Transactional Theory Of Stress Research Articles

The duality of ICT-mediated overload: Its nature and consequences

Overload derived from the wide use of multiple information and communication technologies (ICTs) has become increasingly pervasive. Nevertheless, our understanding of the nature of ICT-mediated overload and how such overload affects individual productivity in multi-ICT context is limited. This study classifies ICT-mediated overload into congruent and incongruent types based on content relevance. Drawing upon transactional theory of stress, we then develop a holistic model to examine their impacts on individuals’ productivity through cognitive appraisals and coping responses. Results of our empirical study of 439 respondents with ICT usage experience illustrate that congruent information overload can lead to challenge appraisal, which in turn facilitates individuals’ innovative and routine uses of ICTs, ultimately improving their productivity; incongruent information overload and incongruent interruption overload induce hindrance appraisal, which further results in avoidant ICT use, thereby impairing productivity. This study contributes to the research on overload in the context of multiple ICTs by advancing our understanding of the nature of different types of ICT-mediated overload and by uncovering the mechanisms that govern the impacts of ICT-mediated overload on individuals’ productivity.

The Relationships of Leaders’ Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry with Nurses’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior towards Leaders: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Aim. The aim of this study is to investigate the unique contributions of two distinct dimensions of leaders’ narcissism—admiration and rivalry—to nurses’ organizational citizenship behavior towards the leader and the mediating role of nurses’ challenge appraisal and hindrance appraisal based on the transactional stress theory. Background. Leaders’ narcissism is widespread in hospitals, so whether nurses will show organizational citizenship behavior to narcissistic leaders is related to the harmony and stability of the team. Thus, clarifying the positive or negative relationship between leaders’ narcissism and nurses’ organizational citizenship behavior towards leaders has become a priority. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted at two-time points with 280 Chinese nurses. We used the structural equation model to analyze our data. Results. We found that leaders’ narcissistic admiration was positively correlated with nurses’ organizational citizenship behavior towards the leader; however, leaders’ narcissistic rivalry was negatively correlated with nurses’ organizational citizenship behavior towards the leader. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed that leaders’ narcissistic admiration had a significant indirect effect on nurses’ organizational citizenship behavior towards leaders via challenge appraisal, and leaders’ narcissistic rivalry had a significant indirect effect on nurses’ organizational citizenship behavior towards leaders via hindrance appraisal. Conclusion. By introducing two dimensions of narcissistic admiration and rivalry, we resolve previous contradictory findings about the relationship between leader narcissism and organizational citizenship behavior towards the leader. Implications for Nursing Management. Nursing managers need to understand that there are both positive and negative relationships between leaders’ narcissism and nurses’ organizational citizenship behavior towards the leader, and we can promote the positive effects of leaders’ narcissistic admiration and curb the negative consequences of leaders’ narcissistic rivalry by taking some specific steps, such as promoting the loving cooperative atmosphere and punishing disruptive behaviors.

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Use of Adaptive and Maladaptive Coping Strategies

ABSTRACT Objectives Chronic stress is associated with a variety of negative outcomes for farmers in the United States (U.S) and worldwide, who face near-constant exposure to internal (e.g. family conflict) and external (e.g. weather) stressors. Research indicates that farmers’ stress may be reduced by engaging in adaptive coping strategies and avoiding maladaptive coping strategies. However, little is known about what predicts their coping strategy use. Informed by the transactional theory of stress and coping, the present manuscript seeks to identify factors associated with U.S. farmers’ use of adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies. Methods U.S. farmers (N = 135) completed survey assessments of factors theorized to be associated with coping strategy choice (maladaptive beliefs about farm stress management, farm stress management self-efficacy, age, and sex) as well as measures of adaptive and maladaptive coping. Results Farm stress management self-efficacy was a significant, positive predictor of adaptive coping, and maladaptive beliefs about farm stress management were a significant, positive predictor of maladaptive coping. Maladaptive beliefs about farm stress management and farm stress management self-efficacy interacted to predict maladaptive coping, such that the positive relationship between maladaptive beliefs about farm stress management and maladaptive coping was significant at higher levels of self-efficacy. Sex was unrelated to coping strategies, and age was negatively associated with maladaptive coping strategies but unassociated with adaptive coping strategies. Conclusion The findings point to the utility of increasing farm stress self-management self-efficacy to increase farmers’ adaptive coping and reducing maladaptive beliefs about farm stress management to reduce maladaptive coping. Efforts to promote adaptive coping by increasing self-efficacy should also target maladaptive beliefs farmers hold toward stress management, because increasing self-efficacy may also increase the likelihood of maladaptive coping when maladaptive beliefs are present.

