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A Historical Review of the Prevalence of Job Stress Theories
Abstract
Job stress theories have been developed and refined to better understand employee wellbeing. Now that the field is maturing, it is appropriate to review the theoretical trends and developments for future research and practical guidance. The current paper provides a historical review, with both objective (i.e., counts of published theories) and subjective evaluation of job stress theory. In Study 1, two trained raters coded theories used in job stress journals. The job demand-control (-support; JDCS) model was initially well-represented, but has been superseded more recently by theories that focus on multiple resources (e.g., the job demand-resource - JDR - model). Among non-job stress theories, motivation and affective theories have been well-represented within job stress research. Study 2 expanded the results of Study 1 through review of two international applied psychology journals with additional coding categories. Specifically, we identified empirical support for theories and researcher characteristics (i.e., national and professional affiliation). The JDCS model had the least full support according to a vote counting method, and resource models (e.g., JDR) the most. Germany and the Netherlands were the most represented locations, with the United States having the most international collaborations. Psychology and management were the most represented affiliations.
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In recent years, scholars in organizational behavior and public health have recognized the value of multilevel modeling. This article draws from both of these fields to illustrate the benefits of incorporating a multilevel perspective into the study of occupational stress. The authors identify key multilevel issues in occupational stress in terms of (a) individual-level analyses, (b) group-level analyses, and (c) cross-level analyses. They integrate the theoretical points with statistical models to help illustrate how one can test multilevel occupational stress propositions.
This study proposes that self-reported work stress among U.S. managers is differentially related (positively and negatively) to work outcomes depending on the stressors that are being evaluated. Specific hypotheses were derived from this general proposition and tested using a sample of 1,886 U.S. managers and longitudinal data. Regression results indicate that challenge-related self-reported stress is positively related to job satisfaction and negatively related to job search. In contrast, hindrance-related self-reported stress is negatively related to job satisfaction and positively related to job search and turnover. Future research directions are discussed.
In addition to the person–environment fit model (J. R. French, R. D. Caplan, & R. V. Harrison, 1982) and the demand–control model (R. A. Karasek & T. Theorell, 1990), a third theoretical concept is proposed to assess adverse health effects of stressful experience at work: the effort–reward imbalance model. The focus of this model is on reciprocity of exchange in occupational life where high-cost/low-gain conditions are considered particularly stressful. Variables measuring low reward in terms of low status control (e.g., lack of promotion prospects, job insecurity) in association with high extrinsic (e.g., work pressure) or intrinsic (personal coping pattern, e.g., high need for control) effort independently predict new cardiovascular events in a prospective study on blue-collar men. Furthermore, these variables partly explain prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, atherogenic lipids) in 2 independent studies. Studying adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions seems well justified, especially in view of recent developments of the labor market.
On the basis of identity theory and research on sex role socialization, it was predicted that both work interfering with family (W → F conflict) and family interfering with work (F → W conflict) are uniquely related to depression, poor physical health, and heavy alcohol use (Hypothesis 1). It also was predicted that gender would moderate these relationships, such that W → F conflict is more strongly related to the outcomes among women (Hypothesis 2a) and F → W conflict is more strongly related to the outcomes among men (Hypothesis 2b). Survey data were obtained from 2 random community samples of employed parents (Ns = 496 and 605). Hierarchical regression analyses supported Hypothesis 1 but failed to support Hypotheses 2a and 2b.
Effective occupational health psychology (OHP) interventions are evidence-based strategies that address the increasing costs of occupational stress and poor well-being. However, the evidence that OHP interventions successfully reduces these costs remains ambiguous. This systematic review of OHP interventions assessed the theoretical basis informing recently published interventions, the outcomes targeted, and the evaluation methods they used. Using a comprehensive search strategy of 25 years of international OHP intervention research, 60 journal articles representing 59 unique interventions met criteria for inclusion. Articles were coded and data analyzed using content analysis. Results identified that 53% of these interventions were not explicitly theory based and their outcomes were poorly defined. We identified considerable construct proliferation and a pathogenic bias in distal intervention outcomes. Most of the experimental evaluation methods used were focused on demonstrating an effect existed—on average within a group—to the exclusion of assessing the costs and benefits of an intervention. In combination, these results suggest this field too often reports interventions adopting a trial-and-error approach, which demonstrates inadequate integration with theory, and reports outcomes that are not easily comparable between studies. We discuss these findings and present 3 sets of recommendations for addressing these concerns and to advance both knowledge and practical outcomes for OHP interventions.
