Rolf van Dick

Stress and strain in teaching : A structural equation approach

BACKGROUND School teaching seems to be particularly stressful. The stress model of Lazarus and colleagues and its adaptation to educational settings by Kyriacou and Sutcliffe is the basis for an analysis of antecedents and consequences of teacher stress. AIMS The first aim was to test the theoretical model of teacher stress on a large sample using structural equation statistics (study I). The results should then be cross-validated and the model enlarged by additional operationalisations (study II). SAMPLES Heterogeneous samples of German school teachers (study I: N = 356, study II: N = 201). METHODS In study I, standardised questionnaires measuring workload and mobbing as stressors, physical symptoms as stress reactions, and social support and self-efficacy as moderating variables. In addition to these concepts, coping strategies, burnout and absenteeism were assessed in study II. RESULTS The structural equation modelling in study I revealed that the predications of the stress model hold true: Workload and mobbing lead to stress reactions, whereas principal support reduces the perception of workload and mobbing. Global support and self-efficacy moderate the relationships between the variables. These results were confirmed in study II and the model was enlarged by burnout and coping strategies. With all concepts, 12% of the variance of absenteeism can be explained. CONCLUSIONS Limitations of the studies, using cross-sectional data and self-reported measures are discussed. Practical implications for improving the situation are provided.

The utility of a broader conceptualization of organizational identification: Which aspects really matter?

Predictions of social identity and self-categorization theories about the relevance of social identification in organizational contexts are presented. We propose that different foci of identification (e.g. with own career, team, organization, occupation) as well as different dimensions of organizational identification (cognitive, affective, evaluative, and behavioural) can be separated. Furthermore, these different aspects of organizational identification are assumed to be differentially associated with work-related attitudes and behaviours. Predictions are first tested in a questionnaire study of 515 German school teachers. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that dimensions and foci can indeed be differentiated. In addition, results indicate that different aspects correlate differentially with different criteria. The results are cross-validated in two samples of 233 German school teachers and 358 bank accountants, respectively.

The Role of Leaders in Internal Marketing

There is little empirical research on internal marketing despite its intuitive appeal and anecdotal accounts of its benefits. Adopting a social identity theory perspective, the authors propose that internal marketing is fundamentally a process in which leaders instill into followers a sense of oneness with the organization, formally known as “organizational identification” (OI). The authors test the OI-transfer research model in two multinational studies using multilevel and multisource data. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses show that the OI-transfer process takes place in the relationships between business unit managers and salespeople and between regional directors and business unit managers. Furthermore, both leader-follower dyadic tenure and charismatic leadership moderate this cascading effect. Leaders with a mismatch between their charisma and OI ultimately impair followers’ OI. In turn, customer-contact employees’ OI strongly predicts their sales performance. Finally, both employees’ and sales managers’ OI are positively related to their business units’ financial performance. The study provides empirical evidence for the role of leaders, especially middle managers, in building member identification that lays the foundation for internal marketing.

Working under a Black Cloud: How to Sustain Organizational Identification after a Merger

This article argues against the merger folklore that maintains that a merger negatively affects well-being and work attitudes primarily through the threat of job insecurity. We hold that the workplace is not only a resource for fulfilling a persons financial needs, but that it is an important component of the self-concept in terms of identification with the organization, as explained by social identity theory. We unravel the key concepts of the social identity approach relevant to the analysis of mergers and review evidence from previous studies. Then, we present a study conducted during a merger to substantiate our ideas about the effects of post-merger organizational identification above and beyond the effects of perceived job insecurity. We recommend that managers should account for these psychological effects through the provision of continuity and specific types of communication.

Identification in Organizational Contexts: Linking Theory and Research from Social and Organizational Psychology

Research in organizational psychology has shown that commitment to the organization correlates with different criteria of work effectiveness. This paper argues that social psychology and, particularly, the Social Identity Approach to intergroup relations extend the concept of commitment theoretically. Above that, it provides a broader conceptual framework for the understanding of underlying processes in the relation between organizational identification and job-related attitudes and behaviours. This theoretical analysis is completed with a review of empirical findings in different fields of application (group performance, work-related attitudes, group norms).

