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Drawing on the identity asymmetry literature, transactional stress theory, and creativity literature, we investigate how a perceived discrepancy between an individual’s creative role identity and others’ views toward his/her creative role identity (i.e., creative identity asymmetry) influences individual’s creative performance via psychological strain. We also examine how perceived creativity requirement and self-monitoring alter the relationships between creative identity asymmetry, psychological strain, and creative performance. Based on two studies (an experimental study and a field study), we found that creative identity asymmetry was positively related to psychological strain and negatively and indirectly related to creative performance. We also found that the effects of negative asymmetry were stronger than positive asymmetry, while perceived creativity requirement and self-monitoring significantly strengthened most of these relationships. Hence, this study contributes to the literature on creativity, identity asymmetry, and stress.

La danza es la actividad física artística por excelencia y ejerce una enorme tensión psicológica para los que lo practican. Son casi inexistentes los estudios que se interesan por conocer qué particularidades del entorno de la danza son las adecuadas para que los bailarines se desarrollen de forma óptima. Este estudio analiza las diferencias que existen en las estrategias de afrontamiento psicológico entre los bailarines de Danza Española y Flamenco de las mejores compañías españolas, siendo el único en conseguir este tipo de muestra. Para ello participaron un total de 14 Compañías Profesionales de danza con gran prestigio nacional. A todos ellos se les aplicó el Cuestionario de Estrategias de Afrontamiento (ACSI-28) de Graupera, Ruiz, García y Smith (2011). Los resultados mostraron diferencias significativas en todos los factores del cuestionario, siendo la Compañía de Sara Baras la que obtuvo los mejores resultados a excepción del rendimiento bajo presión. Por lo tanto, este estudio demuestra como es importante proporcionar a los bailarines estrategias eficientes con las que lograr un mayor rendimiento y disfrute de su disciplina. Abstract. Dancing is the artistic physical activity par excellence. This discipline exerts a psychological strain for those who practice it, but there is scarce evidence on what environmental characteristics are adequate for dancers to evolve in optimum conditions. This study analyses the existing differences in the psychological coping strategies between Spanish Dance and Flamenco dancers from the best Spanish companies. This research is the first in achieving this kind of sample. A total of 14 highly prestigious professional dance companies participated in this study. All participants were asked to complete the Questionnaire of Coping Strategies (ASCI-28) created by Graupera, Ruiz, García and Smith (2011). The results showed significant differences in all the surveyed factors, being Sara Baras Company the one obtaining the best values in all variables, except for the performance under pressure. Therefore, this study shows how important effective strategies are for dancers to meet a higher performance and enjoyment of their discipline.

Employees who feel the urge and preoccupation to respond to workplace asynchronous communication quickly may be suffering from workplace telepressure (WPT). Although information and communication technologies have many organizational benefits, it is imperative to understand the cost of blurring work and family roles. Using the Job Demands-Resources model, the relationship between WPT and key outcomes, such as strain, work-family conflict, family-work conflict (FWC), and burnout was examined. In Study 1, a sample of 220 working students supported the mediation of strain in the WPT and work-family and family-work relationship. Additionally, Study 2 expanded this model using a sample of 269 working individuals. Specifically, the relationship between WPT and burnout was sequentially mediated by strain and either work-family or FWC. Implications are discussed.

Using a crossover model, we examined the relationships among family undermining by their partner and the psychological strain and workplace deviance of employees, and also investigated the moderating effect of employees' emotional exhaustion on their psychological strain, leading to workplace deviance. Analysis of 3-wave data obtained from 332 employee–partner dyads (246 male employees, 86 female employees) at a large industry in southern Taiwan demonstrated a significant positive relationship between family undermining and employees' workplace deviance, mediated by psychological strain. The results show that when employees' emotional exhaustion level was high this increased the relationship between psychological strain and workplace deviance. These findings confirm that the crossover model can be used to examine the direction of the effect of family undermining on workplace issues. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

