Abstract
The present study explores whether Karasek's Job Demand-Control (JDC) model's strain hypothesis can be applied to target's reports of bullying at work in matched samples of Spanish and Belgian blue-collar workers. In the Spanish sample, results reveal a positive main effect of workload and a negative main effect of autonomy. The relationship between workload and bullying is particularly strong under the condition of low autonomy (i.e., interaction), in line with Karasek's strain hypothesis. In the Belgian sample, results show a positive main effect of workload and a significant workload-autonomy interaction effect in accordance with the strain hypothesis. In sum, high strain jobs associate with target's reports of bullying in both the Spanish and Belgian sample. Karasek's JDC model may accordingly be extended to target's reports of bullying as a form of social behavioural strain. These findings furthermore enhance research in the realm of bullying at work by introducing a well-established theoretical framework to account for the relationship between workload, autonomy, and target's reports of bullying.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 920452234 |
Pages (from-to) | 157-177 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2011 |
Keywords
- Autonomy
- Bullying at work
- Job Demand-Control model
- Job strain
- Workload
- CONTROL-SUPPORT MODEL
- JOB DEMANDS
- SOCIAL SUPPORT
- CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE
- INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES
- NEGATIVE AFFECTIVITY
- OCCUPATIONAL STRESS
- HEALTH COMPLAINTS
- STRAIN
- PERSPECTIVE