is no significant relationship between work environment and job satisfaction among female teaching staff. (3). There is no significant relationship between job embeddedeness and job satisfaction among female staff. III. Method A. Participants The volunteer participants in this study were all Christians of Igbo ethnic group. The Igbo are located in five states in south-eastern, Nigeria (Odimegu, 1998), and they are one of the largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria (approximately 27 million people). They speak various Igbo dialects, with English frequently spoken as well (Fardon & Furniss, 1994). In the present study, 300 female teaching staff of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki South-Eastern, Nigeria, participated for this study. The age range of the participants were between 21 to 50 years (mean SE=35.8 = 16.1). They had between 0 and 9 children (mean= SI=4.6 = 3.1). The participants were academic staff members at the Ebonyi State University, South-Eastern, Nigeria a large State Government-owned institution. The level of education was between Bachelors of sciences (BSc) to Professors. B. Instruments Four instruments were used for this study. They include (a).Occupational Stress Scale. (b) Work Environment Scale. (c) Job Embeddedeness Scale. (d) Job Satisfaction Scale. Occupational Stress Scale Occupational Stress Scale (OSS: Salami 2003). OSS is a 50-item questionnaire that measures occupational stress factors viz: workload, interpersonal problems, time pressure, working conditions, leadership problems, inadequate facilities and personal problems. Items are responded to on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree

(1) to strongly agree (5). Range of score is 50-250. The coefficient of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) of the scale was r = 0.85. The OSS has impressive norms and correlated highly (r=0.75) with the stress scale by Cooper, Cooper and Eaker (1988). Work Environment Scale Work Environment scale (WES: Moos, 1994). It is a 90 item true/false questionnaire designed to examine peer cohesion, supervisor support, autonomy, and work pressure. The WES measures 3 dimensions of the work environment: personal growth/goal orientation, relationships, and system maintenance/ system change. Each dimension is divided into several subscales (Antencio et al., 2003). The study focuses on the personal growth and goal orientation subscales of autonomy, task orientation and work pressure. The autonomy subscale measures the extent to which nurses are encouraged to make their own decisions and be self-sufficient. The task orientation subscale measures the degree or emphasis on good planning, efficiency and the ability to get the job done. The work pressure subscale measures the degree that works demands and time pressure dominates the job. The Insel and Moos’ Work Environmental Scale (WES) Form R has been tested for validity and reliability (Antencio et al., 2003; Flarey, 1991, 1993; Moos, 1994). The scale has a high reliability coefficient 0.70 and with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.85. A pilot study was carried out using 150 female teaching staff of Ebonyi State federal college, Ikwo. The analysis yielded cronbach´s alpha reliability of 0.86. Job Embeddedness Scale Job embeddedness scale was measured by using the Job Embeddedness Scale (JES: Mitchell et al.2001). The JES measures three causal, not effect, indicators of the dimensions for embeddedness: fit (seven items), sacrifice (ten items) and links (six items) on a six-point Likert-type scale. The JES (Mitchell et al. 2001) comprises two dimensions, namely organisational and community dimensions. In the present study, the examination was limited to the organisational dimension. Researchers have found that the organisational dimension better predicts job satisfaction than the community dimension does (Allen 2006; Halbesleben & Wheeler 2008; Lee et al. 2004). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (internal consistency) for the five subscales (as obtained for the sample of this study) were as follows: fit (.84), links (.77) and sacrifice (.87). A pilot study was carried out using 150 academic staff of federal college Ikwo. The analysis yielded cronbach´s alpha reliability of 0.89. Job Satisfaction Scale Job satisfaction scale (JSS) was measured with A 20 items; Minnesota satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) developed by Weiss, Dawis &Lofquist (1967) and revalidated by Omoluaba for Nigerian sample was used to measure job satisfaction. The scale has been used in previous studies and yielded internal consistencies between alpha.75 and .90. The scale is very reliable and has been proved valid and reliable in several studies. Example of items on the scale includes “my job is very interesting enough to keep me from getting bored, I considered my job rather unpleasant”, “I like my job better than the average worker does” “my job provides varieties for me”. The scale was measure on a 4 point Likert Scaling model with options ranging from5=Very Satisfied, 4= Satisfied, 3 = I am not sure, 2 = Dissatisfied, 1 = Very Dissatisfied. C. Procedure The survey was administered individually in various offices in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ebonyi state University, Abakaliki. South-Eastern Nigeria during the working hours by the researcher and trained research assistants (psychology students). Respondents were assured of the anonymity in their responses. The respondents were allowed to complete the survey at their convenience, and the research assistants would return to collect the completed questionnaire at a time agreed upon by the respondent and assistant. Out of the 320 female teaching staff surveyed initially, 300 (94.5%) completed and returned their surveys. 20 out of the 320 returned copies of the questionnaire were discarded as a result of incomplete filling of the questionnaire , leaving 300 questionnaire that were used for data analysis. All the respondents volunteered to participate, and they were not compensated for taking part in the study. D. Design/Statistic The design of the study was a Cross-Sectional Survey Design and regression analysis was used to test the stated hypotheses. SPSS version 20 software was used for statistical analysis. IV. Results Table 1: Show Means and Standard Deviation of Job satisfaction, Occupational Stress, Work Environment and Job Embeddededness Variables Variables Means Standard deviation Job Satisfaction 42.04 8.255 Occupational Stress 86.60 9.757 Work Environment 120.98 9.457 Job Embeddedeness 39.50 8.494 Note: N = 180 Results from table 1 shows that variables of occupational stress had (M= 86, SD= 9.757), variable work environment had (M=120.98, SD= 9.457), job embeddedness had (M= 39.80, SD= 7.494) while the dependent

