Transactional Theory Of Stress Research Articles

How public commuting stress promotes employee turnover intention: an examination through the lens of the transactional theory of stress

ABSTRACT Background and objectives The potential detrimental effects of commuting stress have gradually attracted scholars’ interest in recent years. Going beyond the perspectives of prior studies (e.g., conservation of resources theory), this study offers a new explanatory framework for the relationship between employees’ commuting stress and turnover intention based on the transactional theory of stress. Specifically, this study aims to investigate the mediating effect of hindrance appraisal and the moderating effect of trait mindfulness. Design and method To test the hypotheses, we collected two-wave data from 243 employees working in various Chinese firms. Path analysis was used for the analysis. Results The findings demonstrated that hindrance appraisal mediated the positive relationship between commuting stress and turnover intention. In addition, trait mindfulness buffered the relationship between commuting stress and turnover intention as well as the indirect effect of hindrance appraisal on this relationship. Conclusions The findings highlight the stressor appraisal mechanism in the association between commuting stress and turnover intention and identify trait mindfulness as a key coping mechanism for reducing commuting stress.

Perceived stress and well-being in doctoral students: effects on program satisfaction and intention to quit

ABSTRACT Stress is a common negative emotion in students. Given the stress associated with doctoral studies, it is crucial to examine the influence of stress on well-being, program satisfaction, and retention in doctoral programs. This study examined stress-related issues and their relationships with intention to quit in a sample of 2,486 students enrolled in doctoral programs representing 38 disciplines. Participants completed a web-based questionnaire including sociodemographic and self-report measures assessing perceived stress, emotional, social, and psychological well-being, as well as program satisfaction and intention to quit. We tested three hypotheses based on Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional theory of stress and emotions and Núñez-Regueiro’s stress process model of school dropout. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) supported the hypotheses of the study and showed that perceived stress is negatively associated with emotional, social, and psychological well-being. The most significant finding from this study is that perceived stress, directly and indirectly contributes to lower program satisfaction in doctoral students and a stronger intention to quit. These study findings underscore the need for departments to actively support students in completing their dissertations by establishing explicit expectation norms.

How does AI technology integration affect employees’ proactive service behaviors? A transactional theory of stress perspective

While AI technology is widely integrated into service creation and delivery processes, the empirical evidence about its impact on employees has been mixed. Based on transactional theory of stress, this study explores how service employees appraise and react to AI technology integration utilizing data collected from employees of service companies that integrated AI technologies into their operations. Findings suggest that AI technology integration is simultaneously appraised by employees as both a positive challenge, leading to employees' thriving at work and enhanced proactive service behaviors, and as a hindrance, leading to job insecurity perceptions and decreased proactive service behaviors. Furthermore, this study investigates employees' IT mindfulness as a boundary condition that impacts the effects of AI technology integration on employee appraisals and finds that IT mindfulness can attenuate the relationship between AI technology integration and employees' hindrance appraisals. Findings provide insights on how service companies can effectively integrate AI technologies into their operations to enhance employees’ proactive service behaviors.

The double-edged sword effects of perceived algorithmic control on platform workers’ service performance

Algorithmic control has been reflected in online labor platform management, but there is a lack of empirical research on how platform algorithmic control affects platform workers’ service performance. To address this gap, drawing upon the transactional theory of stress and regulatory focus theory, this study sheds light on how perceived algorithmic control affects the platform workers’ service performance. Data collected from 286 platform workers was used for empirical study. Findings indicate: (1) perceived algorithmic control indirectly positively affects service performance through job crafting; (2) perceived algorithmic control indirectly negatively affects service performance through withdrawal behavior; (3) the indirect effect of perceived algorithmic control on service performance via job crafting is stronger when there is a high promotion focus and weaker in the case of high prevention focus; and (4) the indirect effect of perceived algorithmic control on service performance via withdrawal behavior is weaker in situations of high promotion focus and stronger in those of high prevention focus. The theoretical and practical implications are also discussed in this work.