This study investigated the effects of weight increase of firefighters’ boots on physiological and psychological strain. Seven young males (70.9 ± 4.8 kg in body mass, BM) participated in the following four boot conditions while wearing standard firefighting personal protective equipment: 3.2, 3.9, 4.6, and 5.3 kg (4.5, 5.5, 6.5, and 7.5%BM). The results showed that the four boot conditions resulted in no differences in rectal temperature, mean skin temperature, energy expenditure and overall thermal comfort during walking, while increments in heart rate were greater for 5.3 kg than for other three conditions (P P

Research on knowledge hiding, the intentional attempt to withhold knowledge that others have requested, strikingly shows its detrimental consequences. But, if it has only negative effects, why do employees hide knowledge in their everyday work at all? With this diary study, we address this question, shedding light on the instrumentality of knowledge hiding. Specifically, placing it within the transactional stress model, we argue that deceptive knowledge hiding (playing dumb and evasive hiding) may function as coping, relating negatively to psychological strain responses to experienced interpersonal conflict. Accordingly, we tested evasive hiding and playing dumb as mediators of the day-specific relationship between conflict and end-of-work exhaustion and negative affect. Based on data of 101 employees who reported on 615 workdays, results of multilevel path analyses showed relationship conflict positively related to evasive hiding and playing dumb. Playing dumb was negatively related to end-of-work psychological strain responses, resulting in inconsistent mediation. Evasive hiding was unrelated to psychological strain. Showing the potential intrapersonal benefits of playing dumb, this article helps to better understand the occurrence of enacted ‘negative’ interpersonal work behaviors, yielding important implications for research and practice.

There is growing interest in the area of elite athlete mental health, however brief, valid and reliable screening instruments designed to identify early indictors of athlete-specific distress and p...

Previous research examining skill mismatch in the labour market has ignored potential implications for workers outside of the work environment. We argue that the psychological strain that the discr...

The relation between role overload and work performance remains insufficiently understood. Drawing upon conservation of resources theory, we expected role overload to negatively relate to performance through psychological strain and this relation to be buffered by leader–member exchange (LMX). Study 1 (N = 212) examined depression as a severe type of strain that mediates between role overload and in-role performance, job dedication, and voice behavior. Study 2 (N = 191) used generic, perceived strain as a mediator between role overload and in-role performance and reward recommendations. Both studies tested LMX’s buffering effect, controlling for role ambiguity and conflict. A supplementary panel study (N = 99) assessed the temporal relationship between role overload and strain. Role overload triggered psychological strain, which undermined performance, and LMX acted as a buffer on role overload, but not on role ambiguity or role conflict. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.

The pervasive nature of social media can result in excessive use and addiction, but whether excessive use of social media is good or bad for individuals' creativity is unclear. This study explored the direct and indirect impact of excessive use of WeChat on individuals' creativity in workplace, focusing on how excessive use of WeChat promotes or restrains creativity through knowledge sharing and psychological strain. Based on the person–environment fit model and motivation theory, this study examined the three paths of excessive WeChat use affecting individuals' creativity in workplace. We used the structural equation model to test our research model. A survey of 364 employees revealed that excessive WeChat use directly promotes creativity and indirectly improves creativity via knowledge sharing, but excessive WeChat use does not lead to psychological strain. These findings, obtained by theoretically and empirically investigating the positive outcomes of excessive WeChat use, suggest an upside to excessive WeChat use. The implications and limitations of this study and future research on excessive-use behavior are also discussed.

This chapter argues that social-psychological strain theory is a broad theory with a fundamental role to play in the explanation of crime and delinquency. Explanations of crime and delinquency are dominated by control and learning theories. These theories are compared with strain theory in an effort to highlight the unique contribution of strain to the explanation of delinquency. Contemporary strain theory also takes account of individual traits, and it also considers situational as well as predisposing variables in its explanation of crime. Agnew has even suggested that strain theory may be more relevant to the explanation of specific delinquent events than it is to the predisposition for delinquency. Strain theory clearly has a unique contribution to make to the explanation of crime and delinquency. In terms of the predisposition to delinquency, strain theory points to certain features of the social environment, certain intervening mechanisms, and certain individual traits that are neglected by other theories.

