abarker2.files.wordpress.com€¦ · Web viewDaniels and Guppy (1994) state that social support “may be considered to be a flow of communication between people involving emotional

Running Head: SOCIAL SUPPORT AND JOB STRESSORS 1

Social Support and Job Stressors

Alex Barker

University of Central Florida

SOCIAL SUPPORT AND JOB STRESSORS 2

Abstract

The relationship between social support and job stressors is examined through a review of the

literature. This is an important area of study because job stressors can lead to long-term negative

health consequences for employees. Previous studies have found inconsistent and conflicting

evidence on this topic. Two major hypotheses have been developed to describe this relationship:

the direct-effects model and the buffering-effects model. Other, more specific, factors have also

been examined, such as the source of the support and the reciprocity of the support relationship.

Various studies examining these variables and hypotheses are reviewed. More research in this

area is needed in order to better understand the affect that social support has on job stressors.


Social Support and Job Stressors

Introduction

Occupational stress has been shown to negatively affect employees’ physical health and

emotional well-being (Sparks, Cooper, Fried, & Shirom, 1997). The various demands and

stressors of a job can create psychological and behavioral strain, or aversive reactions to stress.

These strains can accumulate over time and potentially lead to long-term health problems for

employees (Nahum-Shani & Bamberger, 2011). One example of a problem that can result from

repeated exposure to job stressors is burnout. Burnout can be defined as “the experience of

emotional exhaustion (depletion or draining of one’s emotional resources), depersonalization

(development of negative, callous and cynical attitudes towards patients) and reduced personal

accomplishment (tendency to appraise one’s work-related behaviour and performance in a

negative manner)” (Jenkins & Elliot, 2004, p. 623). For this reason, it is important to closely

examine stressors in the workplace and the variables that may have an influence on them.

Finding ways to lessen the negative effects of occupational stress on employees should be a

central topic for researchers as it involves an individual’s physical and mental health and well-

being.

Social support is one of many factors that researchers have examined in relation to job

stressors. Mrayyan (2009) defines social support as “the social relationships and transactions

that help individuals to cope with stressful situations” (p. 164). Daniels and Guppy (1994) state

that social support “may be considered to be a flow of communication between people involving

emotional concern, caring, information as well as instrumental help” (p. 1525). Numerous

studies have found that social support can diminish the negative impacts of occupational


stressors on employee health and well-being (Daniels & Guppy, 1994; Frese, 1999;

Viswesvaran, Sanchez, & Fisher, 1999). Social support has also been found to alleviate the

experience of burnout (Melchior, Bours, Schmitz, & Wittch, 1997). However, there is some

disagreement in the field regarding the process of how social support influences job stressors. A

few different hypotheses have been developed in an attempt to describe how social support and

stressors interact (Fried & Tiegs, 1993; Seers, McGee, Serey, & Graen, 1983; Viswesvaran et al.,

1999). There are also researchers who assert that other factors, such as the source of the support,

the types of strains experienced, and the reciprocity of the exchange relationship, need to be

considered when examining the relationship between social support and job stressors (Frese,

1999; Nahum-Shani & Bamberger, 2011).

Main Social Support Models/Hypotheses

Direct-Effects Model

The direct-effects model of social support, also known as the main-effects model or the

independent model, is one of the main hypotheses that has been developed to depict how social

support influences employees’ experience of stressors and strain (Fried & Tiegs, 1993).

According to the direct-effects model, “social support is positively related to employee well-

being, irrespective of the level of stress experienced” (Fried & Tiegs, 1993, p. 481). In other

words, this model assumes that social support directly affects the level of strain experienced by

an employee, regardless of the job stressors that may be present (Beehr, 1985; Viswesvaran et

al., 1999). While Cohen and Wills (1985) assert that the literature on the direct effect of social

support has been well established, there are inconsistencies in the findings of much of the

research.


