Affiliations: Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Nippon
Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Tomoyuki Kawada, Department of
Hygiene and Public Health, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bukyo-Ku,
Tokyo 113-8602, Japan. E-mail: kawada@nms.ac.jp
Abstract: Objective: Subjects with higher occupational position are speculated
to have higher ability to handle with stress, and they were less affected by
job stress. This study focused on the relationship between job satisfaction and
three sub-scales of a brief job stress questionnaire (BJSQ) related to
workload. Participants and Methods: This self-administered questionnaire
was distributed to 371 employees of a company, and all the workers sent back
their responses. Among the 57 items graded on a 4-point Likert-type scale to
measure job stressors, psycho-physical complaints, and support for workers, the
authors studied the influence of quantitative and qualitative job overload (six
items), job control (three items), and support port (six items). The job
satisfaction score estimated on a 4-point Likert-type scale was also used in
relation to job stress determined using a 15-item scale from the BJSQ based on
demand-control-support model. Occupational positions were classified into
directors, managers, and general workers, and the content of job was classified
into clerical workers, skilled technicians, and unskilled manual workers. Results: All the scales on job stress presented acceptable alpha coefficients
reflecting high internal consistency (job demand: 0.855, job control: 0.644,
and support: 0.878, respectively). Principal axis factor analysis was
conducted, and three factors were extracted; support, job demand and job
control. There was a significant difference in the mean score among four groups
divided by the job satisfaction level as evaluated by Dunnett's multiple
comparison, and members who were dissatisfied with their job showed a high job
demand, limited job control, and poor support. The mean score of support for
managers were significantly higher (lower support) than that for general
workers. The logistic regression analysis revealed that job control and support
contributed significantly to job satisfaction. In addition, unskilled manual
workers showed significantly higher job dissatisfaction compared with clerical
workers. Conclusions: Worsening of job satisfaction was related to poor
job control and lack of support. Strategies to alleviate job stress are
therefore urgently needed.
Keywords: Job stress, job satisfaction, demand-control-support model, questionnaire, occupational position