Need-threat is the central mechanism underlying the deleterious effects of workplace ostracism. The literature acknowledges that employees respond to the thwarted needs differently. However, there is little insight into individual differences in the front end of the process — perceiving workplace ostracism as a need-threat. The present study examined self-compassion, an individual difference variable, as a buffer to the effect of workplace ostracism on appraisal of need-threat. We found that employees high in self-compassion appraised workplace ostracism as less of a threat to their psychological needs. Additionally, we also found that self-compassion also affected the coping/reaction stage following need-threat appraisal by buffering the effect of need-threat appraisal on employee work proactivity and psychological strain. Two independent studies produced convergent findings. In conclusion, we found evidence that self-compassion is a psychological strength that helps employees ward off the threat of workplace ostracism.

Drawing on the stress literature (transactional theory of stress, job demands-resources model and conservation of resources theory), this study aims to provide new insights into the antecedents of abusive supervision. We collected data from 95 supervisors with matched responses from 358 subordinates working across various industries in China using a time-lagged survey. We tested our moderated mediation model using path analyses. Results revealed that perceived workplace competitiveness triggered supervisors’ felt stress and psychological strain, resulting in abusive supervision. Two workplace constraints (climate of error aversion and organisational sanctions against aggression) were examined as moderators: a high climate of error aversion intensified the positive relationship between supervisors’ perceived competition and supervisors’ felt stress; while high organisational sanctions against aggression mitigated the positive relationship between supervisors’ psychological strain and abusive supervision. Together, these findings highlight the importance of workplace constraints and explicate how they influence resource-drained supervisors to displace their aggression onto subordinates.

Psychosocial injury is an important issue for the transport and logistics sector. Indeed, these workers typically face multiple role stressors that compromise mental health and, in turn, have a deleterious effect on safety outcomes. The present study investigated the interactive effects of three roles stressors on employee strain (psychological strain and sleep disturbances) and employee morale (job dissatisfaction and turnover intentions) in 443 Australian road transport and logistics workers. Regression analyses using PROCESS revealed significant three-way interactions among role overload, role ambiguity, and role conflict. When both role ambiguity and role conflict were low, the negative consequences of role overload on employee outcomes were buffered. In other words, low role conflict and low role ambiguity helped insulate employees from the impact of role overload. Conversely, when both role ambiguity and role conflict were high, psychological strain, sleep disturbances, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intentions remained high, regardless of the level of role overload. Implications for theory and practice in the transport and logistics sector are discussed.

Based on affective events theory and the crossover model, this study examines the effect of psychological contract breach on employee dysfunctional behavior and partner family undermining and explores the crossover effect of employee dysfunctional behavior on partner family undermining in work–family issues. This study collected 370 employee–partner dyads (277 male employees, 93 female employees, M age = 43.59 years) from a large manufacturing organization. The results of this study support the conception that employees' psychological contract breach results in frustration in the workplace. In addition, mediation analysis results reveal that psychological contract breach relates to employee dysfunctional behavior in the workplace. The findings show that partners' psychological strain mediates the relationship between employee dysfunctional behavior and partner family undermining. Furthermore, these findings provide investigations for the crossover model to display the value of psychological contract breach in family issues.

This paper investigates when proactive personality exerts a positive or negative effect on psychological strain, which, in turn, is conducive or destructive to job performance. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we examine leader-member exchange (LMX, the quality of emotional support, trust and exchange of valuable resources between the leader and follower) as a crucial moderator, such that proactive personality is negatively related to psychological strain under high LMX, but is positively related to psychological strain under low LMX. Moreover, we hypothesize a moderated mediation effect such that the indirect effect of proactive personality on job performance through psychological strain is positive when LMX is high but negative when LMX is low. Results based on a two-wave, multi-source survey study with a sample of 266 employees and their direct supervisors in a sales company in China lent support to our moderation and moderated mediation hypotheses.

