Fila, M. J., Franzen, A., & Semmer N.K. (2024). Illegitimate absence of tasks: A new concept of offense to the self. In Thaktre, N., and Reddy, B. U. K. (Eds.), Stress, wellness, and performance optimization: Promoting sustainable performance in the workplace, (1st Ed., pp. 125-150), Taylor and Francis.

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Fila, M. J., Semmer, N. K, & Kern, M. (2023). When being intrinsically motivated makes

you vulnerable: Illegitimate tasks and their associations with strain, work satisfaction, and turnover intention. Occupational Health Science, 1-29.

Fila, M. J., Purl, J., & Seulki, R. (2022). Demands, resources, well-being and psychological

strain: Meta-analyzing moderator effects of workforce racial composition. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 17(4), 2160-2190.  

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Racial diversity in the U.S. workforce is increasing, and many organizations are more racially diverse than ever before. Racial minority employees experience the ecosystem of work demands and resources differently to white employees; including perceiving higher demands, lower control and support, greater stress and psychological strain, and less well-being. However, there remains little research on how relationships between these work characteristics and well-being and strain, and interrelationships differ across more racially diverse versus homogeneous (e.g., predominantly white) workplaces. This limits understanding of optimal job redesign practices as workplaces continue to become more racially diverse. Through the lens of the job demands, control, support (JDC[S]), and the job demands-resources (JD-R) frameworks, we build on previous meta-analyses by examining workplace racial composition as a moderator of demand-resource relationships with well-being and strain, and interrelationships, in 63 studies of U.S. workers (N(Individuals) = 93,974). Our findings show several moderation effects. For example, as the proportion of racial minority employees increases, the positive control and well-being relationship increases, and the positive relationship between supervisor support and well-being decreases. Further, as the proportion of African-American employees (versus white and all other racial subgroups) increases, the positive control and supervisor support relationship decreases, as does the positive coworker support and well-being relationship. Our results offer new insights into the role of workplace racial composition on how work is experienced, and job design recommendations in a time of increasing workplace racial diversity.
Keywords: Race, racial composition, stress, strain, demands, resources, meta-analysis.

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Fila, M. J., Semmer, N. K., & Eatough, E. M. (2020). Illegitimate tasks as offense to the self.

In A. M. Rossi, P. L. Perrewé, & J. A. Meurs (Eds.), Stress and Quality of Working Life (7th Ed.), Information Age Publishing, and Editora dos Editores.

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Work identity is intimately tied to tasks, roles, and goals. Tasks define what a given jobholder is expected to accomplish in terms of specific activities and / or responsibilities, which leaves open which specific activities can be employed to fulfill them. Illegitimate tasks are an identity-relevant stressor that emanates from Stress-as-Offense-to-Self theory. Such tasks leave employees feeling like “I should not have to do this!” because they violate normative prescriptions about what can and cannot be expected in a given role or position. Over the last decade or so, illegitimate tasks have been found to negatively impact employee well-being, and to be positively related to strains such as anxiety, depressive symptoms, and emotional exhaustion. They have also been linked to counterproductive work behaviors, and employee turnover intentions. In this chapter, we outline illegitimate tasks in detail including their core characteristics. There are the two distinctive components of task illegitimacy, unreasonable and unnecessary tasks. We address the unique and shared aspects of illegitimate tasks with other job demands, work-related resources, organizational justice concepts, and other social stressors. We then review select findings of illegitimate tasks studies to date with regards to inter-individual and intra-individual effects, and boundary conditions. Finally, we suggest several directions for future research, and discuss the practical implications of this egregious stressor.

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Fila, M. J., & Eatough, E. M. (2020). Extending the boundaries of illegitimate tasks: The role of resources. Psychological Reports, 27(8), 1-27.

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We replicate several studies that have shown illegitimate tasks to be related to strain above and beyond job demands, but extend previous work by addressing (i) whether they are when accounting for job demands and resources, and (ii) whether resources mitigate strain relationships. We separately examine unreasonable and unnecessary task sub-dimensions. Using hierarchical regression analyses, results show that unreasonable tasks account for additional variance in anxiety (9.9%) and depressive symptoms (7.3%) beyond both main and multiplicative effects of job demands and resources of control, and support from supervisors and coworkers, in 214 early-career employees. Additionally, unreasonable tasks, control, and supervisor support interact, such that task unreasonableness is less strongly tied to depressive symptoms for those perceiving high supervisor support; and high levels of control and supervisory support resources buffer links between unreasonable tasks and both outcomes. Unexpectedly, task unreasonableness is unrelated to anxiety for those perceiving low control and supervisor support, suggesting a possible habituation effect under undesirable workplace conditions. No interactive effects are found for unnecessary tasks, or for coworker support. Our findings offer new understanding of the construct domain space and dimensionality of illegitimate tasks, and address several important practical and theoretical implications surrounding the role of resources. Keywords: illegitimate tasks; stressor-strain; demands; control; support; resources.

