The role of co-worker support on the relationship between leadership and stress

Soo, Jennie Hooi Sin * and Hassan Ali, (2013) The role of co-worker support on the relationship between leadership and stress. In: 10th International Conference of the Global Academy of Business & Economic Research, 29 - 30 December 2013, Dubai. (Submitted)

Text THE ROLE OF CO-WORKER SUPPORT ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP (For respository)_Jennie.docx Download (58kB)

Abstract

Stress is a major issue and is a common occurrence in today’s workplace. The impact of stress on employees has attracted much attention from organizations as well as academicians. A leader is the person who has the most influence over employees. It is known that a leader could shape employee attitude and behavior. While a leader could motivate employees, he/she may also transmit negative emotions e.g. stress on them. Unfortunately, few studies have examined at the role of leadership in influencing employee stress. Hence, this study sought to examine the relationship between leadership and stress. The study was conducted among nine commercial banks in Malaysia. Leadership was measured through transformational leadership and transactional leadership. Stress was measured based on symptoms of stress i.e. physical, psychological, emotional, and behavioral stress. The results of the study indicate that there is a negative relationship between transformational leadership and stress while a positive relationship was found for transactional leadership and stress. Results also showed that the relationship between leadership and stress is moderated by co-workers support. The implications of this study suggest that organizations need to cultivate proper leadership behavior among managers and leaders in order to mitigate employee stress. Further, co-worker support is essential to help employee deal with the stressful environment that is compounded by poor leadership.

Actions (login required)

View Item