The Influence of Role overload and Job control on Job stress Name: Jingwen Huang ANR: 359236 First supervisor: N.F. Gibson Bachelor thesis Human Resource Studies February – June 2017 Tilburg University THE ROLE OF JOB CONTROL AND ROLE OVERLOAD IN JOB STRESS Abstract Job stress has become one of the commonest problems for organizations because of the high work requirements at the workplaces. Research in the area of job stress has been done many times, however, it still remains unclear to what extent job control can moderate the relationship between role overload and its outcome - job stress. Based on the Job Demands- Resources model, this study hypothesized that role overload is positively related to job stress, and that job control has a moderating effect on the relationship between role overload and job stress. This study applied a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and multiple regression analysis on a dataset, which is collected by a cross-sectional design. 461 respondents from 82 organizations are approached and filled in the questionnaire. Pearson’s r analysis shows that there is a significant relationship between role overload and job stress; job control has no relationship with both variables. Multiple regression analysis shows that role overload has a direct positive significant effect on job stress. However, the results also show that job control has neither significant effect on job stress nor significant moderating effect on the relationship between role overload and job stress. The limitations and practical implications for further research are discussed. Keywords: job stress, role overload, job control, Job Demands-Resources model 2 THE ROLE OF JOB CONTROL AND ROLE OVERLOAD IN JOB STRESS Introduction In a period of the economic crisis, which began in 2008, many organizations had to lay off employees to keep their organizations running. According to the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 85.000 employees have been discharged because of the crisis in 2008, which is twice as much as in the preceding year (CBS, 2009). At the same time, however, the amount of work has remained the same, which means that employees have to work more than before to keep the organization running (Toh, Ang, & Devi, 2012). According to FNV, the largest labor union in the Netherlands, more than thirty percent of Dutch employees have problems with work overload and job stress (FNV, n.d.). CBS stated in its report that about 40% of the Dutch employees have to work extra hours to achieve their goals (CBS, 2017). Moreover, about 20% of the employees experience work overload (AOb, 2013). Job stress can be caused by work time pressure, extra work demands and other environmental pressures (Michie, 2002). It can negatively impact the individual employee as well as the organization. On an individual level, job stress might cause dissatisfaction, withdrawal, and eventually turnover (Cherniss, 1980). It can also lead to health problems, such as coronary heart disease and mental problems (e.g. emotional exhaustion, burnout) (Cooperb & Marshall, 2013; Stordeur, D’hoore, & Vandenberghe, 2001). For organizations, job stress might lead to poor performance and a low level of productivity (Jensen, Patel, & Messersmith, 2011). Hence, it is of great importance for employees and organizations to reduce job stress. Role overload is one possible cause of job stress (Bolino & Turnley, 2005; Coverman, 1989). Role overload refers to situations in which employees have too many responsibilities or when they are expected to perform well in a limited available time, with only few job resources and under a certain pressure (Bolino & Turnley, 2005; Rizzo, House, & Lirtzman, 1970). Examples are working in a high tempo, and being expected to behave as a good organizational citizen (e.g. having good relationships with co-workers or showing good organizational behavior at work) (Bolino & Turnley, 2005). In line with previous research (Bolino & Turnley, 2005; Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001) and the Job Demands-Resources Model (JD-R model) (Demerouti, Bakker, & Schaufeli, 2001), employees who experience role overload are more likely to experience higher level of job stress. According to the JD-R model, job demands refer to the factors which require physical and/or mental efforts from an individual at his or her workplace (Demerouti et al., 2001). In this case, role overload requires more efforts from an employee, and thus it can be seen as a job demand. When employees experience high role overload, this means that their job demands exceed their capabilities, which will lead to higher levels of job stress (Bolino & Turnley, 2005). 