Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2016.06.003

Exploring Supervisor-Related Job Resources as Mediators between Supervisor Conflict and Job Attitudes in Hospital Employees  

Elfering, Achim (Department of Work and Organisational Psychology, University of Bern)
Gerhardt, Christin (Department of Work and Organisational Psychology, University of Bern)
Grebner, Simone (Department of Work and Organisational Psychology, University of Bern)
Muller, Urs (Health Care Research Institute AG)
Publication Information
Safety and Health at Work / v.8, no.1, 2017 , pp. 19-28 More about this Journal
Abstract
Background: Conservation of resources theory assumes loss of resources as a cause of job strain. In hospital work, conflicts with supervisors are tested to predict lower resources, that is, supervisory social support, participation possibilities, and appreciation. All three resources are expected to predict, in turn, experienced stress (job strain) and lower job satisfaction, lower affective commitment, and a higher resigned attitude towards the job (job attitudes). Methods: The sample included 1,073 employees from 14 Swiss hospitals (n = 604 nurses, n = 81 physicians, n = 135 medical therapists, and n = 253 technical and administrative staff). Of the total sample, 83.1% were female and 38.9% worked full-time. The median tenure was between 7 years and 10 years. Constructs were assessed by online questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used to test mediation. Results: Structural equation modeling confirmed the negative association of conflict with supervisors and job resources. Tests of indirect paths to resources as a link between conflicts with supervisors and job attitudes were significant. For nurses, social support, participation and appreciation showed a significant indirect path, while among medical technicians the indirect paths included social support and appreciation, and among physicians only appreciation showed a significant indirect path. In medical therapists no indirect path was significant. Job resources did not mediate the link between conflict with supervisors and stress in any occupational group. Conclusion: Conflicts with supervisors are likely to reduce job resources and in turn to lower job attitudes. Work design in hospitals should, therefore, address interpersonal working conditions and conflict management in leadership development.
Keywords
appreciation; job resources; job satisfaction; participation; social support;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Karasek RA. Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain:implications for job redesign. Admin Sci Quart 1979;24:285-308.   DOI
2 Preacher KJ, Leonardelli GJ. Calculation for the Sobel test:an interactive calculation tool for mediation tests [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2015 Oct 29]. Available from:http://www.quantpsy.org/sobel/sobel.htm.
3 Schermelleh-Engel K, Moosbrugger H, Muller H. Evaluating the fit of structural equation models:test of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Meth Psychol Res Online 2003;8:23-74.
4 Spector PE, Bruk-Lee V. Conflict, health, and wellbeing. In:De Dreu CKW, Gelfand MJ, editors. The psychology of conflict and conflict management in organizations. San Francisco:Jossey-Bass; 2008. p. 267-88.
5 Semmer NK, Elfering A, Baillod J, Berset M, Beehr T. Push and pull motivations for quitting:a three-wave investigation of predictors and consequences of turnover. Zeitschrift fur Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie 2014;58:173-85.   DOI
6 Semmer NK, Meier LL. Individual differences, work stress and health. In: Schabracq MJ, Winnubst JA, Cooper CL, editors. Handbook of work and health psychology. 3rd ed. Chichester:Wiley; 2009. p. 99-122.
7 Richardson KM, Rothstein HR. Effects of occupational stress management intervention programs:a meta-analysis. J Occup Health Psychol 2008;13:69-93.   DOI
8 Spector PE. A consideration of the validity and meaning of self-report measures of job conditions. In:Cooper CL, Robertson IT, editors. International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Chichester:Wiley; 1992. p. 123-51.
9 Watson D, Pennebaker JW, Folger R. Beyond negative affectivity:measuring stress and satisfaction in the workplace. J Org Behav Manage 1986;8:141-7.
10 De Vogli R, Ferrie JE, Chandola T, Kivimaki M, Marmot MG. Unfairness and health:evidence from the Whitehall II Study. J Epidemiol Commun Health 2007;61:513-8.   DOI
11 Wigens L. The conflict between 'new nursing' and 'scientific management' as perceived by surgical nurses. J Adv Nurs 1997;25:1116-22.   DOI
12 Fox N. The social meaning of surgery. Milton Keynes:Open University Press; 1992. 141 p.
13 Semmer N, Zapf D, Dunckel H. Instrument zur Stressbezogenen Tatigkeitsanalyse (ISTA). In:Dunckel H, editor. Handbuch psychologischer Arbeitsanalyseverfahren. Zurich:vdf Hochschulverlag; 1999. p. 179-214.
