Incongruence between workload and occupational norms for time pressure predicts depressive symptoms

In light of recent scholarship on the role of fairness and legitimacy in occupational strain, we tested in two studies the hypothesis that workload is more strongly associated with depressive symptoms when it exceeds occupational norms for time pressure. First, analyses of an occupationally heterogeneous sample revealed that when workers reported workload levels that exceeded occupational norms for time pressure they were more likely to report depressive symptoms, even after controlling for depressive symptoms from a prior assessment approximately 10 years earlier. A second cross-sectional study found similar results, with some of the effect accounted for by psychological contract violation. These findings suggest that workload is most strongly associated with depressive symptoms to the extent that it exceeds occupational norms for time pressure. Psychological contract violation may explain some of these effects.