Job stress in managers, professionals, and clerical workers

The intensity and frequency of occurrence of 30 job stressors as measured by the job stress survey (JSS) were examined in white-collar employees of a large manufacturing firm, consisting of 68 managers, 171 professional (mostly engineers), and 69 clerical personnel. The highest levels of stress intensity were attributed to 'lack of opportunity for advancement' and 'poor or inadequate supervision'. Individual stressors rated as occurring most often during the past six months were 'frequent interruptions', 'meeting deadlines', and 'dealing with crisis situations'. Factor analyses of the ratings of individual job stressors identified two job-stress factors, job pressure and lack of support, which were differentially related to age, gender, occupational level, locus of control, and job tenure and satisfaction. All three occupational groups attributed greater intensity to stressors that reflected lack of organizational support than to job pressures. Managers reported experiencing job pressures more often than professionals/engineers, but attributed less stress intensity to these pressures. 'Lack of opportunity for advancement' and 'inadequate salary' were the most salient stressors for the clerical workers. Implications of the findings for the design of stress management and organizational change programmes were discussed.     

Job stress in managers,professionals, and clerical workers

Abstract

The intensity and frequency of occurrence of 30 job stressors as measured by the job stress survey (JSS) were examined in white-collar employees of a large manufacturing firm, consisting of 68 managers, 171 professional (mostly engineers), and 69 clerical personnel. The highest levels of stress intensity were attributed to ‘lack of opportunity for advancement’ and ‘poor or inadequate supervision’. Individual stressors rated as occurring most often during the past six months were ‘frequent interruptions', ‘meeting deadlines’, and ‘dealing with crisis situations’. Factor analyses of the ratings of individual job stressors identified two job-stress factors, job pressure and lack of support, which were differentially related to age, gender, occupational level, locus of control, and job tenure and satisfaction. All three occupational groups attributed greater intensity to stressors that reflected lack of organizational support than to job pressures. Managers reported experiencing job pressures more often than professionals/engineers, but attributed less stress intensity to these pressures. ‘Lack of opportunity for advancement’ and ‘inadequate salary’ were the most salient stressors for the clerical workers. Implications of the findings for the design of stress management and organizational change programmes were discussed.     

Work-to-family conflict and its relationship with satisfaction and well-being: a one-year longitudinal study on gender differences

The present study produced new knowledge about gender differences with respect to work-to-family conflict and its longitudinal relations with indicators of satisfaction and well-being. The study examined the longitudinal relations between work-to-family conflict and self-reported satisfaction and well-being in the domains of work (job satisfaction), family (marital satisfaction, parental distress) as well as overall (psychological and physical) symptoms. Data were obtained from a random sample of Finnish men (n=208) and women (n=218) who were employed and had either a partner or/and children. A survey was conducted at two points in time, in 1999 (Time 1), and one year later, in 2000 (Time 2). The results revealed that, among women, work-to-family conflict perceived at Time 1 significantly predicted job dissatisfaction, parental distress as well as psychological symptoms at Time 2. However, among men, a low level of satisfaction or well-being at Time 1 (marital dissatisfaction, parental distress, psychological and physical symptoms) functioned as a precursor of work-to-family conflict perceived at Time 2. In addition, the experience of work-to-family conflict turned out to be relatively stable for both genders over the time period of one year. It is likely that work-to-family conflict will continue to affect employees, and should be a central focus for organizations.     

Control, stress, and job satisfaction in Canadian nurses

The main effects of four domains of control (task, decision, resource, physical environment) on job satisfaction and their interactions with three types of job stressors (task demands, role conflict, interpersonal conflict) were examined in a sample of 765 Canadian nurses. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the proportion of variance in job satisfaction that could be accounted for by job stressors, control, and the interaction of stressors and control in that order. The job stressors were analysed separately and as a composite job demands score, as were the four domains of control. The results indicated that the proportion of variance in job satisfaction increased with the addition of control for the composite scores and for task, resource, and physical environment control. However, decision control did not account for additional variance in job satisfaction above that for any of the job stressors. In addition, none of the stressor x control interactions were significant. The results support previous attempts to test the moderating effects of control, suggesting that perceived control is not a moderator of job stress but rather that it has a direct influence. The relevance of the different domains of control for nurses is discussed.     

