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Category: Project

Description: Central to many influential theories in the occupational health and stress literature is that job resources reduce the negative effects of job demands on worker well-being. However, empirical investigations testing this supposition have produced inconsistent findings. This study evaluates the interaction between job control and job demands on worker well-being through a systematic literature search and using a Bayesian meta-analytic approach. Both aggregated study findings and raw participant-level data were included in the study, resulting in 104 effect sizes of aggregate-level data and 14 participant-level datasets. Overall, the data provided strong evidence for the absence of the interaction between job demands and control. Longitudinal and non-linear research designs were also examined but did not alter this overall conclusion. Contrary to the postulations of wide-spread theories, job control does not reduce the negative impact of job demands on worker well-being. Alternative theoretical approaches and the need for more consistent and rigorous research standards, like open-science practices, are discussed.