Stress is related to goals being thwarted. Arguably, protecting one’s self, both in terms of personal self-esteem and in terms of social self-esteem, is among the most prominent goals people pursue. Although this line of thought is hardly disputed, it does not play the prominent role in occupational health psychology that we think it deserves. Stress-as-Offense-to-Self theory focuses on threats and boosts to the self as important aspects of stressful, and resourceful, experiences at work. Within this framework we have developed the new concepts of illegitimate tasks and illegitimate stressors; we have investigated appreciation as a construct in its own right, rather than as part of larger constructs such as social support; and we propose that the threshold for noticing implications for the self in one’s surroundings typically is low, implying that even subtle negative cues are likely to be appraised as offending, as exemplified by the concept of subtly offending feedback. Updating the first publication of the SOS concept, the current paper presents its theoretical rationale as well as research conducted so far. Research has covered a variety of phenomena, but the emphasis has been (a) on illegitimate tasks, which now can be considered as an established stressor, and (b) on appreciation, showing its importance in general and as a core element of social support. Furthermore, we discuss implications for further research as well as practical implications of an approach that is organized around threats and boosts to the self, thus complementing approaches that are organized around specific conditions or behaviors.
Research has shown that managers who recognize and acknowledge positive employee behaviors and achievements at work foster their health and well-being. In the present three-wave study, we investigated appreciation from managers in the context of the progression of employees’ depressive symptoms across one year. Building on self-determination theory (SDT), we examined employees’ need satisfaction for autonomy, competence, and relatedness as moderating factors, and the mediating role of maladaptive coping (i.e., ruminative thoughts) in this relationship. Findings from 194 employees working in the energy branch of an international company revealed, that high appreciation from one’s manager was related to less depressive symptoms only for those individuals whose basic need for relatedness was more satisfied at work. We did not find moderator effects with respect to satisfaction of need for autonomy and competence. Further, moderated mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects for depressive symptoms for lower levels of need satisfaction of relatedness: Appreciation in the context of unsatisfying relationships at work made employees more likely to ruminate about negative events, which was related to more depressive symptoms in the long run. However, ruminative thoughts did not mediated the significant negative relationship between appreciation and depressive symptoms when needs for relatedness were satisfied. The study adds to the discussion that the potential positive impact of appreciation depends on how satisfying social relationships at work are experienced.
The aim of this study is to identify the influence of social dimensions of the work environment and the employees’ felt responsibility on the transfer of safety training. We tested a model in which responses and reactions from safety players such as coworkers, supervisors, and safety professionals are positively related to the transfer of training (TT), through the mediating effect of the employees’ felt responsibility and the moderating influence of supervisor support and sanctions. A two-time data collection was implemented among blue-collar employees, all low qualified, from four city councils who attended a fundamental safety training program delivered by in-house safety trainers, all safety professionals ( n = 203). Data analysis revealed that (a) supervisors’ safety responses, coworkers’ safety responses, and safety professionals’ reactions positively influenced the TT, an effect (b) mediated by employees’ felt responsibility and (c) moderated by supervisor sanctions, but not by supervisor support. The results suggest that high sanctions enhance the positive effect of high self-responsibility on TT, and, importantly, aggravate the negative effect of low self-responsibility on TT. This is the first study to empirically test both the influence of felt responsibility and the safety professionals’ reactions in the transfer process. Research should continue to examine the former construct’s influence on the transfer process including, for example, its effect on supervisor support, and the latter as a safety-related social dimension variable of the work environment.
