Job characteristics, motivation and stress among information technology (IT) consultants

Abstract: The general aim of the present thesis was to examine the relationship between job characteristics and perceived stress with motivators as the mediating variable in the information technology (IT) sector. This thesis is based on two empirical studies. The aim of Study I was to test work motivation, as a potential mechanism, in the relationship between on the one hand job control and job demand, and on the other hand perceived stress. The aim of Study II was to test the same model used in Study I and do an extended statistic analysis and at the same time investigate the consistency of evidence. In Study I a structural model of the relationship between job characteristics (job demand, job control) and perceived stress (e.g. stressed, pressed, tense) with ‘motivators’ (e.g. responsibility, recognition, achievement, possibility of growth) as the mediating variable was tested. In this cross-sectional study a web-based questionnaire survey was conducted among IT consultants in one company in Sweden (N=167). The results indicate that job demand was positively related to perceived stress. The results further indicate that motivators mediate the relation between job control and perceived stress, i.e. high job control was significantly related to high appraisals of motivators, and motivators were negatively related to perceived stress. In Study II, a cross-sectional study, a web-based questionnaire survey was conducted among IT consultants in ten companies in Sweden (N=380). The results show that the relationships in the model were similar as in Study I. The results show also that motivators mediate the relationship between job control and perceived stress. The result indicate that the tested model have a good consistency of evidence. Furthermore, the results point to the importance of motivators among IT consultants in the framework of job stress and performance.