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Is there a two-way relationship between cynicism and job strain? Evidence from a prospective population-based study
Maria Törnroos1, Marko Elovainio, Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen
1From IBS (Ms Törnroos, Dr Elovainio, Dr Keltikangas-Järvinen, Dr Hintsa, Dr Pulkki-Råback, Dr Hakulinen, Dr Merjonen, Dr Kivimäki, and Dr Hintsanen), Unit of Personality, Work and Health Psychology, University of Helsinki; National Institute for Health and Welfare (Dr Elovainio); Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (Dr Pulkki-Råback), Work and Mental Health Unit, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Biological Psychology (Dr Merjonen), VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Karolinska Institutet (Dr Theorell); Stress Research Institute (Dr Theorell), University of Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Dr Kivimäki), University College London, United Kingdom; Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine (Dr Raitakari), University of Turku; Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine (Dr Raitakari), Turku University Hospital; and Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies (Dr Hintsanen), University of Helsinki, Finland.
Objective:
To examine the bidirectional relationship between job strain and cynicism.
Methods:
The study sample was obtained from the Young Finns study and comprised 757 participants (399 women, 53%). The bidirectional association between cynicism and job strain over a 6-year-follow-up was examined with a cross-lagged structural equation model, controlling for a number of demographic variables.
Results:
High job strain (β = 0.08; P = 0.007) was associated with higher baseline-adjusted cynicism 6 years later. Nevertheless, cynicism was not associated with baseline-adjusted job strain. The additional analysis showed that cynicism mediated 21.5% of the relationship between job strain and depression.
Conclusions:
Perceptions of having a highly strenuous job may elicit mistrustful and cynical attitudes in employees, which in turn may lead to mental health problems.
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