Different response alternatives in the assessment of job demands

The assessment of job demands, a pivotal concept in the study of work stress, is often problematic. Part of the problem is that people differ in their perception of whether a given task is overly demanding, or merely a welcome challenge. This study address this problem by examining alternative response formats for job demands that include the respondents' appreciation of this aspect. Another job stress dimension known to be important for health, leadership, was used for comparison and the association with health measures were examined.

A professionally homogenous group of 105-white collar workers participated in the study. A questionnaire assessing two job characteristics, demand and leadership, was used with four alternative response formats. The selected items were taken from the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work (the QPS(Nordic)). Five indices from the SF-36 were used to reflect physical and mental health. Part correlations, taken from a multiple regression procedure were used to elucidate the unique contribution of response format in the association with health variables.

For the assessment of Demand, response formats that tapped the employee's experience of the demands performed best. This was in contrast to Leadership scales, where an alternative response format did not contribute any unique information.

Insofar as interventions are aimed at improving worker's health, it seems reasonable to recommend that the workers should also be asked if the job demands are actually experienced as overly demanding.