M. Elovainio et M. Kivimaki, PERSONAL NEED FOR STRUCTURE AND OCCUPATIONAL STRAIN - AN INVESTIGATION OF STRUCTURAL MODELS AND INTERACTION WITH JOB COMPLEXITY, Personality and individual differences, 26(2), 1999, pp. 209-222
We explored the relation between personal need for structure (PNS), as
a global construct and as divided into two components, and occupation
al strain. Analyses of questionnaire data from two independent samples
of Finnish social and health care personnel (n = 3015 and n = 1840) s
uggest that a high personal desire for structure (DS-component) decrea
ses the risk of psychological strain symptoms, whereas a personal tend
ency to express negative reactions when one is confronted with a lack
of structure (RLS-component) increases this risk. The moderated effect
of job context was then tested in a third sample of social and health
care personnel (n = 734). The elevated risk of strain in high-RLS emp
loyees was found only in high complexity jobs, as indicated by D.O.T.
scores (Roos and Treiman, 1980), but not in low complexity jobs. In co
nclusion, the relationship between PNS and strain may vary across diff
erent components of PNS and seems to be dependent on job context. (C)
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