Follow Us on Facebook
Follow Us on Twitter
Follow Us on Linkedin
Follow Us on Google+
Rss Feed
In a high-strain job, you have little control over your workload.
© iStockphoto/Otmar Winterleitner
Imagine a business executive and an assembly line worker who work at the same organization.
Both find their jobs stressful, but while the executive leaves work each day feeling content, the assembly line worker feels exhausted and anxious.
Why do these two workers feel so different?
One way to answer this question is to look at the Demand-Control Model of Job Stress, which argues that when people are in demanding jobs, they experience less stress if they have control over their own work.
It’s one of the most widely studied models of occupational stress, and, although it isn’t a new model, it’s still highly relevant. In this article, we’ll look at it, and we’ll then discuss how you can apply its principles to your own job, and to your team.
Robert Karasek developed the Demand-Control Model of Job Stress in 1979, and published his findings in Administrative Science Quarterly.
In his article, he defined two key parameters that affect the amount of stress that people experience:
Mind Tools Club members, click here.
Join now for just $1, first month
"When I started using Mind Tools, I was not in a supervisory position. Now I am. Along with that came a 12% increase in salary." – Pat Degan, Houston, USA
The Mind Tools Club gives you many more resources than you get here on the basic Mind Tools site, including these 4 free workbooks.
You'll find training, help and ideas to boost your career.
Find out what you getLearn new career skills every week, plus get our Stress Busters Workbook, worth $19.99, free when you subscribe!
With the Mind Tools Club, you get much, much more than you do here for free.
And we'll give you the 4 workbooks above when you join!
Find out what you get
PUZZLED about where to find content for your learning program or portal?
Get 1000+ management and soft skills training resources from Mind Tools Corporate.
Find out more
With more than 50 important stress management tools, this Mind Tools course shows you how to tackle the deep structural problems that cause job stress.
Find out more
Let us know about anything wrong, or anything you don't like about this site, and you could win a US$50 Amazon voucher!
Click here
This ensures that you don’t lose your plan.
Please enter your username or email address and we'll send you a reminder.
Your log in details have been sent to the email account you registered with. Please check your email to reset your login details.
Learn a new career skill every week, and get our Personal Development Plan workbook (worth $19.99) when you subscribe.
Please check your Inbox, and click on the link in the email from us. We can then send you the newsletter.