Files
Abstract
We report on a study that empirically tested a model that integrates
the relationships among important determinants and outcomes of
residents’ satisfaction with community services. Our model of satisfaction
with community services is highly complex. In order to facilitate
reader comprehension, we presented the model in five stages. Stage 1
shows the most proximal determinants and outcomes of satisfaction with
community services--satisfaction with community conditions (predictor
of satisfaction with community services) and community satisfaction (determined
by both satisfaction with community conditions and services).
Stage 2 adds another outcome to the model, namely community commitment.
The model shows that community satisfaction leads to community
commitment. Stage 3 adds two additional variables--confidence
in local institutions and power in influencing local institutions--to further
account for variation in satisfaction with community services, community
satisfaction, and community commitment. Stage 4 focuses on factors
added to the model to help explain the drivers underlying satisfaction
with community conditions. These drivers include satisfaction with
neighborhood conditions, neighborhood satisfaction, and housing satisfaction.
Finally, Stage 5 adds satisfaction with life domains such as financial
life, social life, family life, and work life to help account for additional
variation in the model's key constructs. We tested our model using
a survey study in a community in the State of Michigan. The results
were mostly supportive of the theoretical model.