Problems and Objectives

　We examined the hypothesis that effort-reward imbalance mediates views of work and negatively affects work engagement (hereafter WE) by age group.

Method

　A cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among full-time employees of four manufacturing and sales companies. A total of 451 employees, excluding missing values, were included in the analysis. The questionnaires used were individual attributes, the Japanese short version of the Utrecht-WE scale, the Japanese version of the Effort-Reward Imbalance Model Questionnaire, the Work Values Scale, and the Organizational Commitment Scale. Three work perspectives (positive work perspective, survival normative work perspective, and organization-centered work perspective) obtained from principal component analysis with the work values and organizational commitment subfactors as variables were used in the analysis. To examine the hypotheses, we conducted simultaneous multi-population analysis and mediation analysis by age in the structural analysis of covariance.

Result

　The results confirmed the allocation invariance (CFI=.99, AGFI=.97, CFI=1.00, RMSEA=.00, AIC=125.56), supporting the hypothesis of this study. For workers in their 20s and younger, higher effort-reward imbalance suppressed positive work attitudes, while for workers in their 30s and older, higher effort-reward imbalance enhanced survival normative work attitudes. For all workers, the positive work perspective enhanced WE and the survival normative work perspective suppressed WE. The coefficient of determination values indicated that these associations were greater for workers in their 20s and younger.

Consideration

　The results suggest that workers in their twenties and younger have a lower sense of purpose in their work and a lower sense of belonging based on attachment and identification with the organization when they feel that they do not receive rewards commensurate with their efforts, resulting in lower WE. Workers in their 30s and 40s who felt that they were not being rewarded for their efforts increased their sense of belonging based on the price of leaving their organizations and their loyalty to their organizations without reason, and as a result, their WE decreased.

Related Performance

Momoko KOBAYASHI(NII)・Akira TSUDA・Masahiro HARAGUCHI・Yoshitaka MORIMATSU・Takashi EZAKI・Ichiro IMAMURA・Tatsuya ISHITAKE, Characteristics of work perspectives of workers whose values are consistent with their organizations, Stress Management Research, vol. 15, no. 2, 60-66, 2019.

Momoko KOBAYASHI(NII)・Akira TSUDA・Masahiro HARAGUCHI・Yoshitaka MORIMATSU・Takashi EZAKI・Ichiro IMAMURA・Tatsuya ISHITAKE, The role of work perspectives in the association between effort-reward imbalance and work engagement, Stress Management Research, Vol. 17, No. 2, 25-37, 2021.

Momoko NII, The Relationship between Effort-Reward Imbalance and Work Engagement among General Corporate Workers: Focusing on the Role of Different Work Perspectives by Age, Master's Thesis, Graduate School of Psychology, Kurume University, 2019.

Momoko NII・Akira TSUDA・Yoshitaka MORIMATSU・Takashi EZAKI・Ichiro IMAMURA・Tomomi YAMAHIRO・Tatsuya ISHITAKE, Effects of Worker Effort-Reward Imbalance and Views of Work on Work Engagement: An Age Comparison Focusing on Work Values and Organizational Commitment, H30 Japan Society for Occupational Health Kyushu Regional Meeting, June 2018.