The future is now but is it here to stay? Employees’ perspective on working from home

The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled the implementation of work from home (WFH) on a global scale. While initial responses to the WFH arrangement have been mixed, a majority of them are negative. However, much is still unknown about the antecedents of work productivity and continuance intention associated with WFH. Hence, this study developed a multi-dimensional research model that comprises of the Protection Motivation Theory, Transactional Theory of Stress, and Status Quo Bias to look into this matter. The responses were collected from employees with WFH experience and analyzed via the Structural Equation Modeling-Artificial Neural Network (SEM-ANN). Interestingly, perceived vulnerability and perceived severity had no significant relationship with continuance intention. Besides, self-efficacy to handle work tasks from home was found to facilitate work productivity. In contrast, technostress was found as an inhibitor of work productivity and continuance intention to WFH. Overall, the employees’ perspective on WFH captured in this study provides great value to organizational stakeholders. This is because companies with good WFH arrangements have a powerful competitive advantage in employee recruitment and retention.

Aging alone and financial insecurity predict depression: a path analysis of objective and subjective indices

Objectives This study draws on conservation of resources theory and transactional stress theory to guide our understanding of how social isolation, financial insecurity, and social support serve as a balance of both risk and protection for late-life depression. Methods Data were from the Leave-Behind Questionnaire in the 2016 (N = 4293) and 2018 (N = 4714) waves of the Health and Retirement Study. We conducted a cross-sectional path analysis via structural equation modeling, including objective and subjective perspectives. The same model was tested in both samples. Results Both social isolation and financial insecurity were associated with depression. We found several mediating risks and protective factors of these relationships. Objective financial status affected depression through both perceived financial insecurity and perceived social isolation, whereas objective isolation affected depression through perceived social support. This mediation model was ­significant after adjusting for confounders. Conclusion This study underscores the importance of investigating the balance between risk and protection for depression, in the rising number of older adults aging alone in society. Findings suggest that objective and perceived measures offer unique windows into psychological constructs. Considering both objective and subjective perspectives may provide alternative targets for subsequent interventions to improve mental health in later life.

The role of abusive supervision and openness to experience in the task conflict and social undermining relationship

Building on the emerging research on antecedents of social undermining, we develop and test a threat-based tripartite model of social undermining that outlines why and when employees may engage in social undermining in the workplace. Specifically, we draw on the transactional theory of stress to suggest that task conflict, as a contextual factor, serves as a fundamental stressor that provokes social undermining. Within this transactional stress framework, we also argue that task conflict is more likely to provoke social undermining under conditions of higher levels of abusive supervision (context) and openness to experience (personality) simultaneously. In this regard, we propose a three-way interaction suggesting that task conflict, abusive supervision, and openness to experience jointly interact to predict higher levels of social undermining. Our findings from two separate field investigations using time-lagged, multisource data (i.e. employee–coworker dyads) provide general support for our hypothesized model. Research and practical implications for human resource management, as well as recommendations for future research, are discussed.

