[Work-related stress and the Conservation of Resources Theory by Stevan Hobfoll]

The Conservation of Resources Theory by Stevan Hobfoll has grown in popularity, as a new theory of stress, since the 1980s. A general assumption of Hobfoll's theory is that an individual has some resources at his/her disposal which he/she greatly appreciates and is inclined to protect and never loose them. Stress is predicted to occur as a result of circumstances that represent: (1) a threat of resource loss, or (2) an actual loss of the resources required to sustain the individual, and (3) the lack of reasonable gain following resource investments. Hobfoll has developed the Conservation of Resources-Evaluation (COR-E) questionnaire as an instrument derived from his theory to measure the degree of lost and gained resources. The questionnaire has been adapted to Polish conditions. The aim of the study was to assess the usefulness of COR-E in the diagnosis of work-related stress. In the literature, we have found information on the relationship between COR-E results and depressive mood, anxiety and other stress effects. But it should be remembered that these effects are not caused only by stress. We would like to check whether COR-E results are correlated with the results of the stress at work questionnaire.

The study group comprised 157 persons. Each person completed two questionnaires: COR-E (in Polish version) and Subjective Assessment of Work Characteristics. The later has been developed to measure stress at work according to the psychosocial factor approach.

There was no relationship between reported gains of resources and work stress, but we found very low correlation between reported lost resources and work stress (r = 0.16; p < 0.05). Item analyses revealed that the loss of some resources was correlated with work stress. However, much higher correlation was observed between the results of a subscale consisting of these items and work stress (r = 0.40; p < 0.01).

The COR-E questionnaire can be accepted as a new instrument to measure work stress, but further investigations are needed to cover other occupational groups.