Do White South African Managers Suffer from Exceptional Levels of Job Stress?

Abstract

A sample of 163 white, male, English-speaking managers from a diversity of disciplines, functional areas and kinds of business and industry completed self-report scales on job demands, role stressors and social support. Their scores were compared with those of comparable samples from elsewhere, mainly from the USA, for whom data were obtained from published sources. The South African mean of 48,9 hours worked per week was similar to those of comparable groups. On a variety of job demands the South African sample showed a trend towards higher demands, which was interpreted in terms of a shortage of high-level human resources, due to over-utilization of whites and under-utilization of blacks. The trend was towards greater role clarity in the South African sample and no greater role conflict was found. More social support was reported than in the case of Dutch samples but less than in USA samples. A generally positive interpretation was given, with an element of eustress also being present.