Gallup and Job Satisfaction

Ann Althouse links to a Gallup poll which shows most people in most occupations think their jobs are ideal for them.

This seems dubious to me, except as an example of people adjusting to reality.  If an interviewer asks the question: is your current job ideal for you? what are the alternatives:

1. You say "yes".
2. You say "no".

"Yes" means you get rid of the interviewer without raising any unpleasant emotions in yourself.  And possibly you're pleasing the interviewer.

"No" means you have to ask yourself what job would be better, and why you haven't done anything to get the job; in other words, you open a whole can of worms.  And you gain nothing by doing so. It's not as if you were sitting down with a counselor at the beginning of your working life to determine what job is ideal and how to get it.


Personal note: no, I never had an ideal job for me.  For a time there was a good fit between my abilities and the demands of the job, at least in my opinion, but not ideal.