Am I really lovin’ it? : investigating love and hate of job in the fast food industry

Abstract

In recent literature Kelloway and his colleagues introduced the construct of loving one’s job. Although investigation of loving one's work is growing, there has yet to be examination of hating one’s job (Kelloway et al., 2010). Drawing from Sternberg's triangular theory of hate and triangular theory of love (2005; 1986) this study aims to develop the construct of hate of job and provide evidence of the construct of love of job. A total of 135 blog posts written by fast food workers were collected from aboutmyjob.com and coded. This study proposes that hate of job consists of negative work relationships, intense anger and a lack of commitment. Constructs associated with hate and love of job are also examined using qualitative comparative analysis. Understanding the components of loving and hating one's job may help organizations better understand how to decrease withdrawal, organizational conflict and increase well-being in the workplace.