A Lengthy Look at the Daily Grind: Time Series Analysis of Events, Mood, Stress, and Satisfaction.

The present study investigated processes by which job stress and satisfaction unfold over time by examining the relations between daily stressful events, mood, and these variables. Using a Web-based daily survey of stressor events, perceived strain, mood, and job satisfaction completed by 14 university workers, 1,060 occasions of data were collected. Transfer function analysis, a multivariate version of time series analysis, was used to examine the data for relationships among the measured variables after factoring out the contaminating influences of serial dependency. Results revealed a contrast effect in which a stressful event associated positively with higher strain on the same day and associated negatively with strain on the following day. Perceived strain increased over the course of a semester for a majority of participants, suggesting that effects of stress build over time. Finally, the data were consistent with the notion that job satisfaction is a distal outcome that is mediated by perceived strain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining Type A behavior pattern to explain the relationship between job stressors and psychosocial outcomes.

Despite cautions against using a global measure of Type A behavior pattern (TABP), few studies have examined the TABP components of Achievement Striving (AS) and Impatience/Irritability (II). The authors examined these 2 components to assess whether they moderated the relationships between job stressors and psychosocial outcomes. Results based on 106 employees from a large Canadian organization supported the independence of the 2 TABP components. After controlling for the job stressors (i.e., overload, ambiguity, intrarole conflict, and lack of job control), II and AS accounted for additional variance in job satisfaction, perceived stress, and life satisfaction, although these components were uniquely related to different outcomes. Finally, AS and II moderated several of the stressor-psychosocial outcome relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cross-cultural examination of the relation of marital communication behavior to marital satisfaction.

Numerous studies have examined the communication behaviors of Western, primarily North American, couples and have demonstrated a robust and reliable association between marital satisfaction and couple communication. However, there has been relatively less attention given to the generalizability of these findings to non-Western couples. To address this issue, the authors conducted an observational study of marital communication among couples from 3 different cultural groups: 50 White American couples, 52 Pakistani couples in Pakistan, and 48 immigrant Pakistani couples in America. The results show that positive and negative communication behaviors were associated with marital satisfaction within each of the 3 cultural groups. However, the American group's marital satisfaction was more strongly related to marital communication behaviors than was that of the Pakistani group and, to a lesser extent, the immigrant group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implementation intentions, occupational stress, and the exercise intention-behavior relationship.

Many individuals intend to exercise, but fail to link this intention to behavior. The present study examined the impact of an implementation intention intervention (i.e., instructions to form specific if-then plans) on an exercise intention-behavior relationship among working adults who varied in reported occupational stress levels. Results indicated that implementation intentions backfired, such that participants who did not form an implementation intention exercised significantly more than participants who formed an implementation intention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships of role stressors with organizational citizenship behavior: A meta-analysis.

Several quantitative reviews have documented the negative relationships that role stressors have with task performance. Surprisingly, much less attention has been directed at the impact of role stressors on other aspects of job performance, such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The goal of this study was to therefore estimate the overall relationships of role stressors (i.e., role ambiguity, conflict, and overload) with OCB. A meta-analysis of 42 existing studies indicated that role ambiguity and role conflict were negatively related to OCB and that these relationships were moderated by the target of OCB, type of organization, OCB rating source, and publication status. As expected, role conflict had a stronger negative relationship with OCB than it did with task performance. Finally, we found support for a path model in which job satisfaction mediated relationships of role stressors with OCB and for a positive direct relationship between role overload and OCB. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employee personality as a moderator of the relationships between work stressors and counterproductive work behavior.

The current study, which is framed within the context of the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, examined counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) as a response to ineffective coping with work stressors. More specifically, we examined whether the relationship between work stressors and CWBs was moderated by employee personality. Analyses using data collected from 726 adults employed in a diverse set of occupations found that work stressors were more strongly related to CWBs among workers who were low in conscientiousness, or high in negative affectivity (NA) than among workers who were high in conscientiousness, or low in NA. We found less consistent support, however, for the moderating effects of agreeableness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship functioning moderates the association between depressive symptoms and life stressors.

Data from 172 newlywed couples were collected over the first 4 years of marriage to test how behaviors demonstrated during marital interactions moderate associations between depressive symptoms and subsequent life stressors. Depressive symptoms and behaviors coded from problem-solving and social support interactions were analyzed as predictors of nonmarital stressors that were interpersonal and dependent on the participant's actions. Behavioral codes were found to moderate 3 of 16 symptom-to-life event associations for husbands. Husbands' reports of more depressive symptoms predicted greater levels of stress when husbands' positive affect and hard negative affect during problem-solving were relatively infrequent and when wives made frequent displays of positive behaviors during husbands' support topics. These effects remained after controlling for marital satisfaction. For wives, behavioral moderators did not interact with depressive symptoms to predict changes in stress, but marital satisfaction consistently interacted with depressive symptoms to predict future stressors beyond interpersonal behaviors. Specifically, for wives, stress generation was more evident when relationship satisfaction was low than when it was high. Our results, though different for men and women, suggest that relationship functioning can alter associations between depressive symptoms and life stress in the early years of marriage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Properties of organization structure in relation to job attitudes and job behavior.