Purpose Drawing on the social exchange theory and the stressor-strain framework, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between leaders’ narcissism and employee’s organizational cynicism. Specifically, the authors take a relational approach by introducing employee’s psychological strain as the mediator. The moderating role of psychological capital in the relationship between leaders’ narcissism and employee’s cynicism is also considered. Design/methodology/approach The data of this study encompass 1,215 certified nurses from 15 university hospitals in Turkey. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to test the proposed model. Findings The statistical results of this study supported the positive effect of leaders’ narcissism on employee’s cynicism as well as the mediating effect of employee’s psychological strain. Moreover, when the level of psychological capital is high, the relationship between leaders’ narcissism and organizational cynicism is weak, whereas the effect is strong when the level of psychological capital is low. Practical implications The findings of this study suggest that managers in the healthcare industry should be sensitive in treating their subordinates, as it will lead to positive interpersonal relationship, which, in turn, will reduce employee cynicism. Moreover, managers should pay more attention to the buffering role of psychological capital for those employees with high psychological strain and showing organizational cynicism. Originality/value As the healthcare sector continues to go through a transformational change, it is important to identify organizational factors that affect employee attitudes. There is limited empirical evidence about the determinants of cynicism, particularly in the healthcare sector environment. This study contributes to the literature on organizational cynicism by revealing the relational mechanism between leaders’ narcissism and employee cynicism. The paper also offers a practical assistance to employees in the healthcare management and their leaders interested in building trust, increasing leader-employee relationship and reducing organizational cynicism.

Abstract. Although supervisor support is generally considered a job resource that buffers the negative consequences of job demands, reverse-buffering effects have been found. It was proposed that supervisor support would be stress buffering when supervisors were skilled in emotion management and stress exacerbating when supervisors were low in emotion management. A sample of 210 US employees found three-way interactions on psychological strain, job burnout, and two stress-related intentions. Supportive supervisors high in emotion management buffered high emotional demands on psychological strain and medical advice intentions, but not burnout or turnover intentions. The stress-exacerbating hypothesis was not supported. Instead, employees with highly supportive supervisors low in emotion management reported low strain at low emotional demands. However, this benefit was diminished at high emotional demands.

According to the Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) model, employees may accept high-cost/low-gain conditions in their work for a certain time because they anticipate career promotion and related rewards at a later stage (i.e., strategic choice). The current study examines the associations between ERI and psychological strain among interns who seem to fit this condition. In addition, intention to work in their future profession, and therefore receive the aforementioned rewards, was investigated as a moderator of the relationships between ERI and psychological strain. A questionnaire measuring ERI, psychological strain (social dysfunction and anxiety/depression), and intention to pursue a career in accountancy was administered to 172 accounting interns. Regression analyses were conducted to test the proposed relationships and moderating hypotheses. Overcommitment (but not ERI nor ERI × overcommitment) was positively correlated with both social dysfunction and anxiety/depression. Intention moderated the...

Recent research has demonstrated that peoples’ implicit theories about willpower (whether willpower is seen as a limited vs. nonlimited resource) influence the adverse effects of self-control demands (SCDs) on psychological strain. However, these findings have not yet been transferred to occupational settings where employees are increasingly facing high SCDs in their everyday work. Integrating recent findings on implicit theories about willpower and arguments brought up by the strength model of self-control, we propose that employees who believe that willpower is a limited resource have a stronger need for recovery after a demanding workday than employees who believe that willpower is a nonlimited resource. In a diary study covering ten working days (N = 71), we examine implicit theories about willpower as a moderator of the adverse day-specific effects of SCDs on need for recovery. Our results provide support for our hypothesis. In particular, on days with high levels of SCDs, believing in willpower as a limited resource enhances the need for recovery. We then discuss these findings in light of the strength model of self-control. Practical Relevance: Coping with self-control constitutes a major stressor at work and is related to high psychological strain. Therefore, identifying and understanding boundary conditions that can reduce the adverse consequences from exerting self-control at work is an important step towards creating healthy working environments.

Working conditions in western economies keep fueling work stress and psychological ill-health among employees. Job resources as well as personal resources play important roles in alleviatin...

