The developmental process of employee maladjustment in work place

A causal model of job stressors and stress reactions was examined to clarify the developmental process of employee maladjustment in work place. Two thousand seven hundred twenty-eight (2728) employees of a research institute in the automobile industry completed Job Stress Scale (JSS), which measured job stressors, stress reactions, coping strategies, and social support. Three hundred ninety-two (392) employees with high stress reaction scores were interviewed to obtain information to construct a theoretical model. Then, the model was evaluated with covariance structure analysis. Results showed that the quantitative job stressors had only an indirect effect, mediated by fatigue and irritability, on mental instability, whereas qualitative ones had both direct and indirect effects. The findings suggest that the developmental processes of employee maladjustment in work place differ depending on the kind of job stressors they experience.