Cumulative Effects of Organizational Stressors: Evidence for the Buffering Hypothesis

Buffering effects of social support in organizational research are inconsistent. These inconsistencies may be partially explained by the under utilization of higher order interaction models. In this study, we conducted a higher order analysis assessing the cumulative effects of two work stressors role overload and role clarityambiguity in conditions where support from supervisors vertical cohesion and support from peers horizontal cohesion was either high or low. When social support from leaders was low, high levels of either role overload or high levels of role ambiguity were associated with high levels of distress. In contrast, when social support from leaders was high, high levels of distress did not occur unless both high workload and high role ambiguity were reported. Thus, high levels of social support buffered individuals from the adverse effects of a single stressor, but not from the adverse effects of multiple stressors. In the absence of a higher order analysis, these buffering effects would not have been detected.