Skip to main content

Antecedents of Job Satisfaction for Migrant Chinese Sex Workers

Archives of Sexual Behavior volume 52, pages 443–457 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

This study is an empirical response to the scholarly debate regarding sex work and sex worker empowerment. It drew on job satisfaction literature to derive a theoretical model of pathways for job satisfaction in sex work. It tested this model with data from 96 migrant sex workers from China. It used Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to examine the conjunctive pathways among workers who reported that they were satisfied with their vocation. Of the 96 women interviewed, 12 experienced job satisfaction. QCA identified three antecedent conditions as necessary for producing job satisfaction and two additional conditions, either one of which was also necessary. Job satisfaction required: (1) full awareness of the nature of their work prior to starting, (2) perceived agency, and (3) enjoyment of earnings, beyond meeting survival needs. It also required at least one of two additional antecedents: perceiving workplace autonomy or having a favorable workplace environment. This study demonstrates that, while genuine job satisfaction may be relatively rare for sex workers, there are pathways that make it possible.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Data Availability

Data protected by IRB, not publicly available.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

Notes

  1. “Going down to the sea” is a common euphemism for commercial sex work among Chinese sex workers.

References

  • Abrams, K. (1995). Sex wars redux: Agency and coercion in feminist legal theory. Columbia Law Review, 95(2), 304–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agustín, L. (2008). Sex and the limits of enlightenment: The irrationality of legal regimes to control prostitution. Sexuality Research & Social Policy, 5(4), 73–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allan, B. A., Batz-Barbarich, C., Sterling, H. M., & Tay, L. (2019). Outcomes of meaningful work: A meta-analysis. Journal of Management Studies, 56(3), 500–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, L. (2016). From law enforcement to protection? Interactions between sex workers and police in a decriminalized street-based sex industry. British Journal of Criminology, 57(3), 570–588.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barron, R. J. (2020). Interrupting conferences: Sex workers and public protest. Gender and Education, 32(1), 130–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barry, K. L. (1995). The prostitution of sexuality. New York: University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, H. S. (2008). Tricks of the trade: How to think about your research while you’re doing it. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benoit, C., Ouellet, N., Jansson, M., Magnus, S., & Smith, M. (2017). Would you think about doing sex for money? Structure and agency in deciding to sell sex in Canada. Work, Employment and Society, 31(5), 731–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, E. (2007). Temporarily yours: Intimacy, authenticity, and the commerce of sex. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bilardi, J. E., Miller, A., Hocking, J. S., Keogh, L., Cummings, R., Chen, M. Y., & Fairley, C. K. (2011). The job satisfaction of female sex workers working in licensed brothels in Victoria Australia. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 8(1), 116–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, D. (2004). Women work, men sponge, and everyone gossips: Macho men and stigmatized/ing women in a sex tourist town. Anthropological Quarterly, 77(4), 705–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brents, B. G., & Sanders, T. (2010). Mainstreaming the sex industry: Economic inclusion and social ambivalence. Journal of Law and Society, 37(1), 40–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnes, T. R., Rojas, E. M., Delgado, I., & Watkins, T. E. (2018). Wear some thick socks if you walk in my shoes: Agency, resilience, and well-being in communities of North American sex workers. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(5), 1541–1550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carline, A. (2011). Criminal justice, extreme pornography and prostitution: Protecting women or promoting morality? Sexualities, 14(3), 312–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, L. T. (2008). Factory girls: From village to city in a changing China. New York: Spiegal & Grau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chin, K. (2014). Going down to the sea: Chinese sex workers abroad. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chin, K., & Finckenauer, J. (2011). Chickenheads, agents, mommies, and jockeys: The social organization of transnational commercial sex. Crime, Law and Social Change., 56(5), 463–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chin, K., & Finckenauer, J. (2012). Selling sex overseas. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coy, M., Smiley, C., & Tyler, M. (2019). Challenging the prostitution problem: Dissenting voices, sex buyers, and the myth of neutrality in prostitution research [Commentary]. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(7), 1931–1935.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cregan, C., Kulik, C. T., & Salinger, D. (2013). The effects of age and drug dependency on the emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction of adult streetworkers in Australia. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42(5), 851–861.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, S., & Shah, M. (2017). Decriminalizing indoor prostitution: Implications for sexual violence and public health. Review of Economic Studies, 85(3), 1683–1715.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cusick, L. (2006). Widening the harm reduction agenda: From drug use to sex work. International Journal of Drug Policy, 17(1), 3–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doezema, J., & Kempadoo, K. (1998). Global sex workers: Rights, resistance, and redefinition. Oxfordshire: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dworkin, A. (1993). Prostitution and male supremacy. Michigan Journal of Gender and Law, 1(1), 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, G., Farh, J.-L., & Wong, K. F. (2018). Agency beliefs over time and across cultures: Free will beliefs predict higher job satisfaction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(3), 304–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finckenauer, J., & Chin, K. (2010). Sex trafficking: A target for situational crime prevention. In R. Clarke & N. Tilley (Eds.), Situational prevention of organised crimes (pp. 58–80). Devon, UK: Willan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaetano, A. M. (2016). Out to work: Migration, gender, and the changing lives of rural women in contemporary China. University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerassi, L. (2015). A heated debate: Theoretical perspectives of sexual exploitation and sex work. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 42(4), 79–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (2017). Discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203793206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16(2), 250–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollander, X. (1972). The happy hooker: My own story. New York: Dell Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iaffaldano, M. T., & Muchinsky, P. M. (1985). Job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 97(2), 251–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeffreys, S. (1997). The idea of prostitution. North Geelong: Spinifex Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., Parker, S., Colbert, A. E., Heller, D., & Ilies, R. (2005). Job satisfaction: A cross-cultural review. In N. Anderson, D. S. Ones, H. K. Sinangil, & C. Viswesvaran (Eds.), Handbook of industrial, work and organizational psychology (pp. 25–52). Sage Publications.

