Business Owner-Managers’ Job Autonomy and Job Satisfaction: Up, Down or No Change?

The current study developed a dynamic model which identified a pattern of change in small business owner-managers’ job autonomy and job satisfaction separately through the trend analyses (linear, quadratic, and cubic trends). The current study then tested the associations between the growth models of job autonomy and job satisfaction. The study utilized data from an Australian sample over 9 years with a total sample of 1,044 self-employed individuals. In brief, the findings illustrate a curvilinear relationship (cubic and non-monotonic) between changes in job autonomy and job satisfaction. Further, the change rate of job satisfaction was faster among small business owner-managers who perceived greater fluctuation of job autonomy, compared to those who perceived lesser shifts in job autonomy.