Effects of Social Support, Role Stress, and Locus of Control on Health

Abstract

The main and interactive effects of social support, work role stressors, and locus of control on three health variables were investigated. It was hypothesized that the buffering effect of social support would prevail for individuals with an internal locus of control, but not for those with an external locus of control. Prior research on this hypothesis was extended by (a) examing a sample of 312 fulltime police officers and firefighters, (b) using a multidimensional locus of control measure, and (c) assessing both long-term outcomes (depression and somatic health complaints) and a short-term strain response (epinephrine excretion). Results suggest that social support has ameliorative effects on depression and somatic complaints. Role stressors appear to exacerbate these same outcomes. Two-way interaction effects suggest that (a) social support may buffer the effect of job stress on somatic complaints and (b) externals may respond more strongly to job stress than internals. Interpretation of the significant three-way interactions suggests that locus of control and social support may jointly determine how workers respond to job stress. The form of the interactions, however, differs depending on whether the outcome represents a short-term alarm reaction or a longer-term health outcome.

Unethical and Unwell: Decrements in Well-Being and Unethical Activity at Work

“…High trait neuroticism, which predisposes individuals to experience psychological distress (Ormel and Wohlfarth, 1991;Tepper, 2001), has been shown to be a powerful predictor of traumatic stress (Bowman, 1999;McFarlane, 1989), while locus of control has been shown to impact depression, somatic complaints, and epinephrine excretion levels (Fusilier et al, 1987). Alternatively, some individual differences such as optimism have been found to be associated with more positive moods, coping ability, and differences in response to stress, and these differences appeared to be related to optimists' better immune function (Segerstrom et al, 1998).…”

Adapting surveys for nonprofit research

“…Second, the "strategic orientation" of the Hodgkinson (1992) scale is particularly relevant to nonprofit researchers in the light of recent calls in the literature for understanding relationships between strategic-level constructs such as effectiveness and top manager behaviors (Ritchie and Eastwood, 2006;Stone, Bigelow, and Crittenden, 1999;Ritchie and Kolodinsky, 2003). The for-profit research linking LOC with organizational performance (Fusilier, Ganster, and Mayes, 1987;Govindarajan, 1989;Hollenbeck, Brief, Whitener, and Pauli, 1988;Mia, 1987;Storms and Spector, 1987) provides a rich background for similar studies in the nonprofit realm. Finally, the SLOC scale provides an opportunity to illustrate the types of adaptations necessary in traditional for-profit surveys to adapt them to the nonprofit context.…”

Work factors as predictors of poor sleep in nurses’ aides

“…Very few studies, if any, seem to have examined the relationship between exposure to role conXict at work and the occurrence of poor sleep. EVects of role conXicts at work on the occurrence of psychological distress were examined in some studies, but with inconsistent results (Eriksen et al 2006;Fusilier et al 1987;LaRocco et al 1980;Stansfeld et al 1995).…”