Sources and Outcomes of Stress in Organisational Settings: Toward the Development of a Structural Model
^Academy of Managemenl Journal
1984. Vol. 27. No. 2, 330-350.
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Sources and Outcomes of Stress in Organizational Settings: Toward the Development of a Structural ModeP
SAROJ PARASURAMAN Drexel University JOSEPH A. ALUTTO State University of New York at Buffalo
An integrated structural model of stress in organizations was developed and tested through path analysis. Results provided qualified support for the causal assumptions underlying the model. Role frustration and short lead times were found to be potent stressors. Felt stress and low organizational commitment independently contributed to voluntary turnover. Recent reviews of the stress literature (Beehr & Newman, 1978; Beehr & Schuler, 1982; Van Sell, Brief, & Schuler, 1981) indicate that few studies have examined the multivariate linkages among the causes and consequences of stress in organizational settings {for exceptions, see House and Rizzo, 1972; Miles and Perreault, 1976). Furthermore, only limited attention has been devoted {Bedeian & Armenakis, 1981; Miles, 1964) to assessing empirically the causal relationships among sets of organizational, task, role, and individual variables posited in theoretical models of stress (Beehr & Newman, 1978; Caplan, Cobb, French, Harrison, & Pinneau, 1975; Cooper & Marshall, 1976; Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek, & Rosenthal, 1964; McGrath, 1976). The purpose of the present study, therefore, is to develop a preliminary structural model of stress, its antecedents and outcomes, and test the linkages specified in the model through path analysis. In formulating the proposed structural model, the study went beyond the theoretical perspectives provided in the Kahn et al. (1964) model and incorporated important elements from recent conceptualizations of stress (Beehr & Newman, 1978; Beehr & Schuler, 1982; Caplan et al., 1975;
'The authors acknowledge with thanks the assistance of Elise P. Norwood and Derek J. Wendelken in the data analyses, and the helpful
1984. Vol. 27. No. 2, 330-350.
i
V
i
Sources and Outcomes of Stress in Organizational Settings: Toward the Development of a Structural ModeP
SAROJ PARASURAMAN Drexel University JOSEPH A. ALUTTO State University of New York at Buffalo
An integrated structural model of stress in organizations was developed and tested through path analysis. Results provided qualified support for the causal assumptions underlying the model. Role frustration and short lead times were found to be potent stressors. Felt stress and low organizational commitment independently contributed to voluntary turnover. Recent reviews of the stress literature (Beehr & Newman, 1978; Beehr & Schuler, 1982; Van Sell, Brief, & Schuler, 1981) indicate that few studies have examined the multivariate linkages among the causes and consequences of stress in organizational settings {for exceptions, see House and Rizzo, 1972; Miles and Perreault, 1976). Furthermore, only limited attention has been devoted {Bedeian & Armenakis, 1981; Miles, 1964) to assessing empirically the causal relationships among sets of organizational, task, role, and individual variables posited in theoretical models of stress (Beehr & Newman, 1978; Caplan, Cobb, French, Harrison, & Pinneau, 1975; Cooper & Marshall, 1976; Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek, & Rosenthal, 1964; McGrath, 1976). The purpose of the present study, therefore, is to develop a preliminary structural model of stress, its antecedents and outcomes, and test the linkages specified in the model through path analysis. In formulating the proposed structural model, the study went beyond the theoretical perspectives provided in the Kahn et al. (1964) model and incorporated important elements from recent conceptualizations of stress (Beehr & Newman, 1978; Beehr & Schuler, 1982; Caplan et al., 1975;
'The authors acknowledge with thanks the assistance of Elise P. Norwood and Derek J. Wendelken in the data analyses, and the helpful