de J Jan Jonge

The Demand-Control Model: Specific Demands, Specific Control, and Well-Defined Groups

The purpose of this study was to test the Demand-Control Model (DCM), accompanied by three goals. Firstly, we used alternative, more focused, and multifaceted measures of both job demands and job control that are relevant and applicable to todays working contexts. Secondly, this study intended to focus on particular demands in human services work and to incorporate these demands in the DCM. Finally, this occupation-based study investigated relatively large well-defined subgroups compared to a total sample. Workers from five human service sectors (n = 2,485) were included in a cross-sectional survey (i.e., health care, transport, bank/insurance, retail trade, and warehouse). Results showed that job demands and job control are able to show several interaction effects on employee well-being and health, but only in specific occupational groups. In conclusion, the current findings provide renewed empirical support for the view that high-strain jobs (high demand, low control) are conducive to ill health (i.e., emotional exhaustion, psychosomatic health complaints). Further, it appears that active jobs (high demands, high control) give rise to positive outcomes (i.e., job challenge, job satisfaction).

The demand-induced strain compensation model : renewed theoretical considerations and empirical evidence

This chapter presents a recently developed theoretical model on jobrelated stress and performance, the so-called Demand-Induced Strain Compensation (DISC) model. The DISC model predicts in general that adverse health effects of high job demands can best be compensated for by matching job resources to the high demands. Furthermore, the model predicts that a well-balanced mixture of specific job demands and corresponding job resources will stimulate employee learning, growth, and performance. Not restricting ourselves to social support, which is mentioned in the quote above and which indeed represents one important resource in job stress (cf. Viswesvaran et al., 1999), we present some refined theoretical predictions on emotional, cognitive, and physical processes that guide how different kinds of job resources can be matched to particular job demands and job-related strains. The aim of this chapter is thus twofold: (I) to present a new job stress theory, and (2) to show recent empirical evidence for its basic assumptions by means of a narrative review.