lect 7 Flashcards
(21 cards)
How is occupational stress explained from a theoretical perspective?
Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) ModelJob Demands–Control (JDC) Model: Job Demands–Control–Support Model (Iso-Strain):
How are theories used in empirical research to investigate the association between work stress/strain and health (e.g., myocardial infarctions)?
In the SHEEP study (Peter et al., 2002), researchers used the Job Demand–Control (JDC) model and the Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) model to investigate how work stress relates to heart attack risk. Job strain was calculated by dividing the score for job demands by the score for decision latitude (control), with higher ratios indicating more stress. The ERI model measured the balance between effort and reward, and included overcommitment, which was scored from 0 to 29 and categorized as “high” if 13 or more points were scored.
By applying both models together, the study showed that combining them improved the prediction of myocardial infarction risk. This suggests that the two models capture different but complementary aspects of work stress.
What is the association between different strain operationalizations and myocardial infarctions?
Different forms of work-related strain — such as job strain (high demands + low control), effort–reward imbalance, and overcommitment — are associated with a higher risk of myocardial infarctions.
These stress conditions can also lead to unhealthy coping behaviors (e.g., smoking, poor diet, inactivity), which partially mediate the link between stress and physical health problems.
What types of occupational stress interventions are there, and what is their efficacy?
- Primary interventions: Alter or remove the source of stress (e.g., workload, schedules).
- Secondary interventions: Help individuals manage their response to stress (e.g., relaxation, cognitive restructuring).
- Tertiary interventions: Treat stress-related disorders once they occur (e.g., EAPs, therapy).
Most workplace programs fall into the secondary category. These are often delivered in group settings or self-directed formats and are favoured for their feasibility and broad applicability.
A key study found cognitive–behavioural interventions to be most effective, followed by multimodal and relaxation programs, with organisational-level programs producing the smallest effects.
In their study, Peter et al. (2002) investigated the effects of psychosocial working conditions on cardiovascular health. They found that when both job strain AND overcommitment were present ___________.
A)men had a higher risk of myocardial infarctions. However, this effect was NOT significant when controlling for health risk behaviors.
B) women had a higher risk of myocardial infarctions. However, this effect was NOT significant when controlling for health risk behaviors.
C) men had a higher risk of myocardial infarctions. However, this effect was ONLY significant when controlling for health risk behaviors.
A
A large retail company has recently decided to invest in a cognitive behavioral (CB) intervention for employees to reduce stress. A trained psychologist will conduct the CB intervention.
However, the HR manager is also a big fan of relaxation techniques. He would like to add additional sessions to the CB intervention process in the form of additional sessions where a different coach teaches the employees some relaxation techniques. He asks you for your opinion.
Given your knowledge of the efficacy of stress interventions after reading the meta-analysis by Richardson & Rothstein (2008), what would you tell the HR manager?
A) The more components are added to a CB intervention, the less effective it becomes. The HR manager should therefore not combine the CB intervention with elements from a different intervention type.
B)The combination of meditation and relaxation interventions with cognitive behavioral interventions leads to stronger effects on stress reduction when all intervention elements are carried out by the same person. The HR manager should therefore find a professional who can conduct both the CB and relaxation elements.
C)Adding elements to a CB intervention only increases efficacy when the added element is on an organizational level. The HR manager should consider adding an organizational-level element, such as a consistent support group, instead of a relaxation element to the intervention.
A
You are approached by the HR manager of a non-profit organization that provides free legal help for people in prison that claim that they are wrongly convicted. Because of the limited funding of the organization, they can only pay very low salaries and do not provide possibilities to get promoted. Furthermore, they can’t offer their employees permanent contracts. Therefore, they mostly rely on law student interns and young lawyers who have a strong intrinsic motivation and passion for the job. Their staff puts in many extra hours and long nights at the office. The work is very demanding as the lawyers get very emotionally involved in the client’s cases. Lately, the HR manager has been noticing some worrying symptoms of exhaustion and fatigue amongst their staff, which is why they are asking you for advice.