Background: The present study examined the role of praise and recognition from one’s supervisor in mitigating the extent to which employees with psychological strain intend to engage in stress-rela...

Employing 5 waves of measurement over a period of 10 years, we explored the effects of exposure to constellations of conditions at work on physical and psychological strain, estimating the history of exposure over time. Specifically, we first tested if the 4 constellations postulated by the job demand-control (JDC) model, extended to include social stressors, could be identified empirically over time through a person-centered analysis. Second, we tested 2 specific effects of the history of exposure on physical and psychological strain: cumulative effects (i.e., history of exposure predicting strain) and chronic effects (i.e., history of exposure being associated with reduced reversibility in strain). Data were collected from 483 respondents who were at the end of their vocational training. The results supported the hypotheses, in that not all JDC constellations could be empirically identified, the majority of participants was in rather favorable constellations, and the differences between constellations, in terms of levels of demands and control, were more subtle than suggested by theoretically predefined constellations. Because the linear and quadratic solutions were largely comparable, we decided to adopt the linear ones. The expected cumulative and chronic effects were mostly confirmed: Unfavorable JDC constellations were associated with poorer health and well-being than favorable ones, when controlling for the initial level of the respective outcome variable, demographic variables, and for cumulative private stressors (cumulative effects). These differences largely remained after further adjustments for current conditions at work (chronic effects). (PsycINFO Database Record

We surveyed 198 graduating college seniors at four points before and after they began a new job to examine the relationship between anticipated organizational support (AOS) and leader-member exchange (LMX) as mediated by information seeking. We found that AOS, assessed before the first day of work, was associated with subsequent LMX 3 months after work began. Furthermore, information seeking mediated the relationship between AOS and LMX. Moreover, LMX was associated with reduced psychological strain, lessened turnover intentions, and increased extra-role behaviours 6 months following the start of work. These findings indicate that anticipation of future support before the onset of employment influences newcomers' LMX and its consequences. Practitioner points Human resources practitioners and managers can prepare a better transition for newcomers by cultivating a supportive and caring view of the organization before the newcomers start their job. To enhance such anticipated organization support, the organization's positive valuation of the newcomers and concern with their welfare can be emphasized during job interviews with prospective employees and training sessions., Educating supervisors to be responsive to newcomers' requests for information may contribute to their adjustment and help them meet organizational goals and objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managers’ abuse of subordinates is a common form of unethical behaviour in workplaces. When exposed to such abuse, employees may go absent from work. We propose two possible explanations for employee absence in response to managerial abuse: a sociological explanation based on perceptions of organizational justice and a psychological explanation based on psychological strain. Both are tested using data from a sample of 1472 mental health workers. The occurrence, duration and frequency of absence are investigated using a hurdle model. Managerial abuse is found to be associated with the occurrence of absence through both perceptions of organizational justice and psychological strain. Distributive justice and depression are especially significant in explaining the relationship between abuse and absence. Once absent, duration of absence is not further affected by managerial abuse but is still linked to depression and distributive justice, whereas frequency of absence is linked to bullying and depression.

We examined how interpersonal justice from coworkers, the traditional justice facets (i.e., distributive, procedural, interpersonal, informational), and overall justice perceptions relate to employ...

This study examined the influence of racial identity and mentoring experiences on occupational stress among African American women in health care (N = 76). The women were surveyed about their occupational stress (role stress, psychological strain, and personal resources), racial identity, demographic information, and mentoring experiences. Results indicated that racial identity was negatively related to role stress and psychological strain, and level of education was closely related to personal resources. Mentoring was not found to have a significant impact on occupational stress as hypothesized. The implications for enhancing occupational satisfaction were discussed in relation to advocacy for career development professionals.

Research on the relationship between work-family conflict (WFC) and psychological strain provides largely inconsistent results about the direction of this effect. To identify a source of this varia...