This article reviews the results of empirical field studies that have investigated the relationships between properties of organization structure and job attitudes and job behavior in business and industrial organizations. The following 7 structural properties were examined: organizational levels, line/staff hierarchies, span of control, subunit size, total-organization size, tall/flat shape, and centralized/decentralized shape. At least 5 of these 7 variables (with the possible exceptions being span of control and centralized/decentralized shape) were found to be significantly related to one or more attitude or behavioral variables. Implications of these findings for organization theory and future research are discussed. (3 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job stress and family social behavior: The moderating role of neuroticism.

We investigated the role of neuroticism in the associations between job stress and working adults' social behavior during the first hour after work with their spouse and school-age children. Thirty dual-earner families were videotaped in their homes on two weekday afternoons and evenings. An observational coding system was developed to assess behavioral involvement and negative emotion expression. Participants also completed self-report measures of job stressors and trait neuroticism. There were few overall associations between job stress and social behavior during the first hour adults were at home with their spouse and school-age children. However, significant moderator effects indicated that linkages between work experiences and family behavior varied for men who reported different levels of trait neuroticism, which captures a dispositional tendency toward emotional instability. Among men who reported high neuroticism, job stress was linked to more active and more negative social behavior. Conversely, for men reporting low neuroticism, job stress was related to less talking and less negative emotion. These patterns were not found for the women in the study. The findings suggest that when work is stressful, men who are higher on neuroticism (i.e., less emotionally stable) may show a negative spillover effect, whereas men who are lower on neuroticism (i.e., more emotionally stable) may withdraw from social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job stressors and the pursuit of sport activities: A day-level perspective.

This article addresses the relation between day-specific experiences of job stressors and the pursuit of off-job activities. Following the limited-resources model of self-regulation, the authors proposed that job stressors and long working hours are negatively related to pursuit of sport activities after work because, after stressful days, employees have no resources left for initiating and persisting in effortful behaviors such as sport. Routines for off-job activities were hypothesized to be positively related to the pursuit of sport activities after work. Seventy-eight police employees completed a daily survey over 5 working days and indicated that they perceive sport to be highly useful for recovery. Random coefficient modeling showed that job stressors (particularly situational constraints) encountered on a specific day were negatively related to self-regulatory resources and to the amount of time spent on sport activities after work, whereas the relation with low-effort activities was positive. Thus, after a stressful day when an effective recovery activity such as sport is highly needed, persons tend to engage less in such an activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Association of daily stressors and salivary cortisol in spinal cord injury.

Objective: Examine the diurnal variation of salivary cortisol in adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) and the effect of stressors on cortisol and mood. Method: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to capture cortisol, stress, and mood from 25 persons with SCI and 26 without SCI. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models. Results: There were no systematic differences between groups on missing data. Diurnal variation of cortisol of participants with SCI reflected an expected pattern. No significant group differences for cortisol diurnal pattern, stress, or mood; when group interactions were significant, results indicated lower cortisol reactivity to stress in participants with SCI. Stress had a significant impact on positive, negative and agitated moods. Conclusions: Stress in daily life and its association with cortisol and mood were largely similar between persons with and without SCI. A key methodological contribution is the demonstration of using EMA to collect biological and behavioral data in the field from participants with SCI. The use of EMA in rehabilitation psychology research has great potential to advance our understanding of the dynamics of daily life with disability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression moderates smoking behavior in response to a sad mood induction.

Stress and anxiety have been shown to increase smoking motivation. There is limited experimental data on depressed or sad mood and smoking. This study investigated the effects of two induced moods on smoking behavior. Depression scores were examined as a potential moderator and mood changes were tested as a potential mediator. Smokers (N = 121) were randomly assigned to receive either a sad induction or a neutral induction via standardized film clips. Among participants with higher depression scores, smoking duration and the number of cigarette puffs were greater in response to the sad condition. There was also a marginal interactive effect on the change in expired air carbon monoxide among this subsample; however, no differences in smoking latency or craving were observed. Changes in positive mood partially mediated the effect of condition on smoking behavior among participants with high depression scores. There was no modifying effect of gender or mediating effect of negative mood changes. The results provide preliminary support that decreases in positive mood may have a greater influence on smoking behavior among depression-prone smokers than less psychiatrically vulnerable smokers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress and counterproductive work behavior: Multiple relationships between demands, control, and soldier indiscipline over time.

Cognitive Resource Theory (CRT) suggests that under high levels of stress, employees are more prone to committing indiscipline. As few studies have examined this relationship over time, the authors conducted a six-wave longitudinal study examining the relationship of soldiers’ indiscipline with work demands and control. The study included archival data collected quarterly over 2 years from 1,701 soldiers representing 10 units in garrison (Germany and Italy), in training rotations (Grafenwoehr, Germany), and on peacekeeping deployments (Kosovo, Kuwait). No main effects were found for work overload, and the findings for the moderating effects of control were contradictory. Within each time point, as work overload increased, soldiers who felt less control committed more indiscipline, supporting CRT. Over time, however, as work overload increased, soldiers who perceived less control 6 months earlier committed less indiscipline. Additionally, the authors found reverse causal effects for control such that prior perceptions of a lack of control were associated with indiscipline and prior incidents of indiscipline with less control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fluid cognitive ability is associated with greater exposure and smaller reactions to daily stressors.

