Relationship between social support and occupational stress

In the present era of positive psychology and occupational health psychology interest in promoting the mental health of employees has increased markedly during the last few years due to its direct and indirect important role in the productivity, job satisfaction, turnover, bum out, and so on. There may be a lot of key factors such as work environment, management support, work load and so on in determining how stressful the work can be and its effect on employee physical and mental health. Organizational stress and collective cultural are the factors that may play an important role in determining the mental health of employees basically the managers of the organizations. More recently, studies have targeted occupational stress in various professions, such as nurses, doctors, police officers, teachers and academics (Plattner & Mberengwa, 2010), but little research has been conducted on occupational stress among managers. In the pursuit for organizational excellence, managers need to work under highly stressful circumstances. Managers in the manufacturing sector have been found to be experiencing high stress (Jestin & Gampel, 2002). In addition to this, personal cultural orientation of managers may moderate the relationship of occupational stress and mental health through different social support and coping style. In highly heterogeneous societies cultural differences must not be ignored, especially in the workplace otherwise it may result in reduced organisational outcomes (Holtzhausen, 2005).Mental healthAccording to the WHO (2009), mental health can be conceptualized as a state of well-being in which the individual: realizes his or her own abilities; can cope with the normal stresses of life; can work productively and fruitfully; is able to make a contribution to his or her community.Organizational stressIn an organizational context, organizational stress is also known as job stress and/or work stress and/or occupational stress. These terms are often used interchangeably in organizations, but its meaning refers to the same thing (AbuAlRub, 2004; Larson, 2004). It is defined as the perception of a discrepancy between environmental demands (stressors) and individual capacities to fill these demands (Topper, 2007; Vermut & Steensma, 2005; Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003; Varea, 1999). Employees in an organization can face occupational stress through the role stress. Role stress means anything about an organizational role that produces adverse consequences for the individual (Kahn& Quinn, 1970). Bhagat etal. (2010)acknowledge role conflict, role overload and role ambiguity as the three frequent causes of occupational stress. Reilly (1982) and Jones et al. (2007) stated that role overload is the degree to which one found him/herself in a position of time pressure because of the number of tasks and responsibilities one has in life. Role ambiguity is defined as being uncertain about the task requirements of a certain job due to lack of information, unclear company directives and unclear goals and responsibilities (Rizzo etal., 1970; Walker etal., 1975; Schuler, 1979; Behrman & Perreault, 1984; Mengiuc, 1996; Karatepe et al., 2006; Jones et al., 2007). Role ambiguity can result from deficient information available (Conley W Chang & Lu, 2007). Role conflict can result from inconsistent information (Conley W LaMontagne et al., 2008). Research has established that job-related stress impacts on individual level outcomes that include depression decreased overall well-being and coronary heart disease (Beehr & Glazer, 2005; Gyllensten & Palmer, 2005). …

