A longitudinal test of Karasek's Job Strain model among office workers

Abstract

Karasek'sJob Strain model was tested in a sample of 122 office workers. Two rounds ofdata were collected and used to examine the reliability of the results and the relationships between job characteristics and worker strain over time. Moderated regression analyses based on standard scores of the independent variables were conducted to examine the interaction of job control and workload, and of skill utilization and workload, on various indicators of worker strain. The results indicated that there was neither multiplicative nor adhtive effect ofjob control/skill utilization and workload on worker strain. Some of the relationships between job characteristics and worker strain were not stable over time. The cross-lagged correlation analysis showed that workload at Time 1 had some effect on one ofthe worker strain indxators at Time 2, but not the reverse.     

Stress and job satisfaction in mammography radiographers

Abstract

Previous research suggests that substantial numbers of health professionals experience undue levels of occupational stress. Little is yet known, however, about a recently established specialized group, namely radiographers who work in the UK National Health Service Breast Screening Programme. All 134 radiographers in the first wave of the programme were sent a postal questionnaire to determine how stressed they felt at work, how satisfied they were with the job, and what were the principal causes of stress and dissatisfaction. A total of 103 were returned, a response rate of 77 %. The results showed that 30 % reported high levels of stress, which is more than in most other professions, and that only 17% described themselves as ‘very satisfied’ with their jobs. The most important predictors of stress were problems of communication (mainly knowing what to tell the client) and conflicts between home and work. The most important predictor of dissatisfaction was role ambiguity. Ways of reducing stress and increasing satisfaction must be found if radiographers are to remain healthy and are to continue to work for the programme.     

The importance of knowing the affective meaning of job demands revisited

This paper starts with the assumption that when people are asked to describe the level of demands they face at work, it cannot be assumed that those demands are necessarily stressful, even if they are rated as strong or high demands. Thirty demand questions were designed for use with a sample of 2,253 public sector employees in Western Australia. As well as rating frequency of demand the respondents were asked to rate their level of dissatisfaction with the demand. For only 16 of the demands was there a correlation high enough to assume that the demand might be a stressor. Having demonstrated this, the rest of the paper compares different ways of combining the two scores to predict the level of psychological distress as measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12). The results support the claim in the title, that it is important to know the affective meaning of job demands.     

Relationship between job control,work pressure and strain: Studies in the USA and in The Netherlands

The purpose of this study was to test a model of job control, work pressure and strain in two samples in the USA and in The Netherlands. According to the proposed model, work pressure has a mediating role between job control and worker strain. The present model specifies three types of job control: task or instrumental control, conceptual or resource control, and decision organization control. Task and resource control are assumed to reduce the stressor of work pressure which, in turn, is related to high strain. Organization control is assumed to be positively related to work pressure. The model was tested in two samples : one US sample of 273office employees and one Dutch sample of 958 employees in a variety of jobs. The same measure of job control was used in both samples. Resultspartially confirm the proposed model. As predicted by the proposed model, high task control was related to low work pressure, whereas high organization control was related to high work pressure. The effects of task control and organization control on strain were mediated by work pressure for the measure of anxiety in the US sample and for the measure of stress in the Dutch sample. However, the mediating effect of work pressure was not found for job satisfaction in both samples, for the measure of mood disturbances in the US sample and for the measure of sick days in the Dutch sample. The proposed model is only partially confirmed by the results. These results confirm the importance of differentiating between different dimensions of job control.     

An investigation of order release and flow time allowance policies for assembly job shops

The effects of a number of essentially different work order release and flow time allowance policies on the assembly order flow times and assembly order due date performance are investigated. Work orders within an assembly order have different routing length. The assembly order flow time is the time that elapses between the release of the first work order and the completion of the last work order of the assembly order. The timing of the release of work orders, and the distribution of the flow time allowance over the work orders in an assembly order were varied, and used systematic computer simulation to investigate the effects on performance. The results show that the best performance is obtained with simultaneous work order release, an average operation flow time allowance equal to the average operation waiting time and equalized flow time allowances per work order in an assembly order.     

