BACKROUND

One of the most influential models in research on occupational health is the Job Demand-Control model (JDC; Karasek, 1979), that explains psychological well-being and physical illness focusing on two dimensions of the work environment: job demands and job control.

The central contention of this model, also known as the job strain model, is that it is not high demands per se, but high demands in combination with a lack of control on the job that are associated with negative health-related outcomes (Van Yperen & Snjiders, 2000). Job demands refer to the task requirements in the work situation (or workload). Job control or decision latitude is a composite of two empirically related, but theoretically distinct constructs: decision authority and skill discretion (Karasek & Theorell, 1990). Results of a review of empirical research on JDC model and psychological well-being show that working in high-strain situation appears to be associated with lower psychological adjustment and lower job satisfaction (Van der Doef & Maes, 1999).

More recently, some researchers extended the JDC model by the Job Demand-Resources model (JD-R; Demereouti et al., 2001).

The JD-R model is a heuristic model that specifies how employee well-being and satisfaction may be produced by two specific sets of working conditions. According to the JDC model, the first set concerns job demands that are those physical, social, organizational aspects of the job that require sustained physical  and/or psychological effort on the part of the employee and are therefore associated with certain physiological and/or psychological costs (Bakker, Demereouti, 2007).

The second set of working conditions concerns the extent to which the job offers resources to individual employees. Job resources are those physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that a) reduce job demands and the associated physiological and psychological costs, b) are functional in achievement work goals, or c) stimulate personal growth, learning, and development (Demereouti et al., 2001).

Resources may be located at the following levels: a) the organization (e.g., salary, career opportunities), b) interpersonal and social relations (e.g., supervisor and co-worker support), c) the organization of work (e.g. role clarity, participation in decision making), and d) the task (e.g., performance feedback, skill variety). According to the motivational process (Deci, Ryan, 2000), job resources lead to engagement and positive outcomes and happiness (Schaufeli, Bakker, 2004).

In general, job demands and resources are negatively related because job demands may preclude the mobilization of job resources (Bakker et al., 2003).

AIM

The aim of the present study is to verify the effectiveness of the interpersonal and social level of job resources vs. job demands in predicting workers’ happiness.

METHOD

Variables and measures

Interpersonal level

Interpersonal level of job resources was studied by two different constructs.

Ø      According to Self-determination Theory, interpersonal level was studied as autonomy support style used by workers’ manager or supervisor. Autonomy support involves the supervisor understanding  the subordinate’s perspective, providing meaningful information in a nonmanipulative manner, offering opportunities for choice, and encouraging self-initiation (Deci et al., 1994). The autonomy support style was measured by the Work Climate Questionnaire, (Baard et al., 2004).

Ø      According to the theory of group identification  (Doosje et al.,1995)  interpersonal level was studied as the sense of community of workers. Sense of community involves the workers feeling of membership and affiliation to work place. The sense of community was measured by the COPENAGHEN Questionnaire’s subscale (Kristensen, 2005).

Job demand

Ø      Coherently with the JDC model, job demand was studied as subjective perceptions of quantitative, cognitive, and emotional effort and was measured by COPENAGHEN Questionnaire’s subscales (Kristensen, 2005).

Job control

Ø      Coherently with the JDC model, job demand was studied as subjective perceptions of degree of freedom and influence at work and was measured by a COPENAGHEN Questionnaire’s subscale (Kristensen, 2005).

Happiness

Ø      Coherently with the edonic and eudaimonic approach to well-being, happiness was studied as job satisfaction. Job satisfaction concerns the subjective positive evaluation of work’s environment, job’s perspective and professional growth. Job satisfaction was measured by the COPENAGHEN Questionnaire’s subscale (Kristensen, 2005).

Participants

Participants were 138 care-workers taking part in an organizational well-being survey.

RESULTS

Sobel test (t = 3.61, p