Negative affectivity as the underlying cause of correlations between stressors and strains

The extent to which negative affectivity (NA), the tendency to experience a wide range of negative emotions, inflated correlations between chronic job stressors and strains was examined in this study. NA was found to account for a large proportion of shared variance between stressors and physical strains (as indicated by absence, doctor visits, and physical symptoms). Contrary to the results of Brief, Burke, George, Robinson, and Webster (1988), NA did not account for much of the variance shared by stressors and affective strains (job satisfaction, anger, and feelings of stress and frustration). Reasons for the failure of this and several earlier studies to successfully replicate Brief et al.'s results are explored.