Over the past 30 years, conservation of resources (COR) theory has become one of the most widely cited theories in organizational psychology and organizational behavior. COR theory has been adopted across the many areas of the stress spectrum, from burnout to traumatic stress. Further attesting to the theory’s centrality, COR theory is largely the basis for the more work-specific leading theory of organizational stress, namely the job demands-resources model. One of the major advantages of COR theory is its ability to make a wide range of specific hypotheses that are much broader than those offered by theories that focus on a single central resource, such as control, or that speak about resources in general. In this article, we will revisit the principles and corollaries of COR theory that inform those more specific hypotheses and will review research in organizational behavior that has relied on the theory. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior Volume 5 is January 21, 2018. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
In various forms, research on stress and well-being has been a part of the Journal of Applied Psychology (JAP) since its inception. In this review, we examine the history of stress research in JAP by tracking word frequencies from 606 abstracts of published articles in the journal. From these abstracts, we define 3 eras: a 50 year-era from 1917 to 1966, a 30-year era from 1967 to 1996, and a 20-year era from 1997 to the present. Each era is distinct in terms of the number of articles published and the general themes of the topic areas examined. We show that advances in theory are a major impetus underlying research topics and the number of publications. Our review also suggests that articles have increasingly tended to reflect broader events occurring in society such as recessions and workforce changes. We conclude by offering ideas about the future of stress and well-being research.
The job demands−resources (JD-R) model was introduced in the international literature 15 years ago (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001). The model has been applied in thousands of organizations and has inspired hundreds of empirical articles, including 1 of the most downloaded articles of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (Bakker, Demerouti, & Euwema, 2005). This article provides evidence for the buffering role of various job resources on the impact of various job demands on burnout. In the present article, we look back on the first 10 years of the JD-R model (2001–2010), and discuss how the model matured into JD-R theory (2011–2016). Moreover, we look at the future of the theory and outline which new issues in JD-R theory are worthwhile of investigation. We also discuss practical applications. It is our hope that JD-R theory will continue to inspire researchers and practitioners who want to promote employee well-being and effective organizational functioning.
Employees are exposed to a wide variety of job demands that deplete personal resources and necessitate recovery. In light of this need, research on work recovery has focused on how distinct recovery experiences during post-work time relate to employee well-being. However, investigators have largely tested the effects of these experiences in isolation, neglecting the possibility that profiles of recovery experiences may exist and influence the recovery process. The current set of studies adopted a person-centered approach using latent profile analysis (LPA) to understand whether unique constellations of recovery experiences—psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, control, and problem-solving pondering—emerged for two samples of full-time employees. In Study 1, which involved a single-time point assessment, we identified four unique profiles of recovery experiences, tested whether job demands (i.e., time pressure, role ambiguity) and job resources (i.e., job control) differentiated profile membership, and evaluated whether each profile uniquely related to employee well-being outcomes (i.e., emotional exhaustion, engagement, somatic complaints). In Study 2, which involved two time points, we replicated three of the four profiles observed in Study 1, and tested two additional antecedents rated by employees’ supervisors: leader-member exchange and supervisor support for recovery. Across both studies, unique differences emerged in regards to antecedents and outcomes tied to recovery experience profile membership.
