Job stress in the transportation industry

Research has demonstrated that the negative effects of job stress are pervasive and have been associated with a myriad of negative individual and organizational outcomes. Most models of organizational stress propose that the relationship between workplace stressors and worker health is moderated by various factors. The purpose of this study was to test the potential moderating effects of self-efficacy, supervisor support, and locus of control on the relationship between job-related stressors and psychological strain in railroad yardmasters, a high-stress occupational group. A sample of 103 predominately white male railroad yardmasters volunteered to participate in the study. Participants completed the Occupational Stress Inventory, the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, the Social Support Questionnaire, and a revised version of the Self-efficacy Scale. To test the hypotheses, moderated multiple regression techniques were used. The analyses revealed that self-efficacy moderated the relationship between role overload and psychological strain. That is, workers with low self-efficacy who experienced high role overload reported more psychological strain than workers with high self-efficacy. No support was found for the moderating effects of supervisor support or locus of control on any of the stressor-strain relationships. A positive main effect was found for responsibility indicating that workers with high levels of responsibility were likely to experience high levels of psychological strain.; Although there were some methodological limitations, this study helped to expand the knowledge of the stress process of this particular population. It also provided further evidence that self-efficacy is a promising factor to include in organizational stress studies. The results indicate that organizations may be able to combat the negative effects of job-related stressors simply by implementing training programs designed to enhance the self-efficacy of workers. The findings of this study are likely to be of value to organizations since workplace stress has been related to increased health care costs, higher rates of absenteeism and turnover, more accidents, and lower levels of performance.