A study conducted by Fried and Tiegs (1993) examined the role of social support

provided by shop stewards as both a predictor of strain as well as a buffer of stress-strain

relations experienced by their fellow employees. Shop stewards are employees who are elected

to represent their coworkers in various dealings with management. The participants included

112 rank-and-file members of a large northwestern union in the United States that was associated

with the automotive industry. The researchers measured social support using a 6-item Likert

scale instrument that was designed specifically for this study. Another survey was designed and

included items designed to measure role stressors and various indicators of strain. Many of these

items were modified from previously created measures. The results of this study showed little

support for the direct-effects model of social support. Out of the four strain variables measured

(job security, burnout, helplessness, and psychosomatic complaints), social support was only

found to have a significant effect on job security; the higher the shop steward social support, the

higher the satisfaction with job security (Fried & Tiegs, 1993). This is one study that offered

very little support for the direct-effects model of social support.

A study conducted by Wei-Qing, Oi-Ling, Jia-Fang, Cooper, and Phillips (2009)

examined the relationship between job stressors and employee mental health. The authors also

were interested in the direct and moderating effects of informal social support on the relationship

of those variables. Wei-Qing and colleagues (2009) refer to informal social support as “unpaid

help given by family […], friends, neighbors, and coworkers” (p. 433). The authors

hypothesized that informal social support would play two roles in the stress process: objective

and subjective. “Objective measures imply quantity of social support (in terms of size of social

network and frequency of contact), whereas subjective measures imply quality of social support

(in terms of perceived importance of relationships)” (Wei-Qing et al., 2009, p. 433). Participants


for this study included 843 individuals who were recruited from 12 factories in Dongguan,

China. Workplace stress was measured by a modified version of A Shortened Stress Evaluation

Tool, or ASSET, that was translated into Chinese for the purposes of this study. Informal social

support was measured by a modified version of a social support scale that had been used in

numerous studies in clinical settings throughout China. The results supported the direct-effects

model, finding that informal social support was negatively related to workplace stressors (Wei-

Qing et al., 2009).

Viswesvaran and colleagues (1999) conducted a meta-analysis to examine the role of

social support in the process of work stress. The authors found studies that examined the

relationship between support and stressors or strains through a literature search. A total of 68

studies were used for their analysis. The authors wanted to use this data to thoroughly examine

the various models of social support and find which processes were supported by the research.

They not only found a significant direct effect of social support on strains, but also found a direct

effect of social support on the level of stressors experienced. Viswesvaran and his colleagues

(1999) concluded that social support acts in three ways: “its primary role is to reduce strains

[…], whereas its secondary role is to reduce the strength of the stressors themselves […] and to

alleviate the effects of stressors on strain” (p. 329). The first two roles the authors described lend

support to the direct-effects model while the final role is representative of the buffering effects

model, which will be discussed in further detail.

Buffering-Effects Model

The buffering-effects model, also referred to as the moderating hypothesis, is the other

main hypothesis that researchers frequently use to describe the relationship between social


support and job stressors and strain (Viswesvaran et al., 1999). This model assumes that social

support interacts with stressors in a way that the support moderates, or buffers, stressors’ effects

on strains. According to the buffering-effects model, the relationship between stressors and

strains is stronger for those who have lower social support (Kirmeyer & Dougherty, 1988). The

buffering-effects model is the most popular social support theory among researchers. But,

evidence supporting the hypothesis is inconsistent; some studies have even found a “reverse-

buffering effect,” where social support intensifies the harmful consequences of job stressors

(Nahum-Shani & Bamberger, 2011).

