The effects of personal need for structure and occupational identity in the role stress process

The authors formed and tested a model of the antecedents, consequences, and possible moderators or mediators of the role ambiguity construct in a new occupational group of nurses (N = 1,240) in Finland. They hypothesized that (a) job characteristics (control and feedback) would be associated with role ambiguity and (b) this association, in turn, would be moderated by personal need for structure. The authors hypothesized that role ambiguity would affect occupational strain partially by the strength of occupational identity. They tested these models by using hierarchical regression analysis and structural equation modeling (LISREL 8; K. G. Jöreskog & D. Sörbom, 1993). Both hypotheses were supported.