Peter P. M. Janssen

Testing reciprocal relationships between job characteristics and psychological well-being: A cross-lagged structural equation model

This article describes a two-wave panel study which was carried out to examine reciprocal relationships between job characteristics and work-related psychological well-being. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 261 health care professionals using structural equation modelling (LISREL 8). Controlling for gender, age, and negative affectivity, the results primarily supported the hypothesis that Time 1 job characteristics influence Time 2 psychological well-being. More specifically, Time 2 job satisfaction was determined by Time 1 job demands and workplace social support, respectively. Furthermore, there was also some preliminary but weak evidence for reversed cross-lagged effects since Time 1 emotional exhaustion seemed to be the causal dominant factor with respect to Time 2 (perceived) job demands. In conclusion, this study builds on earlier cross-sectional and longitudinal findings by eliminating confounding factors and diminishing methodological deficiencies. Empirical support for the influence of job characteristics on psychological well-being affirms what several theoretical models have postulated to be the causal ordering among job characteristics and work-related psychological well-being.

Specific determinants of intrinsic work motivation, emotional exhaustion and turnover intention: A multisample longitudinal study

This longitudinal study tested a theoretically derived pattern of specific relationships between work characteristics and outcomes. The research model proposed four central domains of the work situation (i.e. task characteristics, workload, social support and unmet career expectations) and three important psychological outcomes (i.e. intrinsic work motivation, emotional exhaustion and turnover intention). More specifically, it was hypothesized that intrinsic work motivation is primarily predicted by challenging task characteristics; emotional exhaustion is primarily predicted by a high workload and lack of social support; and turnover intention is primarily predicted by unmet career expectations. Furthermore, we hypothesized that (i) the research model is generalizable over samples; (ii) work characteristics at Time 1 influence outcomes at Time 2; and (iii) the proposed causal pattern of relationships holds over different occupational groups. These hypotheses were tested by means of self-report questionnaires among two samples (bank employees and teachers) using a full-panel design with two waves (one-year interval). Results showed that Hypothesis 1 was confirmed in both samples. Hypothesis 2 was confirmed in sample 1, but not in sample 2. In the latter sample, we found evidence for reverse causation. Hence, Hypothesis 3 could not be confirmed.

Using Equity Theory to Examine the Difference Between Burnout and Depression

This study among a sample of 154 Dutch teachers examines the discriminant validity of burnout and depression, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), respectively. Confirmatory factor analyses show that burnout can be statistically discriminated from depression. Results corroborate the three-factor structure of the MBI and partly confirm the four-factor structure of the CES-D. Furthermore, results of structural equation modeling analyses show that a lack of reciprocity in the relationship with ones partner predicts depression (and not burnout), and that a lack of reciprocity in the relationship with students predicts burnout (and only indirectly depression). These findings are consistent with equity theory, and confirm the central hypothesis that burnout is work-related, whereas depression is context-free.

Specific relationships between work characteristics and intrinsic work motivation, burnout and turnover intention: A multi-sample analysis

This study of two different samples (245 bank employees and 362 teachers) tested a theoretically derived pattern of specific relationships between work stressors and outcome variables. The research model proposes four central domains of the work situation: work content, working conditions, social and labour relations, and conditions of employment. In addition, the research model proposes three important outcome variables: intrinsic work motivation, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intention. More specifically, it was hypothesized that: (1) intrinsic work motivation is primarily predicted by task characteristics; (2) emotional exhaustion is primarily predicted by both workload and lack of social support; (3) turnover intention is primarily predicted by unmet career expectations; and (4) the proposed pattern of relationships holds over different groups. In order to test these hypotheses, a multi-sample analysis was performed using structural equation modelling. The results showed that the proposed pattern of relationships was largely supported by the data and that it was invariant across two samples. Furthermore, several additional relationships were found in each sample, one of which was common for both samples. Several explanations regarding these findings are discussed.

Work-Home Interference, Job Stressors, and Employee Health in a Longitudinal Perspective

The purpose of the present longitudinal study was to examine the role of negative work–home interference (WHI) in the classical stressor–strain sequence. First, the predominant time-lagged path between WHI and job stressors was investigated. Furthermore, the direct and indirect (mediating) process of WHI, job stressors, and employee health was examined. The sample consisted of 383 health care employees. Results showed evidence for predominant time-lagged paths from Time 1 job stressors to Time 2 WHI and not the other way around. In addition, it appeared that WHI played a partial mediating role between all 3 types of job stressors on the one hand and exhaustion on the other.

