Maria Widerszal-Bazyl

Locus of Control and Well-Being at Work: How Generalizable are Western Findings?

Managers from 24 geopolitical entities provided data on work locus of control, job satisfaction, psychological strain, physical strain, and individualism/collectivism. The hypothesis that the salut...

The Demand-Control-Support model and intent to leave across six European countries: The role of employment opportunities

Abstract In this paper, the explanatory power of the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) model for intent to leave (ITL) a job was tested, with employment opportunities (EO) taken into consideration. It was hypothesized that, when employment opportunities are low, the explanatory power of the DCS model for ITL is low because workers have no possibility of finding a new job despite the stressful characteristics of their current one. Analyses were performed on 16,052 female nurses from six European countries who were participating in the Nurses’ Early Exit Study (NEXT). A countrys unemployment rate and perceived employment opportunities were measures of EO. The results of multivariate regression analyses revealed that (controlling, among other things, for type of work contract) demands were related to ITL irrespective of EO. However, control and social support were more strongly related to ITL: (1) in countries with low (versus high) unemployment rate, and (2) among individuals with high (versus low) perceived employment opportunities. The DCS model, in its additive version (the main effects of the three dimensions), had better explanatory power for ITL in low unemployment rate countries only. The results suggest that employment opportunities may influence the explanatory power of the DCS model in relation not only to intent to leave but also to other outcomes.

Managerial stress in private and state organisations in Poland

A study of stress was conducted among 269 managers from five large Polish cities and organisations of different economic sectors: state, private and middle forms. It was aimed at answering if the economic sector is related to: (1) type and intensity of stress sources among the managerial staff, (2) individual characteristics of the managers (Type A and locus of control), (3) dominant ways of coping with stress, (4) stress symptoms in the field of physical and mental health and job satisfaction. The main research tools were the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI 2) and the Work Locus of Control Scale (WLCS). The results of the hierarchical regressions showed that the economic sector is a predictor of only certain sources of stress connected with insufficient organisational support and excessive workload (higher intensity of the stressors in state organisations), and also job satisfaction (mainly organisation satisfaction, which is higher in private organisations). The economic sector was not a predictor of physical and mental health nor a predictor of Type A and locus of control of managers. Copyright

Measurement Invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale Across 26 Countries

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a commonly used life satisfaction scale. Cross-cultural researchers use SWLS to compare mean scores of life satisfaction across countries. Despite the wide use of SWLS in cross-cultural studies, measurement invariance of SWLS has rarely been investigated, and previous studies showed inconsistent findings. Therefore, we examined the measurement invariance of SWLS with samples collected from 26 countries. To test measurement invariance, we utilized three measurement invariance techniques: (a) multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA), (b) multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (ML-CFA), and (c) alignment optimization methods. The three methods demonstrated that configural and metric invariances of life satisfaction held across 26 countries, whereas scalar invariance did not. With partial invariance testing, we identified that the intercepts of Items 2, 4, and 5 were noninvariant. Based on two invariant intercepts, factor means of countries were compared. Chile showed the highest factor mean; Spain and Bulgaria showed the lowest. The findings enhance our understanding of life satisfaction across countries, and they provide researchers and practitioners with practical guidance on how to conduct measurement invariance testing across countries.