The Impact of Job Stress on Turnover

Intention and Job Performance: Moderating

Role of OBSE

ANEES UR REHMAN
CMS 22196
MS AF
The Impact of Job Stress on Turnover Intention and Job Performance:
Moderating Role of OBSE

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyze impact of job stress on turnover intention and job
performance, considering the moderating role of organization-based self-esteem (OBSE). Data
collected from 286 employees of Brac Pakistan (microfinance organization), who were selected
by simple random sampling method. Pearson correlation and Moderated regression analysis
through SPSS 21 software package were used for data analysis. Findings show the negative
relationship between job stress and job performance and positive relationship between job stress
and turnover intention. In addition, organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) significantly
moderated the relationship of job stress with turnover intention and job performance.

1. Introduction
Stress at job is an increasingly day to day part of modern organizational life. Owing to an
increasing impact of psychosocial stress at work on health and economic loss (Dunham 2001;
Landsbergis 2003), research in this area has witnessed rapid progress in recent time (Dunham
2001). In recent years workplace stress has become a common problem for human resource
managers (Avey, Luthans, & Jensen, 2009). A basic hypothesis in stress theory is that
psychosocial stressors in the work environment such as role stress, lack of control and lack of
social support, and the interaction of such conditions may have harmful effects on an
individual’s health and organizational outcomes ( Karasek & Theorell 1990)

A physiological approach conceptualizes work stress as a negative psychological state which

is the result of a dynamic interaction between the person and their work environment. Job stress
is defined as an individual’s reaction to the characteristics of the work environment that seem
emotionally and physically threatening (Jamal, 2005). Employees who experience high level of
job stress are more likely to be unhealthy, poorly motivated, less productive and less safe at
work. Their organizations also are less likely to succeed in a competitive market. Work stress
can come from a variety of sources and affect people in different ways.
 A negative relationship between job stress and performance was conceived by those that
viewed job stress as essential for the organization and its employees (Westman & Eden, 1996).
Motowidlo (2003) defines job Performance as the total expected value to the organization of
discrete behaviors that an individual carries out over a standard period of time.

Turnover intention has been a critical issue for management for many years (Chen, Lin &
Lien, 2010) and it is a major problem for organizations now. Tett and Meyer (1993) defined
turnover intentions as conscious willfulness to seek for other alternatives in other orgnizaton. Job
stress influence employee’s job satisfaction which in turn leads to low performance and the
intention to leave the job (Applebaum, Fowler, Fiedler, Osinubi, & Robson, 2010). There are
many researchers who found that the greater the amount of stress, the higher will be the turnover
intention of employees (Chen et al., 2010; Applebaum et al., 2010). A positive relationship was
also found between work-life conflict, stress, and turnover intentions by Noor and Maad (2008).
An individual difference variable that may moderate the relationship between job stress and its
outcomes is organization-based self-esteem (OBSE: Pierce, Gardner, Cummings, & Dunham,
1989; Pierce, Gardner, Dunham, & Cummings, 1993). Pierce et al. (1989) introduced the concept
of organization-based self-esteem. Organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) is defined as the
degree to which an individual believes him/herself to be capable, significant, and worthy at work
(Pierce et al., 1989). Individuals with high OBSE perceive themselves as trusted, valued, and
contributing members of the organization. Pierce et al. (1993) are the first researchers who
proposed and examined OBSE as an individual difference moderator. Therefore, we wanted to
address this idea in the present study. Our goal was to investigate the impact of job stress on
turnover intention and job performance, regarding the moderating role of organization-based
self-esteem (OBSE). Accordingly, the following hypotheses have been developed for the current
research:

2. Hypothesis Formulation
 H1. Job stress relates negatively to job performance.

H2. Job stress relates positively to turnover intention.

H3. OBSE moderates the relationship between job stress and job performance, that is,
individuals with low OBSE will react more negatively to job stress than those with high OBSE.
Consequently, they will have lower level of job performance.

H4: OBSE moderates the relationship between job stress and turnover intention, that is,
individual with low OBSE will react more negatively to stress than those with high OBSE.
Consequently, they will have higher level of turnover intention.

3. Methodology

Sample
Respondents for this study were selected by simple random sampling method from Brac
Pakistan (microfinance organization. Anonymous questionnaires were distributed to 300 full-
time employees. All together, 286 questionnaires were returned and analyzed. The response rate
was 95 %. From this sample 86 % were men, average age was 26 years, and average
organizational tenure was 7 years.

Analysis technique

Job Stress Scale. Job stress was measured with a 13-item scale developed by Parker &
Decotiis (1983). The content of the items comprising the first component of this scale is closely
associated with feelings of being under substantial time pressure, and is named time stress. The
second component is dominated by items having to do with job-related feelings of anxiety. This
dimension of job stress is referred to as anxiety. Alpha coefficient in this study was .86.

