PAY SCALE AND HOURS OF WORK AS CORRELATES OF LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG STAFF OF MAKURDI CORRECTIONAL CENTRE, BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated pay scale and hours of work as correlates of life satisfaction among 194 Correctional Officers of Makurdi Correctional Centre consisting of 134 males and 60 females who were selected from a population of 273 staff of the correctional centre. The mean age in this study is 46 years. The study adopted cross-sectionalsurvey design and purposive sampling technique was employed to select the participants for the study. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested. Data was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Results revealed a statistically significant relationship between pay scale and life satisfaction [r (1,194=.152,p<.05] of correctional officers in Makurdi. While result of post-hoc text using Turkey HSD revealed that participants who are collecting salaries from 100k and above have a higher life satisfaction [Turkey HSD (4.275), M=20.28;SD=11.133], this indicated that higher pay leads to higher life satisfaction. Results also revealed no significant mean difference in the distribution of hours of work, In light of these, the study recommended involvement of administrators in policy making that concerns correctional officers, increment in correctional staff pay and provision of basic resources at the correctional centres in Makurdi, Benue State.