Stressors and Stress of Veterinary Students during their Introduction to the Clinical Workplace

Various stressors contribute to veterinary students’ stress levels. According to the medical education literature, students’ stress seems to increase during clinical training, but research investigating this in veterinary students is scarce. According to transactional stress theory, individual students may not perceive every stressor as equally stressful. The present research therefore aimed to investigate how stressful veterinary students perceive stressors of clinical training, identify subgroups based on their perceptions of these stressors, and determine whether the subgroups differ regarding their total clinical training-related stress and academic achievement. The sample consisted of 197 veterinary students completing their clinical rotation course. The Rotation Stress Questionnaire for Veterinary Students (RSQV) was employed to assess rotation-specific stressors and stress. Course grades served as indicators of academic achievement. Veterinary students reported moderate overall clinical training-related stress, and heavy workload was the main source of stress. Hierarchical cluster analysis identified four subgroups of students, namely: the Generally Stressed Group, Responsibilities Uncertainty Group, Overtasked Group, and Unstressed Group, with significant differences in total stress ( p < .001). The groups also differed significantly in academic achievement ( p = .015), with post-hoc analysis indicating significant mean differences between the highest- and lowest-stress groups ( p = .014). In conclusion, veterinary students’ stress during clinical training appears to be a significant factor, particularly concerning workload. However, there are interindividual differences in total stress and achievement which should be considered.

Influence of star employees’ role stress on their unethical pro-organizational behavior: A perspective from the transactional theory of stress and coping

Influence of star employees’ role stress on their unethical pro-organizational behavior: A perspective from the transactional theory of stress and coping

A breath of toxic air: The relationship between appraised air pollution, abusive supervision, and laissez-faire leadership through the dual-mediating pathways of negative affect and somatic complaints.

Air pollution has become a global public health hazard leading to debilitating effects on physical, mental, and emotional health. Management research has just begun to explore the effects of air pollution on employees' work life. Drawing from the transactional theory of stress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) and crossover theory (Westman, 2001), we argue that appraisal of air pollution is an important factor that influences leaders and their behavior with subordinates. Specifically, we propose that when leaders appraise severe air pollution, they are more likely to behave abusively toward their subordinates and engage in laissez-faire leadership. We also propose that this relationship is mediated by leaders' experience of somatic complaints and negative affect. We test our model using an experience sampling study in India of leaders and followers who were located in different cities from each other. Overall, our results highlight how air pollution appraisals can harm not only the leader experiencing the pollution but also subordinates of those leaders. In other words, our counterintuitive finding is that subordinates may be harmed by air pollution to which they are not even directly exposed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Within digital collaborative teams, how can leaders promote productive knowledge sharing among members with diverse settings?

Although value networks and virtual cross-functional teams, which serve as examples of digital collaborative organizations in the digital economy, have grown in popularity, few studies have looked at knowledge sharing in these teams. Yet lack of knowledge sharing can hurt teamwork and value creation.So, this study integrates transactional theory of stress and coping and self-determination theory into the stimulus-organism-response model to better understand the mechanisms. We conducted an empirical analysis after surveying of 386 participants from 49 digital collaboration teams in 27 service and industrial firms.The results indicate that the basic psychological needs and both coping strategies together mediate the correlation between diversity-oriented leadership and organizational knowledge sharing. Surprisingly, competence and autonomy needs satisfaction are necessary for organizational knowledge sharing, while perceived relatedness needs satisfaction is the icebreaker for organizational knowledge sharing.

Self-Reliance in the Workplace: The Curvilinear Effect of Workplace Ostracism on Subjective Career Success

Workplace ostracism, which is defined as the extent to which an individual perceives that he or she is ignored or excluded by others, has become a pervasive phenomenon. Most scholars found that workplace ostracism has a negative linear effect on the employees’ work outcomes. However, based on the transactional theory of stress and coping, individuals could evaluate pressure and take action to solve the problems. Thus, they could positively cope with workplace ostracism when they are in trouble. This study investigates the curvilinear relationship between workplace ostracism, psychological empowerment, and the employees’ career success using a multi-wave design (257 respondents from three-time points). We found the curvilinear effect of workplace ostracism on subjective career success via psychological empowerment. The current investigation supports the theorized links and offers notable implications for personnel assessment and career development.