Training supervisors to increase their family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) has demonstrated significant benefits for employee physical health, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions among employees with high levels of family-to-work conflict in prior research in a grocery store context. We replicate and extend these results in a health care setting with additional important employee outcomes (i.e., employee engagement, organizational commitment, and supervisor ratings of job performance), and consider the role of the 4 dimensions underlying the FSSB. Using a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design, 143 health care employees completed surveys at 2 time periods approximately 10 months apart, along with their supervisors who provided ratings of employees' job performance. Between these surveys, we offered their supervisors FSSB training; 86 (71%) of these supervisors participated. Results demonstrated significant and beneficial indirect effects of FSSB training on changes in employee job performance, organizational commitment, engagement, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions through changes in employee perceptions of their supervisor's overall FSSBs. Further analyses suggest that these indirect effects are due primarily to changes in the creative work-family management dimension of FSSB. (PsycINFO Database Record
Previous research on the job demand–control–support (JDCS) model of occupational stress has generally been inconsistent at best regarding a key issue: the interaction of demands, control, and support in predicting employee health and well-being. However, the model continues to be tested in a variety of studies and academic journals owing to its intuitive appeal. By incorporating conservation of resources theory with knowledge from the challenge–hindrance stressor framework, we proposed that hindrance stressors, not the challenge stressors commonly assessed when testing JDCS theory, will provide validation for the model. A two-wave panel study of 228 employees in a variety of occupations provided support for three-way interactions between hindrance demands, control, and support predicting job-related anxiety and physical symptoms. Three-way interactions using a challenge demand (forms of workload) were not significant, consistent with our propositions. In summary, this study supports the buffering effect of control and support on the relationship between job demands and strain only when job demands reflect hindrance stressors, thereby proposing to alter the JDCS model by specifying that it applies primarily to hindrance stressors in a job hindrance–control–support model. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Proposed as a theory of motivation, the basic tenet of conservation of resources (COR) theory is that humans are motivated to protect their current resources and acquire new resources. Despite its recent popularity in the organizational behavior literature, several criticisms of the theory have emerged, primarily related to the central concept of resources. In this review, we address concerns regarding the conceptualization, conservation, acquisition, fluctuation, and measurement of resources. We highlight gaps in the COR literature that can be addressed by integrating research from other areas of psychology and management. In this manner, we hope to push the COR literature forward by resolving several concerns and providing suggestions for future research that might address other concerns.
In interactions with clients or patients, human service workers are at risk of experiencing discrepancies between felt and organizationally mandated emotions (i.e. emotion-rule dissonance). Given the documented detrimental effects of such discrepancies on employee strain, the present study investigated whether job complexity mitigates the relation between emotion-rule dissonance and employee burnout using data from a two-wave panel study of eldercare workers (N = 583, 16-month time lag). Structural equation modelling revealed that emotion-rule dissonance at Time 1 preceded emotional exhaustion and depersonalization at Time 2. Beyond that, employees whose work offered job complexity were found to suffer less from emotional exhaustion and depersonalization when encountering discrepancies between felt and stipulated emotions compared to employees who conducted noncomplex work. Thus, designing complex tasks appears to be a crucial starting point for alleviating employee burnout in jobs that provoke emotion-rule dissonance.
The AAA model is presented as an integrative conceptualization of workplace stress that combines
research from multiple models and theories to account for the numerous complexities that
employees experience when cognitively evaluating organizational demands. The proposed model
examines the effects of employees’ organizational stressors on the cognitive appraisal process and
describes how employees’ emotions and self-regulation affect individual coping behaviors, adaptation,
and learning from stressful experiences. Practitioner applications, theoretical contributions,
and directions for future research are presented.
In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.