To explore depressive symptoms and influencing factors in employees from 13 enterprises. A total of 6711 workers from 13 enterprises were investigated by cluster sampling, and data were collected anonymously between November 2008 and June 2009. Job satisfaction, occupational stressors, strains, coping strategy, and social support were measured using occupational stress instruments, job content questionnaire, and effort-reward imbalance questionnaire. Median and P25~P75 values of depression score were 14 and 9~21, respectively. The depression score of male workers (16.31 ± 10.12) was significantly higher than that of female workers(14.50 ± 9.08) (Z=4.09, P<0.01). The depression score of managers was lowest (12.89 ± 8.70), and the front-line workers scored highest (16.02 ± 9.94), with a significant difference between the two groups (χ² =9.90, P<0.01). The depression score of shift workers (16.79 ± 9.974) was significantly higher than that of non-shift workers (14.81 ± 9.63) (Z=53.43, P<0.01). The depression scores of workers with weekly job times of ≤ 40 h, ~50 h, ~59 h, and ≥ 60 h were (14.70 ± 9.94), (15.76 ± 9.84), (15.46 ± 9.91), and (19.70 ± 10.67), respectively (χ² = 31.79, P <0.01). Correlation analysis revealed that depression score was negatively correlated with the scores of job control (r=-0.236, P <0.01), reward (r=-0.443, P<0.01), job satisfaction (r=-0.418, P<0.01), positive affectivity (r=-0.307, P <0.01), superior support (r=-0.287, P<0.01), colleague support (r=-0.235, P<0.01), and coping strategy (r=-0.208, P<0.01), but positively correlated with the scores of external effort (r=0.225, P<0.01), inherent effort (r=0.248, P<0.01), psychological demands (r = 0.246, P <0.01), physical demands (r=0.246, P<0.01), and negative affectivity (r=0.525, P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the risk of depressive symptoms in workers with high negative affectivity was about four times as high as that in workers with low negative affectivity. The risks of depressive symptoms in workers with low reward, having disease in the past six months, and with high inherent effort were 1.62, 1.50, and 1.48 times, respectively, as high as those for their counterparts. Occupational stress, individual factors, health status, and shift work affect the depressive symptoms of workers. Reducing negative affectivity and increasing rewards are main measures to relieve depressive symptoms.

Objectives : This study aims to explore how social support and social network are related with health behavior. Methods : The target population was 12,449 people in Chungcheongbuk-do. The sample was accrued for the period of 3 months in 2008 by face to face interview of direct visiting from systematic sampling method. The instruments used in this study were social support, social network and health behavior. Results : There was significant difference in the level of social support and social network by sex, age, educational level, occupation, and monthly income(p<0.05). There was significant difference in the level of social support by alcohol drinking, physical exercise. There was significant difference in the level of social network by smoking, alcohol drinking, physical exercise, obesity(p<0.05). Multivarite analysis shows significant difference in the level of social instrumental support by smoking, physical exercise. It shows significant difference in the level of social emotional support by smoking. It also shows significant difference in the level of social network by smoking, physical exercise. Conclusion : These results suggest that social support and social network may be associated with health behavior. Because this study was cross sectional research, the order was not found between social support, social network and health behavior. Through a study on monitoring, we will obtain more information for relationship.

This study examined the mediation of social support and psychological well-being in the impact of occupational stress on job satisfaction among nurses working in army hospitals. A quantitative methodology via an online survey was employed. The sample comprised 202 nurses randomly selected from four army hospitals in West Java. The research tool utilized was a questionnaire with four scales: the work stress scale, the social support scale, the psychological well-being scale, and the job satisfaction scale. The data were analyzed using bootstrap methodologies and mediation analysis approaches. Findings demonstrated that occupational stress negatively affects nurses’ job satisfaction in army hospitals, either directly or indirectly. Social support and psychological health serve as mediating factors. By receiving social support and maintaining psychological health, nurses in army hospitals can experience increased job satisfaction and reduced stress. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on workplace stress and job satisfaction by focusing on the unique challenges and pressures faced by nurses in army hospitals compared to other healthcare workers. It also offers recommendations for practitioners to enhance the welfare and job satisfaction of nurses in army hospitals. These include providing adequate facilities, incentives, training, and career development opportunities, as well as fostering a conducive, harmonious, and collaborative work environment. Keywords: job stress, social support, psychological well-being, job satisfaction, nurse, army hospital

