Occupational stress: Its causes and consequences for job performance.
1986/01/01 by Stephan J. Motowidlo, John S. Packard, Michael R. Manning · 995 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Health Professions · Psychology · #Applied psychology #Economics #Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout #Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior #Job performance #Job satisfaction #Job stress #Labour economics #Occupational mobility #Occupational stress #Psychology #Social psychology #Stress (linguistics) #Workplace Health and Well-being
paper · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.71.4.618
published in Journal of Applied Psychology 71(4), 618-629 (American Psychological Association)
openalex publication_date 1986/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Abstract
This paper reports two studies of occupational stress and its relation with antecedent variables and job performance. The first study, in which 104 nurses participated in group discussions and 96 nurses completed a questionnaire, identified 45 stressful events for nurses. In the second study, 171 nurses who completed another questionnaire were also rated by a supervisor and/or a co-worker. Ratings of interpersonal aspects of job performance (such as sensitivity, warmth, consideration, and tolerance) and cognitive/motivational aspects (such as concentration, composure, perseverence, and adaptability) correlated significantly with self-reported perceptions of stressful events, subjective stress, depression, and hostility. Models developed through path analysis suggest that the frequency and subjective intensity of the 45 events identified in Study 1 cause feelings of stress, which lead to depression, which, in turn, causes decrements in interpersonal and cognitive/motivational aspects of job performance. Much of the literature on occupational stress emphasizes its effects on health. Dependent variables in such research include blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol level, and heart disease (Cooper & Marshall, 1976). We know relatively little, however, about the relation of stress to job performance. This article examines patterns of covariation between subjective stress and job performance and explores relations with individual characteristics, job conditions, stressful work events, and affective states.
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