CAUSAL-MODELS OF ROLE STRESSOR ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES - THE IMPORTANCE OF OCCUPATIONAL DIFFERENCES

Researchers have examined the issue of role stress-its antecedents and its consequences-across a variety of organizational and occupational contexts. In doing so, a generic model of the interrelationships among role stressor antecedents and consequences seems to have emerged. This paper examines some of the possible weaknesses in such a model, particularly the implicit tendency to ignore differences in occupational structure and culture when developing and testing models of role stressors. By comparing this generic model with two alternative occupation-specific models of role stressor antecedents and consequences across samples drawn from two professions (nurses and engineers), this study finds that occupation-specific models (especially those positing direct paths between role stressor antecedents and consequences) are significantly more plausible than the generic model upon which they are based. The findings suggest that when organizational theorists discuss the appropriate techniques for managing professionals in organizations, they should avoid a generic managerial model, and try to explicate models which are specific to particular occupational cultures. © 1992.