Correlates of Psychological Distress Among African American Young Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affects African Americans in the United States, including disparate rates of mortality and higher mental health consequences compared to Whites. However, African American young adults are underrepresented in the literature examining psychological distress (i.e., anxiety and depression) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors associated with psychological distress are important to examine among African American young adults during the pandemic to better inform culturally appropriate mental health interventions during times of increased uncertainty and isolation. The present study, grounded in the transactional theory of stress and coping, was a secondary analysis of 420 African American young adults exploring gender, age, coping, fear of missing out (FOMO), and COVID-19 news exposure as correlates of anxiety and depression. Results showed that gender, age, level of resilient coping, and experiences of FOMO were associated with psychological distress. Therefore, interventions to reduce psychological distress among African American young adults may need to focus on younger individuals and women, identify adaptive coping skills during times of significant change, and target individuals who experience FOMO.

Enhancing Sustainability in the Agricultural Sector Amid COVID-19: An Implication of the Transactional Theory

COVID-19 impacted lives and business activities across all sectors of the economy, and farmers were no exception. Utilizing the lens of the transactional theory of stress and coping, the present study explores the stressors among small-scale farmers and the strategies they adopted for farm management during the pandemic. This study follows qualitative research design principles and collects the data of farmers from Pakistan on their lived experiences via in-depth interviews. We selected the farmers based on the purposive criterion sampling method, selecting farmers whose farm management practices were affected by the pandemic. The findings suggest that the pandemic created stress among farmers through internal and external factors. The low income of farmers and decline in their yield appeared as internal factors, and hindrances in utilizing resources, strict lockdown measures, worsening supply chain, and market conditions were major external factors impacting farmers emotionally and economically. Farmers utilized their available resources to cope with these factors, i.e., family labor, on-farm labor accommodation, and self-transportation. Nonetheless, farmers demanded the government, fellow farmers, and wholesalers to build a better system to cope with any crisis such as COVID-19. This study provides two primary contributions: First, it provides theoretical contributions to the transactional model of farmers’ stress and coping during COVID-19, taking evidence from farmers in the agricultural sector. Second, it provides a comprehensive framework through which researchers, practitioners, consultants, and government authorities can build future scholarship and develop strategies to enhance sustainability and cope with future pandemics.

COVID-19 lockdown stress and problematic social networking sites use among quarantined college students in China: A chain mediation model based on the stressor–strain–outcome framework

The COVID-19 pandemic has coincided with a global increase in problematic social networking sites use (PSNSU). By drawing on transactional stress theory and applying the stressor–strain–outcome (SSO) framework, we proposed and verified a chain mediation model to explore the mediating roles of fear of missing out (FoMO) and future anxiety (FA) in the relationship between COVID-19 lockdown stress (CL stress) and PSNSU. Our sample of 670 quarantined college students in China responded to a COVID-19 student stress questionnaire, a social network addiction scale, a fear of missing out scale, and a dark future scale. The results revealed that (1) CL stress significantly positively predicted PSNSU, (2) both FoMO and FA mediated the relationship between CL stress and PSNSU, (3) FoMO significantly positively predicted FA, and (4) a full chain mediation was observed between CL stress and PSNSU.

Chemsex and Sexual Well-Being in Young Polish Men.

Chemsex refers to the use of psychoactive drugs for sexual purposes-before or during sex. This phenomenon mainly affects men, in particular those belonging to the LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, asexual, and more diverse individuals) community. From the perspective of the transactional theory of stress, chemsex can be considered a strategy for coping with stress, which is why it is also extremely important to verify its role in functioning outside the sexual sphere. For this reason, this study verified the relationship between the use of chemsex, perceived stress, sexual well-being, and life satisfaction in young Polish men. The study involved 175 men (67 people using chemsex and 108 people in the control group) between 18 and 33 years of age. The Perceived Stress Scale, the Short Scale of Sexual Well-being, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the authors' questionnaire about the use of chemsex were used. It was observed that individuals using chemsex showed a significantly lower level of sexual well-being and satisfaction with life (moderate effects) and a higher level of perceived stress (strong effect) when compared to the control group not using psychoactive substances. Additionally, a positive and moderate relationship was observed between the number of psychoactive substances used and perceived stress in the group of individuals using chemsex. Moreover, the number of substances used and the level of perceived stress were negatively and moderately related to the level of well-being in these individuals. It was also shown that perceived stress was a significant predictor of the number of psychoactive substances used before and during sex and that perceived stress and the number of psychoactive substances used were significant and negative predictors of life satisfaction and sexual well-being, explaining a large portion of their variance.