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Fila, M. J., & Wilson, M. (2018). Understanding cross-cultural differences in the work stress

process: A review and theoretical model. Handbook of Research on Cross-Cultural Business Education (pp. 224-249), IGI Global.

Increased attention has relatively recently been given to the role of national culture in the work stress process. As such, the goals of this chapter are to review alignment of the work stress and national culture literatures by (i) outlining the stress process and prominent theories of work stress; (ii) reviewing frameworks of national culture within the organizational research domain; and (iii) summarizing research to date on how work stress is interpreted and responded to differently across national cultures, both within and outside of these aforementioned cultural frameworks. Building on these first three aims, we present a theoretical framework to help guide and inform business educators and practitioners alike about the influences of national culture on the work stress process. We also offer recommendations for where future research can expand and enrich our understanding of this important phenomenon. Finally, we conclude by discussing practical implications to managers, organizational leaders, and business educators of cross-cultural considerations in the work stress process.

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Fila, M. J., & Eatough, E. M. (2018). Extending knowledge of illegitimate tasks: Student

satisfaction, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion. Stress and Health, 34(1), 152-162.

Illegitimate tasks represent assignments that individuals feels they “should not have to do” because they are not appropriate given their role. The primary aim of this study was to broaden existing knowledge on illegitimate tasks beyond workplace contexts by exploring whether this stressor was also negatively related to psychological well-being in higher education students. This study examined illegitimate tasks in relation to student satisfaction, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion in a college student setting through the demand-control-support framework. Reports from 473 college students indicated that illegitimate tasks may be important in student populations, as they were linked to student satisfaction and both psychological strain markers. In addition, perceptions of control over how to complete illegitimate tasks did not moderate relationships between illegitimate tasks and these outcomes, but perceptions of instructor support did. Specifically, instructor support buffered the negative effects of illegitimate tasks on anxiety and emotional exhaustion, such that the relationship between perceived task illegitimacy and both outcomes was less pronounced for students perceiving higher levels of support. However, an unexpected pattern emerged for the moderating effect of instructor support such that satisfaction deteriorated with high support, which underscores the need to further explore the function of social support in relation to illegitimate tasks.

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Fila, M. J., Purl, J., & Griffeth, R. W. (2017). Job demands, control and support: Meta-analyzing moderator effects of gender, nationality, and occupation. Human Resource Management Review, 27(1), 39-60.

The job demands-control (-support) model JDC(S) remains one of the most influential to HR-related issues of work stress, organizational behavior, and job design. However, despite over 37 years of research, the first meta-analysis of the model was conducted only recently. It examined interrelationships between the model’s three workplace characteristics: demand, control and support in order to better understand how employees view relationships between these prominent work dimensions. A rather surprising result was the near-zero demand-control relationship, which was found to be moderated by gender. The current analysis extends our understanding of DCS interrelationships to include examination of nationality and occupation as additional moderating variables. We also build on the initial review by extending moderator analysis to relationships between demand-control-support dimensions and job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion – the two most examined psychological outcomes in primary studies. The present meta-analysis narrows the field of studies to 141 studies (N (Individuals) = 145,424) of Karasek’s model which include these outcomes. Our findings show additional patterns of gender moderation, including moderation of the demands-job satisfaction relationship. Additionally, both nationality and occupation moderate every DCS interrelationship, and relationship with job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion in some way. Our results offer new understanding as to the boundaries of these relationships, and the JDC(S) model; and invite further theory building and meta-analytic investigation.

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Omansky, R., Eatough, E. M., & Fila, M. J. (2016). Illegitimate tasks as an impediment to job

satisfaction and intrinsic motivation: Moderated mediation effects of gender and effort-reward imbalance. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1-12.

The current work examines a contemporary workplace stressor that has only recently been introduced into the literature: illegitimate tasks. Illegitimate tasks are work tasks that violate identity role norms about what can reasonably be expected from an employee in a given position. Although illegitimate tasks have been linked to employee well-being in past work, we know little about the potential explanatory mechanisms linking illegitimate tasks to work-relevant negative psychological states. Using a sample of 213 US-based employees of mixed occupations and a cross-sectional design, the present study examines job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation as outcomes of illegitimate tasks. Additionally, we examine perception of effort-reward imbalance as a potential mediating mechanism through which illegitimate tasks relate to job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation, highlighting a possible pathway by which these relationships are functioning. Finally, we explore gender as a socially constructed variable that could contribute to variation in responses to illegitimate tasks and moderate the mediated link between illegitimate tasks and outcomes. Results indicated that illegitimate tasks were significantly related to job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation both directly and indirectly through perceptions of effort-reward imbalance in the predicted directions. Moreover, a moderated-mediation effect was found such that male workers reacted more than female workers to illegitimate tasks through the mechanism of perceived effort-reward imbalance.

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Fila, M. J. (2016). The job demands, control, support model: Where are we now? TKM

International Journal for Research in Management, 1(1), 15-44.