Social support and its association with negative affect in adults who stutter

In the past, researchers have paid a little attention on relationship among role conflict, role ambiguity, organization justice and job satisfaction at administrative agencies in Vietnam. Therefore, the main purpose of this thesis is to test the above-mentioned relationship. Research has selected the civil servants (officials) in state agencies and workers in Binh Tan district. The civil servants and workers in Binh Tan district were sampled to investigate which personal characteristics will make significantly differentiation on role conflict, role ambiguity, organizational justice, job satisfaction; simultaneously which relationships the role conflict, role ambiguity, organizational justice and job satisfaction in turn to job satisfaction are also considered. A total of 400 people were sampled by a survey questionnaire. Collected data is done for statistical analysis using SPSS version 17.0. Many hypotheses are tested by such methods as descriptive statisticals, reliability analysis, t-test and linear regression analysis. Research results will show which personal characteristics will make significantly differentiation on the above variants and which ones will not affect them; and will display how strongly the variants are related to job satisfaction. Research flame out a finding: Emotional, spiritual factors will significant impact on effectiveness of employees’ working, a condition to achieve the organization's goals.The study also flame out an other finding . It is a hypothesis (as thinking logically normal), which was identified to be true, it was rejected: Role conflict not impact negatively, but positively impact on job satisfaction. On this basis, the study proposes solutions to strengthen and improve the efficiency of human resources management at local area.

The relationship between temperaments and mental disorders has been reported in previous studies, but there has been little attention to temperaments in the occupational safety and health research. The aim of this study was to clarify the effects of temperaments on occupational stress among local government employees. The subjects were 145 Japanese daytime workers in local government. Temperaments were assessed by the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego-Auto questionnaire (TEMPS-A). Occupational stress was assessed using the Generic Job Stress Questionnaire (GJSQ). Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was used. Hyperthymic temperament predicted a higher level of job control, and a lower level of role ambiguity and job future ambiguity. Irritable temperament predicted a lower level of social support from supervisors and a higher level of role conflict, variance in workload and intragroup conflict. Anxious temperament predicted a lower level of social support from coworkers and a higher level of job future ambiguity. The sample size was small. Only Japanese local government employees were surveyed. Hyperthymic temperament played a protective role, and irritable, anxious temperament played a vulnerable role against one’s own occupational stress and recognizing the roles they play in work life would lead to self-insight. Additionally, recognition of the temperaments and temperament-related stressors by one’s supervisors or coworkers would facilitate provision of social support.

Objectives:The present study aimed to explore the social support among community-dwelling older adults with frailty and pre-frailty and to ascertain associated factors.MethodsThe frailty status of the participant was assessed via the Chinese FRAIL Scale. The dependent variable, level of social support, was evaluated using the Social Support Rating Scale (range: 12–66). This study explored the influencing factors from three aspects containing sociodemographic characteristics, family environment, and community environment. Independent-sample t-test, Analysis of Variance, and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine determinants of social support.ResultsThere were significant differences in overall social support between non-frail, pre-frail, and frail participants [38.01 (SD = 6.48) vs. 33.62 (SD = 6.25) vs. 30.50 (SD = 6.68), F = 62.157, p < 0.001]. Older adults with frailty and pre-frailty who were single would have lower levels of overall social support. In the pre-frail group, living alone was associated with lower overall social support. In contrast, the relationship with children and the availability of recreational activities were associated factors for the frail group.ConclusionsThe level of social support among frail and pre-frail community-dwelling older adults was lower than the robust older adults and influenced by different factors according to the frailty category, which suggests taking targeted measures for social support improvement.

Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations. Over the last decade, about 5000 Japanese public school teachers per year have taken sick leave due to a mental illness. School principals and vice principals also face occupational stress, although few studies have examined occupational stress in these groups. To clarify the relationship between occupational stress, role problems and depressive symptoms among school principals and vice principals in Japan. We conducted a cross-sectional study in 2013 with data from 262 principals and 268 vice principals in Japan. We used the Japanese version of Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) to evaluate depressive symptoms and the Generic Job Stress Questionnaire to evaluate occupational stress and social support. We categorized SDS scores above 49 as indicating depression. We examined the relationship between depressive symptoms and perceived occupational stress using stepwise forward multivariate logistic regression analyses. Thirty-six (14%) principals and 81 (30%) vice-principals were categorized into the depressive group. Quantitative workload (odds ratio, OR = 6.62 [2.63-16.70]) and role ambiguity (OR = 4.94[1.57-15.53]) were associated with higher depressive scores in principals. Social support from supervisors (OR = 4.14 [1.97-8.68]) and role ambiguity (OR = 9.71 [4.08-23.14]) were associated with higher depressive scores in vice-principals. Clarifying job roles for principals and vice-principals, reducing quantitative workload for principals and increasing supervisory support for vice-principals may be important for mitigating depression for school principals and vice-principals in Japan.

