Institute of Work-, Organizational, and Social Psychology
Additive and multiplicative effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and
success
Dominika DejUte Stephan
Jürgen Wegge
15th International Conference of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 25-8 May 2011
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
Entrepreneur
• Company‘s owner and leader who takes financial, social, and
psychological risks
• He or she is at the heart of the company
• Poor health found to be a frequent reason for company failure and
closure
• Good health found to be related to company success
(Based on Bosma, Jones, Autio & Levie, 2008; Goebel, 1991; Gorgievski-Duijvesteijn, Bakker, Schaufeli & Van der Heijden, 2005; Korunka, Frank & Becker, 1993; Schaarschmidt & Fischer, 2001).
Why is entrepreneurs‘ health worthy studying?
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
• Work characteristics relate to employee work satisfaction,
motivation, well-being, and performance (Humphrey, Nahrgang &
Morgeson, 2007; Karasek, 1979)
• Job demands induce a health impairment process that increases
psychological distress and leads to negative health outcomes among
employees (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Stansfeld & Candy, 2006)
• Job resources foster motivational process and increase employee
motivation and performance (Salanova & Schaufeli, 2008; Schaufeli, Taris &
Bakker, 2006)
State-of-the-art in job design research
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
Entrepreneurs‘ extreme work characteristics levels
Entrepreneurs typically face high levels of work characteristics
• Industry-specific job demands, i.e. time pressure, pressure to
innovate, seasonal workload fluctuations, physical demands, as well
as typical entrepreneurial demands related to company
management
• High job resources i.e. task significance, task meaningfulness,
autonomy, skill variety, and feedback
(Baron, 2010; Baum & Locke, 2004; Stephan & Rösler, 2010; Vogt, 2004)
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
How do work characteristics impact
entrepreneurs‘ health impairment and
motivational processes?
Research question
Impact on psychological health and vital exhaustion
Impact on business performance and subjective success
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
Job demands-control-support model
(Johnson & Hall, 1988; Karasek, 1979)
High
Low
Low High
Job
con
trol
Psychological job demands
Strain
Learning, activation
Low-strain job
No health risk,
low activation
Passive job
Low activation, decreased
problem-solving ability
Active job
Good health, personality
development
High-strain job
Health risks
Socia
l su
pp
ort
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
Additive effects of work characteristics
- job demands are a standard against which resources are compared- the most strain is experienced when demands are high and the resources
low (Vegchel, De Jonge & Landsbergis, 2005)
Multiplicative interaction effect
- job resources influence the strength of the relationship between job demands and strain (the buffer hypothesis, Edwards & Cooper, 1990)
- job resources reduce or even eliminate job demands’ potentially negative impact on strain
Empirical support for additive effects, rather than multiplicative effects
(Häusser, Mojzisch, Niesel & Schulz-Hardt, 2010; Van der Doef & Maes, 1999)
Job demands-control-support model
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
Testing the isostrain hypothesis
Hypothesis 1: Entrepreneurs who work under conditions of high psychological job demands, low job control, and low social support will report:
a) the lowest psychological health, and
b) the highest vital exhaustion, compared to entrepreneurs working
under other work characteristics combinations.
Hypothesis 2: Job control and social support will – separately and jointly – moderate the relationship between psychological job demands and
a) psychological healthb) vital exhaustion.
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
Hypothesis 3: Entrepreneurs who work under conditions of high psychological job demands, high job control, and high social support (an active work situation) will report:
a) the highest work engagement, b) the highest work satisfaction, c) the highest growth in employee numbers, and d) the highest annual income, compared to entrepreneurs working
under other work characteristics combinations.
Hypothesis 4: Job control and social support will – separately and jointly – moderate the relationship between psychological job demands and success outcomes (a to d).
Testing the learning hypothesis
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej 1010
SampleN=325
Entrepreneurs
Companies
Age M=44, SD=9.24, 77% men Information technology (IT, N=138)Gastronomy (N=187) Age M=16, SD=20.37Employees number M=23, SD=30
IV Job controlPsychological job demandsSocial support
(7 Items, α=.73), Karasek, 1998(6 Items, α=.64), Karasek, 1998 (15 Items, α=.84), Udris & Rieman, 1999
DV Vital exhaustionPsychological health
Work engagementWork satisfactionEmployee growth, annual entrepreneur income
(9 Items, α=.83), Kopp et al., 1998(6 Items, α=.76), Bullinger & Kirchberger, 1998(9 Items, α=.91), Schaufeli et al., 2006(12 Items, α=.76), Bellach et al., 1998 (2 Items, α=.74), Stephan et al., 2005
Methods
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
Job demands
Job controlSocial support
Psychological health (Mean)
Vital exhaustion (Sum)
low high high 52.71 3.36
high high high 51.49 4.27
lowlow
lowhigh
highlow
49.45 5.08
highhigh
highlow
lowhigh
46.99 7.02
low low low 49.05 7.30
high low low 44.95 6.71
F(5, 326)= 4.19*
F(5, 326)= 6.137*
Results: Isostrain hypothesis
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
H2: Neither job resources nor social support – separately or jointly – moderate psychological job demands’ effects on vital exhaustion and psychological health
• Insignificant interaction effects (three-way moderated hierarchical regressions), at p < .05 level
• Significant main effects
Psychological job demands on vital exhaustion (ß = .17, p < .05)
Social support on vital exhaustion (ß = -.17, p < .05)
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
Job demands
Job control
Social support
Work engagement(Mean)
Work satisfaction(Mean)
Employee growth
Annual entrepreneur income
low high high 4.68 5.38 44.54 4.64
high high high 4.88 5.13 54.19 4.68
low low high4.12 4.84 33.64 4.50
low high low
high high low4.59 4.29 25.14 4.56
high low high
low low low 3.96 4.64 17.91 4.56
high low low 4.60 4.62 30.92 4.40
F(5, 175)= 5.04*
F(5, 326)= 7.08*
F(5, 312)= .16*
F(5, 234)= 1.83 n.s.
Results: Learning hypothesis
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
H4: Neither job resources nor social support – separately or jointly – moderate psychological job demands’ effects on work engagement, work satisfaction, and success (employee growth and annual entrepreneur income)
• Insignificant interaction effects (three-way moderated hierarchical regressions), at p < .05 level
• Significant main effects
Job control on work engagement (ß = .26, p < .05)
Job control on employee growth (ß = .15, p < .05)
Social support on work satisfaction (ß = .23, < .05)
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
Implications for theory and future research
• Support for the validity of the demand-control-support model in entrepreneurial settings
• Integration of different job demands and job resources that fit entrepreneurs‘ jobs (match hypothesis of De Jonge & Dormann, 2006).
Practical implications
• Too much of a good think (job resources) may not necessarily be helpful to reduce stress
• Job demand reduction seems a promising avenue for promoting entrepreneurial health.
Effects of work characteristics on entrepreneurs‘ health and success
Dominika Dej
Thank you!
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