Mobile food ordering apps (MFOAs) adoption: an empirical study based on the transactional theory of stress and coping.

Mobile food ordering apps (MFOAs) adoption: an empirical study based on the transactional theory of stress and coping.

ENHANCING SUSTAINABILITY AND REDUCING CUSTOMER TECHNOSTRESS THROUGH FOOD-ORDERING APPS

To investigate customer technostress antecedents and consequences of the restaurants’ food-ordering apps and suggest a coping strategy (i.e., customer orientation). This qualitative study relied on twenty-three semi-structured interviews with Egyptian restaurant customers and managers to understand the customer technostress caused when using food-ordering apps. The study found that restaurant customers experience technostress due to app complexity, security and privacy concerns, frequent app changes, feelings of diminished control, and time constraints. These app-related techno stressors cause customer dissatisfaction and purchasing reluctance. The study also found that not all restaurants adopt a responsive and proactive customer orientation to reduce food-ordering app technostress. However, customers were satisfied with proactive restaurants revealing technostress from food-ordering apps. This study is the first research in the hospitality industry to use Transactional Stress Theory (TST) to investigate the antecedents and consequences and suggest a customer orientation as a coping strategy of customer technostress from food-ordering apps from the perspectives of customers and restaurant managers. As a result, restaurants can be proactive and responsively customer-oriented to overcome customer technostress from food-ordering apps by considering the customers' concerns to satisfy and retain customers and attract new ones.

Consequences of technostress for users in remote (home) work contexts during a time of crisis: The buffering role of emotional social support

The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a substantial increase in the adoption of remote work. However, this shift towards remote work can potentially cause technostress (TS) due to the constant use of information and communication technology (ICT). Research suggests that receiving emotional social support (ESS) from one's social network can mitigate the negative effects of technostress. However, previous studies in the information systems (IS) field have yielded inconclusive results regarding the role of ESS in moderating the relationship between TS, strain, and work satisfaction. Drawing on the transactional theory of stress, our model conceptualizes the effect of TS on work satisfaction as being fully mediated by strain, and the effects of TS on strain and work satisfaction as being moderated by ESS. To test our model, we collected data from 306 ICT users who remotely worked from home during the lockdown period. After accounting for marital and parental statuses, our results reveal that: (a) TS increased the strain experienced by ICT users, subsequently resulting in decreased work satisfaction. (b) ESS mitigated the direct effect of TS on strain and the indirect effect of TS on work satisfaction. These findings highlight the potential benefits of ESS in remote work contexts.

Social media overload and proactive–reactive innovation behaviour: A TTSC framework perspective

Based on the transactional theory of stress and coping, a theoretical model of social media overload and employees’ proactive–reactive innovation behaviour is constructed, in which emotional exhaustion and knowledge hiding serve as mediating variables, and the intrinsic mechanism of action among the variables is explained based on the conservation of resources theory. Study 1 tested the research model using data from 376 internal corporate social media users and their leaders. The results show that emotional exhaustion and knowledge hiding play a chain-mediating role between social media overload (information, communication, and social overload) and employees’ proactive and reactive innovation behaviours. Study 2 repeated Study 1′s hypothesis test using data from 406 internal corporate social media users. Most conclusions are consistent with Study 1, except that the relationships between communication overload and emotional exhaustion and between knowledge hiding and proactive innovation behaviour are not supported. These inconsistent conclusions may be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 2 revealed the moderating role of digital fluency. This study enriches the research on the dark side of social media use, expands the research perspective on social media overload, and provides new support for employees’ proactive–reactive innovation behaviours.