Work engagement of online car-hailing drivers: the effects of platforms' algorithmic management

PurposeAlgorithms are widely used to manage various activities in the gig economy. Online car-hailing platforms, such as Uber and Lyft, are exemplary embodiments of such algorithmic management, where drivers are managed by algorithms for task allocation, work monitoring and performance evaluation. Despite employing substantially, the platforms face the challenge of maintaining and fostering drivers' work engagement. Thus, this study aims to examine how the algorithmic management of online car-hailing platforms affects drivers' work engagement.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the transactional theory of stress, the authors examined the effects of algorithmic monitoring and fairness on online car-hailing drivers' work engagement and revealed the mediation effects of challenge-hindrance appraisals. Based on survey data collected from 364 drivers, the authors' hypotheses were examined using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The authors also applied path comparison analyses to further compare the effects of algorithmic monitoring and fairness on the two types of appraisals.FindingsThis study finds that online car-hailing drivers' challenge-hindrance appraisals mediate the relationship between algorithmic management characteristics and work engagement. Algorithmic monitoring positively affects both challenge and hindrance appraisals in online car-hailing drivers. However, algorithmic fairness promotes challenge appraisal and reduces hindrance appraisal. Consequently, challenge and hindrance appraisals lead to higher and lower work engagement, respectively. Further, the additional path comparison analysis showed that the hindering effect of algorithmic monitoring exceeds its challenging effect, and the challenge-promoting effect of algorithmic fairness is greater than the algorithm's hindrance-reducing effect.Originality/valueThis paper reveals the underlying mechanisms concerning how algorithmic monitoring and fairness affect online car-hailing drivers' work engagement and fills the gap in the research on algorithmic management in the context of online car-hailing platforms. The authors' findings also provide practical guidance for online car-hailing platforms on how to improve the platforms' algorithmic management systems.

Challenge or hindrance? How and when organizational artificial intelligence adoption influences employee job crafting

While organizations are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI), little is known about employees’ reactions to this new work environment. This study utilizes the transactional theory of stress and coping to establish a framework that examines the impact of organizational AI adoption on employees’ promotion- and prevention-focused job crafting based on the data from a three-wave time-lagged survey of 332 employees of eight companies in Chengdu, China. The findings indicated that the effects of organizational AI adoption on challenge/hindrance appraisals and subsequent job crafting depend on employees’ locus of control. Organizational AI adoption induces challenge appraisals for employees with an internal locus of control and leads to promotion-focused job crafting behaviors. When employees possess an external locus of control, organizational AI adoption induces their hindrance appraisal and leads to prevention-focused job crafting behaviors. These findings have theoretical and practical implications.

Task stressors, team reflexivity, and proactive customer service performance

ABSTRACT This study integrates the transactional theory of stress with social media literature to produce novel theoretical insights into whether and how social media affordance affects the relationship between task stressors, team reflexivity, and team proactive customer service performance of teams working in the hotel industry. Empirical analysis on the data collected from 389 members of 85 service-related teams in China supports the hypothesized model of this study. Findings reveal that team task conflict and team task ambiguity are negatively related to proactive customer service performance and that these relationships are mediated by team reflexivity. Furthermore, social media affordance mitigates the direct and indirect negative effects of team task conflict and team task ambiguity on proactive customer service performance via team reflexivity. Theoretical contributions, practical implications, and limitations of this study are discussed in the later section.

