Relationship of Job Stress to Job Performance: A Study of Managers and Blue-Collar Workers

Abstract

Four types of relationships were proposed between job stress and performance: curvilinear/U-shaped, negative linear, positive linear, and no relationship between the two. Data were collected from middle managers (N = 227) and blue-collar workers (N = 283) employed in a large Canadian organization. Bivariate multiple regression and hierarchical multiple regression analyses generally supported the prevalence of a negative linear relationship between job stress and supervisory ratings of performance. Employees' organizational commitment significantly moderated over 50% of the relationships between job stress and measures of job performance in both managerial and blue-collar samples. Implications of the findings are discussed for future research in the area of job stress.