Work motivation, organisational identification, and well-being in call centre work

Abstract Previous work has not considered the interplay of motivational forces linked to the task with those linked to the social identity of employees. The aim of the present study is to combine these approaches. Two studies with call centre agents (N=211, N=161) were conducted in which the relationships of objective working conditions (e.g., inbound vs. outbound work), subjective measures of motivating potential of work, and organisational identification were analysed. Job satisfaction, turnover intentions, organisational citizenship behavior (OCB), health complaints, and burnout were assessed as indicators of the agents’ work motivation and well-being. In both studies it was found that objective working conditions substantially correlated with subjective measures of work motivation. Moreover, employees experiencing a high motivating potential at work reported more OCB, higher job satisfaction, and less turnover intentions. As hypothesized, organisational identification was a further independent predictor of job satisfaction, turnover intentions, OCB, and well-being. Highly organisationally identified employees report higher work motivation and more well-being. Additionally, interactions between the motivating potential and organisational identification were found. However, all the results indicate that interventions seeking to enhance work motivation and well-being in call centres should improve both the motivating potential of the job and organisational identification. These two factors combined in an additive way across both studies.

Ethnic Prejudice in East and West Germany: The Explanatory Power of Intergroup Contact:

Surveys show that respondents from East Germany consistently show higher levels of ethnic prejudice than respondents from West Germany. Comparable differences can be found in statistics on crimes and violence against ethnic minority members. On the basis of three surveys (ALLBUS, 1996, N = 2893; Shell Youth Study (Deutsche Shell), 2000, N = 3560; and our own survey of school students, N = 769), the hypothesis that this difference can be largely explained by contrasting interethnic contact opportunities and experiences is tested and supported. Demographic data show that living in the Eastern or Western part of Germany offers differential opportunities for contact with foreigners. Structural equation analyses reveal that this difference, in turn, influences the number of foreigners in the neighborhood or classroom. As a consequence of these varying opportunities for contact, respondents report marked differences in more intimate and personal contact—such as having foreign friends or experiencing contact of personal importance. Foreign friends and importance of contact proved to be the relevant proximal contact variables that reduce ethnic prejudice. Beyond the German context, these results point to a more inclusive model of intergroup relations.

Acculturation and Prejudice in Germany: Majority and Minority Perspectives

This article explores the connections between prejudice and specific attitudes toward acculturation in Germany. Results of surveys confirm the hypothesis that prejudice is related to ideologies of assimilation and segregation among majority- group members. Moreover, experimental and correlational studies indicate that these attitudes are linked to discriminatory behavior. Further analyses of studies with ethnic minorities prove that prejudice and acculturation are linked within minority groups as well. Additionally it is shown that prejudice is functional in order for minorities to acculturate. These studies confirm the impression that there is a close link between macrosocial and microsocial levels of coping with migration.

Taking a sickie: Job satisfaction and job involvement as interactive predictors of absenteeism in a public organization

Correlations between absenteeism and work attitudes such as job satisfaction have often been found to be disappointingly weak. As prior work reveals, this might be due to ignoring interactive effects of attitudes with different attitude targets (e.g. job involvement and organizational commitment). Drawing on basic principles in personality research and insights about the situational variability of job satisfaction judgments, we proposed that similar interactions should be present also for attitudes with the same target. More specifically, it was predicted that job involvement affects absenteeism more if job satisfaction is low as this indicates a situation with weak constraints. Both attitudes were assessed in a sample of 436 employees working in a large civil service organization, and two indexes of absence data (frequency and time lost) were drawn from personnel records covering a 12-month period following the survey. Whereas simple correlations were not significant, a moderated regression documented that the hypothesized interaction was significant for both indicators of absence behaviour. As a range of controls (e.g. age, gender, job level) were accounted for, these findings lend strong support to the importance of this new, specific form of attitude interaction. Thus, we encourage researchers not only to consider interactions of attitudes with a different focus (e.g. job vs. organization) but also interactions between job involvement and job satisfaction as this will yield new insights into the complex function of attitudes in influencing absenteeism.

Role of Perceived Importance in Intergroup Contact

Furthering G. W. Allports contentions for optimal contact, the authors introduce a new construct: the perceived importance of contact. They propose that perceived importance is the best proximal predictor of contacts reduction of prejudice. If individuals have opportunities for contact at work or in the neighborhood, their chances to have intergroup acquaintances and friends increase. Intergroup contact among acquaintances and friends can be perceived as more or less important, which in turn determines intergroup evaluations. A 1st study shows that the new measure of perceived importance is indeed distinct from established quantity and quality indicators. The results are cross-validated in a 2nd study that also sheds light on the meaning of importance. In 3rd and 4th studies, structural equation analyses and a meta-analysis support the hypotheses.