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In this study, the influence of job control on stress was examined. A model to examine how various job elements, including job control, affect worker stress was tested in a population of 170 office workers. It was proposed that job control was a primary causal determinant of stress outcomes either directly or by how it is influenced by other job elements (job content, demands and career/future concerns). Overall, the findings suggest that job control can influence stress, but that job demands and career/future concerns also contributed to the stress outcomes independently of any influence on job control. The use of multiple indicators of stress was useful because it shows that different job elements influence different indicators of stress.

This paper proposes a new way of conceptualizing job design and job stress based on the balance among job elements. It integrates social psychological theories of job design with job stress concepts to develop a model of job balance that addresses how organization and job design can influence worker health. The model defines how job design can improve “loading” factors on the worker by “balancing” aspects of the job which can produce stress. The implications of this model for enhancing worker health by controlling workplace stress are discussed. The model provides a holistic approach for designing workplaces that balance production and stress considerations.