Time Pressure and Challenge Appraisal as Predictors of Job Satisfaction

Saleem Akhtar Malik

doi:10.1177/2158244015582044

Abstract

The study has been conducted to investigate the impact of time pressure and challenge appraisal on job satisfaction experienced by Pakistani university teachers in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. It is the first study which has investigated the relationships between time pressure, challenge appraisal, and job satisfaction in the backdrop of a poly-chronic society and compared the findings with those of a study carried out in a mono-chronic society. Data were collected through a survey by administering questionnaires to the respondents. The findings reveal that Pakistani respondents experience a lesser level of time pressure when compared with the German respondents. Also, there has been lesser variability in time pressure of Pakistani respondents in comparison with the German respondents. The study also finds that, like their German counterparts, Pakistani university teachers consider time pressure as a challenge-related stress. The correlation between time pressure and challenge shows a lower degree of relationship in case of Pakistani respondents compared with a moderate degree for German respondents.

Highlights

Job satisfaction is an important determinant of employee productivity
And Fritz (2010), in their study on the behavior of employees in a German automotive plant, reported that work characteristics such as time pressure and job control can be experienced as a challenge that is positively associated with performance-related behaviors
This positive relationship has been further explained by Bosewell et al (2004), who maintained that whereas hindrance-related stress predicts negative outcomes, challenge-related stress leads to positive outcomes. This indirectly implies that time pressure, through challenge appraisal, leads to job satisfaction among Pakistani university professors. It is the first study which has investigated the relationships between time pressure, challenge appraisal, and job satisfaction in the backdrop of a poly-chronic society, and has compared the findings with those of a study carried out in a mono-chronic society (Ohly & Fritz, 2010)

Summary

Introduction

Job satisfaction is an important determinant of employee productivity. It has been variously defined as a delightful sensation experienced by the worker due to the nature of the job (Locke, 1976), an emotional feeling derived from work (Cranny, Smith, & Stone, 1992), and a person’s outlook toward his or her job (Brief, 1998). Weiss (2002), while accepting the argument that job satisfaction is a mental approach, concluded that this is determined by one’s perceptions, experiences, and faith. Most of the studies on the relationship between time pressure, challenge appraisal, and job satisfaction have been carried out in societies which follow the Protestant work ethic and mono-chronic concept of time. Ohly and Fritz (2010), in their study on the behavior of employees in a German automotive plant, reported that work characteristics such as time pressure and job control can be experienced as a challenge that is positively associated with performance-related behaviors. Their findings represent the dynamics of work characteristics in a highly mono-chronic society

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