The demands-control (-support) (JDC[S]) model (Karasek, 1979; Karask & Theorell, 1990) continues to be highly influential in occupational stress and health literature, and has been the theoretical foundation of more empirical studies than any other work stress theory (Griffin & Clarke, 2011; Kain & Jex, 2010). The main ideas of the model are two-fold: that demanding work, control over working processes, and social support within the workplace all independently relate to well-being and strain; and control and support resources mitigate (of buffer) the effects of high demands on these outcomes. Despite its popularity and longevity, the model has been widely criticized for a predominance of self-report versus objective measurement, cross-sectional rather than longitudinal study design, variety and inconsistency in how the three main dimensions are measured, and a lack of consideration of individual difference variables. Kain and Jex (2010) reviewed the first 30 years of research on the model, and called for future research to address these issues. They also suggested that future research examine different conceptualizations of demands, and further individual difference variables. This chapter serves to update the literature of the model, and reviews how calls for future research have been addressed since Kain and Jex’s (2010) review. Additionally, further recommendations for continued development of research are suggested, including updating the taxonomy of jobs frequently associated with different combinations of demands control and support, operationalizing these dimensions in several different ways in each study to increase findings of interactive effects, and designing industry- or role-specific measures of these dimensions to improve this consistency.

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Fila, M. J., Eatough, E., & Griffeth, R. W. (2015). Stressful work and voluntary turnover. In A.

M. Rossi, P. L. Perrewé, & J. A. Meurs (Eds.), Stress and Quality of Working Life (5th Ed.), Information Age Publishing. Also published in Portuguese by Editora Atlas: São Paulo, Brazil.

Excessive work stress is now considered a modern day pandemic, which carries significant cost and health implications for individuals, organizations, and societies at large. Occupational stress is thought to be a primer of voluntary turnover, which is when an employee leaves their organization of their own volition, often against the wishes of their employer. Although some turnover is inevitable (such as through retirement and death), and can serve positive functions to the organization (such as when badly performing or uncommitted employees leave), unwanted voluntary turnover is extremely costly to organizations and can threaten the well-being of remaining constituents. This invokes the question of: What are the psychological mechanisms of the process by which occupational stress can lead to voluntary turnover? This chapter addresses this question by reviewing the theoretical underpinnings of this relationship, as well as empirical evidence of stress as an antecedent of voluntary turnover. We then propose an integrated model of the occupational stress-to-turnover process through the lens of turnover theory and two well-known stress frameworks: the job demands-resources model, and the cognitive appraisal theory of stress. Finally, we conclude by outlining practical implications of this relationship.

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Fila, M. J., Paik, L. S., Griffeth, R. W., & Allen, D. G., (2014). Disaggregating job satisfaction:

Effects of perceived demands, control, and support. Journal of Business & Psychology, 29(4), 639-649.

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Purpose – Our purpose was to inductively examine how employees’ perceptions of stressor and resource work characteristics relate to nine distinct facets of job satisfaction, in accordance with the demand-control (-support) (JDC(S)) theory. Job satisfaction is a multidimensional construct composed of various facets that differ greatly from one other (Spector, 1985, 1997). However, most stress studies have examined job satisfaction at the global level. This may be problematic for managers looking to redesign the workplace to increase employee job satisfaction based on established recommendations from previous research.
Design/Methodology/Approach – Data were obtained from employees of a public sector human services organization that provides services to protect children from neglect and other forms of abuse (n=343). t-tests for dependent correlations determined facet-level differences in satisfaction with demand and resource work characteristics.
Findings – Employees experienced different levels of satisfaction between facets for all seven demand, control, and support workplace characteristics.
Implications – Those re-balancing types of demands, control, and support for workplace redesign should not presume consistent effects on all aspects of satisfaction with work. By doing so, expected positive outcomes may fail to materialize, perhaps to the detriment of workplace redesign as a whole in the minds of management. A more detailed approach to workplace redesign is recommended.
Originality/Value – This is the first study which adopts the JDC(S) framework to examine job satisfaction at the facet level. Our findings shed new light on how workplace characteristics relate to different aspects of satisfaction.

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Fila, M. J. (2014). Work stress and cancer: The possible role of work stress. In P.R. Sudhakaran (Ed.), Perspectives in Cancer Prevention: Translational Cancer Research (pp. 153-162). Springer, New Delhi, India.

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Despite widespread public belief that stress may lead to cancer, research on this relationship remains inconclusive. However, recent work points to the possibility that hostile naturalistic settings may contribute to cancer risk. Within organizational research, work stress is thought to be one of the greatest sources of psychological stress in people’s lives, and is increasingly becoming a modern-day pandemic. Thus, this paper outlines the nature of stress, including how excessive and chronic stress negatively affects human health, and may possibly lead to cancer; argues that a causal link between stress and cancer may exist, despite being frequently overlooked due to ethical and practical research difficulties; and presents an industrial/organizational psychologist’s viewpoint of workplace stress by outlining two prominent models used in the social sciences. Finally, the author suggests that future collaboration between experimental cancer researchers and workplace psychologists may help further address the possible link between work stress and cancer.