Predicting Social Workers' Subjective Well-Being

Understanding subjective well-being can provide a full assessment of how people evaluate overall life satisfaction. Research and literature have yet to explore this social science concept as it relates to practicing social workers. As a corrective the following research reports on data collected from a representative sample of 646 social workers who completed a survey that measures subjective well-being (SWB, the social scientific concept of happiness). Findings reveal responses regarding life and job satisfaction and physical stress that are not dissimilar to responses one might find among general populations. The regression analysis uncovered several predictors of satisfaction. The socio-demographic, work, and stress predictors explained over 52% of variance in overall social worker satisfaction. Also, type of employer and age played a role in predicting organizational satisfaction. Similar findings, with some differences, were found with predicting professional association and organizational satisfactions. Further, employees of the child welfare system demonstrated lower SWB levels than their counterparts employed in other fields. This article considers implications for social work administration and practice that involves enhancing those factors that are positively associated with SWB and minimizing those that are not.