We develop two models of the relationships between emotional intelligence (EI), job insecurity, and psychological strain. The moderation model suggests that EI reduces psychological strain by helping individuals cope with job insecurity when it arises. The mediation model suggests that EI reduces psychological strain by enabling individuals to conserve resources, thereby reducing their experience of job insecurity. Our results, based on a sample of 232 real estate agents, show that job insecurity mediates the relationship between EI and psychological strain. Contrary to what the moderation model suggested, the positive relationship between job insecurity and psychological strain was found to be stronger when EI was higher. Overall, the results provide more nuanced insights into the role of EI in psychological strain.

This paper examines the spillover and crossover effects of emotional exhaustion on marital satisfaction for both employees and partners as well as on employee work–family conflict and partner family–work conflict. It investigates how the transmission of psychological strain from the workplace to the family domain mediates these relationships. In a sample of 226 employee–partner dyads from manufacturing, electronics, banking, service industries and public organizations, the results support the notion that employees' emotional exhaustion spawns negative strain in the home. More specifically, the results of spillover mediation analyses show the relationships between emotional exhaustion and employee marital satisfaction/work–family conflict in the home. In a crossover model, the results indicate that employee psychological strain mediates the relationships between emotional exhaustion and the marital satisfaction of partners/family–work conflict in partners. These findings provide supports for spillover and crossover models to investigate a direction for the effectiveness of emotional exhaustion on family issues. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed, and directions for future research are offered.

Summary Although conscientiousness was commonly viewed as a type of personal resource to help individuals reduce strain or mitigate the impacts of stressors, empirical research demonstrated mixed results. Based on the personal resource allocation perspective, we posited that rather than functioning as personal resource per se, conscientiousness may act as a key factor influencing how individuals allocate their personal resources. The current study examined the moderating roles of conscientiousness in the relationships that work stressors (i.e., challenge stressors and hindrance stressors) have with employee psychological strain and job performance by using multi-source, time-lagged data collected from 250 employees working at two companies. The results showed that both challenge stressors and hindrance stressors were positively related to psychological strain. Conscientiousness moderated the relationships between both stressors and psychological strain, such that the positive relationships were stronger for individuals with high conscientiousness. Conscientiousness also moderated the relationship between challenge stressors and performance, such that the relationship was positive for individuals with high conscientiousness but negative for those with low conscientiousness. Altogether, the findings suggest that conscientiousness acts as a double-edged sword that both promotes performance and exacerbates the stress reaction of employees when they are confronted with stressful situations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Prior research suggests that exercise has positive benefits for individuals and the organizations they work for. Using the literature related to social cognitive theory and exercise, the present study hypothesizes and tests the effects of exercise on two directions of work-family conflict: work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). Using a sample of 476 working adults, we found that exercise was both positively related to self-efficacy for managing work-family conflict and negatively related to reported psychological strain, which in turn were related to reductions in work-family conflict. Model fit for the data support our contention that exercise indirectly influences work-family conflict via its direct impact on increased self-efficacy and reduced psychological strain. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This paper examines the relationships between two independent regulatory mode orientations, locomotion and assessment, and well-being in organizational contexts. Results from a sample of 320 employees revealed that locomotion was negatively associated with burnout and psychological strain whereas assessment was positively associated with burnout and strain. The effects of locomotion and assessment on burnout and strain were mediated by workaholism and work engagement. Both locomotion and assessment predicted greater workaholism; however, locomotion was positively associated whereas assessment was negatively associated with work engagement. In turn, workaholism predicted greater burnout and strain, and work engagement predicted less burnout and strain. Implications for employee health and organizational success are discussed.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the crossover effects from one partner's work-family interface (work-family conflict [WFC] and work-family enrichment [WFE]) to the other partner's four outcomes (psychological strain, life satisfaction, marital satisfaction and job satisfaction) in a sample of Chinese dual-earner couples. Married couples (N = 361) completed a battery of questionnaires, including the work-family interface scale, the psychological strain scale, the life, marital, as well as job satisfaction scale. Results from the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) analyses showed that wives' WFE was negatively associated with husbands' psychological strain, and positively associated with husbands' life, marital and job satisfaction. Furthermore, husbands' WFC was negatively related to wives' marital satisfaction, whereas husbands' WFE was positively related to wives' marital satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed, and future research directions were provided.

