Frequent Deadlines in Relation to Stress at Work: The Role of Self-Efficacy and Social Support at Work

Abstract: When working against deadlines, individuals deal with the time pressure in different ways. Working against tight deadlines has been found to relate to stress (Herrero, Saldaña, Rodriguez & Ritzel, 2012), however frequency of deadlines has not been prevalent in studies in relation to stress. Participants were 84 employees at two transportation companies in Iceland. Frequency of deadlines was a self-reported measure and participants were divided into two groups, low to intermediate frequency of deadlines and high frequency of deadlines. Analyses of frequency of deadlines in relation to work-related stress, fatigue, energy and sleep quality were conducted. Analyses of the interaction effects of self-efficacy and social support at work, respectively were conducted. All analyses conducted were Univariate analyses of variance. The results showed no relation of frequency of deadlines to reported work-related stress, occupational fatigue or energy, conversely, high frequency of deadlines related to poorer sleep quality. Self-efficacy and social support at work, respectively, did not moderate the relationship between frequency of deadlines and work-related stress. It seems frequency of deadlines at work does not play a clear role in reported work-related stress, occupational fatigue or energy for transportation employees. However, it needs to be noted that frequency of deadlines has not been prevalent in studies and thus difficult to generalize. For future studies, it is recommended that frequency of deadlines be measured more objectively to avoid biased responses.