Predicting job satisfaction and motivation of aviation security personnel: a test of job characteristics theory

The subject of job satisfaction and motivation of personnel employed in law enforcement and order maintenance has received some attention from researchers in recent years. Despite the transformation experienced in the area of airport security post-9/11 terrorist attacks, our understanding about job satisfaction and motivation as it relates to airport police officers engaged in aviation security is limited. The aim of this article is to explore our understanding of police officers assigned to aviation security by examining factors that influence their motivation and job satisfaction. We employed Hackman and Oldham's (Org Behav Hum Perform 16(2):250-279, 1976, Work redesign, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1980) job characteristics model to examine the predictors of job satisfaction and motivation in this context. Our findings from a survey of 637 airport police officers in Turkey suggest that while rewards and autonomy influence officers' job satisfaction, autonomy, task significance, and feedback clearly affect motivation. The overall findings offer important insights and implications, both theoretically and practically, to the field of aviation security and policing, suggesting a practical framework for managers to enhance officers' motivation and job satisfaction more generally.