Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

Free to be you and me: A climate of authenticity alleviates burnout from emotional labor.
Given the emotional nature of health care, patients and their families may express anger and mistreat their health care providers; in addition, those providers are expected to manage their own emotions when providing care—two interpersonal stressors that are linked to job burnout. Integrating conservation of resources (Hobfoll, 2002) and ego depletion (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000) theories, we propose that this creates a resource loss spiral that can be slowed by the presence of a “climate of authenticity” among one's coworkers. We describe this climate and how it differs from other work climates. We then propose that a work unit with a climate of authenticity should provide a self-regulatory break from emotional labor with patients, thus replenishing resources and buffering against strain from emotional labor. We tested this multilevel prediction by surveying 359 health care providers nested within 48 work units at a large, metropolitan hospital. We find that medical workers experiencing more mistreatment by patients are more likely to be managing emotions with patients, and this response further contributes to the employees' job-related burnout. As predicted, managing emotions with patients was unrelated to burnout for workers in a unit with a climate of authenticity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Empowering leaders optimize working conditions for engagement: A multilevel study.
Using a multilevel framework, this study examined the role of empowering leadership at the group level by fire brigade captains in facilitating the individual level motivational processes that underpin work engagement in volunteer firefighters. Anonymous mail surveys were completed by 540 volunteer firefighters from 68 fire brigades and, separately, by 68 brigade captains. As predicted on the basis of the Job Demands-Resources model, increased levels of cognitive demands and cognitive resources partially mediated the relationship between empowering leadership and work engagement. In a three-way Leadership × Demands × Resources interaction, empowering leadership also had the effect of optimizing working conditions for engagement by strengthening the positive effect of a work context in which both cognitive demands and cognitive resources were high. Our findings shed light on a process through which leaders can empower workers and enhance well-being: via their influence on and interaction with the work environment. They also underscore the need to examine work engagement from a multilevel theoretical perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Organizational work–family resources as predictors of job performance and attitudes: The process of work–family conflict and enrichment.
The goal of the current study was to test a model where organizational resources (aimed at managing work and family responsibilities) predict job attitudes and supervisor ratings of performance through the mechanisms of work–family conflict and work–family enrichment. Employees (n = 174) at a large metropolitan hospital were surveyed at two time periods regarding perceptions of family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB), family supportive organizational perceptions (FSOP), bidirectional work–family conflict, bidirectional work–family enrichment, and job attitudes. Supervisors were also asked to provide performance ratings at Time 2. Results revealed FSSB at Time 1 predicted job satisfaction, organizational commitment and intention to leave, as well as supervisor ratings of performance, at Time 2. In addition, both work–family enrichment and family-work enrichment were found to mediate relationships between FSSB and various organizational outcomes, while work–family conflict was not a significant mediator. Results support further testing of supervisor behaviors specific to family support, as well models that include bidirectional work–family enrichment as the mechanism by which work–family resources predict employee and organizational outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Family-supportive organization perceptions: Validation of an abbreviated measure and theory extension.
Although the concept of family-supportive organization perceptions has been well received in the literature, the actual construct has been relatively understudied. In the present study, we accomplish two goals. First using confirmatory factor analysis, we report on the validation of an abbreviated six-item measure of family-supportive organization perceptions that demonstrates limited measurement error. Second, we link role theory, social support resource theory, and the direct effects model of social support, to suggest that the way in which family-supportive organization perceptions affect work–family conflict is via experiences of domain overload. Contrary to the direct effects model of social support, family-supportive organization perceptions do not differentially impact work and family overload. Consistent with social support resource theory though, the effects of family-supportive organization perceptions on work-to-family and family to-work conflict are fully mediated via work and family overload (respectively). Avenues for future research incorporating family-supportive organization perceptions are also considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Eldercare demands, mental health, and work performance: The moderating role of satisfaction with eldercare tasks.
Due to demographic changes, a growing number of employees provide in-home care to an elderly family member. Previous research suggested a negative relationship between employees' eldercare demands and their work performance. However, the empirical nature of this relationship and its boundary conditions and mediating mechanisms have been neglected. The goal of this multisource study was to examine a mediated-moderation model of eldercare demands, mental health, and work performance. Drawing on the theory of conservation of resources (Hobfoll, 1989), it was expected that employees' satisfaction with eldercare tasks would buffer the negative relationship between eldercare demands and work performance, and that mental health would mediate this moderating effect. Data were collected from 165 employees providing in-home eldercare, as well as from one colleague and one family member of each employee. Results of mediated-moderation analyses supported the hypothesized model. The findings suggest that interventions that aim to increase employees' satisfaction with eldercare tasks may help protect employees from the negative effects of high eldercare demands on mental health and, subsequently, on work performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Racial/ethnic harassment and discrimination, its antecedents, and its effect on job-related outcomes.
A general model of workplace prejudice acts, their antecedents, and their consequences is proposed and examined in the context of racial/ethnic harassment and discrimination (REHD). Antecedents proposed and tested here include context and climate, whereas consequences proposed and tested here include work, supervisor, and opportunity satisfaction and turnover intentions. The theoretical model is first tested and cross-validated in two ethnically diverse subsamples (approximately 2,000 each). Then, hierarchical multigroup modeling was conducted to determine whether the relationships among REHD, its antecedents, and its outcomes are equivalent across five racial/ethnic groups (N = 1,000 per group) in the U.S. military. This addresses the issue of differential exposure (i.e., varying amounts of stressors across groups) versus differential vulnerability (i.e., discrepant impact of a stressor on outcomes across groups) across racial/ethnic groups. Consistent with expectations, results suggest that although racial/ethnic groups differ in their mean exposure to REHD, the relationships among REHD and its outcomes are the same across race/ethnicity, supporting the differential exposure view. In addition, the results show some differences between antecedents and REHD across race/ethnicity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Not all aggressions are created equal: A multifoci approach to workplace aggression.
