Purpose Based more on practical (and contextual), rather than theoretical grounds, over time, job satisfaction came to be the work attitude of choice for many early researchers interested in studying the relationship between employee attitudes and efficiency. Surprisingly, research examining the basis for why this belief is practically nonexistent. This paper addresses this apparent void in the organizational literature. Design/methodology/approach First, a historical overview of the development of job attitudes is introduced. Second, incorporating important early, but now mostly forgotten, research on employee boredom, fatigue and customer satisfaction, a “missing link” explanation is presented for job satisfaction eventually becoming the “job attitude of choice” in organizational research. Findings Integrating early research from two long‐forgotten streams of organizational research, this paper provides a practical (and contextual) framework for why job satisfaction became the most widely used measure of happiness in the happy/productive worker thesis. Practical implications Future research endeavors on the happy/productive worker thesis might greatly benefit from an awareness of the important, but now mostly forgotten, stream of early research on worker well‐being. Originality/value This historical paper provides the reader with a better understanding of the contextual framework for how the fascination with job satisfaction developed over time.
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