J. Schaubroeck et Ls. Fink, FACILITATING AND INHIBITING EFFECTS OF JOB CONTROL AND SOCIAL SUPPORTON STRESS OUTCOMES AND ROLE-BEHAVIOR - A CONTINGENCY-MODEL, Journal of organizational behavior, 19(2), 1998, pp. 167-195
High levels of job control and social support are often related to eff
ective job performance and coping with work stressors. However, suppor
t may have more positive effects on role behavior when job control is
low. In addition, despite theoretical expectations, simple demands-con
trol and demands-support interactions are infrequently found to predic
t health and psychological strain outcomes. The 'demands-control-suppo
rt' model (Johnson and Hall, 1988) of stress coping integrates these '
stress buffering' and 'decision latitude' models and observes more con
sistent findings. This model posits that social support buffers the ad
verse effects of high demand, low control jobs. However, explicit test
s of the interaction of these variables suggest that control can have
positive or negative effects on strain, depending on the level of soci
al support. In this study, supervisor consideration was positively rel
ated to subordinate job performance, extra-role behavior, and in-role
prosocial behavior (conscientiousness) among subordinates perceiving l
ow job control. The relationship between consideration and performance
and extra-role behavior was negative among high control subordinates.
The demands x control x support interaction predicted health symptoms
, organizational commitment, supervisor satisfaction, and absence due
to illness, but the interaction plots do not support the prevailing pe
rspective that support buffers the effects of 'high strain' (i.e. low
control, high demand) jobs. Patterns were similar for different demand
s and different social support loci (i.e. supervisor, co-workers). An
alternative theoretical process of the demands-control-support interac
tion is proffered, and implications for organizational intervention ar
e discussed. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.