Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference

by William MacAskill

This takes us to our third point against passion, which is that the best predictors of job satisfaction are features of the job itself, rather than facts about personal passion. Instead of trying to figure out which career to pursue based on whatever you happen to be most interested in today, you should start by looking for work with certain important features. If you find that, passion will follow. Research shows that the most consistent predictor of job satisfaction is engaging work, which can be broken down into five factors (this is known in psychology as the job characteristics theory): Independence—To what extent do you have control over how you go about your work? Sense of completion—To what extent does the job involve completing a whole piece of work so that your contribution to the end product is easily visible, rather than being merely a small part of a much larger product? Variety—To what extent does the job require you to perform a range of different activities, using different skills and talents? Feedback from the job—How easy is it to know whether you’re performing well or badly? Contribution—To what extent does your work “make a difference,” as defined by positive contributions to the well-being of other people? As well as job satisfaction, each of these factors also correlates with motivation, productivity, and commitment to your employer.