A narrative inquiry into how oldest-old care-givers of people with dementia manage age-related care-giving challenges

Abstract Oldest-old (age 80+) spousal care-givers of people with dementia experience unique challenges and concerns that they attribute to age and/or ageing, including difficulties providing care because of physical, cognitive or sensory decline; having fewer friends who can provide practical support; and having less energy for non-care-giving activities (e.g. leisure activities, self-care). Previous research on how older care-givers manage is not specific to oldest-old care-givers and may underrepresent their unique experiences managing age and ageing-related challenges. A limited understanding can compromise our ability to tailor services to ageing care-givers. The purpose of this research was to illuminate how oldest-old spousal care-givers of people with dementia manage ageing-related care-giving challenges and the barriers and facilitators to strategy use. The selective optimisation with compensation theory and the transactional theory of stress and coping informed our conceptualisation of management strategies. We used a narrative gerontology approach, with two or three semi-structured interviews with 11 care-givers aged 80–89 (25 interviews in total). Narrative data were analysed thematically. We identified four main themes that encompassed the strategies shared by care-givers: adjusting goals to lessen care-giving demands and to mitigate stress, using alternative means to reach goals and to mitigate stress, enhancing capacities to care and mitigate stress through engagement in non-care-giving activities, and choosing positive attitudes and perspectives to lessen emotional distress. We identified a myriad of facilitators and barriers to strategy utilisation in each theme. The study provides unique insight into care-givers' management strategies, especially in relation to relocation of self and spouse and participation in non-care-giving activities, as well as insight into age-related facilitators and barriers. This research can ultimately help inform the tailoring of age-sensitive health and social care services to meet the needs of this group of care-givers as they age.

Revealing the effects of business intelligence tools on technostress and withdrawal behavior: The context of a developing country

Due to globalization and ongoing technological advancements, businesses are confronted with unprecedented competition. To preserve their competitive edge, businesses are increasingly turning to business intelligence (BI) systems. While BI has been acknowledged to enhance decision-making, efficiency, innovation, performance and provide organizational value, the literature offers a limited understanding on its dark sides, especially in less affluent and developing nations. In this investigation, we diagnose the nexus between BI system usage, technostress, and work withdrawal behaviors (WWBs) using transactional theory of stress. We applied Partial Least Squares Modeling approach on cross-sectional data collected from travel agencies in Jordan to examine the model. The findings back the idea that BI system usage is associated with increased technostress, and technostress is associated with increased WWBs. Technostress mediated the path between BI system usage and WWBs. The findings offer implications that extend our understanding of the scholarship of BI system usage and present building blocks for practical reconsiderations.

Insecure or optimistic? Employees’ diverging appraisals of automation, and consequences for job attitudes

Automation may have varied consequences on individual workers, ranging from job loss to enhanced productivity. Although some of these disruptions may be outside of their control, employees' perceptions and reactions to automation may also play a part in shaping automation's impact on them. To this end, we draw on transactional theory of stress to distinguish between a variety of automation perceptions. In particular, we suggest that employees' beliefs that technology can conduct their work (perceived automatability) will be related to both pessimistic (automation-related job insecurity) and optimistic (automation-related performance optimism) appraisals regarding how automation will impact job prospects. Reasoning that people who feel in control feel they can mitigate the harms and harness the potential benefits of automation, we propose that perceived control moderates the extent to which perceived automatability leads to job insecurity and performance optimism. In-turn, we expect that automation-related job insecurity and performance optimism will have contrasting effects on job engagement and turnover intentions. Using a survey (N = 500) and an experiment (N = 194) we found overall support for these predictions. As such, this research sheds new light on employees' perspectives on automation at work, with implications for organizations and policymakers seeking to help employees transition to the future of work.

