Title
An Integrated Model of Stress, Personality, Social Support and Outcomes: A Study of Financial Sector of Pakistan.
Abstract
During the past decade numerous researchers, working in the areas of human resource and organizational psychology, have focused their attention on the study of job stress. The trends clearly indicate that workplace stress is growing due to number of reasons that include rapid changes in work policies in organizations, increased sensitivity to performance improvements, challenges arising from economic pressures, wave of globalization and many other factors that also depend upon pertinent conditions of a certain region or a country. In recent years, some of the worst stressors, particularly in Pakistan, have come from the domains like increased terrorist activities, low economic growth and eroding purchase power of the working class. Taking a broader view, it is important to develop a comprehensive model which includes the key stressors that originate from within organizations (termed as internal stressors) and the ones that come from environment external to the organizations (external stressors).
Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between different kinds of stressors, Type A behavior pattern, social support, employee satisfaction and performance. Particularly, the study examined the direct relationship of internal and external stressors on Job Stress. The study also explored the effect of job stress on job performance and job satisfaction. In addition, the study examined the mediating role of Type A behavior pattern and moderating role of social support between stress and job outcomes. The researcher conducted a field survey and collected data from 692 employees working in the Banking sector, in four largest cities of Pakistan.
The overall results revealed a positive relationship between both types of stressors and job stress. The study found that both external stressors and internal stressors significantly contributed to job stress among employees in the Banking sector. Moreover, the results showed that job stress had a negative relationship with job performance and job satisfaction. The findings further revealed that Type A personality behavior mediated the relationship between stressors and stress which suggested that employee behaviors played a vital role in determining the severity of outcomes of the stressful situations. The findings also showed that social support moderated the relationship between job stress and performance and satisfaction. This study significantly contributed to the body of knowledge, in the domains of internal stressors, external stressors, social support and job stress. The study also provided significant implications for practicing managers.