Job satisfaction and occupational stress in UK general hospital nursing staff

This study investigated factors associated with the perceptions of stress reported by nurses in a general hospital environment in the UK. The levels and sources of stress experienced by nursing staff were examined in relation to the type of ward or department, and nursing grade. The association between reported stress and job satisfaction was also examined. By means of a self-completion questionnaire survey, data were collected from 234 nurses from 24 wards in a single general hospital. The Brayfield and Rothe job satisfaction index was used to provide data for analysis. Factor analysis, analysis of variance, and Pearson product moment correlation procedures were performed on these data. The factor analysis identified two main factors concerned with sources of stress: interpersonal relations and resource problems, and dealing with death. Although there were no differences found across wards, the analyses of variance revealed that reported stress varied over different nursing grades. It was also found that job satisfaction was correlated with nursing experience and negatively related to stress.     

The Public–Private Job Satisfaction Differential in Italy

Abstract. This paper uses Italian survey data for 1995 to study the differences in satisfaction for six non‐pecuniary job attributes between public and private sector workers. Results indicate that public employees differ from private employees in the way they evaluate satisfaction with job security, consideration by colleagues, and safety and health job features, whereas there are no differences in their assessment of satisfaction with effort levels and interest for the job. In particular, we find that the premium for public employees is quantitatively higher, especially in the case of satisfaction with employment losses. Moreover, there are significant differences in the determinants of satisfaction across sectors.     

Interactive effects of perceived control and job stressors on affective reactions and health outcomes for clerical workers

Karasek's (1979) hypothesis that perceived control interacts with various job stressors in affecting employee satisfaction and health was tested. It was proposed that high levels of perceived stress would only be associated with poor health and negative affect in the presence of low control. One hundred and thirty-six clerical workers at a major US university completed questionnaries containing the measures of interest. The results of regression analyses failed to support the interaction hypothesis. However, measures related to both control and job stressors were found to correlate with satisfaction and health outcomes, as has been found in prior research. Limitations of the self-report and correlational methodology are discussed.     

A Matter of Reputation and Pride: Associations between Perceived External Reputation,Pride in Membership,Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions

This study investigates how job satisfaction and turnover intentions are related to external reputation as perceived by employees and their pride in membership. Based on a cross‐sectional survey including 439 employees, it also provides insights into external reputation as a possible source of collective pride. Study results indicate that, in agreement with social identity theory, outsiders' views of the organization are closely associated with employees' pride in organizational membership as well as job satisfaction. Both pride and job satisfaction mediate the relationship between perceived external reputation and turnover intentions. Hence, a favourable reputation matters in managing turnover intentions and is closely related to employee pride and satisfaction. Tenure of employees is positively associated with pride while intensive customer contact is negatively related to perceived external reputation and pride. Implications pinpoint the need for alignment of reputation management and human resources management. Furthermore, managers need to focus on new staff and employees with frequent customer contact and should implement pride‐building strategies according to the tenure of employees and intensity of customer contact.     

The relationship between newcomer expectations of job stressors and adjustment to the new job

This study examined the relationship between unrealistic expectations of organizational newcomers regarding job stressors and subsequent adjustment to the new job. Using a sample of 91 new employees, measures of expected stressors (gathered prior to the first day of work) were compared with stressors reported after six months on the job. The study examined the relationship between the accuracy of expected stressors (demands) and three indicators of job adjustment: job satisfaction; job involvement; and distress symptoms. The results provided partial support for the hypothesis that newcomers who underestimate job stressors have more difficulty adjusting on the new job than do newcomers who overestimate job stressors.     

Assisting employees with drinking problems: Changes in mental health, job perceptions and work performance

A sample of 104 British transportation employees with alcohol-related problems were examined for changes in mental health and job perceptions before and after a company-based counselling programme. Data was mainly obtained by means of structured interviews. When clients were assessed at a 6-month follow-up, significant positive changes were found for the group as a whole in terms of context-free mental health, self- and supervisor ratings of work performance as well as measures of absenteeism. Small positive differences were observed for measures relating to perceived work demands. However, no significant differences were observed for the measures of job satisfaction and job commitment. The findings are discussed in relation to the expected client and organizational outcomes of workplace counselling interventions.     

