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Semmer NK, Jacobshagen N, Meier LL, et al. Illegitimate tasks as a source of work stress. Work Stress. 2015;29(1):32-56doi: 10.1080/02678373.2014.1003996.
Semmer, N. K., Jacobshagen, N., Meier, L. L., Elfering, A., Beehr, T. A., Kälin, W., & Tschan, F. (2015). Illegitimate tasks as a source of work stress. Work and stress, 29(1), 32-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2014.1003996
Semmer, Norbert K, et al. "Illegitimate tasks as a source of work stress." Work and stress vol. 29,1 (2015): 32-56. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2014.1003996
Semmer NK, Jacobshagen N, Meier LL, Elfering A, Beehr TA, Kälin W, Tschan F. Illegitimate tasks as a source of work stress. Work Stress. 2015 Jan 02;29(1):32-56. doi: 10.1080/02678373.2014.1003996. Epub 2015 Mar 02. PMID: 25892839; PMCID: PMC4396521.
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Work Stress. 2015 Jan 02;29(1):32-56. doi: 10.1080/02678373.2014.1003996. Epub 2015 Mar 02.

Illegitimate tasks as a source of work stress.

Work and stress

Norbert K Semmer, Nicola Jacobshagen, Laurenz L Meier, Achim Elfering, Terry A Beehr, Wolfgang Kälin, Franziska Tschan

Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Bern , Bern , Switzerland.
  2. Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University , Mount Pleasant , MI , USA.
  3. Institute of Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Neuchâtel , Neuchâtel , Switzerland.

PMID: 25892839 PMCID: PMC4396521 DOI: 10.1080/02678373.2014.1003996

Abstract

Illegitimate tasks represent a task-level stressor derived from role and justice theories within the framework of "Stress-as-Offense-to-Self" (SOS; Semmer, Jacobshagen, Meier, & Elfering, 2007). Tasks are illegitimate if they violate norms about what an employee can properly be expected to do, because they are perceived as unnecessary or unreasonable; they imply a threat to one's professional identity. We report three studies testing associations between illegitimate tasks and well-being/strain. In two cross-sectional studies, illegitimate tasks predicted low self-esteem, feelings of resentment towards one's organization and burnout, controlling for role conflict, distributive injustice and social stressors in Study 1, and for distributive and procedural/interactional justice in Study 2. In Study 3, illegitimate tasks predicted two strain variables (feelings of resentment towards one's organization and irritability) over a period of two months, controlling for initial values of strain. Results confirm the unique contribution of illegitimate tasks to well-being and strain, beyond the effects of other predictors. Moreover, Study 3 demonstrated that illegitimate tasks predicted strain, rather than being predicted by it. We therefore conclude that illegitimate tasks represent an aspect of job design that deserves more attention, both in research and in decisions about task assignments.

Keywords: fairness; job design; justice; role stress; self; strain; threat to self; well-being

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