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1 – 10 of over 3000The purpose of this study is to (re-)evaluate the explanatory power of the stressor–stress–strain model and its' current operationalization by examining the influence of general…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to (re-)evaluate the explanatory power of the stressor–stress–strain model and its' current operationalization by examining the influence of general and interaction adjustment and the mediating effect of general satisfaction on expatriates' and spouses' intention to prematurely return from an assignment or overseas location. Though expatriates' premature return intention has been well examined in prior literature, this is the first study to focus on spouses' premature return intention from the expatriate's assignment.
Design/methodology/approach
To evaluate the hypotheses, a sample of 104 expatriates and a sample of 64 spouses were collected and analysed utilizing structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results show that adjustment, as the opposite of distress, is not a direct negative driver of expatriates' nor spouses' premature return intention. Instead, the findings underscore the relevance of the general satisfaction with the international assignment (IA) as a mediator for both expatriates and spouses, which emphasizes the importance of attitudinal factors in the model. Overall, the results indicate that adjustment, in particular interaction adjustment, might not be a timely measure of distress anymore.
Practical implications
In order to reduce expatriates' and spouses' premature return intention multinational corporations should aim at maximizing satisfaction levels during the IA. To achieve this, both should be included in the selection process prior to the IA to tailor support mechanisms to satisfy their expectations.
Originality/value
This study is the first to investigate the premature return intention from the expatriates' and spouses' perspectives, while (re-)evaluating the explanatory power of the stressor–stress–strain model at present.
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Katherine Rosenbusch, Leonard J. Cerny II and David R. Earnest
The purpose of this paper is to examine relationships between cross-cultural adjustment and stress of expatriate employees with families in a multinational corporation and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine relationships between cross-cultural adjustment and stress of expatriate employees with families in a multinational corporation and identify common stressors reported during international transitions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilized both quantitative and qualitative methods through an online survey based tool. The CernySmith Assessment captured the statistical measures of objective adjustment scales along with written in, subjective stressor responses from a sample of expatriates.
Findings
Overall subjective stress level was negatively correlated with all five objective adjustment domains (organizational, cultural, relational, behavioral, and personal). Seven stressor categories (cultural, occupational, relational, historical, crisis, spiritual, physical) demonstrated statistically significant negative relationships with overall adjustment. Regression analysis indicated expatriate adjustment was predicted by spiritual, occupational, and support stressors. Write-in stressor responses provided specific expressions of individual stress challenges, strains, and hassles that support predicted relations according to the Family Adaptation and Adjustment Response model.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides a snapshot of objective adjustment interacting with subjective stress for expatriate employees from a single international organization during a specific time period.
Originality/value
These findings provide insights to organizations and human resource development professionals as well as to expatriates and their families on how stress impacts expatriate adjustment. It also highlights the need for support mechanisms to ease transitions and reduce stressors.
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The purpose of this paper is to test the properties of the well-known three-dimensional adjustment scale, established by Black et al. (1988, 1989), namely, its dimensionality and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test the properties of the well-known three-dimensional adjustment scale, established by Black et al. (1988, 1989), namely, its dimensionality and internal consistency. The theoretical basis of the construct is discussed in relation to formative and reflective measurement approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
Two different ways of organizing the adjustment items (random/non-random) were used to assess the internal consistency of the three-dimensional adjustment scale. The quantitative analysis presented is based on survey data from 468 assigned expatriates in Asia that were subjected to an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis as well as a structural equation modeling – more specifically the multiple indicators multiple causes model (MIMIC).
Findings
The study revealed that the adjustment construct is possibly misspecified, especially the general adjustment dimension, that was tested as a formative, not a reflective scale. There is further evidence that the wrong measurement approach skewed the coefficient that connects adjustment to performance, which is the key construct in its nomological network. Moreover, the dimensionality and the internal consistency of the scale are deteriorated to a large extent by randomization of the items. The findings highlight the need for a clear concept definition that would lead to an appropriate operationalization of the construct.
Originality/value
The study is one of the few rigorously testing the properties of a construct that has been used for almost 30 years, thus yielding some novel conclusions about its stability and consistency.
