Job control and job strain: a test of three models

The relationship between job control and job strain is examined. Three models of that relationship provide a framework for the study hypotheses: (H1) Control is inversely related to job strain, (H2) job demands interact with job control such that job strain will be highest when job demands are high and job control is low, and (H3) strain increases as the discrepancy between actual and desired levels of job control increases. Study participants (N = 316) were health care workers in 2 hospitals in the northeastern United States. Objective measures of job control and job demands were obtained through supervisor evaluations of incumbents' job characteristics, and perceptual measures were obtained through incumbents' self-reports. Results provide support for Hypotheses 1 and 3; little support was found for an interaction between job control and job demands.