A Lengthy Look at the Daily Grind: Time Series Analysis of Events, Mood, Stress, and Satisfaction

• Published in: Journal of applied psychology 2003-12, Vol.88 (6), p.1019-1033
• Main Authors: Fuller, Julie A, Stanton, Jeffrey M, Fisher, Gwenith G, Spitzmüller, Christiane, Russell, Steven S, Smith, Patricia C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Affect; Applied psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Emotional States; Employment; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Life Change Events; Male; Mental stress; Mood; Occupational psychology; Occupational Stress; Psychological aspects; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Stress; Stress, Psychological; Studies; Time Series; Well-being; Work condition. Job performance. Stress; Work place; Workplace
• ISSN: 0021-9010; 1939-1854
• DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.6.1019

The present study investigated processes by which job stress and satisfaction unfold over time by examining the relations between daily stressful events, mood, and these variables. Using a Web-based daily survey of stressor events, perceived strain, mood, and job satisfaction completed by 14 university workers, 1,060 occasions of data were collected. Transfer function analysis, a multivariate version of time series analysis, was used to examine the data for relationships among the measured variables after factoring out the contaminating influences of serial dependency. Results revealed a contrast effect in which a stressful event associated positively with higher strain on the same day and associated negatively with strain on the following day. Perceived strain increased over the course of a semester for a majority of participants, suggesting that effects of stress build over time. Finally, the data were consistent with the notion that job satisfaction is a distal outcome that is mediated by perceived strain.