Research suggests that higher level jobs are more likely to contain the essential job characteristics needed to cue achievement motives in high achievement workers. A comparison of university administrators and maintenance workers confirmed that the higher the level of the occupation, the higher the morale of the worker. However, no significant differences occurred in achievement needs for the two groups. As need for achievement increased, job satisfaction increased for administrators, but decreased for maintenance workers. Satisfaction with supervision was the key factor in overall satisfaction differences. Findings indicate that both situational and personality variables should be considered when studying job satisfaction, and that achievement need is an important mediator of the relationship between job level and job satisfaction. (JAC)