| The structure of work in the United States (US) has undergone a transformation during the course of several decades (Cheng & McDonald, 2014). Contemporary organizations have transformed the traditional work environment where employees have physical access to each other, to work environments where employees have limited physical access to each other, limited social interaction, primarily electronic communication, and limited collegial support (Koehler, Philippe, & Pereira, 2013). Previous research has not adequately addressed the problem of how supervisor and coworker support predicts job stress among virtual workers in the United States (Dahlstrom, 2013). The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to examine whether supervisor and coworker support are predictors of job stress in virtual workers in the United States. Data collection was through use of a web based survey from participants of two organizations in addition to using snowball sampling to identify additional participants from primary data sources. To test the relationship between the level of job stress and supervisor and coworker support among US virtual workers an ordinary least square regression analysis was conducted. The regression analysis utilized job stress as the dependent variable, and coworker support and supervisor support as independent variables. The results of the regression analysis supported both of the null hypotheses. The first hypothesis was tested to ascertain the relationship between job stress and supervisor support and the results indicated there is no statistically significant relationship between supervisor support and the level of job stress among US virtual workers (beta = -.20, p > .05). The second hypothesis tested the relationship between job stress and coworker support and the results also supported the null hypothesis that there is no statistically significant relationship between coworker support and the level of job stress among US Virtual workers (beta = -.07, p > .05). Recommendations for future research include using demographic data as well as control variables, and qualitative research to provide a better insight from participants lived experiences in their own words regarding the research questions. |
