The role of work-life conflict, social support, career growth and self-efficacy on job satisfaction among special forces of Malaysian Army

Job satisfaction is important that can affect individuals’ motivation, commitment and performance. Low job satisfaction can end with higher turnover expectation, low morale and weak mission fulfillment. However, traditional job satisfaction theories do not take into consideration the complex overlying needs of elite military teams. Little research has discussed the impact of such dynamics on other rank (OR) members in elite units, the personal experience of whom is usually immensely different compared to their peers, the officers. These soldiers are commonly involved in the most challenging performing lines of duties yet they do not always have freedom, career development sense, or psychological welfare system which are significant job satisfaction indicators. Therefore, this study is conducted with the intention to capture factors that might influence job satisfaction among Other Ranks in Malaysian Army special forces. The study tested four independent variables namely, work-life conflict, social support, career growth and self-efficacy against job satisfaction. A total of 367 questionnaire were distributed online using Google form with response rate of 100%. In this study, hypotheses for direct relationhsip were tested using multiple regression analyses. Results showed that only career growth and self-efficacy positively related to job satisfaction. The findings indicate that job satisfaction tend to increase when there are high opportunity for career growth and when they belief in their ability to complete a task or achieve a goal. Though work-life conflict was found significant in this study, it was in the opposite direction. Interestingly indicating that as work-life conflict increase so does the feelings of satisfaction towards their job. These findings provide new insight on the issues of job satisfaction. The question of why providing social support do not influence job satisfaction by Other Ranks in Malaysian Army special forces provide opportunity for future research to reconcile these explanations.