Types of perpetrators of workplace aggression can vary considerably, and recent research has demonstrated that aggression from different perpetrator categories has different implications for victims. We extended research on multifoci aggression and explored affective and cognitive pathways linking verbal aggression from four perpetrator types—supervisors, coworkers, customers, and significant others—and employee morale and turnover intention. Data from a sample of 446 working adults indicated that both emotional strain and employees' corresponding judgments of their social exchange relationships with these perpetrators served as the mechanisms for the association between aggression from supervisors, coworkers, and customers and morale and turnover intention. Coworker aggression had a direct association with turnover intention and significant other aggression was related to turnover intention only through emotional strain. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Age, cumulative (dis)advantage, and subjective well-being in employed and unemployed Germans: A moderated mediation model.
The negative impact of unemployment on subjective well-being (SWB) is well known, but the role of age in this relationship remains unclear. We suggest that cumulative advantage (or disadvantage) associated with the duration of current employment status may produce an age-related divergence in SWB between employed and unemployed individuals. We used cross-sectional data on employed (n = 1382) and unemployed (n = 254) Germans (age 18–42) surveyed in 2005. We found that, among currently employed individuals, relatively older age predicted longer employment duration (tenure), which was related to higher SWB via higher income and higher perceived occupational security. Among currently unemployed individuals, age predicted longer unemployment duration, which was associated with lower SWB via lower perceived social support. Thus, age was indirectly related to higher SWB in employed individuals and to lower SWB in unemployed individuals. In this way, cumulative advantage of long-term employment and cumulative disadvantage of long-term unemployment contributed to the age-related divergence in SWB between employed and unemployed Germans already in the first half of working life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Promoting safety voice with safety-specific transformational leadership: The mediating role of two dimensions of trust.
[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 17(1) of Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (see record 2011-29717-003). The affiliation of author Paul J. Taylor was incorrectly listed as University of Liverpool. The correct affiliation is Lancaster University. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Although safety-specific transformational leadership is known to encourage employee safety voice behaviors, less is known about what makes this style of leadership effective. We tested a model that links safety-specific transformational leadership to safety voice through various dimensions of trust. Data from 150 supervisor-employee dyads from the United Kingdom oil industry supported our predictions that the effects of safety-specific transformational leadership are sequentially mediated by affect-based trust beliefs and disclosure trust intentions. Moreover, we found that reliance trust intentions moderated the effect of disclosure: employees' disclosure intentions mediated the effects of affect-based trust on safety voice behaviors only when employees' intention to rely on their leader was moderate to high. These findings suggest that leaders seeking to encourage safety voice behaviors should go beyond “good reason” arguments and develop affective bonds with their employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Correction to Conchie, Taylor, and Donald (2011).
Reports an error in "Promoting safety voice with safety-specific transformational leadership: The mediating role of two dimensions of trust" by Stacey M. Conchie, Paul J. Taylor and Ian J. Donald ( Journal of Occupational Health Psychology , Advanced Online Publication, Aug 29, 2011, np). The affiliation of author Paul J. Taylor was incorrectly listed as University of Liverpool. The correct affiliation is Lancaster University. All versions of this article have been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2011-19068-001.) Although safety-specific transformational leadership is known to encourage employee safety voice behaviors, less is known about what makes this style of leadership effective. We tested a model that links safety-specific transformational leadership to safety voice through various dimensions of trust. Data from 150 supervisor-employee dyads from the United Kingdom oil industry supported our predictions that the effects of safety-specific transformational leadership are sequentially mediated by affect-based trust beliefs and disclosure trust intentions. Moreover, we found that reliance trust intentions moderated the effect of disclosure: employees' disclosure intentions mediated the effects of affect-based trust on safety voice behaviors only when employees' intention to rely on their leader was moderate to high. These findings suggest that leaders seeking to encourage safety voice behaviors should go beyond “good reason” arguments and develop affective bonds with their employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Stress and performance: Do service orientation and emotional energy moderate the relationship?
The current study examines the moderating effect of customer service orientation and emotional energy on the stress–performance relationship for 681 U.S. casual dining restaurant employees. Customer service orientation was hypothesized to moderate the stress–performance relationship for Front-of-House (FOH) workers. Emotional energy was hypothesized to moderate stress–performance for Back-of-House (BOH) workers. Contrary to expectations, customer service orientation failed to moderate the effects of stress on performance for FOH employees, but the results supported that customer service orientation is likely a mediator of the relationship. However, the hypothesis was supported for BOH workers; emotional energy was found to moderate stress performance for these employees. This finding suggests that during times of high stress, meaningful, warm, and empathetic relationships are likely to impact BOH workers' ability to maintain performance. These findings have real-world implications in organizational practice, including highlighting the importance of developing positive and meaningful social interactions among workers and facilitating appropriate person-job fits. Doing so is likely to help in alleviating worker stress and is also likely to encourage worker performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology - Vol 17, Iss 1