The paradox of the contented female worker: the mediating role of income and the moderating role of sexual orientation

Employing longitudinal data, we examine how income mediates, and sexual identity moderates, the gender-job satisfaction relationship using the theoretical lens of human capital theory. We find that income does mediate the gender-job satisfaction relationship and that the mediated relationship between gender and job satisfaction is moderated by sexual identity. Our main result is that income is a stronger driver of the gender-job satisfaction relationship for lesbians than it is for straight women. Theoretical and practical implications of this result are discussed.