Effect of Occupational Stress on Academic Staff Productivity of Public Tertiary Educational Institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria

People who work in helping professions that involve interacting with people—especially teachers could be more vulnerable to mental discomfort due to stress. Thus, this study examined the relationship between occupational stress and academic staff productivity in public tertiary educational institutions in Lagos State. Two hypotheses (tested at 0.05 level of significance). With the study’s foundation anchored on Transactional Theory of Stress and Effort-Reward Imbalance Theory (ERI) in which correlational and descriptive research designs were adopted, its population comprised all academic staff in public tertiary educational institutions in Lagos State. The sample size was 700. Questionnaire was used to collect data after ensuring its validity and establishing their reliability using test-retest method. This is the ‘Occupational Stress Questionnaire for Teachers (OSQT) (r = 0.94). In addition, Records observation was used to obtain examination results from the tertiary educational institutions sampled. Analysis was carried out using inferential statistics of Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation Analysis and Regression Analysis by using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24.0. Findings indicate that In the same vein, results show that there is no significant difference in occupational stress among academic staff in public tertiary institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria based on gender [t (df = 641 ) = 1.888; ρ= 0.059> 0.05]. Also, the study found that there is no significant difference in occupational stress among academic staff in public tertiary educational institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria between Federal and State government institutions [t (df = 641 ) = -0.888; ρ= 0.375> 0.05]. It is concluded that occupational stress has a considerable influence on the lecturers’ productivity in tertiary educational institutions in Lagos State. The study therefore recommended that more academic staff should be employed. Tertiary educational institution managers, including vice-chancellors, Provosts, deans of faculties, and head of departments, should ensure that lecturers are assigned duties in line with their carrying capacities. Keywords: Stress, Occupational stress, Productivity, Academic staff, Public tertiary educational institution DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-11-02 Publication date: April 30 th 2023

Coping strategies mediating the effects of job insecurity on subjective well-being, leading to presenteeism: an empirical study

Coping strategies mediating the effects of job insecurity on subjective well-being, leading to presenteeism: an empirical study

All stressors are not bad: an affect-based model of role overload – the supervisor-level antecedent of abusive supervision

PurposeExpanding on the research of the antecedents of abusive supervision, this study aims to explore supervisor role overload as a supervisor-level predictor of abusive supervision. Based on transactional stress theory, the authors investigate role overload that is appraised as a challenge or a hindrance stressor by supervisors, leading to pleasant or unpleasant feelings, respectively. The authors propose that, based on their appraisal, these feelings of supervisors act as a mediating mechanism that can facilitate or inhibit their abusive behaviour at work. Additionally, the authors posit emotional intelligence (EI) as a key moderator in helping supervisors manage the negative feelings arising from perceiving role overload as a hindrance and preventing them from demonstrating abusive supervision.Design/methodology/approachTo test the proposed moderated mediation model, the authors collected two-wave data from middle-level supervisors or managers from several organisations located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia (N= 990).FindingsThe results largely support the hypothesised relationships and show that depending on supervisor appraisal, role overload can generate pleasant or unpleasant feelings in supervisors and, consequently, impede or facilitate abusive supervision. They also shed light on the moderating effect of EI, in that supervisors scoring high on EI are better equipped to deal with unpleasant feelings arising from role overload and effectively manage their workplace behaviour, that is, to avoid abusive behaviours.Originality/valueRole overload can have different impacts on employees: on the one hand, there is a potential for growth, which entails drive and enthusiasm; on the other hand, it could feel like an unsurmountable mountain for employees, leading to different forms of anxiety. Because what we feel is what we project onto others, supervisors experiencing unpleasant feelings cannot be the best leader they can be; even worse, they can become a source of negativity by displaying destructive behaviours such as abusive supervision. The corollary of something as minor as an interaction with a leader experiencing unpleasant feelings could have a ripple effect and lead to adverse outcomes for organisations and their employees. This study explores the different perceptions of role overload and the subsequent feelings coming from those perceptions as supervisor-level predictors of abusive supervision. While it is not possible to objectively put a different lens inside the minds of supervisors when they face stressors at work, to feel pleasant or unpleasant, they can be trained to manage their negative feelings and keep their behaviours in check. Particularly, training managers to be more emotionally intelligent can help them not only achieve growth by overcoming challenges at work but also acknowledge and adapt their feelings to keep their behaviours in the workplace positive. In practical terms, this research can provide organisations with the knowledge required to nip the problem of abusive supervision in the bud, as prevention is always better than cure.