This study examines the crossover effects of a type of negative workplace event known as a psychological contract breach, on partner’s life satisfaction. This study also investigates the moderating effects of employee’s and partner’s neuroticism on the partner’s psychological strain, leading to partner’s life satisfaction. Analysis of a sample of 284 employee-partner dyads from manufacturing, electronics, banking, service, and public organizations in Taiwan shows a significant positive relationship between psychological contract breach and life satisfaction, via psychological strain. Employee and partner neuroticisms were found to strengthen the relationships between psychological contract breach, psychological strain and life satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are often written into company policies to demonstrate organisational sensitivity to potentially difficult interfaces between employees’ work and non-work domains. The current research investigated employees’ use of FWAs and relationship to work engagement, with turnover intentions and psychological strain also used as criterion variables for comparison purposes. A heterogeneous sample of Australian employees (N = 823) responded to two waves of data collection separated by a 12-month interval. It was expected that supportive aspects of organisational culture would be consistent with increased employee utilisation of FWAs, high work engagement, low turnover and low levels of psychological strain, and the opposite would be found for hindering aspects of organisational culture. It was also expected that supportive organisational culture would demonstrate an enduring effect over time. In general, research findings supported these hypotheses. However, the research also identified a negative relationship between use of FWAs and work engagement over time. This suggests that take-up of FWAs is highly dependent on workplace cultural norms. The implications of these results are discussed.

Building on a recognised information-to-action gap in wildfire risk communication, this paper examines what being physically and mentally ‘well prepared’ actually means to wildfire agency staff and volunteers in charge of disseminating risk information. Using the results of an open-ended survey conducted in southeast Australia, we examine how a set of preparedness messages is interpreted. The paper demonstrates that the concept of wildfire preparedness is ambiguous, and that being ‘well prepared’ is a complex mix of practical and mental preparedness measures. Many of the individual interpretations of preparedness messages are found to not align with the official outlined intent. In particular, we argue that the lack of a clear definition and engagement with ‘mental preparedness’ in wildfire risk communication has resulted in an inability to clearly relate to, and articulate what it means to be both physically and mentally prepared for wildfire. The survey illustrates how even well-trained wildfire management professionals and volunteers misinterpret relatively uncontested risk messages, and we describe how these misinterpretations might result in dangerous decisions if wildfire threat is realised. The work also reveals three key themes that define different aspects of mental preparedness: emotional control, understanding psychological strain, and the ability to know when and how to implement a wildfire plan. The paper concludes that wildfire risk communication efforts can be improved through heightened attention to the disseminators’ as well as the recipients’ understanding, explanation and adoption of risk information.

Few studies in work–family interface have explored the work–family experiences of social workers as an occupational group. Further, work–family conflict and its impact on psychological strain have dominated the majority of the literature. The positive effects of participation in work and family roles remain under-researched despite consensus among scholars confirming the benefits of participation in both roles. The present study contributes significantly to the gap in the literature by examining the work–family enrichment experiences of Australian social workers and its association with psychological strain. Data for the study were collected via online survey of the membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers and included one open-ended question asking social workers to comment on their work–family enrichment experiences. The survey yielded a usable sample of 439 responses. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the direct effects of the three forms of w...

