On the Dynamics of the Psychosocial Work Environment and Employee Well-Being: A Latent Transition Approach

Ieva Urbanaviciute, Koorosh Massoudi, Cecilia Toscanelli and Hans De Witte
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Ieva Urbanaviciute: National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Koorosh Massoudi: National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Cecilia Toscanelli: Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Hans De Witte: Research Group Work, Organisational and Personnel Psychology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: The current study investigates employee well-being in stable versus changing psychosocial working conditions, using the Job Demand-Control theoretical framework. It thereby addresses a gap in the literature dealing with how the dynamics of the work environment may affect different aspects of well-being, such as job satisfaction, work stress, mental health complaints, and overall quality of life. The study was carried out on a large heterogeneous sample of employees in Switzerland ( N = 959) and was based on two measurement points. Latent profile and latent transition analyses were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed three commonly encountered and temporally quite stable patterns of job characteristics (i.e., latent profiles), defined by low, average, or high job control and average job demands. The average demand-low control combination was the most precarious, whereas a combination of average demands and high control was the most beneficial and it clearly outperformed the balanced average demands-average control pattern. Furthermore, our results partially supported the claim that employee well-being is contingent on the dynamics (i.e., transition scenarios) of the psychosocial work environment. They particularly highlight the central role of job resources in preventing the deleterious effects on well-being, which may occur even in relatively mild situations where job demands are not excessive.

Keywords: job characteristics; employee well-being; work stress; latent profiles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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