Olstad, Sexton, and Sogaard (2001) conducted a population study to test the buffering

hypothesis of social support. Participants of the study included 2,250 persons from five rural

municipalities in Finnmark, Norway who were invited to three general health surveys in 1987,

1990, and 1993. Those individuals who attended and completed at least two of the health

surveys were included in the data analysis. The surveys included questions assessing various

types of stress, social network, and social support. In this study, the social network construct

was defined as the number of families whom the respondent regularly contacted. Social support

was measured in two ways: instrumental support, such as borrowing items, getting help with

transportation, or house sitting, and emotional support, such as talking to others about personal

issues. The results found that social network and social support significantly, but weakly,

buffered the negative effects of total stress upon health. When the data were analyzed further

and the researchers looked at the specific types of stress, only one significant effect was found;

social network was found to have a buffering effect on work-related stress. These results support

the buffering-effects model, though it should be noted that the findings were weak.


Patterson (2003) conducted a study examining the effects of social support on

psychological distress due to work and life events in police officers. The participants of this

study included a convenience sample of 233 police officers from a police department in the

northeastern United States. The participants completed a survey that measured stressful work

and life events, psychological distress, and various forms of coping, including social support.

The results found a significant buffering effect between social support and the number of

stressful work events reported. Because police officers may experience more intense and

different forms of work stressors than those found at the average workplace, these results may

not be generalizable to other types of occupations.

A study conducted by Mutkins, Brown, and Thorsteinsson (2011) examined burnout and

psychological stress as it relates to social support in intellectual disability support staff. The

researchers hypothesized that both the quantity of social support relationships and the

satisfaction with the social support would buffer the relationship between psychological stress

and burnout symptoms. There were 80 voluntary participants who responded to advertisements

for the study. These participants completed the survey materials for the study on the internet,

except for the burnout measure which was sent in the mail. The survey measured burnout

symptoms, challenging client behavior, stress, and social support. The results found that social

support satisfaction buffered between psychological stress and emotional exhaustion, which is

one of the dimensions of burnout. Social support satisfaction was not found to affect the other

two dimensions of burnout, depersonalization and lack of perceived personal accomplishment

(Mutkins et al., 2011). The number of social support relationships had no significant effects on

any of these variables. The results of this study add to the plethora of inconsistent findings

regarding the buffering-effects model of social support.


Jenkins and Elliot (2004) conducted a study analyzing the impact of social support on

burnout and stressor-burnout relationships in nurses. The researchers used a convenience sample

of 93 nurses from 11 acute adult mental health wards. The participants completed a stress scale,

a burnout scale, and a social support scale. The results showed that higher levels of support from

co-workers buffered the effects of stress on emotional exhaustion; the higher the co-worker

support, the lower the emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, the results also found a reverse-

buffering effect between social support and the stressor of depersonalization. This means that

higher stressor scores were related to higher depersonalization scores for individuals who had

higher social support, but not those who had lower social support. This study exemplifies the

conflicting evidence that researchers have found regarding the buffering-effects model of social

support. More recently, researchers have begun trying to expand on this model by examining

other possible factors that may have an influence on the relationship between social support and

work stressors.

Other Factors of Social Support and Job Stressors

Reciprocity of Relationship

Nahum-Shani and Bamberger (2011) posited that whether social support buffers the

harmful effects of job stressors on employee health depends on the general pattern that

characterizes the employee’s supportive exchanges across his/her close relationships. The

authors believed that the reciprocity of the supportive exchange relationship determined the

buffering effects of social support on the negative effects of occupational stress. Nahum-Shani

and Bamberger explain that researchers have mistakenly conceptualized “support recipients as

passive agents in their support-related social interactions, rather than active players in exchange


relationships” (p. 51). So, the authors suggest that the buffering effects of social support may

depend upon the employee’s perceptions of support given and support received. The authors

integrated various social exchange perspectives to come up with three hypotheses: 1) Social

support received buffers the relations between work hours and employee health and well-being

when the amount of support received equals the amount of support given (reciprocal exchange

pattern); 2) The buffering effect of social support received on the relationship between work

hours and employee health and well-being is weaker when support given exceeds support

received (under-reciprocating exchange pattern); 3) Social support received reverse-buffers, or

amplifies, the relationship between work hours and employee health and well-being when the

amount of support received exceeds the amount of support given (over-reciprocating exchange

pattern). A model depicting the proposed relationship is shown below. The model illustrates the

moderating effect that support received and support given have on the relationship between work

stressors and well-being.