Personality, work characteristics, and employee well-being: a longitudinal analysis of additive and moderating effects.

This study tested the longitudinal influence of personality (measured by the characteristics growth need strength, negative affectivity [NA], and upward striving) on 3 psychological outcomes (intrinsic work motivation, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intention), using a pattern of specific relationships between work characteristics and these outcomes as a framework. The study hypotheses were tested in a multioccupational sample consisting of bank employees and teachers, using a 2-wave panel design with a 1-year time interval and structural equation modeling. NA had a cross-lagged direct and additive relationship with emotional exhaustion and also moderated the relationship between Time 1 workload and Time 2 emotional exhaustion. The authors concluded that NA may have multiple effects on emotional exhaustion that persist over time.

RELATIVE DEPRIVATION, CAREER ISSUES, AND MENTAL-HEALTH AMONG MEN IN MIDLIFE

Abstract The present study compared the career-related problems and relative deprivation of men in their late thirties to early forties to those of younger and older men. A sample of 248 professional men from The Netherlands from age 26 to 55 years participated in the study. The level of mental and physical health and relative deprivation was the same in midlife as in the other age groups. However, the subjects became more preoccupied with lessened job opportunities and changing work role identity during midlife, while they still had a rather strong need for career advancement. Particularly during midlife, such preoccupations and relative deprivation appear to be accompanied by health complaints and job dissatisfaction. However, multiple regression analyses with these preoccupations and relative deprivation as independent variables revealed that in all career stages, relative deprivation was the only predictor of mental and physical health.

Work and Individual Determinants of Intrinsic Work Motivation, Emotional Exhaustion, and Turnover Intention: A Multi-Sample Analysis

This study tested the influence of personal characteristics on a pattern of specific relationships between work characteristics and psychological outcomes. The study hypotheses were: (1) Growth Need Strength has a direct effect on intrinsic work motivation and moderates the relationship between task characteristics and intrinsic work motivation; (2) Negative Affectivity has a direct effect on emotional exhaustion and moderates the relationships between workload and social support on the one hand and emotional exhaustion on the other; and (3) Upward Striving has a direct effect on turnover intention and moderates the relationship between unmet career expectations and turnover intention. These hypotheses were tested in two samples (bank employees and teachers) using Multi-Sample Analysis. The results showed that, generally, personal characteristics had a direct effect on the outcomes as hypothesized. We only found one moderating effect: Upward Striving moderated the relationship between unmet career expectations and turnover intention.

A Test and Refinement of the Demand–Control–Support Model in the Construction Industry

This study aims at a test and further refinement of the Demand–Control–Support (DCS) model among construction workers (N = 210). On the basis of theory and empirical evidence, we hypothesized that mental or physical job demands, low job control, and lack of social support at work have direct and synergistic effects on burnout. The model was expanded by hypothesizing that burnout mediates the relationships between these potentially demanding working conditions on the one hand, and health complaints on the other. Results of a series of structural equation analyses partly supported these hypotheses. The proposed model fitted adequately to the data, although some variables in the DCS model did not make a unique contribution to explaining variance in burnout and (indirectly) health complaints. Interestingly, lack of social support was the most important determinant of burnout and health complaints among construction workers. In addition, a significant three-way interaction effect partly confirmed the synergism hypothesis: Physical demands were only related to burnout if participants had poor job control and reported high social support. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

Conceptualizing autonomy in the context of chronic physical illness: relating philosophical theories to social scientific perspectives

The aim of this article is to conceptualize autonomy in the context of chronic physical illness. To this end, we compare and contrast a selection of contemporary philosophical theories of autonomy with social scientific perspectives on chronic illness, particularly models of disability and symbolic interactionism. The philosophical theories mainly depart from a positive conceptualization of autonomy, which involves actively shaping ones life and identifying with fundamental values. This conceptualization is preferred over a negative conceptualization, which defines autonomy as non-interference, for its compatibility with social models of disability and with the assumption that people are interdependent. Interference may disable, but also enable people with a chronic illness to shape their lives. What matters is that people can realize what they want to realize. We suggest that, in the context of chronic physical illness, autonomy might be conceptualized as correspondence between what people want their lives to be like and what their lives are actually like. Disturbed autonomy might be restored either by expanding opportunities to arrange life or by adjusting how one wants life to be arranged. The grounds for the latter approach might be questioned, first, if people have not adjusted what they want carefully, and second, if reorganization of the material and social environment would have made it unnecessary to adjust ones arrangement of life.