The effect of capacity management strategies on employees' well-being: A quantitative investigation into the long-term healthcare industry

The aim of this study is to understand the effects of different capacity management strategies on the well-being of employees in long-term healthcare organizations. Such strategies may produce psychological effects in terms of job satisfaction and well-being among employees, namely frontline employees, thus affecting service quality. We collected 2158 observations from 42 nursing homes in Italy. Our results show that all capacity management strategies addressed in this study can influence the perceived degree of fatigue or of job hazard, and some of them can influence both. Moreover, a better perception of job hazard and fatigue leads to a higher degree of reported well-being from employees, although with the former, it is only through the mediation of job satisfaction. We conclude our paper by discussing theoretical contributions and policy implications.     

Leadership and Uncertainty: How Role Ambiguity Affects the Relationship between Leader Group Prototypicality and Leadership Effectiveness

In social identity analyses of leadership the role of leader group prototypicality (the extent to which the leader is representative of the collective identity) in leadership effectiveness is emphasized. We extend this analysis by identifying role ambiguity as a situational influence that feeds into the desire to reduce uncertainty, as a moderator of the relationship between leader group prototypicality and indicators of leadership effectiveness (perceived effectiveness, job satisfaction and turnover intentions). Role ambiguity is proposed to lead people to turn to their group memberships, making leadership effectiveness more contingent on the extent to which leaders are group prototypical. Results of a survey of n=368 employees of four Italian companies supported this hypothesis. Role ambiguity and leader group prototypicality interacted in predicting perceived effectiveness, job satisfaction and turnover intentions, such that leader group prototypicality was more strongly related to leadership effectiveness for employees experiencing greater role ambiguity.     

Employee demographics and job training satisfaction: the relationship between dimensions of diversity and satisfaction with job training

Human resource development professionals serve many diverse populations of learners in the workplace. They do so with limited resources which leads to a dilemma: How to most effectively and efficiently meet the needs of all learners in the workplace, given the different job duties, backgrounds, skills and abilities of each learner. This empirical study examines job training satisfaction among customer and technical service employees in nine different organizations in the US and Canada. The study concluded that there were no differences in job training satisfaction when examined with dimensions of diversity such as age groups, gender and race/ethnicity. There were differences in job training satisfaction, however, when examined with job type, job status, and job tenure.     

Role stress among Canadian white-collar workers

The incidence of various stressors at work and outside work was examined in a group of public service workers with a large Canadian federal government department. Workers were either in clerical, technical and supervisory ('officers'), or management positions. Measures of work stress included role stressors (load, insufficiency, conflict ambiguity and responsibility), as well as stress due to the physical environment. Both life events and daily hassles were included as measures of non-work stress. The consequences of stress were considered in terms of vocational, psychological, interpersonal, and physical strain, as well as in terms of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Potential moderators of stress included social support and self-esteem. Among work stressors conflict, ambiguity and insufficiency were the more closely associated with vocational outcomes. MANCOVA followed by discriminant function analysis showed that clerical workers were distinguished by higher levels of insufficiency, officers by higher levels of conflict and the lowest levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and managers by higher levels of perceived responsibility for others. The results are discussed in terms of social role theory.     

Workplace Job Satisfaction in Britain: Evidence from Linked Employer–Employee Data

The paper examines the nature of workplace job satisfaction in Britain using an ‘overall’ and domain‐specific job satisfaction outcomes from linked employer–employee data. A measure of aggregate job satisfaction alone might mask domain‐specific differences in satisfaction, something the combined approach in this paper addresses. As well as controlling for a rich set of correlates on employees and their workplaces, the paper deploys alternative empirical models that account for employee‐ and workplace‐level unobserved heterogeneity. The paper reports interesting results on the link between job satisfaction and observed as well as unobserved characteristics of employees and their workplaces.     