The challenge-hindrance framework has proved useful for explaining inconsistencies in relationships between work stressors and important outcomes. By introducing the distinction between threat and hindrance to this framework, we capture the potential for personal harm or loss (threat) associated with stressors, as distinct from the potential to block goal attainment (hindrance) or promote gain (challenge). In Study 1, survey data were collected from 609 retail workers, 220 of whom responded 6 months later. The results supported a 3-factor threat-hindrance-challenge stressor structure and showed that threat stressors are associated with increased psychological distress and emotional exhaustion, and reduced dedication, whereas hindrance stressors undermine dedication but may not be related to distress or exhaustion with threats included in the model. Study 2 utilized a diary study design, with data collected from 207 workers over 3 workdays. Findings revealed that the threat, hindrance, and challenge appraisals of individual workers are statistically distinct, and associated with stressors and well-being as anticipated: threats with role conflict and anxiety, hindrances with organizational constraints and fatigue, and challenges with skill demands and enthusiasm. Overall, moving to a 3-dimensional challenge-hindrance-threat framework for stressors and stress appraisals will support a more accurate picture regarding the nature, processes, and effects of stressors on individuals and organizations, and ensure prevention efforts are not misguided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
More individuals than ever are managing work and family roles, but relatively little research has been done exploring whether boundary preferences help individuals benefit from multiple role memberships. Drawing on Greenhaus and Powell's (2006) work-family enrichment theory, along with Boundary Theory (Ashforth, Kreiner, & Fugate, 2000) and Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, 2002), we explore the impact of personal characteristics as enablers of work-family enrichment, and in turn, work outcomes relevant to human service workers: turnover intentions and emotional exhaustion. In a 2-wave study of 161 human service employees, we found that individuals high in positive affectivity were more likely to experience both work-to-family and family to-work enrichment, whereas those with preferences toward integration were more likely to experience work-to-family enrichment (but not family to-work enrichment). In turn, work-to-family enrichment (but not family to-work enrichment) was related to lower turnover intentions and emotional exhaustion. Enrichment served as a mediating mechanism for only some of the hypothesized relationships. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
This paper reports on the stepwise development of a new questionnaire for measuring work-home interaction, i.e. the Survey Work-home Interaction—NijmeGen, the SWING). Inspired by insights from work psychology, more specifically from Effort-Recovery Theory (Meijman & Mulder, 199839.
Meijman , T. F. and
Mulder , G. 1998. “Psychological aspects of workload”. In Handbook of work and organizational psychology, Edited by:
Drenth , P. J. ,
Thierry , H. and
de Wolff , C. J. 5–33. Hove: Psychology Press. View all references), we defined work-home interaction by differentiating between the direction and quality of influence. Four types of work-home interaction were distinguished and measured by using 22 (including 13 self-developed) items. By using data from five independent samples (total N=2472), validity evidence was provided based on the internal structure of the questionnaire. The results showed that the questionnaire reliably measured four empirically distinct types of work-home interaction, and that this four-dimensional structure was largely invariant across the five samples as well as across relevant subgroups. Validity evidence was also provided based on the relations with external (theoretically relevant) variables (i.e. job characteristics, home characteristics, and indicators of health and well-being). The results generally supported the hypothesized relationships of these external variables with negative work-home interaction. Less support was found, however, for the hypothesized relationships with positive work-home interaction. This contributes to current literature as it employs a relatively broad conceptualization of work-home interaction and offers a promising tool that measures its multiple components across a wide variety of workers.
In 1999, van der Doef and Maes published a systematic review focusing on the Job-Demand–Control (JDC) model (Karasek, 1979) and the Job Demand–Control (-Support) (JDCS) model (Johnson & Hall, 1988) in relation to psychological well-being. Their review covered the period from 1979 to 1997. The present paper updates and extends this review. Covering research from 83 studies published between 1998 and 2007, our review revealed three major results: First, support for additive effects of demands, control, and social support on general psychological well-being is almost always found if the sample size is sufficient. Second, although there was consistent evidence for additive effects in relation to job-related well-being in cross-sectional studies, support rates were lower in longitudinal data. Thus, reciprocal or reversed causation might account for part of the association between JDC/JDCS dimensions and job-related well-being. Finally, evidence for interactive effects as predicted by the buffer hypotheses of the JDC/JDCS model was very weak overall. However, the pattern of results indicates that this is due neither to spurious evidence for such interactions nor to small effect sizes. Instead, our results suggest that buffering effects depend on whether or not demands and control are based on qualitatively identical JDC/JDCS dimensions (matching principle).
