Role stress and work engagement as antecedents of job satisfaction in Spanish workers

Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management JIEM, 2014 – 7(1): 360-372 – Online ISSN: 2013-0953 – Print ISSN: 2013-8423 http://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jiem.992 Role Stress and Work Engagement as Antecedents of Job Satisfaction in Spanish Workers Alejandro Orgambídez-Ramos1, Yolanda Borrego-Alés2, Isabel Mendoza-Sierra2 Algarve University (Portugal) 1 2 University of Huelva (Spain) , , Received: November 2013 Accepted: March 2014 Abstract: Purpose: According to the Job Demands-Resources (JDR) model, engagement and job satisfaction may be produce by two types of working conditions: job demands (i.e. role stress) and job resources (i.e. self-efficacy). This study examines the role of role stress and work engagement as antecedents of job satisfaction in a sample of Spanish workers. Design/methodology/approach: This study comprised a sample of 435 Spanish workers. A cross sectional study was used to examine the relationship between role stress, work engagement and job satisfaction. Data were gathered based on personal administered questionnaires. Findings and Originality/value: Hierarchical multiple regression models have revealed that job satisfaction was significantly predicted by role stress and work engagement. Results support JDR model by showing that positive outcomes, such as job satisfaction can be predicted by motivational process and job demands. Research limitations/implications: The cross-sectional design cannot evidence of causal relationships. This study relies on self-reports, which might increase the risk of common method variance. -360- Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management – http://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jiem.992 Practical implications: On a practical level, the JDR model provides a framework for understanding motivating workplaces and engaged and satisfied employees. Originality/value: The JDR model could be useful in designing strategies for which engaged employees may be advantageous to improving the quality of services, while at the same time increasing employees’ job satisfaction and well-being. Keywords: work engagement, role conflict, role ambiguity, job satisfaction, JDR model 1. Introduction The Job Demands-Resources (JDR) model is a theoretical framework that tries to integrate two fairly independent research traditions: the stress research tradition and the motivation research tradition. According to the JDR model, whereas every occupation may have its own specific risks factors arrogated with job stress, these factors can be classified in two general categories (i.e. job demands and job resources). Job demands are initiators of a health impairment process and job resources are initiators of a motivational process. In addition, the model specifies how demands and resources interact, and predict important outcomes such as job satisfaction or organizational commitment. Previous research has shown that the assumptions of the model hold not only for self-reports but also for objective data. Moreover, studies have shown that JDR model can predict the experience of burnout and of work engagement (Bakker, Demerouti & Verbeke, 2004; Demerouti & Baker, 2011). Recently, there has been a great deal of interest in employee engagement. Many have claimed that employee engagement predicts employee outcomes, organizational success, financial performance (e.g. total shareholder return), and client satisfaction (Chaudhary, Rangnekar & Barua, 2011). The experience of engagement has been described as a fulfilling positive workrelated experience and state of mind (Bakker et al., 2004), and has been found to be related to good health and positive work affect, such as job satisfaction (Alarcon & Lyons, 2011; Maslach & Leiter, 2008; Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). In the current economic climate, the employees’ psychological connection with their work is certainly a key to compete effectively (Chaudhary et al., 2011). The organizations are in need of employees who are engaged with their work (Bakker, van Veldhoven & Xanthopoulou, 2010). On the other hand, job stress has been recognized as a significant occupational hazard that can impair physical health, psychological well-being, and work performance. It is assumed that job stress is a mediator between the impact of external job demands (stressors such as role stress) and work-related outcomes (such as job insatisfaction, absenteeism, or illness) (Maslach & Leiter, 2008). -361- Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management – http://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jiem.992 A variable closely associated with job stress and engagement in the research literature is job satisfaction. A number of writers have suggested that job satisfaction is of special significance, due to its relationships with other variables such as organizational commitment, intention to quit, and organizational citizenship behaviors (Alarcon & Lyons, 20011; Saks, 2006; Yanhan, 2013). In this sense, this study examines the relationship between work engagement, role stress and job satisfaction, ant the role of work engagement and role stress as antecedents of job satisfaction in a sample of Spanish workers. 1.1. The Job Demands-Resources Model At the heart of the JDR model lays the assumption that whereas every occupation may have its own specific risk factors associated with job stress, these factors can be classified in two general categories (i.e. job demands and job resources). Furthermore, the JDR model may be applied to various occupational settings, irrespective of the particular demands and resources involved (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007, 2008). Job demands and job resources relate, in different ways, to positive and negative outcomes (Demerouti & Bakker, 2011). Job demands refer to those physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that require sustained physical and/or psychological (cognitive and emotional) effort and skills, and are therefore associated with certain physiological and/or psychological costs. Examples are a high work pressure, an unfavorable physical environment, and emotionally demanding interactions with clients. Although job demands are not necessarily negative, they may turn into job stressors when meeting those demands requires high effort from which the employee has not adequately recovered. Instead, job resources refer to those physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that either/or (1) reduce job demands and the associated physiological and psychological costs; (2) are functional in achieving work goals; and (3) stimulate personal growth, learning and development (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007, 2008; Demerouti & Bakker, 2011). With regard to the relationship between demands-resources and personal and organizational outcomes, Maslach and Leiter (2008) hypothesized than the presence of specific demands (i.e. role stress) and the absence of specific resources (i.e. self-efficacy) predict burnout, leading to negative results such as job insatisfaction, absenteei (...truncated)