  • Judge, T. A., Heller, D., & Mount, M. K. (2002). Five-factor model of personality and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 530–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., Piccolo, R. F., Podsakoff, N. P., Shaw, J. C., & Rich, B. L. (2010). The relationship between pay and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis of the literature. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77(2), 157–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., Weiss, H. M., Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., & Hulin, C. L. (2017). Job attitudes, job satisfaction, and job affect: A century of continuity and of change. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 356–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kempadoo, K. (2017). From moral panic to global justice: Changing perspectives on trafficking. In K. Kempadoo, J. Sanghera, & B. Pattanaik (Eds.), Trafficking and prostitution reconsidered: New perspectives on migration, sex work, and human rights (2nd ed., pp. vii-xxxiv). New York: Routledge.

  • Krumrei-Mancuso, E. J. (2017). Sex work and mental health: A study of women in the Netherlands. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46(6), 1843–1856.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krüsi, A., Chettiar, J., Ridgway, A., Abbott, J., Strathdee, S. A., & Shannon, K. (2012). Negotiating safety and sexual risk reduction with clients in unsanctioned safer indoor sex work environments: A qualitative study. American Journal of Public Health, 102(6), 1154–2115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S., & Persson, P. (2015). Human trafficking and regulating prostitution. Retrieved from https://web.stanford.edu/~perssonp/Prostitution.pdf

  • Liu, M. (2011). Migration, prostitution, and human trafficking: The voice of Chinese women. Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 1297–1349). Rand McNally.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKinnon, C. (1993). Prostitution and civil rights. Michigan Journal of Gender and Law, 1(1), 13–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClintock, A. (1993). Sex workers and sex work: Introduction. Social Text, 37, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miao, C., Humphrey, R. H., & Qian, S. (2016). Leader emotional intelligence and subordinate job satisfaction: A meta-analysis of main, mediator, and moderator effects. Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 13–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. (2011). Beach boys or sexually exploited children? Crime, Law and Social Change, 56(5), 485–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moran, R., & Farley, M. (2019). Consent, coercion, and culpability: Is prostitution stigmatized work or an exploitive and violent practice rooted in sex, race, and class inequality? [Commentary]. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(7), 1947–1953.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagle, J. (2013). Whores and other feminists. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Overall, C. (1992). What’s wrong with prostitution? Evaluating sex work. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 17(4), 705–724.