In the present study, we examine competing predictions of stress reaction models and adaptation theories regarding the longitudinal relationship between work-family conflict and subjective well-being. Based on data from 432 participants over 3 time points with 2 lags of varying lengths (i.e., 1 month, 6 months), our findings suggest that in the short term, consistent with prior theory and research, work-family conflict is associated with poorer subjective well-being. Counter to traditional work-family predictions but consistent with adaptation theories, after accounting for concurrent levels of work-family conflict as well as past levels of subjective well-being, past exposure to work-family conflict was associated with higher levels of subjective well-being over time. Moreover, evidence was found for reverse causation in that greater subjective well-being at 1 point in time was associated with reduced work-family conflict at a subsequent point in time. Finally, the pattern of results did not vary as a function of using different temporal lags. We discuss the theoretical, research, and practical implications of our findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
The issue of a published literature not representative of the population of research is most often discussed in terms of entire studies being suppressed. However, alternative sources of publication bias are questionable research practices (QRPs) that entail post hoc alterations of hypotheses to support data or post hoc alterations of data to support hypotheses. Using general strain theory as an explanatory framework, we outline the means, motives, and opportunities for researchers to better their chances of publication independent of rigor and relevance. We then assess the frequency of QRPs in management research by tracking differences between dissertations and their resulting journal publications. Our primary finding is that from dissertation to journal article, the ratio of supported to unsupported hypotheses more than doubled (.82 to 1.00 versus 1.94 to 1.00). The rise in predictive accuracy resulted from the dropping of statistically non-significant hypotheses, the addition of statistically significant hypotheses, the reversing of predicted direction of hypotheses, and alterations to data. We conclude with recommendations to help mitigate the problem of an unrepresentative literature that we label, the Chrysalis Effect.
In this paper, we review current theoretical thinking about organizational justice. We contend that there are three major perspectives for understanding why justice perceptions predict work-relevant criteria: (a) an instrumental approach which emphasizes gains and losses, (b) an inter-personal approach which emphasizes the nature of the relationships among individuals and organizations, and (c) a moral principles approach which emphasizes commitment to ethical standards. We review each of these perspectives, identify the many conceptual frameworks that underlie each approach, and describe both common themes and gaps that exist between the three approaches.
This article appraises the construct validity of role conflict and role ambiguity in organizational psychology research by tracing the process of validation from initial theory introduction to the present. Although the theoretical bases for the constructs were relatively well explicated, some conceptual shortcomings have carried over into empirical work. There are problems with the content validity of measures, a lack of convergent and discriminant evidence, and inattention to the full nomological network of hypothesized relationships. Recommendations for future role-conflict and role-ambiguity research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The reliability and validity of the Effort–Reward Imbalance Questionnaire were tested in 775 blue- and white-collar workers in the Netherlands. Cronbach's alpha revealed sufficient internal consistency of all subscales except Need for Control. With exploratory probabilistic scaling (Mokken) analysis, the psychometric qualities of the Need for Control scale were improved. With confirmatory factor analysis, the factorial validity of the Extrinsic Effort and Reward subscales was confirmed. A model with 3 separate dimensions for reward (status control, esteem reward, and monetary gratification) proved adequate, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing subscales. The congruent validity of the subscales and a hypothesized relationship with an external construct, health functioning, were confirmed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Occupational role stress has received increased attention in recent years. However, there have been few systematic efforts to review potential moderators of the role stress–strain relationship. The few narrative reviews that do exist conclude that the evidence for individual difference moderators is mixed and inconclusive. The purpose of this review was to utilize meta-analysis to determine whether intolerance of ambiguity represents a significant vulnerability factor in the role stress–strain relationship. Results indicated that intolerance of ambiguity does moderate the impact of role ambiguity. The implications of this finding for future job stress research and stress management programs are discussed.
During the past two decades, the nature of work has changed dramatically, as more and more organizations downsize, outsource and move toward short-term contracts, part-time working and teleworking. The costs of stress in the workplace in most of the developed and developing world have risen accordingly in terms of increased sickness absence, labour turnover, burnout, premature death and decreased productivity. This book, in one volume, provides all the major theories of organizational stress from the leading researchers and writers in the field. It is a guide to identifying the sources of pressures in jobs and the workplace so that we may be able to intervene to change and manage the growing problem of organizational stress.
