The Job Demands-Resources Model in China: Validation and Extension

Abstract

The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model assumes that employee health and well-being result from the interplay between job demands and job resources. Based on its openheuristic nature, the JD-R model can be applied to various occupational settings, irrespective of the particular demands and resources involved. However, the model has been developed and tested in western countries so that it is still an open question whether it can be applied in the Chinese work context. The objective of this dissertation isto validateand expandthe Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model in the Chinese work context. Several main research findings were found in this PhD study. Firstly, the robustness of the structure of western well-being measures (MBI, UWES, DUWAS) was confirmed in the Chinese work context. However, the wording of some items of the student version of the MBI should be modified to better match the Chinese culture. Secondly, when western measures are applied to eastern countries, the influence of socio-cultural differences should be considered. For instance, mean levels of work engagement and workaholism differ across eastern and western countries, which is likely to be due to differences in culture-based value systems. Thirdly, the western JD-R model can be applied in the Chinese work context. In addi­tion to generic job characteristics, typical and specific job characteristics such as job insecurity, remuneration, and guanxi reciprocity may be included in order to tailor the JD-R model to the Chinese local work context. Fourthly, the relations between job demands and job resources can be explored in a new and different way, namely by studying the joint cognitive appraisal of the balance of job demands and job resources. Fifthly, the results that are obtained with the JD-R model at least partly reflect differences between occupations, such as nurses, police officers, and blue collar workers working in small, family-owned businesses. For example, task–related and social–related resources showed differential effects on the well-being of nurses and police officers, and the joint cognitive appraisal of job demands and job resources (the perception of equity) was differentially (linearly or non-linearly) related to well-being (burnout and engagement) among nurses compared to blue collar workers. This PhD thesis showed that western measures of employee well-being (MBI, UWES and DUWAS) and western occupational well-being models (JD-R model) can be applied to a Chinese work context. From the findings reported in this thesis, we can be reasonably confident in claiming at least some cross-cultural universality when it comes to western measures and models of occupational well-being.