14 Frone MR. Interpersonal conflict at work and psychological outcomes:testing a model among young workers. J Occup Health Psychol 2000;5:246-55.   DOI
15 Liu C, Spector PE, Liu Y, Shi L. The interaction of job autonomy and conflict with supervisor in China and the United States:a qualitative and quantitative comparison. Int J Stress Manage 2011;18:222-45.   DOI
16 Demerouti E, Bakker AB, Nachreiner F, Schaufeli WB. The job demands-resources model of burnout. J Appl Psychol 2001;86:499-512.   DOI
17 Duffy MK, Ganster DC, Shaw JD, Johnson JL, Pagon M. The social context of undermining behavior at work. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 2006;101:105-26.   DOI
18 Cohen S, Wills TA. Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychol Bull 1985;98:310-57.   DOI
19 Kim S. Sex differences in the job satisfaction of public employees:a study of Seoul Metropolitan Government, Korea. Sex Roles 2005;52:667-81.   DOI
20 Elo A-L, Leppanen A, Jahkola A. Validity of a single-item measure of stress symptoms. Scand J Work Environ Health 2003;29:444-51.   DOI
21 Kunin T. The construction of a new type of job satisfaction measure. Pers Psychol 1955;8:65-77.   DOI
22 Farmer SM, Anguinis H. Accounting for subordinates perceptions of supervisor power:an identity-dependence model. J Appl Psychol 2005;90:1069-83.   DOI
23 Humphrey SE, Nahrgang JD, Morgeson FP. Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design features:a meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature. J Appl Psychol 2007;92:1332-56.   DOI
24 Semmer N, Jacobshagen N, Meier L, Elfering A, Beehr T, Kaelin W, Tschan F. Illegitimate tasks as a source of work stress. Work Stress 2015;29:32-56.   DOI
25 Zapf D, Dormann C, Frese M. Longitudinal studies in organizational stress research:a review of the literature with reference to methodological issues. J Occup Health Psychol 1996;1:145-69.   DOI
26 Bruk-Lee V, Spector PE. The social stressorsecounterproductive work behaviors link:are conflicts with supervisors and coworkers the same? J Occup Health Psychol 2006;11:145-56.   DOI
27 Schaufeli WB. The future of occupational health psychology. Appl Psychol:Int Rev 2004;53:502-17.   DOI
28 Seligman MEP. Positive health. Appl Psychol:Int Rev 2008;57:3-18.   DOI
29 Grebner S, Elfering A, Semmer NK. The success-resource model of job stress. In:Perrewe PL, Ganster DC, editors. Research in occupational stress and wellbeing: Vol. 8, new developments in theoretical and conceptual approaches to job stress. Bingley, UK:Emerald; 2010. p. 61-108.
30 Pierce JL, Gardner DG, Dunham RB, Cummings LL. Organizations-based selfesteem: construct definition, measurement, and validation. Acad Manage J 1989;32:622-48.
31 Osipow SH, Davis AS. The relationship of coping resources to occupational stress and strain. J Vocat Behav 1988;32:1-15.   DOI
32 Viswesvaran C, Sanchez J, Fisher J. The role of social support in the process of work stress:a meta-analysis. J Vocat Behav 1999;54:314-34.   DOI
33 Piper LJ. Stressors, social support, and stress reactions:a meta-analysis [Internet]. UNT Digital Library; 2007. 120 p. [cited 2015 Oct 29]. Available from:http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5349/.
34 Bussing A. A dynamic view of job satisfaction in psychiatric nurses in Germany. Work Stress 1992;6:239-59.   DOI
35 Elfering A, Grebner S. On intra- and interindividual differences in the meaning of smileys:does this face show job satisfaction? Swiss J Psychol 2011;70:13-23.   DOI
36 Dunham RB, Grube JA, Castaneda MB. Organizational commitment:the utility of an integrative definition. J Appl Psychol 1994;79:370-80.   DOI
37 Bruggemann A. Zur unterscheidung verschiedener formen von "arbeitszufriedenheit" [Different forms of job satisfaction]. Arbeit und Leistung 1974;28:281-4.