During the past two decades, the nature of work has changed dramatically, as more and more organizations downsize, outsource and move toward short-term contracts, part-time working and teleworking. The costs of stress in the workplace in most of the developed and developing world have risen accordingly in terms of increased sickness absence, labour turnover, burnout, premature death and decreased productivity. This book, in one volume, provides all the major theories of organizational stress from the leading researchers and writers in the field. It is a guide to identifying the sources of pressures in jobs and the workplace so that we may be able to intervene to change and manage the growing problem of organizational stress.
Previous research has identified four distinct “proximal withdrawal states” among employees. That is, employees can generally be distinguished by their desire to stay or leave (e.g., “stayers” or “leavers”) and their control over this desire (e.g., “enthusiastic” versus “reluctant” staying or leaving). However, little is known about how these withdrawal states impact voluntary behavior and employee wellness. Thus, we examined these relationships in US ( n = 516) and South Korea ( n = 414). Latent profile analysis indicated that there are two profiles of stayers (i.e., embedded stayers and detached stayers) and two of seekers (i.e., dissatisfied seekers and script-driven seekers) in both samples. US and Korean profiles were consistent, except seekers differed by country based on planning, job seeking, and socio-emotional reasons. We also found that profiles differentially predicted work behaviors and wellness outcomes, such that embedded stayers showed most adaptive behavioral patterns, whereas script-driven seekers reported the least wellness.
Video conference meetings, which became frequent during the COVID-19 pandemic, might result in exhaustion (so-called ‘Zoom fatigue’). However, only little is known about ‘Zoom fatigue’, the objective characteristics shaping it, and the subjective experiences eliciting this phenomenon. Gaining this knowledge is critical for understanding work life during the pandemic. Study 1, a within-person quantitative investigation, tested whether video conferences are exhausting and if objective characteristics (i.e., meeting size, meeting duration, and the presence of the supervisor) moderate ‘Zoom fatigue’. Employees from Germany and Israel (N = 81) participated in a two-week study, with meetings nested within persons (n = 988). Results showed that video conferences are exhausting—more than meetings held through other media. However, objective characteristics did not moderate this relationship. In Study 2, qualitative data from Germany and Israel (N = 53), revealed employees’ subjective experiences in video conferences that may lead to ‘Zoom fatigue’. These include, for example, experiences of loss and comparison to the ‘good old times’ before the pandemic. Employees suggested ways to mitigate ‘Zoom fatigue’, particularly, better management of meetings by leaders. Our results provide empirical support for ‘Zoom fatigue’, and suggest which subjective experiences elicit this phenomenon, opening directions for research and practice.
There are many ways to categorize work‐related stressors, and in recent years, a common distinction in occupational health psychology is between stressors viewed as challenges versus hindrances. Is this a useful conceptualization that provides practical and theoretical implications for IO psychologists? As Kurt Lewin famously prescribed, “there is nothing so practical as a good theory,” and we discuss the challenge–hindrance framework as a developing theory that can be useful for researchers and practitioners. We note that some of the early thinking and development of the challenge–hindrance distinction relied on both resource and appraisal theories of stress. Overall, we find that the challenge–hindrance distinction can be viewed as a framework that is useful by producing interesting, valuable, and innovative research. Simply striving to find meaningful and useful categorizations of stressors can lead us to discover new insights into the occupational stress domain, and the challenge–hindrance categories have already spurred a great deal of research.
Numerous reports advocate improving doctors’ working conditions as an important part of initiatives to enhance the quality of patient care. However, the research literature is not clear on this underlying relationship. This systematic review examines the evidence on the relationship between the working conditions perceived by doctors and the quality of patient care. Seven electronic databases were searched, with 21 studies from six countries included in the review. The findings highlight questions on how quality of care is constructed and measured, as the presence of these relationships varied by the outcome measure used. A greater number of significant relationships were observed for clinical excellence and patient safety than patient experience. The reviewed literature reflects a lack of theoretical underpinning and consideration of the mechanisms underlying pathways between doctors’ perceived working conditions and quality of care. It also does not capture the complexities within the healthcare sector, nor the wider theoretical and empirical developments in the field. Therefore, a definitive relationship between doctors’ perceived working conditions and the quality of patient care should be considered with caution. Future research should account for the observed methodological and theoretical limitations to better understand the nuances within this complex, but important relationship.