Analysis of Job Satisfaction: The Case of Japanese Private Companies

The scope of economic theory expands if we consider that working provides people with both pecuniary compensation for its disutility and job satisfaction. This study empirically analyzes the job satisfaction of employees in Japanese private companies using a multivariate ordered probit model. In particular, we examine the effects of a big economic shock, such as the Lehman shock, on job satisfaction, as well as the effects of differences in gender and employment status. We estimate the model using a Bayesian analysis and a multivariate ordered probit model using the Markov chain Monte Carlo method. We show that non‐pecuniary aspects of jobs play an important role in job satisfaction.     

Relationships between bullying,psychosocial work environment and individual stress reactions

It is frequently assumed that a poor psychosocial working environment will create conditions that encourage bullying. However, few studies have examined this assumption while comparing work environment ratings of bullied and non-bullied employees who work in the same organization and/or department. The objectives of this study were therefore, first, to investigate relationships between bullying and other psychosocial work environment factors within a particular organizational setting and, second, to investigate if bullied employees reported higher levels of stress than non-bullied employees. A total of 186 blue-collar employees from a Danish manufacturing company participated in the study (response rate of 93%). Results showed significant differences in bullied and non-bullied employees’ ratings of psychosocial factors such as job control, management style, role clarity, social climate, social contact and work centrality. In order to investigate assumptions that a poor psychosocial work environment creates conditions that encourage bullying, a number of analyses compared the company's manufacturing departments with either high, medium or low levels of bullying. Results showed significant departmental differences. Yet, when bullied employees were removed from the statistical analyses, with regard to the perceived psychosocial environment these same departments could be differentiated only on the basis of rated job demands and management style. The results therefore bring into question the assumption that a generally poor work environment contributes to bullying. None the less, they do suggest that management style may directly or indirectly have contributed to a higher level of bullying. Also, bullied employees reported significantly more symptoms of psychological stress and mental fatigue than non-bullied employees.     

劳动关系氛围和员工工作满意度:组织承诺的调节作用

本文从组织行为层次探讨劳动关系氛围与员工态度之间的关系。基于60家企业1607名员工的问卷调查,本文探讨了劳资双赢、劳资对立和员工参与三种劳动关系氛围对员工内在和外在满意度的直接影响,以及员工组织承诺在上述关系中的调节作用。研究发现,劳资双赢氛围显著地提升员工的内在和外在满意度,劳资对立氛围显著地降低员工的内在和外在满意度,员工参与氛围仅能显著提升员工的内在工作满意度。同时,员工组织承诺中的情感承诺能显著增强劳资双赢氛围对内在和外在工作满意度的积极影响,但仅能显著降低劳资对立氛围对内在工作满意度的消极影响,而对员工参与氛围的影响不具有调节作用。此外,研究还发现交易承诺不存在调节效果。     

Relationships between bullying, psychosocial work environment and individual stress reactions

It is frequently assumed that a poor psychosocial working environment will create conditions that encourage bullying. However, few studies have examined this assumption while comparing work environment ratings of bullied and non-bullied employees who work in the same organization and/or department. The objectives of this study were therefore, first, to investigate relationships between bullying and other psychosocial work environment factors within a particular organizational setting and, second, to investigate if bullied employees reported higher levels of stress than non-bullied employees. A total of 186 blue-collar employees from a Danish manufacturing company participated in the study (response rate of 93%). Results showed significant differences in bullied and non-bullied employees' ratings of psychosocial factors such as job control, management style, role clarity, social climate, social contact and work centrality. In order to investigate assumptions that a poor psychosocial work environment creates conditions that encourage bullying, a number of analyses compared the company's manufacturing departments with either high, medium or low levels of bullying. Results showed significant departmental differences. Yet, when bullied employees were removed from the statistical analyses, with regard to the perceived psychosocial environment these same departments could be differentiated only on the basis of rated job demands and management style. The results therefore bring into question the assumption that a generally poor work environment contributes to bullying. None the less, they do suggest that management style may directly or indirectly have contributed to a higher level of bullying. Also, bullied employees reported significantly more symptoms of psychological stress and mental fatigue than non-bullied employees.