Fig. 1. Conceptual model: support received and support given as moderators of the stressor (work hours) – strain

(diagnosed illness, depression) relationship (Nahum-Shani & Bamberger, 2011, p.53).

For participants, the researchers drew a random sample of employees with 20 or more

years of organizational tenure from membership lists of nine unions in the United States. Survey


data were collected through telephone interviews at two points in time with the second interview

occurring a year after the first. The final participant sample was made up of 964 individuals.

The results of the study supported the authors’ hypotheses. The data showed that in a reciprocal

supportive exchange, where an equal amount of support is received and given,

an increase in the level of support received not only attenuates the generally harmful

effect of work hours on employee health and well-being, but actually reverses this effect,

such that employees experience improved health and well-being as a function of longer

hours at work. (Nahum-Shani & Bamberger, 2011, p. 59)

In under-reciprocating supportive exchanges, the data found that an increase in support received

has a weaker buffering effect on the harmful effects of work hours. In over-reciprocating

supportive exchanges, an increase in support received strengthened the effect of work hours on

illness and depression. These findings suggest that the buffering-effects model of social support

might be enhanced by taking into account the supportive exchange relationships that employees

have with those who are close to them.

Match Hypothesis

Cohen and Willis (1985) proposed the match hypothesis, stating that buffering should be

the highest when there is “a reasonable match between the coping requirements and the available

support” (p. 314). This hypothesis implies that social support should most strongly affect social

types of stressors. In a study by Frese (1999), he extended the match hypothesis to include areas

of dysfunctioning, such as psychological and psychosomatic dysfunctioning. Frese (1999)

argued that social anxiety and irritation are both social forms of psychological dysfunctioning.

The author hypothesized that the buffering effects of social support should be more pronounced


in psychological dysfunctioning, including social anxiety and irritation, than psychosomatic

complaints and depression.

Five different German companies in the steel and automobile industries were

systematically selected for this study after researchers entered the workplaces and rated their

potential in regards to this particular study. The study was longitudinal in nature and was based

on 90 male participants who took part in the survey. The participants completed a questionnaire

and did so again 16 months later; they were also observed at their workplaces and interviewed at

both points in time. The results supported the match hypothesis, finding that social stressors

were buffered by social support most frequently. Frese’s (1999) extended version of the

hypothesis was also supported in that “the social types of dysfunctioning – social anxiety and

irritation/strain – were more highly affected by the buffers than were psychosomatic complaints

and depression” (p. 187).

After dividing the variables into high/low social support and high/low social stressors, a

graph (Figure 2) was created to depict the buffering effect that these variables have on

irritation/strain. This graph illustrates that having low social support and high social stressors led

to the most strain in individuals, whereas those who had high social support and high social

stressors reported the least amount of strain. The social support buffered the effects of the social

stressors on the participants’ level of strain. While this study supported the match hypothesis, it

should be noted that there were limitations. The results may not be generalizable since the

participants were all male blue-collar workers. Stressors in blue-collar workplaces are likely to

be rather different than stressors in white-collar workplaces.


Fig. 2. A graphical presentation of the buffer effect (Frese, 1999, p. 189).

Integrated Model

Baker, Israel, and Schurman (1996) developed and tested an integrated model of

occupational stress. Their model integrates the Demand-Control Model with a conceptual

framework that was developed by researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Social

Research (ISR). The Demand-Control Model states that “negative health outcomes are the result

of the joint effect of high demands and low control” (Baker et al., 1996, p. 1146). More recent

versions of the Demand-Control Model have added social support as a variable relating to

occupational stress. The researchers at ISR developed a framework designed to explain the

process of occupational stress. They conceptualized stress as a “process in which individual,


environmental, organizational, and social factors are associated with a variety of physiological,

psychological, and behavioral outcomes” (Baker et al., 1996, p. 1146). The ISR researchers

believed that social support was one of the modifying factors of stress.