Job Performance Scale. Job performance was measured with the Graphic Rating Scale
developed by Paterson (1922). Alpha coefficient in this study was .89.
 Turnover Intention Scale. Turnover intention was measured with a 3-item scale developed by
Camman, Fichman, Jenkins, & Klesh (1979). Participants responded on 7-point Likert-type scale
from “1”(strongly disagree) to “7” (strongly agree). Alpha coefficient in this study was .83.
 OBSE Scale. OBSE was measured with a 3-item scale developed by Pierce et al. (1989).
Alpha coefficient in this study was .92.

4. Results
The correlations between variables, means, and standard deviations are reported in table 1.
Table 1 shows that job stress has a significant negative correlation with job performance (r= -.37,
p <.01) and a positive relationship with turnover intention (r=0.45, p<0.01), which provided
support for H1 and H2.

Moderated hierarchical regression analysis was used to investigate the moderating effects of
organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) on the relationships of job stress with job performance
and turnover intention. According to Baron and Kenny (1986) and James and Brett (1984), test
for moderation should include a term for the direct effect of the predictor (of job stress), a term
for the direct effect of the moderator (OBSE) and the interaction term (or product) of the two.
The moderating effect is supported if the interaction term is significant. The results of the
Moderated hierarchical regression analyses are shown in Table 2. The significant R 2 change (R2
2
= 0.04, p< 0.01) regarding the interaction of job stress and OBSE in prediction of job
performance supported H3. The significant R2 change (R2 2
=0. 032, p< 0.01)
regarding the interaction of job stress and (OBSE) in the prediction of turnover intention
supported H4.
 Table1. Descriptive statistics
and inter-correlations for study variables
Variable M SD 1 2 3 4
1. Job stress 34.60 10.87 --- --- --- ---
2. Job performance 37.71 6.60 -.37** --- --- ---
3. Turnover intention 10.87 5.37 .45** -0.05 --- ---
4. OBSE 36.58 7.18 -.14* 0.41** -.17** ---
P<0.05 **P<0.01

Table 2. Results of the moderated hierarchical

regression analysis
Job performance Turnover intention
Independent variable R2 R2 Change R2 R2 Change
Step 1 Job stress 0.07 --- 0.205 ---
Step 2 OBSE 0.17 0.10** 0.221 0.016*
Step 3 0.21 0.04* 0.253 0.032*
P<0.05 P<0.01

5. Discussion and implications

The main goal of the present study was to examine the moderating role of OBSE in
relationship of job stress with job performance and job turnover intention in Brac Pakistan.
Consistent with previous research (e.g., Westman & Eden, 1996) we showed that Job stress
relates negatively to job performance (H1). As noted by Jackson and Schuler (1985), negative
relationships between job stress (that result from the role ambiguity and role conflict) and job
performance can be explained by research that focuses on cognitive and motivational processes.
For example, role ambiguity can be conceptualized as a lack of knowledge of the most effective
job behaviors, and role conflict occurs when, due to conflicting information, the individual is
unable to do everything that is expected (Jackson & Schuler, 1985). Thus, from a cognitive
perspective, both role ambiguity and role conflict should result in lower levels of performance
since they represent a lack of information and information overload, respectively. From a
motivational view, performance should be negatively related to role stress since they tend to
weaken effort-to-performance and performance-to-reward expectancies (Jackson & Schuler,
1985).

Our results also indicate that job stress relates positively to turnover intention (H2). A
significant relationship between job stress and turnover intention was also found by Layne,
Hohenshil, & Singh (2004). The stressors in the work environment influence the job satisfaction
of employees which in turn leads to the intention to leave the job (Applebaum et al., 2010).
Stress is an emotion that decreases job satisfaction and increases turnover (cote & Morgan,
2002).

The findings of this research supported H3 and H4, that is, confirms the moderating role of
OBSE in the proposed relationships. Behavioral plasticity refers to the extent to which
individuals are affected by external factors. Brockner (1984) suggests that people differ in their
attention and reactions to external cues. As a result, external factors affect their attitudes and
behaviors differently. Brockner’s research focused on self-esteem as a major source of observed
variation in plasticity. Brockner (1984) noted that people with low self-esteem should be
relatively more behaviorally plastic (or reactive) than people with high self-esteem, since they
are more easily influenced by external cues. Therefore, in organizational contexts, people with
high self-esteem or high levels of OBSE may be less responsive to negative information than
employees with low levels of OBSE. When threatened by perceived stress, employees with low
OBSE may cope more passively with negative stimuli than employees with high OBSE,
principally by increasing absenteeism, lowering organizational commitment and intrinsic
motivation. It is likely that high OBSE employees engage in problem-focused coping or
cognitive consistency behaviors by reporting higher intrinsic motivation and higher
organizational commitment, and by being absent less than low OBSE employees. Low OBSE
employees may report lower intrinsic motivation and job performance, and be absent more than
those with high OBSE. In sum, it is highly recommended that organizations invest time and
resources toward discovering how job stressors might be managed for better performance, as
well as for retaining employees in their jobs. To do this, considering the OBSE is so important.
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