Job insecurity and trust: Uncovering a mechanism linking job insecurity to well-being

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.     

员工工作满意度调查问卷的有效性及民营企业员工工作满意度影响因素研究

本研究选取我国浙江杭州和广州深圳市各一中型民营企业员工共780人作为被试,采用自编的民营企业员工满意度调查问卷(问卷由8个分量表构成,共61个项目)探查我国民营企业员工的工作满意度情况及其影响因素.结果表明:(1)民营企业员工满意度调查问卷的信度系数r为0.9555,内容效度和结构效度的相关系数均达到了可接受水平,是一个可接受的满意度调查问卷;(2)民营企业员工满意度调查问卷的维度"培训与发展"、"高层管理"、"所在部门"和"客户服务"对员工的满意度具有较大的影响,而"直接主管"、"薪资与福利"和"工作目标与绩效"等对员工满意度几乎没有什么影响;(3)民营企业B(深圳)的员工在所有八个分量表上的工作满意度均显著地满意于民营企业A(杭州)的员工的工作满意度;(4)无论是在总体水平上还是在各个分量表上,男员工的工作满意度均显著地高于女员工的工作满意度;(5)在总体水平上,在企业服务两年以上的员工(下简称为"老员工")的工作满意度显著地高于在企业工作2年以下的员工(下简称为"新员工")的工作满意度.具体地说,老员工在"所在部门"和"高层管理"两个维度上的工作满意度显著地高于新员工,而在"工作目标与绩效"、"直接主管"、"培训与发展"、"薪资与福利"以及"客户服务"等维度上,两者没有显著的差异.     

工作嵌入对科技型员工离职创业活动的影响

目前,高科技企业与大学、科研机构员工离职创业的现象越来越普遍,这类企业家群体正在社会经济中发挥越来越重要的作用.本文围绕科技型员工离职创业活动的主题,根据创业过程前三个阶段的特点,从先前工作经历的"嵌入性"出发,对离职创业动机的形成、创业机会的识别和开发进行分析,进而揭示工作嵌入因素如何影响高科技人员离职创业决策的形成,并通过典型个案分析对上述结论做了进一步的验证,期望能为科技型员工提高创业成功率提供科学的理论依据.     

服务氛围与一线员工服务绩效:工作压力和组织认同的调节效应研究

在以往服务管理研究领域中,服务氛围在多个层面上对服务产出的促进作用得到了广泛认可.然而,当前较少有文献对这种积极作用发生的权变性予以关注.基于社会交换理论,本文从个体层面上研究了一线员工感知的服务氛围影响服务绩效的作用机制,旨在探讨员工在工作环境中的情感体验(工作压力感和组织认同感)对服务氛围与服务绩效之间关系的调节作用.研究利用我国银行业368名一线服务员工的问卷调查数据验证了所提出的假设,实证结果发现:(1)工作压力感负向调节服务氛围与角色外服务绩效之间的关系;(2)组织认同感对服务氛围与角色内/外绩效的关系均产生正向调节作用;(3)进一步的三项交互(Three-way Intenction)分析还发现:当组织认同感较高时,工作压力对服务氛围与角色外服务绩效之间关系的负向调节作用变弱.     

Perception of and reactions to job insecurity: The buffering effect of secure attachment

By bridging attachment theory and cognitive appraisal theory, this study explored the moderating role of secure attachment in one’s perception of (i.e. primary appraisal) and reactions to (i.e. secondary appraisal) job insecurity. Study 1 used individual-level data collected from employees nested in 42 states in the US and state-level unemployment rate derived from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. I found that secure attachment attenuated the negative impact of state-level unemployment rate on individual job insecurity. In Study 2 with data collected at two time points, I found that secure attachment mitigated the negative, lagged outcome of job insecurity on job satisfaction (but not affective commitment). Taken together, I found that secure attachment enabled individuals to positively appraise state-level unemployment rate and constructively cope with job insecurity. Results of both studies converge to support the proposed buffering role of secure attachment in one’s perception of and reactions to job insecurity.