Today's Challenge may be Tomorrow's Hindrance (and vice versa): Longitudinal Changes in Employee’s Appraisals of Job Demands and their Outcomes

Abstract

Researchers have long been interested in understanding how appraisals influence stressor–outcome relationships. Most studies in this area employ a variable-centred approach, which ignores the possibility that there may be subpopulations of employees who differ in the combined use of challenge and hindrance appraisals. Building on transactional stress theory, we investigated (a) the potential existence of distinct latent appraisals profiles of job demands (i.e. time urgency, role conflict and emotional demands), (b) the outcomes associated with particular appraisal profiles and (c) the stability of these profiles over time. In a two-wave study with a one-year time interval (T1, N = 535, T2, N = 152) among Chinese workers, we identified three distinct appraisals profiles in both study waves (i.e. ‘positivists’, ‘negativists’ and ‘indifferent workers’). The positivists reported the highest levels of engagement, job satisfaction and the lowest levels of burnout. Interestingly, most participants appeared to change their appraisal profile over time (i.e. very often from ‘negativist’ and ‘positivist’ to ‘indifferent worker’, while they were less likely to change their appraisal profile to ‘positivist’). Furthermore, job demands influenced employees' appraisal profiles. Taken together, our results shed light on the nature of the appraisal of demands in the work context and how different employees use distinct combinations of appraisal to address their work demands. Practitioner points: Managers should be aware that there are subgroups of employees that appraise their job demands differently: positivists, negativists and indifferent workers. Positivists tend to have higher well-being than negativists and indifferent workers. Employees appear to change their appraisals of job demands over time. In particular, positivists tend to become indifferent workers. It is important that organizations provide sufficient resources and support to their employees to promote high challenge appraisals.