Identify a stress theory that can help make sense of what is happening in the organization. Name and explain the theory to the organization’s HR manager by describing the main components and processes of the theory and connecting it to the observations made in the organization. (9p)
A stress theory that explains what is happening is Effort-Reward Imbalance Theory (1)
Components:
* Efforts: Demands and obligations → long work hours, emotionally demanding job) (2)
* Rewards → Job security, Wages and salaries, esteem, promotion (low salaries, no promotions (2)
* Overcommitment: intrinsic motivation and belief for the cause (2) There is a risk of health impairments and strain if the individual’s perceptions of the effort of working do not match their perceptions of the rewards (1) Especially when they cope with the demands with overcommitment (1)
The effort-reward imbalance theory can help in this organization. The employees are putting in a lot of effort because of their long nights and extra hours at the office. However, they are not rewarded adequately because the company cannot pay them enough and there are not many job opportunities to advance their careers. Therefore, there is an imbalance that leads to negative health outcomes due to the stress experienced.
Additionally, because the employees are very intrinsically motivated, they are probably experiencing overcommitment, which worsens the negative effects as overcommitment is an additional risk factor.
T/F according to the iso strain model family support biffers the effects of emotional job demands
F Family support buffers effects of
quantitative job demands
* Workplace support buffers the
effects of emotional job demands
Job Demands–Control (JDC) Model:
Job Demands–Control (JDC) Model: Focuses on two key dimensions — job demands (e.g., workload, time pressure) and job control (autonomy in how tasks are performed).
Jobs with high demands and low control lead to strain.
Jobs with high demands and high control lead to activation (challenging but manageable).
Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) Model
Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) Model: Stress results from a mismatch between the effort an employee invests and the rewards they receive (e.g., salary, respect, job security).
This imbalance violates the psychological contract (based on social reciprocity) and leads to perceptions of injustice.
Risk increases further when individuals are overcommitted and receive low rewards, which can heighten the likelihood of adverse outcomes like acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
Job Demands–Control–Support Model (Iso-Strain):
Job Demands–Control–Support Model (Iso-Strain): Extends the JDC model by adding social support (from coworkers or supervisors).
The worst-case condition, called Iso-Strain, occurs when high demands, low control, and low support are combined — resulting in high stress in isolation.
accroding to ERI model what factors increase the risk ofviolations of PC
Risk elevated through
* Poorly defined contracts
* Acceptance of imbalance as
strategic decision
* Overcommitment
which of the following statements best summarizes the relationship between job strain, effort-reward imbalance, and myocardial infarction risk, and how this relationship changes when controlling for health-related behaviors (e.g., smoking, high BMI, low exercise)?
A. Job strain or effort-reward imbalance independently predict myocardial infarction risk in men and women, regardless of whether behavioral risk factors are controlled.
B. Only men experiencing both job strain and effort-reward imbalance show an increased risk for myocardial infarction, and this relationship remains significant even after controlling for behavioral risk factors.
C. In women, effort-reward imbalance is a strong independent predictor of myocardial infarction, but only when controlling for behavioral risk factors.
D. The combined effect of job strain and effort-reward imbalance on myocardial infarction risk in men disappears once behavioral risk factors are controlled, indicating these factors are confounded by lifestyle choices.
Correct Answer: B
- Combination of effort-reward
imbalance and job strain is
associated with MI in men
(likely direct effect)
According to Peter et al. (2002), which of the following statements best reflects how job strain and overcommitment interact to predict myocardial infarction risk in men and women, both before and after controlling for behavioral risk factors (smoking, BMI ≥ 27, exercise ≤ 2 times/week)?
A. In men, the combination of job strain and overcommitment predicts myocardial infarction risk only before controlling for health behaviors; after controlling, job strain alone becomes a significant predictor.
B. For both men and women, overcommitment alone is a significant predictor of myocardial infarction, regardless of whether health behaviors are controlled.
C. The combination of job strain and overcommitment is a stronger predictor of myocardial infarction in men than in women after adjusting for behavioral risk factors.
D. After adjusting for behavioral risk factors, job strain without overcommitment no longer predicts myocardial infarction in either gender.
Correct Answer: A
Explanation:
Before controlling for risk behaviors: Only the combination of job strain AND overcommitment predicts myocardial infarction in both men and women.
After controlling for behavioral risk factors: In men, job strain alone (without overcommitment) becomes a significant predictor, while the combination no longer is. In women, only the combination remains predictive.
Which of the following best summarizes the gender-specific pathways through which work-related stressors are associated with myocardial infarction (MI), based on the evidence from Peter et al. (2002)?