  • Parreñas, R. (2011). Illicit flirtations: Labor, migration, and sex trafficking in Tokyo. Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ragin, C. (1999). Using qualitative comparative analysis to study causal complexity. Health Services Research, 34(5), 1225–1239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragin, C. (2014). The comparative method. University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Raymond, J. G. (2004a). Prostitution on demand: Legalizing the buyers as sexual consumers. Violence against Women, 10(10), 1156–1186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raymond, J. G. (2004b). Ten reasons for not legalizing prostitution and a legal response to the demand for prostitution. Journal of Trauma Practice, 2(3–4), 315–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, T., Connelly, L., & King, L. J. (2016). On our own terms: The working conditions of internet-based sex workers in the UK. Sociological Research Online, 21(4), 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seib, C., Dunne, M. P., Fischer, J., & Najman, J. M. (2012). Predicting the job satisfaction of female sex workers in Queensland. Australia. International Journal of Sexual Health, 24(2), 99–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrage, L. (1989). Should feminists oppose prostitution? Ethics, 99(2), 347–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skilbrei, M.-L., & Holmström, C. (2016). Prostitution policy in the Nordic region: Ambiguous sympathies. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M., & Mac, J. (2018). Revolting prostitutes: The fight for sex workers’ rights. Verso Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thiem, A., Baumgartner, M., & Bol, D. (2016). Still lost in translation! A correction of three misunderstandings between configurational comparativists and regressional analysts. Comparative Political Studies, 49(6), 742–774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomann, E., & Maggetti, M. (2020). Designing research with qualitative comparative analysis (QCA): Approaches, challenges, and tools. Sociological Methods & Research, 49(2), 356–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, L., & Flanigan, J. (2020). Debating sex work. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weitzer, R. (2005). Flawed theory and method in studies of prostitution. Violence against Women, 11(7), 934–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitzer, R. (2009). Sociology of sex work. Annual Review of Sociology, 35, 213–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widdows, H. (2013). Rejecting the choice paradigm: Rethinking the ethical framework in prostitution and egg sale debates. In S. Madhok, A. Phillips, & K. Wilson (Eds.), Gender, agency, and coercion (pp. 157–180). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkin, C. L. (2013). I can’t get no job satisfaction: Meta-analysis comparing permanent and contingent workers. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(1), 47–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhai, Q., Willis, M., O’Shea, B., Zhai, Y., & Yang, Y. (2013). Big Five personality traits, job satisfaction and subjective well-being in China. International Journal of Psychology, 48(6), 1099–1108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng, T. (2009). Red lights: The lives of sex workers in postsocialist China. University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Ko-lin Chin, Mercer Sullivan, and Bill McCarthy for their guidance throughout this project. The original study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Rutgers University on December 15, 2006. The associated protocol number is #07-120R, and the protocol title is “A Case Study of Human Trafficking: The Transnational Movement of Chinese Women for Sex Work.” James O. Finckenauer is the PI and Ko-lin Chin is the Co-PI. Questions about the original study can be directed to Ko-lin Chin: kochin@scj.rutgers.edu.

Funding

None/Not applicable.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, 123 Washington Street, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA

    Kimberly Badgett

Authors
  1. Kimberly Badgett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kimberly Badgett.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

None/Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix

Appendix

See in Tables 4 and 5

Table 4 QCA truth table with total instances
Full size table
Table 5 QCA truth table of Boolean configurations
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Badgett, K. Antecedents of Job Satisfaction for Migrant Chinese Sex Workers. Arch Sex Behav 52, 443–457 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02462-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02462-w

Keywords

  • Sex work
  • Migration
  • Job satisfaction
  • Qualitative comparative analysis