3 THE ROLE OF JOB CONTROL AND ROLE OVERLOAD IN JOB STRESS According to the JD-R model, job demands can be buffered when employees possess plenty of job resources (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Job resources are the organizational or social factors, which can help an individual to achieve his or her goals (Bakker et al., 2003). The concept of job control is defined as the perceived ability that an individual can use to influence his or her job to make it more advantageous and less threatening (Ganster, 1989). On the basis of the JD-R model, when employees experience too many job demands (e.g. role overload), and meanwhile there is a lack of job resources (e.g. job control), employees tend to experience more job stress (Jensen et al., 2011). Therefore, if employees want to be able to better cope with job stress, the level of job resources has to exceed the level of job demands. For instance, Boswell and his colleagues (2004) state that employees who experience job stress as a consequence of too many requirements with little job control are more likely to have difficulties to deal with job stress. This study will contribute to the literature because the results will provide more information about the relationship between role overload and job stress by using the JD-R model. Moreover, this study will show to what extent the relationship between role overload and job stress can be influenced by job control. In the past decades, the relationship between role overload and job stress has been examined several times, however, these studies did not examine the moderating effect of job control between role overload and job stress (Coverman, 1989; Jackson, 1989, Bolino & Turnley, 2005; Jensen et al., 2011). Moreover, the results of this study are practically relevant. Examining the relationship between role overload and job stress can help employees and organizations to gain insights into how job stress occurs and how to deal with it. On the individual level, this insight might help employees to better cope with job stress by using their job resources. On the organizational level, managers and HR professionals might come up with better practices to prevent job stress and improve the productivity and work performance. In short, the aim of this study is to test how job control influences the relationship between role overload and job stress. In order to achieve the results, the following research question will be examined: “To what extent does role overload influence job stress and to what extent does job control moderate the relationship between role overload and job stress?” In the next chapter, the definitions of role overload and job stress will be given and the relationship between them will be explained. Second, the potential moderating effect of job control on the relationship between role overload and job stress will be discussed by using the 4 THE ROLE OF JOB CONTROL AND ROLE OVERLOAD IN JOB STRESS JD-R model. Lastly, the hypothesized relationships and the concept model are presented in Figure 1. Theoretical Framework Role overload First of all, a definition of role overload will be given. Role overload refers to the situation when employees feel that they are having too many responsibilities, or their job demands exceed their abilities to perform well in a certain time with limited resources (Bolino & Turnley, 2005). Employees who tend to fulfill several different roles feel more pressure at their work place, because these roles require additional time, energy, and resources from them (Bolino & Turnley, 2005). Several studies announced that role overload often occurs in association with role conflict, because of the lack of time, energy, and resources, which cannot satisfy the increased job demands (Peterson et al., 1995; Rizzo et al., 1970; Bolino & Turnley, 2005). On the basis of the role theory, employees find it difficult to deal with all their job demands when they fail to execute different roles. As a result, they experience job stress (Bolino & Turnley, 2005). Job stress Parker and DeCotiis (1983) state that job stress is the perception or a feeling of an individual’s personal disability that is caused by the events in the work environment. Job stress can be considered as a stimulus, a reaction, but also an interaction between an individual and his or her environment (Parker & DeCotiis, 1983). Furthermore, job stress can be divided into two important dimensions: the time pressure dimension and the feeling of anxiety (Parker & DeCotiis, 1983). Time pressure refers to “the feeling of an individual under considerable time pressure”, while anxiety refers to the “job-related feelings of anxiety.” (Parker & DeCotiis, 1983, p. 169). The sources of job stress are called stressors, these stressors can be for example the demands of work itself or situations that interrupt an individual’s work-private equilibrium (Lloyd, King, & Chenoweth, 2002). Moreover, continued stress is related to “chronic anxiety, psychosomatic illness and a variety of other emotional problems” (Lloyd et al., 2002, p. 256). As a result, job stress will impact an individual’s health and performance in the long run. Job control Ganster (1989) states in his research that job control is an ability that an individual perceives to utilize his or her work environment in order to reduce threatening and gain more rewards.