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Huat Bin (Andy) Ang and Arch G. Woodside
This study applies asymmetric rather than conventional symmetric analysis to advance theory in occupational psychology. The study applies systematic case-based analyses to model…
Abstract
This study applies asymmetric rather than conventional symmetric analysis to advance theory in occupational psychology. The study applies systematic case-based analyses to model complex relations among conditions (i.e., configurations of high and low scores for variables) in terms of set memberships of managers. The study uses Boolean algebra to identify configurations (i.e., recipes) reflecting complex conditions sufficient for the occurrence of outcomes of interest (e.g., high versus low financial job stress, job strain, and job satisfaction). The study applies complexity theory tenets to offer a nuanced perspective concerning the occurrence of contrarian cases – for example, in identifying different cases (e.g., managers) with high membership scores in a variable (e.g., core self-evaluation) who have low job satisfaction scores and when different cases with low membership scores in the same variable have high job satisfaction. In a large-scale empirical study of managers (n = 928) in four (contextual) segments of the farm industry in New Zealand, this study tests the fit and predictive validities of set membership configurations for simple and complex antecedent conditions that indicate high/low core self-evaluations, job stress, and high/low job satisfaction. The findings support the conclusion that complexity theory in combination with configural analysis offers useful insights for explaining nuances in the causes and outcomes to high stress as well as low stress among farm managers. Some findings support and some are contrary to symmetric relationship findings (i.e., highly significant correlations that support main effect hypotheses).
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Cristina Rubino, Christa L. Wilkin and Ari Malka
Recent years have seen an explosion in the study of emotions in organizations, and although emotions play a central role in the job stress process, their role is largely neglected…
Abstract
Recent years have seen an explosion in the study of emotions in organizations, and although emotions play a central role in the job stress process, their role is largely neglected in empirical stressor–strain studies. Our chapter aims to build consensus in the literature by showing that discrete emotions provide a mechanism through which stressors exert their impact on well-being. By examining a larger domain of stressors, emotions, and well-being, we begin to develop and expand upon the nomological network of emotions. In an effort to build on the job demands–resources (JD-R) model, which includes both job demands (i.e., negative stimuli such as time pressure) and resources (i.e., positive stimuli such as autonomy), we include both negative and positive discrete emotions with the expectation that negative emotions will generally be linked to demands and positive emotions will be linked to resources. We also propose that there may be circumstances where demands trigger negative discrete emotions and lead to greater experienced strain, and conversely, where resources arouse positive discrete emotions, which would positively affect well-being. The model in our chapter sheds light on how discrete emotions have different antecedents (i.e., job demands and resources) and outcomes (e.g., satisfaction, burnout, performance), and as such, respond to calls for research on this topic. Our findings will be of particular interest to organizations where employees can be trained to manage their emotions to reduce the strain associated with job stressors.
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Tahseen Anwer Arshi, Sardar Islam and Nirmal Gunupudi
Considerable evidence suggests that although they overlap, entrepreneurial and employee stressors have different causal antecedents and outcomes. However, limited empirical data…
Abstract
Purpose
Considerable evidence suggests that although they overlap, entrepreneurial and employee stressors have different causal antecedents and outcomes. However, limited empirical data explain how entrepreneurial traits, work and life drive entrepreneurial stressors and create entrepreneurial strain (commonly called entrepreneurial stress). Drawing on the challenge-hindrance framework (CHF), this paper hypothesises the causal effect of hindrance stressors on entrepreneurial strain. Furthermore, the study posits that entrepreneurial stressors and the resultant strain affect entrepreneurial behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts an SEM-based machine-learning approach. Cross-lagged path models using SEM are used to analyse the data and train the machine-learning algorithm for cross-validation and generalisation. The sample consists of 415 entrepreneurs from three countries: India, Oman and United Arab Emirates. The entrepreneurs completed two self-report surveys over 12 months.
Findings
The results show that hindrances to personal and professional goal achievement, demand-capability gap and contradictions between aspiration and reality, primarily due to unique resource constraints, characterise entrepreneurial stressors leading to entrepreneurial strain. The study further asserts that entrepreneurial strain is a significant predictor of entrepreneurial behaviour, significantly affecting innovativeness behaviour. Finally, the finding suggests that psychological capital moderates the adverse impact of stressors on entrepreneurial strain over time.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the CHF by demonstrating the value of hindrance stressors in studying entrepreneurial strain and providing new insights into entrepreneurial coping. It argues that entrepreneurs cope effectively against hindrance stressors by utilising psychological capital. Furthermore, the study provides more evidence about the causal, reversed and reciprocal relationships between stressors and entrepreneurial strain through a cross-lagged analysis. This study is one of the first to evaluate the impact of entrepreneurial strain on entrepreneurial behaviour. Using a machine-learning approach is a new possibility for using machine learning for SEM and entrepreneurial strain.