Understanding the Impact of Technostress on University Teachers’ Online Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic with the Transactional Theory of Stress (TTS)

Understanding the Impact of Technostress on University Teachers’ Online Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic with the Transactional Theory of Stress (TTS)

Well-Being, Occupational Fatigue, and Sleep Quality among Filipino Nurses working during COVID-19.

Fatigue is a common symptom experienced by nurses before the pandemic, but this experience is heightened by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The literature has ample evidence of nurses experiencing occupational or work-related fatigue. In addition, human error is a significant consequence of fatigue that can significantly impact patient outcomes and be devastating for a nurse. Guided by Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, we conducted a descriptive, correlational and cross-sectional study aimed to 1) explore the level of occupational fatigue and sleep quality among Filipino nurses working during the COVID-19; 2) determine the relationships between occupational fatigue, sleep quality, and subjective wellbeing among Filipino nurses working during COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred twenty-six Filipino nurses across the United States working during the pandemic were surveyed using RedCap. The study showed that Filipino nurses had moderate to high acute and chronic fatigue levels, lower intershift recovery, and good sleep quality. Evidence and opportunities for health care administrations to create strategies to enhance the wellbeing of their largest and most valuable workforce.

Challenge and hindrance demands of doctoral education: conceptualization, scale development and validation

PurposeThe present study develops, conceptualizes and validates a scale based on the transactional stress theory to assess the perceived challenge and hindrance demands of doctoral programs that impact doctoral students’ psychological well-being.Design/methodology/approachThis research employs an exploratory-mixed methodology comprising five phases with a sequential qualitative-quantitative approach. A rigorous scale development process is adopted to validate the instrument’s psychometric properties. The study respondents are Indian full-time doctoral students in the management discipline.FindingsThe findings show that the construct of perceived challenge and hindrance demands is a first-order four-factor and a second-order two-factor model. The study has validated the scale to capture the challenge and hindrance demands of doctoral research programs with the following sub-constructs: doctoral program resource inadequacies, doctoral program ambiguity, doctoral program workload and complexity.Practical implicationsThe recommended challenge demands and hindrance demands (CHD) scale provides a benchmark for doctoral institutes and program supervisors in focussing on research students’ perception of their doctoral education demands to reduce the strain and increase their well-being during their doctoral program journey.Originality/valueHindrance demands adversely influence the motivation resources needed for doctoral education; challenge demands positively impact the research students’ internal resources.

The Neuromatrix Theory of Pain and Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping: Improving Understanding of Pain Catastrophizing in Individuals With ACL Reconstruction and Knee Osteoarthritis

Individuals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and early knee osteoarthritis symptoms commonly exhibit psychological impairments, such as pain catastrophizing. Pain catastrophizing is a negative cognitive–affective response to anticipated or actual pain and has been linked to greater pain intensity and decreased function in this population. However, an examination of the neuromatrix theory of pain and the transactional theory of stress and coping may help to explain the development and consequences of pain catastrophizing in individuals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and early knee osteoarthritis symptoms. Exploration of these theoretical models will help clinicians better understand the impact of pain catastrophizing on post-injury outcomes, as well as help to identify intervention strategies to address maladaptive psychological responses and improve outcomes for individuals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and early knee osteoarthritis symptoms.