The integrated model proposed by Baker, Israel, and Schurman (1996) examines the role

of different types of stressors, different types of control, and two forms of support, affective and

instrumental, from both coworkers and supervisors. This model suggests “the need to test direct,

mediating, and buffering effects of each form of control and social support on job satisfaction

and health” (Baker et al., 1996, p. 1147). The researchers tested this model at a manufacturing

plant of an automotive corporation in Michigan. Participants of the study included 1,000

employees, 95% of whom were males. The researchers collected both quantitative and

qualitative data to examine the importance of the various factors thought to mediate the

relationship between occupational stress and health. The measures evaluated the different types

of control, stressors, social support, and outcomes.

The findings indicated that all of the workplace stressors examined were significantly

associated with both negative job feelings and depression symptoms (Baker et al., 1996). When

looking at social support, increased affective and instrumental support from supervisors was

associated with decreased negative job feelings. Neither affective nor instrumental support was

found to have significant effects when coworkers were providing the support. A table of the

various findings can be seen below (Table 1), including the significant effects from supervisor

social support.

These findings by Baker, Israel, and Schurman (1996), along with the results of the

studies discussed earlier, exemplify the complex nature of the relationship between social


support and workplace stressors. All of the studies found differing results, adding to the

inconsistent findings on this subject area. Some of the results support the direct-effects model

while others are more supportive of the buffering-effects model. Still, there are other researchers

who believe that the relationship between social support and job stressors is more complex than

either of these models depicts and have therefore designed their own models or examined other

factors that may relate to these variables. I tend to agree with these researchers in the belief that

there are probably several other factors that affect the relationship between social support and job

stressors.

Table 1. Effect of job level stressors, control, and social support on negative job feelings (Baker et al., 1996, p.

1152).


Conclusion

While there has been a vast amount of research conducted on the relationship between

social support and job stressors, the research findings are not at all definitive. Some studies

support particular hypotheses of social support while others refute these same models. There

may be many reasons for these inconsistencies in the research evidence, but I want to touch on

two possibilities: poor construct definition and depth of the variables. There are no set

definitions for the constructs of social support and job stressors. Nearly every study that

examines these variables defines them both in different terms. Some researchers only look at the

support of coworkers while others include family and friends. Some studies examine specific

job stressors, like work hours, while others measure general stress in the workplace. It is not

surprising to me that these studies yield conflicting evidence because it appears that they are not

measuring the same variables. In order to improve the validity of these studies, researchers

should work to more concretely define the constructs of social support and job stressors in their

research.

Social support and job stressors are two rather broad variables. Social support may differ

depending on the support provider, the support recipient, the type of support, and other factors.

Workplace stressors will differ with nearly every job. The relationship between these two

variables can differ based on the type of support needed for the particular stressor and the type of

support received. Researchers have developed the two most popular social support hypotheses to

try to simplify all of these factors. These hypotheses are known as the direct-effects model and

the buffering-effects model. The direct-effects model posits that social support directly

influences the negative health consequences caused by job stressors, regardless of the severity of

the stressors (Fried & Tiegs, 1993). On the other hand, the buffering-effects model states that


social support moderates the relationship between job stressors and employee health and well-

being, thereby lessening the negative effects that these stressors have on the employees

(Viswesvaran et al., 1999). The inconsistent findings on these hypotheses indicate, to me, that

there must be other factors at play. The relationship between social support and job stressors

seems to require a more complex model than either the direct-effects or the buffering-effects

hypotheses provide. Researchers should work to develop new hypotheses that more accurately

represent this intricate relationship and the various factors affecting it.


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abarker2.files.wordpress.com€¦ · Web viewDaniels and Guppy (1994) state that social support “may be considered to be a flow of communication between people involving emotional