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Научни трудове на Съюза на учените в България-Пловдив, Серия A. Обществени науки, изкуство и култура том III, ISSN 1311-9400 (Print) ; ISSN 2534-9368 (On-line), 2017, Scientific works of the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria-Plovdiv, seriesA. Public sciences, art and culture, Vol. III, ISSN 1311-9400 (Print); ISSN 2534-9368 (On-line), 2017.
ПРОФЕСИОНАЛЕН СТРЕС И ОРГАНИЗАЦИОННА ПОДКРЕПА -КОРЕЛАЦИЯ И ВЛИЯНИЕ НА СОЦИО-ДЕМОГРАФСКИ ФАКТОРИ
Стоянка Христова СУ „Св. Климент Охридски"
WORK STRESS AND ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT -CORRELATION AND IMPACT OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS
Stoyanka Hristova SU «St. Kliment Ohridski»
Abstract: This paper presents empirical study of the relation between perceived stress and organizational support, and their dependence on socio-demographic factors. The analysis of variance indicated that levels of perceived stress depended on the gender and income of respondents, and perceptions of organizational support varied through the age and total work experience of participants. The findinigs of correlation analysis implied that the higher levels of perceived organizational support related to lower
levels of perceived stress.
Keywords: Stress, Work stress, Organizational support
Effects of stress can be quite worrying for the organization and the individuals working in it. It is one of the main prerequisites for the emergence of diseases and traumas and significant decline in the overall performance of organizations. In general, research in this area lead to the conclusion that work stress can harm not only health and wellbeing of individuals but also the organization by increasing turnover, and lowering commitment and productivity in it (Donaldson-Feilder et al., 2011). This necessitates the application of not only individual, but also organizational practices to manage with stress. A significant role in this regard has the institutional support from the organization, as well as subjective evaluation of the perceived organizational support. It is expressed in the beliefs of employees about the extent to which the organization values their contribution and cares about their wellbeing. According to the theory of organizational support (Eisenberger et al., 1986; Eisenberger et al., 2001; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002; Eder & Eisenberger, 2008), employees develop similar beliefs to meet their social and emotional needs and to define the readiness of organization to reward their efforts. Perceived organizational support is seen as a guarantee that one can count on help from the organization, if necessary, for effective performance of duties and dealing with stressful situations (Eisenberger et al., 1986; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Perceived organizational support has the effect of buffer in terms of relationship between stressors and perceived stress in the workplace. It satisfies the social-emotional needs and reduces the tension of negative psychological and psychosomatic effects of stressors, as it indicates the existence of material and emotional support when the individual has to deal with the high demands of workplace (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002).
On these theoretical views is based the assumption, underlying this study, that the experience of work stress and perceptions of organizational support are not just related to each other, but are
also determined by certain socio-demographic factors. In this regard, the main objective of this study was to establish empirically the relation between perceived work stress and organizational support, and their dependence on socio-demographic factors.
In the hypotheses formulated it was assumed that:
1. The socio-demographic factors (gender, age, income and total work experience) have statistically significant impact on the levels of perceived stress and organizational support.
2. The higher levels of perceived organizational support relate to lower levels of perceived stress in the workplace.
The main tasks in response to the needs of the empirical study, were:
1. To define the mean values of the variables studied.
2. To find statistically significant differences in the levels of variables observed, depending on the aforementioned socio-demographic factors.
3. To find out if there was statistically significant correlation between perceived stress and perceived organizational support.
The research tools included: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen et al., 1988), adapted for Bulgarian conditions by Karastoyanov and Roussinova-Hristova (Karastoyanov & Roussino-va-Hristova, 2000); and the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (SPOS; Eisenberger, et al., 1986) measuring the possible perceptions and attitudes towards forms of support provided by organizations. Both instruments showed high reliability in this sample (a = 0.85 for PSS, and a = 0.90 for SPOS).
The sample comprised 219 respondents, collected at random: women (73.5%; N = 161) and men (26.5%; N = 58), aged between 18 and 67 years (M = 34.32), divided into three groups regarding their income: with low income 17.8% (N = 39), average income 61.7% (N = 135) and high income 20.5% (N = 45). In terms of participants' total work experience, there was an almost equal distribution of the sample into four groups: 33.8% (N = 74) of them had worked less than 5 years, 26.5% (N = 58) had total work experience of 6 to 10 years, 20.5% (N = 45) had worked from 11 to 20 years, and 19.2% (N = 42) had worked over 20 years.
The hypotheses raised, were verified through descriptive analysis, analysis of variance and correlation analysis of empirical data from this study.
