Personality Style and Job Stress:Focusing on the Comparison between Autonomy and Sociotropy

Kim, Ji Hae; Lim, Seung Lark; Lee, Dongsoo

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The purposes of present study were to compare Autonomy with Sociotropy about the job stress experience and to explore the relationship between job stress and mental health.
METHODS
Three-hundred-forty-three workers participated and filled out the Personel Style Inventory(PSI), the Korean version of Occupational Stress Inventory(K-OSI), the stress appraisal scale, the Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), the Spielberger State-Trait Inventory(STAI) state anxiety scale, and the SCL-90-R Somatization scale.
RESULTS
Autonomy reported higher level job stress than Sociotropy. Except for the Responsibility scale, Autonomy got higher scores on the Role Overload, the Role Insufficiency, the Role Ambiguity, the Role Boundary, the Physical Environment scale. Autonomy appraised their stressor more threatening than Sociotropy. Also, according to the Personality style, a series of multiple regression analysis showed somewhat different relationship among job stress, cognitive appraisal, psychiatric symptoms.
CONCLUSIONS
From our results it was inferred that the contents of major job stressor could be differ according to the personality style. The job structure that are threat to the individual's autonomy and independence, could be a severe stressor to Autonomy. The interpersonal conflicts in working place that are threat to the interpersonal relatedness, could be a severe stressor to Sociotropy. So, we proposed that the individual personality style should be considered in the stress manage program.