38 Baillod J, Semmer N. Fluktuation und Berufsverlaufe bei Computerfachleuten [Turnover and career paths among computer specialists]. Zeitschrift fur Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie 1994;38:152-63.
39 Browne MW. Asymptotically distribution-free methods for the analysis of covariance structures. Brit J Math Stat Psychol 1984;37:62-83.   DOI
40 Elfering A, Grebner S. A smile is just a smile:but only for men. Sex differences in meaning of faces scales. J Happiness Stud 2010;11:179-91.   DOI
41 Frese M, Zapf D. Eine skala zur erfassung von sozialen stressoren am arbeitsplatz [Measurement of social stressors at work]. Zeitschrift fur Arbeitswissenschaft 1987;41:134-41.
42 Grebner S, Semmer NK, Lo Faso L, Gut S, Kalin W, Elfering A. Working conditions, well-being and job-related attitudes among call centre agents. Eur J Work Org Psychol 2003;12:341-65.   DOI
43 Pereira D, Muller P, Elfering A. Workflow interruptions, social stressors from supervisor(s) and attention failure in surgery personnel. Ind Health 2015;53:427-33.   DOI
44 Fisher GG, Matthews RA, Gibbons AM. Developing and investigating the use of single-item measures in organizational research. J Occup Health Psychol 2016;21:3-23.
45 Wanous JP, Reichers AE, Hudy MJ. Overall job satisfaction:how good are single-item measures? J Appl Psychol 1997;82:247-52.   DOI
46 Nunnally JC. Psychometric theory. New York:McGraw-Hill; 1978. 701 p.
47 van Veldhoven M, Meijman TF, Broersen JPJ, Fortuin RJ. VBBA user manual. Amsterdam:SKB; 2002. 32 p. [in Dutch].
48 Caplan RD, Cobb S, French Jr JRP, van Harrison R, Pinneau SR. Job demands and worker health. Washington, DC:National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health; 1975. 342 p.
49 Hobfoll SE. The influence of culture, community, and the nested-self in the stress process:advancing conservation of resources theory. Appl Psychol:Int Rev 2001;50:337-421.   DOI
50 Hobfoll SE. Conservation of resources:a new attempt at conceptualizing stress. Am Psychol 1989;44:513-24.   DOI
51 Schaufeli WB, Bakker AB, Salanova M. The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire. a cross-national study. Educ Psychol Meas 2006;66:701-16.   DOI
52 Locke EA, Latham GP. A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs:Prentice-Hall; 1990. 413 p.
53 Bowling NA, Beehr TA. Workplace harassment from the victim's perspective:a theoretical model and meta-analysis. J Appl Psychol 2006;91:998-1012.   DOI
54 Nielsen MB, Einarsen S. Outcomes of exposure to workplace bullying:a metaanalytic review. Work Stress 2012;26:309-32.   DOI
55 Pejtersen JH, Kristensen TS, Borg V, Bjorner JB. The second version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. Scand J Public Health 2010; 38(Suppl. 3):8-24.   DOI
56 Duffy MK, Ganster DC, Pagon M. Social undermining in the workplace. Acad Manage J 2002;45:331-51.
57 Semmer NK, Grebner S, Elfering A. Beyond self-report:using observational, physiological, and situation-based measures in research on occupational stress. In:Perrewe PL, Ganster DC, editors. Emotional and physiological processes and positive intervention strategies. Research in Occupational Stress and Well-being, Vol. iii. Amsterdam:JAI; 2004. p. 205-63.
58 Baron RM, Kenny DA. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research:conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol 1986;51:1173-82.   DOI
59 Frese M. Gutekriterien der Operationalisierung von sozialer Unterstutzung am Arbeitsplatz [Reliability and validity of an operationalization of social support at work]. Zeitschrift fur Arbeitswissenschaft 1989;43:112-21.
60 Semmer N, Zapf D, Dunckel H. Assessing stress at work:a framework and an instrument. In:Svane O, Johansen C, editors. Work and health:scientific basis of progress in the working environment. Luxembourg:Office for Official Publications of the European Communities; 1995. p. 105-13.
61 Sobel ME. Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equations models. In:Leinhart S, editor. Sociological methodology 1982. San Francisco:Jossey Bass; 1982. p. 290-312.
62 Kohn ML, Schooler C. Job conditions and personality:a longitudinal assessment of their reciprocal effects. Am J Soc 1982;87:1257-86.   DOI