urpose: The primary purpose of this study was to explore the mediating effect of role conflict and role ambiguity on faculty’s job satisfaction and commitment since minimal research has been done from this aspect on faculty members. It also aimed at finding if a direct relationship exists between faculty’s job satisfaction and commitment and investigate the relationship among the variables when role conflict and role ambiguity were introduced as mediators. Faculty members of a top institution of higher education in Lebanon were chosen as a sample of the study. Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative analysis was conducted in this study where surveys were distributed and collected. The sample of the study included the full time and part time faculty members of a prominent university in Lebanon. The data obtained from 133 participants were analyzed using the Rstudio software and the hypothetical model was tested using structural equation modeling through Onyx. Findings: The findings of the researcher resulted in a new version of organizational commitment scale where normative commitment scale was dropped, and continuance commitment scale was divided into two subscales. It was demonstrated that the updated commitment is more applicable to faculty members. The results supported H1a (There is a direct relationship between JS and AC); and H1b (There is a direct relationship between JS and Alt CC); whereas H1c was not supported (There is a direct relationship between JS and CC Econ). H2 was supported (Role ambiguity mediates the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment), as RA partially mediated the relationship between JS and AC, fully mediated the relationship between JS and CC Econ, and also served as a mediator between JS and Alt CC. H3 was supported in the case of AC and Alt CC as RC partially mediated the relationship between JS and complete mediated the relationship between JS and Alt CC. However, RC had no mediative power in the relationship with CC Econ. Originality/value: This study highlights the importance of acknowledging and minimizing role conflict and role ambiguity in a workplace to result in a higher level of satisfaction and commitment among employees. It also gives an insight on understanding the relationship between job satisfaction and commitment among faculty members, in the case where role conflict and role ambiguity serve as a mediators. This paper adds value to the literature gap as a limited research exists on this topic and a new version of the organizational commitment scale was also developed, which is more relevant to faculty members.

An ageing population, combined with a shortage of health-care professionals, can result in a decrease in the capacity of health-care systems. Therefore, it is important to explore possible solutions for this problem. By finding methods to increase job satisfaction, it may be possible to retain employees within their profession. In this study, we examined events, their influence on emotions and, consequently, the effect of these emotions on job satisfaction. We attempted to answer the question: Which events and emotions influence job satisfaction? We collected data on events and emotions, and their effects on job satisfaction, amongst Dutch nurse anaesthetists. Participants (n = 314) were asked to complete two questionnaires about events, emotions and job satisfaction at two different times during an average working day. One hundred thirty-two nurse anaesthetists from 24 Dutch hospitals participated. Both positive and negative events were significant in the development of positive and negative emotions at the end of the working day. Positive emotions at the end of the working day contributed significantly to job satisfaction. Negative emotions did not have a significant effect on job satisfaction. The mediating role of positive emotions in relation to positive and negative events should be taken into account in managing job satisfaction amongst Dutch nurse anaesthetists. Further research is necessary to determine whether the relationship between events and emotions provides a foundation for developing a more positive working atmosphere, and also to explore how hospitals can trigger positive emotions to increase job satisfaction.