The descriptive analysis outlined moderate levels of perceived work stress (M = 15.94; SD = 4.55) which largely corresponded to the results obtained in another study with the same instrument (Naydenova & Ilieva, 2006) and denied expectations for higher levels of stress among workers, due to difficult economic situation worldwide. The mean values of perceived organizational support (M = 27.15; SD = 6.72) were slightly above the average level, which indicated the presence of rather positive perceptions of support, care and assistance provided by organizations justifying the absence of high levels of stress.
As a result of the analysis of variance conducted, were found statistically significant differences in the level of perceived work stress depending on only two of the socio-demographic factors, namely:
• gender (t = -2.840; p = 0.005, at p<0.05), where women (M = 16.89; SD = 4.62) reported higher levels of stress compared to men (M = 14.27; SD = 4.35), again corresponding to results of the aforementioned study (Naydenova & Ilieva, 2006);
• income (F = 2.990; p = 0.020, at p<0.05), where the highest mean values of stress were
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reported by respondents with low income (M = 17.88; SD = 5.49) compared to those with high income which indicated the lowest mean values of this variable (M = 8.67; SD = 4.03).
A possible explanation of these results could be found in terms of prejudice and underestimation towards professional skills and performance of women at the workplace, the role conflict „work-family" which is usually more pronounced in women's role, the uncertainty about income and the significance of salary's amount and other material benefits provided by organizations (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Level of perceived work stress depending on gender and income (p<0.05)
Male
Female
Low
I Average I High
Gender
Income
With regard to the levels of perceived organizational support, there were statistically significant differences found in dependence of the other two socio-demographic factors:
• age (F = 6.410; p = 0.000, at p<0.01), where participants aged above 49 years indicated the highest mean values (M = 33.1; SD = 4.46), and those aged up to 29 years reported the lowest level of this variable (M = 26.45; SD = 6.93);
• total work experience (F = 5.133; p = 0.002, at p<0.01), where the highest means were observed in the group of people with total work experience of over 20 years (M = 31.29; SD = 6.4), and the lowest level of this variable was found in the group of respondents with total work experience of up to 5 years (M = 26.52; SD = 7.03) (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Level of perceived organizational support depending on age and total work experience (pO.Ol)_
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
Age
Total work experience
Up lo 29 years old 30-39 years old 40-49 years old Over 49 years old Up Lo 5 years 16 Lo 10 years 111 Lo 20years I Over 20 years
It turned out that the highest level of positively perceived organizational support was typical for the oldest study participants with the longest work experience. This probably is due to the proficiency, routine and skills acquired over the years - qualities enhancing the importance of
employees for organizations and leading to higher respect and evaluation of their work and contributions, as well as concern and desire to maintain their wellbeing and satisfaction at workplace. With rather negative perceptions of organizational support were the youngest respondents with the least total work experience, and here the reason may lie in the feeling of disappointment and frustration caused by cognitive imbalance between the initial, often unrealistic, expectations and subsequent actual job opportunities and results.
Findings of correlation analysis indicated statistically significant negative correlation (r = -0.307; p = 0.000, at p<0.01) between both variables which is an evidence of the crucial role that organizational support, same as social support, has in terms of work stress. Based on that, it may be assumed that the more positive perceptions of individuals regarding support, respect and concern about them demonstrated by organizations, lead to lower stress levels in work process. Inverse relation is also possible: low levels of stress can lead to a more positive appraisal of organizational support.
In conclusion, the results obtained from the analysis of variance, verified, although partially, the first hypothesis raised in terms of the phenomena studied. The level of perceived stress depended only on two of the socio-demographic factors observed. Likewise, the level of perceived organizational support was also determined by part of the socio-demographic factors. The fin-dinigs of correlation analysis indicated that the higher levels of perceived organizational support related to lower levels of perceived stress, which completely confirmed the second hypothesis formulated. Therefore, the adherence to organizational policy and strategy of achieving and maintaining positive perceptions of organizational support by providing supportive and friendly environment where the contribution of employees is highly evaluated and fairly rewarded in correspondence with their real efforts, is of great importance in terms of effective stress management and its retention in moderate levels.
REFERENCES
Cohen, S., Williamson, G. (1988). Perceived Stress in a Probability Sample of the United States. In: Spacapam, S. & Oskamp, S. (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Health: Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications: (http://www. psy.cmu.edu/~scohen/Cohen%2C%20S.%20%26%20Williamson%2C%20G.%20%281988%29. pdf), last visited on 10/01/2016.
Donaldson-Feilder, E., Lewis, R., Yarker, J. (2011). Preventing Stress in Organizations: How to Develop Positive Managers. NY: John Wiley & Sons.
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