Awareness of Stress-reduction Interventions: The Impact on Employees' Well-being and Organizational Attitudes

Stress Health. 2016 Aug;32(3):231-43. doi: 10.1002/smi.2597. Epub 2014 Jul 28.

Abstract

Employing the social-exchange theoretical framework, we examined the effect of employees' awareness of stress-reduction interventions on their levels of psychological strain, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, perceptions of senior management trustworthiness and procedural justice. We present longitudinal panel data from 869 employees who completed questionnaires at two time points at 13 Australian universities. Our results show that employees who reported an awareness of stress-reduction interventions undertaken at their university scored lower on psychological strain and higher on job satisfaction and commitment than those who were unaware of the interventions. The results suggest that simply the awareness of stress interventions can be linked to positive employee outcomes. The study further revealed that senior management trustworthiness and procedural justice mediate the relationship between awareness and employee outcomes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: intervention awareness; justice; social exchange; strain; stress reduction; trustworthiness.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Employment / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Job Satisfaction*
  • Organizational Culture*
  • Personnel Loyalty*
  • Personnel Management*
  • Stress, Psychological / prevention & control
  • Stress, Psychological / psychology*
  • Universities