Job insecurity has well-documented negative effects for individuals as well as organisations. However, the mechanisms by which job insecurity relates to its outcomes have received less research attention. The purpose of this study is to investigate trust in the organisation as a potential mechanism that may explain why job insecurity relates to two well-documented outcomes: decreased job satisfaction and lowered mental health. These hypotheses were tested in a Swedish longitudinal sample that consists of employees (longitudinal n = 906) from three organisations, using structural equation modelling. Overall, the results showed support for our hypotheses. Our findings reveal an indirect effect of trust on job satisfaction, regardless of whether the previous levels of job satisfaction were controlled for. With regard to mental health, the indirect effect was only evident when previous levels of mental health were not controlled for. The results of this study contribute to our understanding about the intervening factors in the relationship between job insecurity and outcomes. Moreover, the results might be important for human resources departments and managers when there are indications that employees are worrying about the future of their jobs.
Daily diary studies use the same set of measures repeatedly for several days. Within the work stress domain, these studies are able to isolate the effects of daily exposure to stressors within people from the general level of stressors between people. This meta-analysis investigated both content-related and methodological aspects of workplace stressor–strain relationships in diary studies. Results from 55 unique samples (a combined sample size of 5409) indicated that the magnitude of the stressor–strain relationship was stronger at the between-person level than the within-person level. Further, when the stressor was measured prior to the strain (within the same day), the relationship was somewhat stronger than when stressor and strain were measured concurrently. This suggests that stressor–strain effects might take some time to fully manifest. Differences were also detected among types of strains: affective strains had stronger relationship with stressors than behavioural strains. There were also differences in the stressor–strain relationship depending on both the type of strain and the timing of their respective measurement (concurrent versus predictive), suggesting that certain strain responses require more time to manifest. Overall, this meta-analysis elucidates important considerations in the design and interpretation of diary studies on occupational stress.
Over the last 50 years, the organizational sciences have gone from being largely atheoretical to relying heavily on theory. For various reasons, our approach to theory building has strayed from the principles of scientific acceptability. In this paper, I explore the problems with our approach to theory, the systemic causes of these problems, and the changes that are needed to get us back on track. Copyright
The Demand-Control model of occupational stress posits an interaction between job demands and job control predicting psychological strain, but previous research has found such an interaction only rarely or inconsistently. Such research, however, has often failed to measure either demands or strain faithfully to the model's constructs, or has simply failed to test for a statistical interaction. The present study corrected these shortcomings by going back to basics. Using a sample of 115 employees in a manufacturing company, it operationalized the variables more consistently with their original conceptualizations. However, when the hypothesized Demand-Control interaction was then tested, it still failed. Outcomes other than psychological strain (e.g. job dissatisfaction) were related negatively rather than positively to demands. This highlights the difference between psychological strain and dissatisfaction and casts doubt on models positing dissatisfaction as an intervening variable between stressors and strains.
Job stress (and more generally, employee health) has been a relatively neglected area of research among industrial-organizational psychologists. The empirical research that has been done is reviewed within the context of six facets (i.e., environmental, personal, process, human consequences, organizational consequences, and time) of a seven facet conceptualization of the job stress–employee health research domain. (The seventh facet, adaptive responses, is reviewed in the forthcoming second article of this series.) A general and a sequential model are proposed for tying the facets together. It is concluded that some of the major problems of the research in this area are: confusion in the use of terminology regarding the elements of job stress, relatively weak methodology within specific studies, the lack of systematic approaches in the research, the lack of interdisciplinary approaches, and the lack of attention to many elements of the specific facets.
I argue that the impact of context on organizational behavior is not sufficiently recognized or appreciated by researchers. I define context as situational opportunities and constraints that affect the occurrence and meaning of organizational behavior as well as functional relationships between variables, and I propose two levels of analysis for thinking about context - one grounded in journalistic practice and the other in classic social psychology. Several means of contextualizing research are considered.