How Do Problem-Solving Demands Influence Employees’ Thriving at Work: An Explanation Based on Cognitive Appraisal

In globalized markets, it is important for companies to cultivate a thriving workforce that is motivated to grow and develop. Based on the transactional theory of stress, we discussed how the way people appraise their problem-solving demands, either as a challenge or a hindrance, impacts employees’ thriving at work. Data were collected from employees of a state-owned enterprise in China at two separate points with a 4-week interval. The results showed that problem-solving demands have a positive impact on employees’ thriving at work through challenge appraisal and a negative impact on employees’ thriving at work through hindrance appraisal. Additionally, we observed a moderated mediation effect in which organizational identity strengthened the positive effects of problem-solving demands on challenge appraisal, which in turn promoted employees’ thriving at work. The findings highlight the role of cognitive appraisal in interpreting employees’ responses to work stress.

The effect of morning commutes on emotional exhaustion and task performance: Taking mental effort and cognitive appraisal into account

Prior research has demonstrated the negative effects of commuting on various employee outcomes, mostly attributing these effects to objective characteristics of the commute (e.g., travel time and distance). Yet different employees respond to similar commuting conditions in different ways. We draw from the conservation of resources theory and the transactional theory of stress and coping to examine whether and how cognitive evaluation of the morning commute shapes employees’ responses to the amount of capacity required during the commute. The results, based on survey and diary data collected from 110 employees, suggest that mental effort and cognitive appraisal of the morning commute, individually and jointly are associated with emotional exhaustion upon arrival at work. In addition, the association between mental effort and task performance is fully mediated by emotional exhaustion. We discuss the importance of cognitive commuting appraisal as an aspect of commuting that is potentially malleable to change through training.

Medical Artificial Intelligence Information Disclosure on Healthcare Professional Involvement in Innovation: A Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping Model

Complicated medical AI innovation activities call for healthcare professionals with more practical experience, who can propose their functional requirements for AI technology and products and provide useful feedback. Medical AI information disclosure is closely related to healthcare professionals. It is critical but may be a mixed blessing in promoting their participation in medical AI innovation. Based on the transactional theory of stress and coping, this study explored the influential mechanism of medical AI information disclosure on healthcare professional involvement in AI innovation. To examine the research model, the 356 valid responses of Chinese healthcare professionals were collected by two-stage online survey. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the effect of information disclosure on healthcare professional involvement and the mediation effect of challenge appraisal and hindrance appraisal. Ordinary least squares regression was used to examine the moderation effect of subjective norm. Results indicated that medical AI information disclosure through challenge appraisal was positively related to healthcare professional involvement, whereas it through hindrance appraisal negatively affected healthcare professional involvement. Moreover, subjective norm of AI use moderated negatively the impacts of medical AI information disclosure and challenge appraisal but moderated positively the impacts of medical AI information disclosure and hindrance appraisal. This study discussed medical AI information disclosure as a kind of stressor and expanded the application of the transactional theory of stress and coping in the smart healthcare context. It enriched the associations amongst tech-stressor, appraisal outcomes and individuals’ coping strategies and contributed to the development of medical AI innovation

Impact of social Media usage on technostress and cyber incivility

Social media has become omnipresent in our personal and work lives; it is addictive and distracting. Its distractive nature can have adverse effects on an individual's behavior. To provide more insight into how technology influences various aspects of our social lives, this article draws on Social Exchange and Cognitive Theories as well as the Transactional Theory of Stress to investigate the potential impact of social media usage on technostress and cyber incivility, and the mediating role of technostress. The study adopted Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) on survey data obtained from (n = 324) lawyers. Results revealed that social media usage is a strong predictor for both technostress and cyber incivility of others (observed by the lawyers). Technostress also emerges as a key predictor for cyber incivility, and technostress mediates the link between social media usage and cyber incivility. The take home message for managers in the legal sector is the necessity of promoting awareness of excessive and uncontrolled usage of social media, as greater level of awareness will help to desensitize lawyers’ susceptibility to technostress and perception of cyber incivility of others. Implications for theory and practice alongside limitations are discussed.