In the last fifty years, satisfaction in the public sector has been analyzed by different studies around the world, proving to be a dynamic and contemporary theme. From a review of the main publications in this area, this article investigates the satisfaction background of public employees. In the theoretical/methodological level, we analyze seven constructs (routines, labor specificity, human resource development, feedback, organizational goals conflicts, procedural constraints and characteristics of organizational goals), using the structural equation modeling technique. We performed a descriptive study based on case study through the application of 258 questionnaires in civil servants of the city of Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. The study provides an applied model with seven factors and 11 hypotheses that former the satisfaction, anchored in many literatures of the area. With empirical findings support, we found that satisfaction suffers direct interference of some job characteristics, such as routines, specificities and human resources. Consequently, these work characteristics receive direct influence of the work context.
satisfaction; structural equation modeling; work characteristic; work context
