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The main objective of this study is to determine the impact of employee empowerment on job satisfaction. To serve this purpose, empowerment is taken into consideration as two dimensions – i.e. behavioral and psychological – and the effect of employee empowerment on the level of job satisfaction was examined by taking these two dimensions into consideration as a whole and separately.

A questionnaire was employed in order to collect data on job satisfaction as well as behavioral and psychological empowerment. The data collected were analyzed through correlation and regression analyses. The study covered 1,854 participants employed at five‐star hotels in Turkey.

The findings suggest that the most positive aspects related to job satisfaction are relations with the colleagues and physical conditions, while the most negative aspect is the wage issue, i.e. unfair payment. Furthermore, correlation and regression analyses indicate that psychological and behavioral empowerment has a significant effect on job satisfaction, and the effect is much greater when psychological and behavioral empowerment are taken as a whole.

The major limitation of this study is that it covers the employees of five‐star hotels only. Another important limitation of the study is the exclusion of variables mentioned in the literature. This apart, it is thought that the study will provide some insights for managers in terms of enhancing job satisfaction and the effect of empowerment on job satisfaction as well as making a contribution to the literature.

Studies into the relation between employee empowerment and job satisfaction on the whole focus on only one aspect of empowerment, i.e. either behavioral empowerment or psychological empowerment. This study incorporates behavioral and psychological empowerment together as the components of empowerment, unlike previous studies in the literature, in determining their effect on job satisfaction.