AIJRHASS 16-257; © 2016, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 167 Ofoke et al.., American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 15(2), June-August, 2016, pp. 161-170 variable job satisfaction had (M= 42.04, SD= 8.255). This implies that work environment and occupational stress had the largest mean and standard deviation than the job embeddedeness on job satisfaction. Table 2: Shows ANOVA Summary on Occupational Stress, Work Environment and Job Embeddededness as Predictors of Job Satisfaction Among Female Teaching Staff of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki Variable model SS df Ms F Sign Regression 3770.141 3 923.380 12.266 0.000* Residual 22862.587 296 83.083 Total 25332.728 299 a. Dependent variable: Job Satisfaction b. Predictors: (Constant), Occupational Stress, Work Environment, Job Embeddedeness, F(3, 296) = 12.266, P<.0.000* Results from table 2 showed that there was a positive significant relationship between Occupational Stress, Work Environment and Job Embeddedeness on Job Satisfaction among female teaching staff of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki; F(3, 296)= 12.266, P<0.000*. Table 3: Shows the Regression Analysis for Prediction of Job Satisfaction Through Occupational Stress, Work Environment and Job satisfaction Variables. Variable B β t p SE Job satisfaction 85.32 0.000 8.47 0.000 10.08 Occupational Stress 0.007 0.008 .112 .911 0.59 Work Environment -0.35 -0.40 -5.52 0.000 0.63 Job Embeddedeness 0.23 0.21 2.00 0.003 0.08 R= 0.40; R2= 0.16; Adjusted R2= 0.15. F (3, 296) = 12.27, P<0.001. In the variable model three of the predictor variables were statistically significant with Job Embeddedeness recording a higher beta value (β=0.21, P<0.05) than Occupational Stress (β =0.008, P<0.05) and Work Environment (β = -.40, P<0.05). This indicated that Job Embeddedeness had the highest predictive power on job satisfaction followed by Work Environment and Occupational Stress.

V. Discussion In this current study tagged occupational stress, work environment and job embeddededness as predictors of job satisfaction among female teaching staff of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, three hypotheses were stated. The first hypothesis, which stated that there is no significant relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction among female teaching staff (β =0.01, P<0.05) was rejected. This implies that there was significant positive relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction among female teaching staff. This present research is supported by Mardhiah and Choi (2015) study that investigated the relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction among teachers. The sample consists of a teacher from Malacca. 386 teachers were invited to participate in the questionnaire survey. A cross sectional study was used to examine the relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction. Descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis were employed to analyse the data. The result revealed that there is a significant relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction. The result also shows that role ambiguity and role overload was predictor of job satisfaction. Other researchers that supported the research findings are (Parsa et.al. 2013; Kayastha & Kayastha, 2012; Kaur, 2011; Klassen et.al. 2010; De Nobile, John & Mc Cormick, 2005) The second hypothesis, which stated that there will be no significant relationship between work environment on job satisfaction was rejected, due to the fact there were significant positive predictor of work environment and job satisfaction among female teaching staff (β =.40, P<0.05).This result is in conformity with the findings of Abdul and Raheela (2015) study that investigated the impact of working environment on job satisfaction.Using 210 participants from educational institutes, banking sector and telecommunication industry operating in the city of Quetta, Pakistan using simple random sampling technique. The results indicated a positive relationship between working environment and employee job satisfaction. Other researchers that supported this findings includes (Sunday, Omoloba & Mayowa, 2013; Ending & Truma, 2014) The third hypothesis which stated that there is no significant relationship between job embeddedeness and job satisfaction was rejected, because there were observed positive prediction of job embeddedeness on job satisfaction (β=0.21, P<0.05). This finding was in concordance with the findings of Son and Choi (2015) study that investigated the effect of job embeddeness and job satisfaction on turnover intention in nurses, using 216 nurses. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, Scheffe-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and hierarchical multiple regression with the SPSS/WIN 210 version. Results indicated that job embeddeness was positively corrected with job satisfaction and negative correlation with turnover intention. Result also revealed that job embeddeness and job satisfaction accounted for 33.1% of the variance in turnover intention. Other researchers whose findings conformed with this findings includes (Van, Coetzee & Takawira, 2013 ;)

A. Limitations of the Study The present study has the following limitations: external validity and lack of water-tight generalizability. The current sample was very homogenous, with the majority of participants being highly educated and reporting significantly higher levels of job satisfaction than the normative population. The sample is clearly not representative of the greater population and lacks global generalization. B. Suggestion for Further Studies Considering the results of the present study and other researches in this field, the following can be suggested: Occupational stress, work environment and job embeddedeness can be considered as one of the predictive criteria for a successful job satisfaction of married and non-married university staff. Devising an intervention program for organisations to enhance their low occupational stress, good work environment and stable job embeddedness in other to enhance maximum job satisfaction of the employees is highly solicited. Further studies should look at demographic variables such as educational background; gender socio-economic status and age since they seem to influence marital satisfaction. C. Recommendation The researchers recommended the following: Organisations should introduce awareness campaign to educate their employees on occupational stress, work environment and job embeddedness issues since they lead to low job satisfaction of there employees. Organisations should employ counselling psychologist to counsel employees on how to cope with occupational stress, poor working environment and unstable job embeddedeness within and outside the organisation.

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