The authors of this study investigated whether fluid cognitive ability predicts exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors. A national sample of adults from the Midlife in the United States study and the National Study of Daily Experiences (N = 1,202) who had a mean age of 57 years (SD = 12; 56% women, 44% men) completed positive and negative mood reports as well as a stressor diary on 8 consecutive evenings via telephone. Participants also completed a telephone-based battery of tests measuring fluid cognitive ability. Higher levels of fluid cognitive ability were associated with greater exposure to work- and home-related overload stressors. Possessing higher levels of fluid cognitive ability was associated with smaller stressor-related increases in negative mood, primarily for interpersonal tensions and network stressors, and smaller stressor-related decreases in positive mood for interpersonal tensions. Furthermore, fluid cognitive ability was unrelated to subjective severity ratings of the stressors reported. Discussion focuses on the role of fluid cognitive ability in daily stress processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The double meaning of control: Three-way interactions between internal resources, job control, and stressors at work.

The Job Demand-Control model postulates that job control attenuates the effects of job demands on health and well-being. Support for this interactive effect is rather weak. Conceivably, it holds only when there is a match between job control and individual characteristics that relate to exercising control options, such as locus of control, or self-efficacy. This three-way interaction was tested in a sample of 96 service employees, with affective strain and musculoskeletal pain as dependent variables. As hypothesized, job control attenuated the effects of stressors only for people with an internal locus of control. For people with an external locus of control, job control actually predicted poorer well-being and health as stressors increased. For self-efficacy, the corresponding three-way interaction was significant with regard to affective strain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication during marital conflict: When couples alter their appraisal, they change their behavior.

In a sample of 77 recently married couples, within-person variance in cognitive appraisal was expected to predict corresponding within-person variance in communication behavior during conflict. Three types of appraisal were considered: expectancies of partner understanding, expectancies of partner negative communication, and attributions. Couples were observed in 4 different conflict conversations, completed during 2 assessment sessions, and appraisals were assessed prior to each conversation. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze within-person effects. Changes from one conversation to the next in all 3 types of appraisal predicted corresponding within-person change in communication, and many effects were larger for wives than for husbands. Results were strongest for expectancies of partner understanding. Expectancies predicted change in one's own behavior after controlling for the accuracy of the expectancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding marital stressors. The importance of coping style

Previous survey work with 1591 married Chicago adults has demonstrated a close connection between symptoms of depression and current marital stressors (nonfulfillment of basic role expectations, lack of reciprocity between partners, and nonacceptance by spouse). The pertinent question now becomes which factors predispose toward marital stressors. We address this issue here by examining a broad array of variables to see which are most predictive of marital stressors by employing multiple regression analysis on data from the survey sample. A descending order of explanatory power of marital stressors occurs for the following categories of variables: respondent's style of coping with marital problems, behavior patterns within the marriage, personality factors of the respondent, other current social stressors, demographic variables, and marital circumstances. One coping style in particular, that of optimistic action, is more predictive of low marital stressors than any other single variable studied. The findings contradict several common beliefs about marital stressors: the presence of background differences between the spouses, a lack of consensus between the partners, and the presence of other social stressors (job, parenting, finances) are relatively poor predictors of marital discord.     

Personality disorder symptoms and marital functioning.

Pathological personality is strongly linked with interpersonal impairment, yet no study to date has examined the relationship between concurrent personality pathology and dysfunction in marriage--a relationship that most people find central to their lives. In a cross-sectional study of a community sample of married couples (N = 82), the authors used multilevel modeling to estimate the association of self- and spouse-reported symptoms of personality disorder (PD) with levels of marital satisfaction and verbal aggression and perpetration of physical violence. Inclusion of self- and spouse report of total PD symptoms resulted in improved model fit and greater variance explained, with much of the improvement coming after the addition of spouse report. The incremental validity of spouse report for several of the 10 PD scales was supported for marital satisfaction and verbal aggression, particularly for the Borderline and Dependent PD scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-interest and other-orientation in organizational behavior: Implications for job performance, prosocial behavior, and personal initiative.

In this article, the authors develop the self-concern and other-orientation as moderators hypothesis. The authors argue that many theories on work behavior assume humans to be either self-interested or to be social in nature with strong other-orientation but that this assumption is empirically invalid and may lead to overly narrow models of work behavior. The authors instead propose that self-concern and other-orientation are independent. The authors also propose that job performance, prosocial behavior, and personal initiative are a function of (a) individual-level attributes, such as job characteristics when employees are high in self-concern, and (b) group-level attributes, such as justice climate when employees are high in other-orientation. Three studies involving 4 samples of employees from a variety of organizations support these propositions. Implications are discussed for theory on work behavior and interventions geared toward job enrichment and team-based working. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)