Extending the Challenge-Hindrance Model of Occupational Stress: The Role of Appraisal

Interest regarding the challenge-hindrance occupational stress model has increased in recent years, however its theoretical foundation has not been tested. Drawing from the transactional theory of stress, this study tests the assumptions made in past research (1) that workload and responsibility are appraised as challenges and role ambiguity and role conflict are appraised as hindrances, and (2) that these appraisals mediate the relationship between these stressors and outcomes (i.e., strains, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intentions). For a sample of 479 employees, we found that although workload, role ambiguity, and role conflict could be appraised primarily as challenges or hindrances, they could also simultaneously be perceived as being both to varying degrees. Support was also found for a model in which primary appraisal partially mediated the stressor-outcome relationship

Core Work Evaluation: The Viability of a Higher-order Work Attitude Construct

A great deal of research examining work attitudes has shown that they are related to important employee behaviors. Most of this research has parsed attitudes into ever more refined assessments of specific features of the work environment. Although this research has yielded valuable insights, for practical, theoretical, and empirical reasons we argue that an examination of a more global evaluative summary of the work environment is needed. In the present study we develop, conceptualize, and provide empirical evidence for a global work attitude construct called Core Work Evaluation (CWE). The conceptual foundation for CWE is drawn from classic and modern theory on attitudes and attitude formation. To test our theoretical assertions we follow recent recommendations for the development of higher order constructs in a series of three empirical studies. The results found that CWE: (1) explains meaningful shared variance across the more specific indicators (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work engagement) that is not merely the result of common method variance, (2) is distinguishable from nonevaluative features of the work environment and stable individual differences, and (3) predicts important work-related outcomes above and beyond its constituent indicators. Overall the results provided evidence of the viability of the CWE construct

Toward a Better Understanding of the Effects of Hindrance and Challenge Stressors on Work Behavior

This study investigated the processes whereby hindrance and challenge stressors may affect work behavior. Three mechanisms were examined to explain the differential effects these stressors have demonstrated: job satisfaction, strains, and work self-efficacy. A model is proposed in which both types of stressors will result in increases in strains, but that job satisfaction is primarily involved in the relationship between hindrance stressors and citizenship behavior, and efficacy is involved in the relationship between challenge stressors and job performance. Although the results generally supported the dual-stressor framework showing meaningful relationships to the work outcomes through the proposed processes, the link between work self-efficacy and job performance was not significant. This model was analyzed using multi-source data collected from 143 employees from a variety of organizational settings. Implications for the conceptualization of stressors and the development of interventions are discussed

“Dirty” Workplace Politics and Well-Being: The Role of Gender

We build and empirically test an integrative model of gender, workplace politics, and stress by integrating social role theory and prescriptive gender stereotypes with the transactional theory of stress. To examine the effect of gender on the relation between exposure to non-sanctioned political influence tactics (NPITs; e.g., self-serving and socially undesirable behaviors such as manipulation and intimidation) and stress outcomes, we employed a daily diary design with 64 employed adults over the course of 12 working days. In support of our hypotheses, exposure to NPITs––that is, “dirty politics”––elicited a threat appraisal that, in turn, related to the activation of negative emotions. Moreover, unlike men, women who reported higher levels of NPITs experienced heightened levels of threat appraisal and ultimately negative emotions. We demonstrate that pairing social role theory with the transactional theory of stress is a useful approach for researchers interested in better understanding gender differences in the occupational stress process. Anyone interested in reducing stress in the workplace is encouraged not only to reduce the occurrence of NPITs, but also to consider ways to reduce the threat associated with them, especially for women

Psychological stress in the workplace/ Beehr

xii, p. 258; 21 c

A note on the structure of employee withdrawal

Disenchanted employees may choose to withdraw from the organization in at least four ways, viz., psychological withdrawal, lateness, absenteeism, and turnover. There are reasons for assuming that these different forms of withdrawal may be interrelated either negatively or positively. This study attempts to determine the direction and strength of the relationships among the various forms of withdrawal. The sample consisted of 651 employees from all levels of five midwestern work organizations. Three methods of data collection were used: structured interviews, a search through the companies' personnel records, and supervisors' ratings. It was concluded that the four forms of withdrawal are related with one another positively and with low to moderate strength. Implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22662/1/0000215.pd

Payout Elections of Participants in a Public Pension

Permission granted from publisher Dec. 1, 2010. “This article is from the Second Quarter 1992 issue of Benefits Quarterly, published by the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists.”The payout choices made by retiring workers of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) and their spouses who sought information about retirement after February 1, 1990, and later retired during 1990 are reported. The study population was found to divide itself almost evenly among options that provide guaranteed lifetime income protection to the spouse, those that provided a temporary refund guarantee, and those that provided no ongoing income to the spouse after the retiree's death. The results strongly support the existence of adverse selection in the payout options chosen by retirees. The health of the retiree does more to explain the payout choice than does any other variable. While the results indicate that retirees feel more strongly about providing adequately for spouses than do the spouses themselves, this statement of apparent priority is contradicted when a significant number of spouses or retiring PERS employees will have no lifetime income payable under that or any other pension plan.Ye