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Norbert K Semmer, Simone Grebner and Achim Elfering
The preponderance of studies that rely on self-report for both independent (e.g. stressors) and dependent (e.g. well-being) variables is often deplored, as it creates problems of…
Abstract
The preponderance of studies that rely on self-report for both independent (e.g. stressors) and dependent (e.g. well-being) variables is often deplored, as it creates problems of common method variance, which may lead to inflated, or even spurious, correlations and predictions. It is sometimes suggested that alternative measures should yield more “objective” information on the phenomena under investigation. We discuss this issue with regard to: (a) observational measures of working conditions; (b) physiological measures of strain; and (c) event-based “self-observation” on a micro-level. We argue that these methods are not necessarily “objective.” Like self-report, they are influenced by a plethora of factors; and measurement artifacts can easily be produced. All this can make their interpretation quite difficult, and the conclusion that lack of convergence with self-report automatically invalidates self-report is not necessarily warranted. Especially with regard to physiological measures, one has to keep in mind that they refer to a different response level that follows its own laws and is only loosely coupled with psychological responses. Therefore, replacement is not a promising way to get more reliable estimates of stressor-strain relationships. We argue instead that each method contains both substantive and error variance, and that a combination of various methods seems more auspicious. After discussing advantages and pitfalls of observational, physiological, and self-observational measures, respectively, we report empirical examples from our own research on each of these methods, which are meant to illustrate both the advantages and the problems associated with them. They strengthen the overall conclusion that there is no “substitute” for self-report (which often is necessary to be able to interpret data from other methods, most notably physiological ones). They also illustrate that collecting such data is quite cumbersome, and that a number of conditions have to be carefully considered before using them, and we report some problems we encountered in this research. Altogether, we conclude that self-report measures, if carefully constructed, are better than their reputation, but that the optimal way is to complement them with other measures.
Adrien B. Bonache and Kenneth J. Smith
This chapter combines quantitative studies of the connections between stressors and performance in accounting settings and identifies the mediators and moderators of stressors…
Abstract
This chapter combines quantitative studies of the connections between stressors and performance in accounting settings and identifies the mediators and moderators of stressors–performance relationships. Using meta-analyses and path analyses, this research compiles 72 studies to investigate the relationships of stressors with accountant and auditor performance. As hypothesized, bivariate meta-analyses results indicate that work-related stressors negatively affect performance, and burnout and stress are negatively related to performance, whereas motivation is positively related to performance. Moreover, a meta-analytical structural equation modeling indicates that role stressors have significant direct and indirect effects (through burnout and stress) on job performance. Accumulation of multiple samples through meta-analysis bolsters statistical power compared to single-sample studies and thus reveals the sign of residual direct effects of role stressors on job performance in accounting settings.
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Florence YY Ling and Elsie Kai Ying Mok
This study aims to investigate how to manage the stressors that facility managers (FMs) face with the aim of reducing their stress and strain levels.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how to manage the stressors that facility managers (FMs) face with the aim of reducing their stress and strain levels.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, stressors are operationalized from job demands, job resources and personal resources constructs. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from FMs based in Singapore.
Findings
FMs have significantly high levels of stress, but they are able to manage this well. Job demands that cause stress and strain are those relating to insufficient time to complete the work and difficulties in handling the work. The lack of job resources in terms of lack of organizational support and inadequate stress mitigation programs are associated with high levels of stress and strain.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations are the relatively small sample size and absence of a database of FMs in Singapore, and correlation is not causation when determining the association between stressors and stress and strain.
Practical implications
Based on the recommendations, employers and FMs may manage the specific stressors identified so that FMs’ stress and strain levels are under control to enable them to work optimally.
Originality/value
This research discovered that the JD-R model is moderated by certain features of facilities management and FMs. When these features are present, FMs are predisposed to more stressors, and higher stress and strain. For the facilities management profession, the discovery is that there are significantly more job demands: for in-house FMs compared to those working for outsourced firms; for FMs who need to carry out estate and asset management, landlord activities and facility planning compared to FMs who focus on operations and maintenance; and for FMs who work longer than five days compared to those who work a five-day week.
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