Chronic illness affects a large and growing number of workers in the United States and globally. Stigmatization (devaluation) at work based on chronic illness may be stressful for individuals and therefore may lead to negative psychological consequences (i.e. strains). In order to better understand stressful experiences of stigma for workers with chronic illnesses, a model of stigma-related identity threat (perceptions that one is at risk of being treated negatively at work because of chronic illness) was tested on a sample of 203 working adults with chronic illnesses. The following variables related to workers' perceptions of chronic illness-related identity threat: workers' boundary flexibility (flexibility in managing their work and life), their meta-perceptions of devaluation (perceptions of others' devaluation of them based on illness) and their job self-efficacy (feelings of confidence related to performing their job). In turn, perceptions of identity threat related to both feelings of psychological strain and (lower levels of) perceived work ability. Surprisingly, neither stigma centrality (how fundamental illness is to one's identity) nor supervisor support related to workers' identity threat perceptions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Longitudinal cohorts drawn from a sample of 136 UK MPs responded to surveys assessing the impact of work-related changes over which they had either a higher or lower level of control – namely working hours reform and the expenses crisis respectively. Their psychological health, experiences managing the interface between work and home and aspects of functioning at work were assessed. The findings highlighted the mixed impact of working hours reform on MPs, linked to the distance of their constituencies from Westminster. Politicians’ psychological strain was found to be related to feedback they received on work-based decisions and pressure they experienced balancing work and home life. The highly negative impact of the expenses affair on MPs’ psychological health and their attitudes towards work was confirmed and relationships highlighted between psychological strain and their ability to function effectively. The relevance of levels of control over work-based events to politicians’ mental health is discussed.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between customer mistreatment and employee retaliation. The moderating effect of employee psychological strain on the relationship between customer mistreatment and employee retaliation is also examined.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 107 contact centre customer service representatives completed a survey. Moderated multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between customer mistreatment and psychological strain on employee retaliation.FindingsCustomer mistreatment emerged as a significant predictor of employee retaliation against the customer (customer mistreatment: β=0.252, pβ=0.197, pOriginality/valueThe results provide a greater understanding of individuals’ responses to customer incivility. Previous research has demonstrated that uncivil customer behavior leads to emotional exhaustion and absences from work within the call centre industry. Our results suggest that call centre customer service employees may also engage in retaliatory behavior when they perceive that they have been treated unjustly by customers. The positive relationship between customer mistreatment and employee retaliation against customers was stronger when employees reported high (versus low) psychological strain.

In der Untersuchung wird geprüft, ob in kirchlichen Einrichtungen tätige Pflegekräfte zur Bewältigung emotional schwieriger Situationen neben den bekannten Mitteln auch Religiosität und/ oder Spiritualität als Ressource oder Bewältigungsstrategie im Sinne des arbeitspsychologischen Belastungskonzepts nutzen. Sowohl die Erfahrung von Spiritualität als auch ihre Nutzung ist sprachlicher Explizierung nur schwer zugänglich, so dass qualitative Repertory-Grid-Erhebungen die narrativen Interviews unterstützten. Es werden unterschiedliche, auch spirituelle Ressourcen und Bewältigungsstrategien identifiziert und ihre Wirkungsweise beschrieben.

The present study investigated the mediating effects of job satisfaction on the relationship between work–family conflict and psychological strain among Australian social workers. Data for the study were collected by an online survey of the membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers, yielding 439 usable responses. The results provide evidence that job satisfaction mediates the relationship between work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict and psychological strain. These findings contribute significantly to the social work literature on work–family interface and confirm the importance of developing and targeting not only strategies that aim to reduce work–family conflict, but also those that aim to increase job satisfaction among social workers.

Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JDR) model (E. Demerouti, A. B. Bakker, F. Nachreiner, & W. B. Schaufeli, 2001, The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 499-512) and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory (S. E. Hobfoll, 2002, Social and psychological resources and adaptation. Review of General Psychology, 6, 307-324), we tested three competing models that predict different directions of causation for relationships over time between family-supportive work environments (FSWE) and psychological strain, with two waves of data from a military sample. Results revealed support for both the JDR and COR theories, first in the static model where FSWE at Time 1 predicted psychological strain at Time 2 and when testing the opposite direction, where psychological strain at Time 1 predicted FSWE at Time 2. For change models, FSWE predicted changes in psychological strain across time, although the reverse causation model was not supported (psychological strain at Time 1 did not predict changes in FSWE). Also, changes in FSWE across time predicted psychological strain at Time 2, whereas changes in psychological strain did not predict FSWE at Time 2. Theoretically, these results are important for the work-family interface in that they demonstrate the application of a systems approach to studying work and family interactions, as support was obtained for both the JDR model with perceptions of FSWE predicting psychological strain (in both the static and change models), and for COR theory where psychological strain predicts FSWE across time.