Work reinforcers and explanatory style for women aged 40 to 75 years.

We examined the relationship between explanatory style and work reinforcers, that is, specific sources in the work environment that appear to promote job satisfaction. Our subjects were 135 employed women aged 40 to 75 years who were asked to complete the Attributional Style Questionnaire (Peterson et al., 1982) and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Weiss, Dawis, England, & Lofquist, 1967). Using Pearson's product-moment correlational analysis, weak but significant relationships were found between explanatory style and the work reinforcers of ability utilization, activity, and creativity. Individuals with a depressive explanatory style experienced less job satisfaction in areas related to these reinforcers.