A. For both men and women, the combination of job strain and overcommitment predicts MI, suggesting that psychological overinvolvement amplifies physiological stress responses equally across genders.
B. The combination of effort-reward imbalance and job strain is primarily associated with MI in women, while overcommitment and job strain are more predictive for men.
C. Men are at increased risk of MI when experiencing both effort-reward imbalance and job strain, while for women, the combination of job strain and overcommitment is more predictive—indicating possible direct, gender-specific effects.
D. Job strain alone predicts MI equally in men and women, regardless of whether it is paired with overcommitment or effort-reward imbalance, reflecting a general occupational health risk.
Correct Answer: C
Explanation:
Men: The combination of effort-reward imbalance and job strain is associated with MI → suggesting a direct physiological effect.
Women: The combination of job strain and overcommitment is predictive of MI → again suggesting a direct but gender-specific pathway.
Other combinations (e.g., overcommitment alone or job strain alone) do not consistently predict MI across genders.
Which of the following best distinguishes the Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) Model from the Demand-Control Model?
A. The ERI model focuses on job control as a central resource, while the Demand-Control model focuses on reward expectations.
B. The ERI model incorporates overcommitment as an intrinsic factor, while the Demand-Control model focuses only on external job characteristics.
C. The Demand-Control model predicts health outcomes better than the ERI model across all occupational groups.
D. The ERI model emphasizes job demands and autonomy, while the Demand-Control model focuses on social reciprocity.
Correct answer: B
The ERI model incorporates overcommitment as an intrinsic factor, while the Demand-Control model focuses only on external job characteristics.
Explanation: Overcommitment in the ERI model represents a personal trait that can worsen the effects of effort–reward imbalance. The Demand-Control model does not include this personal/internal factor.
What was a key conclusion of the SHEEP study regarding risk prediction for myocardial infarction?
A. The Demand-Control model alone was sufficient to predict myocardial infarction risk across all occupations.
B. Combining both the Demand-Control and ERI models did not improve prediction accuracy.
C. The combination of the two models improved risk estimation, suggesting they capture complementary aspects of job stress.
D. ERI predicted outcomes only in blue-collar workers, while Demand-Control was valid only for white-collar workers.
Correct answer: C
The combination of the two models improved risk estimation, suggesting they capture complementary aspects of job stress.
Explanation: The SHEEP study showed that using both models together better predicted myocardial infarction than either alone, as they assess different dimensions of stress.
According to Cox & Griffiths, which of the following is NOT a key limitation of traditional person-environment fit models in explaining work-related stress?
A. They often overlook the dynamic interaction between personal and organizational factors.
B. They rely too heavily on self-report data, limiting generalizability.
C. They assume that “fit” is a fixed and measurable trait rather than a process.
D. They typically fail to incorporate the role of organizational change and uncertainty.
Correct answer: B
They rely too heavily on self-report data, limiting generalizability. ← NOT a core critique in Cox & Griffiths
Explanation: Cox & Griffiths criticize the static nature and lack of dynamic interaction in person-environment fit models, but not specifically their reliance on self-report. That critique is more methodological than theoretical.
Question 4 – Intervention Effectiveness (Richardson & Rothstein, 2008)
Which of the following conclusions was supported by the meta-analysis of stress interventions?
A. Organizational-level interventions had the strongest average effect size across all sectors.
B. Multimodal interventions were ineffective in the education sector.
C. Cognitive-behavioral interventions consistently showed strong effect sizes, especially in education.
D. Alternative interventions (e.g., yoga, meditation) were most effective across all job sectors.
Correct answer: C
Cognitive-behavioral interventions consistently showed strong effect sizes, especially in education.
Explanation: CBIs had the highest and most consistent effect sizes across sectors, especially in education (d = 1.662). Organizational interventions had very small effects.
Which quadrant in the Job Demands–Control model is associated with highest positive activation and learning potential, according to the activation hypothesis?
A. Passive jobs (low demands, low control)
B. High strain jobs (high demands, low control)
C. Low strain jobs (low demands, high control)
D. Active jobs (high demands, high control)
Correct answer: D
Active jobs (high demands, high control)
Explanation: According to the activation hypothesis, high demands + high control lead to positive activation, motivation, and learning—rather than strain.
