I want to stay where I am: the relationship between work stress and labor commitment revisited

Purpose The proposal of this paper is to study the role of self-reported work stress as a determinant of the labor commitment and satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach For this, data from an internationally representative survey are used and several nonlinear econometrics models are estimated to explain six indicators of organizational and occupational commitment and one of subjective well-being. Findings The main result of our estimates is that work stress is a negative and significant factor explaining the degree of commitment of the employed after controlling for a large variety of personal and employment regressors. Also negative is the net relationship found between work stress and labor satisfaction. Research limitations/implications This study has clear limitations. On the one hand, the possibility to draw causal inferences is restricted by the use of cross-sectional, self-reported data. In this context, the generalization of the results is not direct. On the other hand, given the multidimensional nature of work stress, the use of a single-item measure of it may raise concerns about measurement precision. Future research on these topics would benefit from more comprehensive measurement instruments. The use of longitudinal or panel data would allow for better control of unobserved heterogeneity and stronger causal inference. Practical implications Our findings provide suggestive insights for organizational practice and policy design. They suggest that, rather than uniquely being considered as an individual health problem, organizations should treat work-related stress as a strategic issue affecting employee intentions to quit and commitment. A thorough job designed is needed that includes a decrease of excessive workload, and the reinforcement of job resources. From a policy point of view, psychosocial risks in the workplace may be reduced through the design of public and institutional policies. In this respect, trade unions may play an important role integrating stress-related issues into collective bargaining negotiations. Social implications From a social point of view, the results of this research underline the wider consequences of unmanaged work stress. These are related to reduced organizational commitment, increased turnover and lower well-being at work. This reinforces the relevance of developing sustainable labor policies and also organizational practices aimed to consider psychosocial risks, in general, and work stress, in particular, as a central factor of healthy and productive work environments. Originality/value So far, this is the only paper in literature that uses one-item indicators as measured of self-reported work stress and labor satisfaction for this kind of analysis.