The double meaning of control: three-way interactions between internal resources, job control, and stressors at work.
The Job Demand-Control model postulates that job control attenuates the effects of job demands on health and well-being. Support for this interactive effect is rather weak. Conceivably, it holds only when there is a match between job control and individual characteristics that relate to exercising control options, such as locus of control, or self-efficacy. This three-way interaction was tested in a sample of 96 service employees, with affective strain and musculoskeletal pain as dependent variables. As hypothesized, job control attenuated the effects of stressors only for people with an internal locus of control. For people with an external locus of control, job control actually predicted poorer well-being and health as stressors increased. For self-efficacy, the corresponding three-way interaction was significant with regard to affective strain.
Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. laurenz.meier@psy.unibe.ch
Laurenz L
LL
Meier
Norbert K
NK
Semmer
Achim
A
Elfering
Nicola
N
Jacobshagen
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology; D002605:Character; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012931:Social Environment; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology*