Abusive interaction and role state stressors: Relative impact on student residence assistant stress and work attitudes

Despite the recognition that poor working relationships can contribute to strain (Chen and Spector 1991, Cooper and Marshall 1978, Kahn and Byosiere lY92, Spector 1987, Spector et al. 1988) and increasing concern over violence and aggression in the workplace (Northwestern National Life Insurance Co. 1993), little research attention has been paid to hostile interpersonal interaction as a work-related stressor. While recent work has focused on interpersonal conflict and sexual harassment as stressors, emotionally abusive interactions have remained largely unaddressed by the organizational stress literature. These interactions are characterized by hostile verbal and non-verbal, non-physical behaviours directed by one or more persons towards another that negatively affect the target's sense of him/herself as a competent person and worker (Keashly et al. 1994, Leymann 1990). The current study examined whether emotional abuse contributed uniquely to understanding work-related stress in student residence assistants (RAs). Seventy-six RAs employed by a Canadian university responded to a questionnaire on the quality of their work experience. The stressors examined were role conflict, role overload, role ambiguity, and number, frequency, and impact of abusive events with dormitory residents. Outcome variables included job-related tension, job satisfaction, job commitment, and intention to leave. Emotional abuse contributed similar amounts of unique variance as the role state stressors to the variables of tension, job satisfaction and intention to leave suggesting emotional abuse is an important and uniquc workplace stressor. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.