Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Nov 2;18(21):11532. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111532.
The most recent version of the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory proposes that demanding working conditions and employee strain form a self-perpetuating loss cycle. By acknowledging that such cycles are detrimental for both employees and organizations, the present study aimed to contribute to enhancing the current scarce understanding regarding their explanatory mechanisms. For this purpose, it applied social cognitive theory to propose that occupational self-efficacy mediates the effects of two role stressors (i.e., role ambiguity and role conflict) on employee mental health complaints and vice versa. The hypothesized reciprocal mediation effects were tested using a three-wave full panel research design and a dataset of 917 (N = 513, N = 122, N = 70, N = 212) Croatian employees working in heterogeneous private sector industries. The results demonstrated that role conflict, but not role ambiguity, undermined employees' beliefs in their capabilities to successfully master their jobs which, in turn, led them to experience more mental health complaints over time. Contrary to expectations, poor mental health did not lead to diminished efficacy beliefs nor, in turn, more job demands over time. Overall, the results of this study demonstrated an additional mechanism in the job demands-strain relationship and, at the same time, shed new light on the role of personal resources within the JD-R theory. Accounting for the malleable nature of employee efficacy beliefs, the study proposes several ways in which organizations can enhance occupational self-efficacy and thereby curb the causal chain linking job demands and employee strain reactions.
最新版本的工作要求-资源（JD-R）理论提出，要求苛刻的工作条件和员工压力会形成自我维持的损耗循环。本研究承认这种循环对员工和组织都有不利影响，旨在为增强当前对其解释机制的稀缺理解做出贡献。为此，它应用社会认知理论来提出职业自我效能感在两种角色压力源（即角色模糊和角色冲突）对员工心理健康抱怨的影响中起中介作用，反之亦然。通过使用三波全面板研究设计和一个由 917 名（N=513，N=122，N=70，N=212）在异质私营部门工作的克罗地亚员工组成的数据集，检验了假设的互惠中介效应。结果表明，角色冲突而不是角色模糊会破坏员工对成功掌握工作能力的信念，从而导致他们随着时间的推移经历更多的心理健康抱怨。与预期相反，较差的心理健康状况不会导致效能信念减弱，也不会导致随着时间的推移工作需求增加。总的来说，这项研究的结果展示了工作要求-紧张关系之间的另一个机制，同时也为 JD-R 理论中的个人资源角色提供了新的视角。考虑到员工效能信念的可塑性质，该研究提出了几种组织可以增强职业自我效能感的方法，从而遏制将工作要求和员工紧张反应联系起来的因果链。