Role conflict and ambiguity as a function of the task—structure—technology interaction

A total of 255 managers (133 German and 123 British), predominantly from middle and upper management level working in diverse companies throughout both countries, responded to a survey assessing occupational stress and job satisfaction (Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI)) and leisure preferences (Leisure Interest Inventory (FIF)). A principal-components analysis of the correlation matrix between the 25 OSI subscales produced a 6–7 factor solution similar to that found for the British sample. The internal consistencies of the scales were satisfactory: they were lowest for ‘type A’ and ‘coping’, and highest for ‘job-related stress’ and ‘job satisfaction’. National differences were observed on several of the OSI subscales. German managers expressed higher sources of job-related pressure, particularly in terms of ‘home/work interface’, ‘organizational structure and climate’ and ‘career and achievement’, as well as lower job satisfaction on ‘the job itself and ‘organizational processes’. Furthermore, both national groups displayed high overall ‘type-A behaviour’ and ‘internal locus of control’. German managers revealed significantly higher scores on most coping subscales (‘social support’, ‘task strategies’, ‘time’ and ‘involvement’) with the exception of ‘home and work relationships’, which was higher for the British sample. The German managers displayed significantly better mental health than their British counterparts. Overall job pressure was associated with job dissatisfaction, low internal locus of control, and inferior psychological and physical health. Type-A-behaviour scores were negatively correlated with external locus of control and positively with job satisfaction. Internal locus of control was associated with high job-related pressure, high job satisfaction and mental and physical health. Job satisfaction was related to both psychological and physical health. (All findings replicated for both national groups.)

&lt;span&gt;The relationship between job-related self-esteem, role ambiguity, role conflict, and job satisfaction for a national sample (n=216) of certified public accountants (CPAs) was examined. Job-related self-esteem is concerned with the evaluation that the individual makes regarding the influence of the individuals job on how they view themselves. The Rosenberg (1965) global self-esteem scale was modified to reflect job-related aspects. Linear structural relations (LISREL) was used to examine the relationships between job-related self-esteem, role ambiguity, role conflict, and job satisfaction. Job-related self-esteem was found to not be directly related to job satisfaction with role ambiguity and role conflict were controlled for. Job-related self-esteem was found to be an independent predictor of role ambiguity and role conflict.&lt;/span&gt;

The subject of stress and its impact on performance has received limited empirical attention in the new product development field. The present study examines the impact of three work stressors (i.e., role ambiguity, role conflict, and pressure for performance) on team job satisfaction and three dimensions of new product performance: adherence to budget and schedule, product quality, and market success. Data were collected using a cross sectional, Web‐based survey among Spanish innovative firms. A total of 197 questionnaires was received. Findings from this research suggest that role conflict and role ambiguity are negatively related to team job satisfaction. Results, however, show a lack of association between pressure for performance and job satisfaction. Regarding the effect of work stressors on new product performance, findings indicate that different stressors have different relationships with performance. Concerning role ambiguity, findings provide empirical evidence of a U‐shaped relationship between role ambiguity and adherence to budget and schedule and between role ambiguity and product quality. Thus, intermediate levels of role ambiguity are hurtful, but low and high levels of role ambiguity are helpful. Nonetheless, given that the levels of ambiguity measured in this study are not high enough, the findings regarding the impact of moderate to high levels of ambiguity on new product performance should be viewed as tentative. Role conflict has a negative linear relationship with adherence to budget schedule and an inverted U‐shaped relationship with product quality. For pressure for performance, findings indicate a triphasic effect on product quality. Specifically, the initial phase is characterized by increasingly lower levels of product quality owing to increasing levels of pressure for performance. As pressure for performance keeps further increasing, a positive effect on product quality begins to manifest. Beyond some threshold, however, a new phase starts in which product quality decreases with increasing amounts of performance pressure. Finally, results show a lack of association between pressure for performance and adherence to budget and schedule. All three stressors were found to have an indirect, rather than a direct, effect on market success via job satisfaction, adherence to budget and schedule, or product quality. Several managerial implications follow from these results. First, product managers should make every effort to reduce role ambiguity to minimal levels, ensuring that team members fully understand their role requirements and have adequate information about their job. Second, rather than reducing the level of role conflict to zero, managers must take into account the positive effect that moderate levels of role conflict have in product quality. Finally, management should put some pressure on the team members and make sure they understand that there is a sense of urgency.