Do Chinese employees avoid seeking social support when coping with work stress?

Article

Goh, Yong Wah, Kim, Sungmin, Wang, Rong and Goh, Pei Shan. 2022. "Do Chinese employees avoid seeking social support when coping with work stress?" Journal of Management and Organization. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2022.48
Article Title

Do Chinese employees avoid seeking social support when coping with work stress?

ERA Journal ID35911
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsGoh, Yong Wah (Author), Kim, Sungmin (Author), Wang, Rong (Author) and Goh, Pei Shan (Author)
Journal TitleJournal of Management and Organization
Number of Pages19
Year2022
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
ISSN1833-3672
1839-3527
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2022.48
Web Address (URL)https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-management-and-organization/article/do-chinese-employees-avoid-seeking-social-support-when-coping-with-work-stress/4B477B5CD0CAC6CFF0E8B8EA87CA0954
Abstract

Organisational psychology literature is abounded with empirical evidence of the mitigating effect that social support seeking (SSS) behaviour has on stress. However, it is unclear if this phenomenon is present in a collectivist context where workers might be hesitant to seek social support when under stress. A total of 123 employees from China completed a longitudinal survey over 4 weeks assessing their appraisals of an ongoing work stressor, coping strategies, and stress level. Path-analysis, hierarchical regression and means comparison determined the degree of fit of two theoretical perspectives (stress-buffer and main effects) to Chinese employee's SSS behaviour, and its frequency of use against other coping strategies. Results showed that SSS was not elicited by primary and secondary appraisals, but instead may be better explained by employees' collectivistic aspirations. Implications of the results were addressed in relation to stress management strategies and human resource support initiatives. Future research directions were also discussed.

KeywordsChina, Main Effect, Social Support Seeking, Stress-Buffer Effect, Work Stress
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020470202. Asian cultural studies
520104. Industrial and organisational psychology (incl. human factors)
350710. Organisational behaviour
529999. Other psychology not elsewhere classified
350507. Workplace wellbeing and quality of working life
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Byline AffiliationsSchool of Psychology and Wellbeing
Shenzhen University, China
National University of Singapore
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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