Role strain: An assessment of a measure and its invariance of factor structure across studies

Abstract

Despite a growing literature on the antecedents and consequences of role strain in organizational milieus, there have been few independent attempts at measuring this construct or factor-analytic studies of measures constructed. In an attempt to explicate the theoretical construct of role strain, the Job Related Tension (JRT) index developed at the University of Michigan in the early 1960s is factor analyzed and its invariance of factor structure across studies is estimated employing the coefficient of invariance suggested by S. R. Pinneau and A. Newhouse (see record 1965-06294-001 ). The following 2 samples were employed for this purpose: (a) the multioccupational sample of the Michigan study ( N = 596); and (b) a sample of paid retrainees in an adult education center for the unemployed, representing a special kind of occupational group ( N = 267). Despite the uniqueness of the latter sample, the factor structure of the JRT index is shown to be highly stable. The analysis is prefaced by a succinct review of the theoretical literature on the role strain concept and concludes with suggestions for developing a series of homogeneous subscales to tap the various facets of the construct. (21 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)