Running Head: Business Travel and Perceived Stress Psychological Stress among Business Travelers in Malaysia

Authors

  • Dhiviya Karunaharan International University of Malaya-Wales

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jpr.v1i1.269

Abstract

Businesses and corporations today break geographical boundaries and carry out business globally (Carlson & Perrewe, 1999). Business travel can be physically demanding and psychologically stressful, compromising the well-being of business travelers and the benefits of organizations. The present study examined how biopsychosocial factors, which are health concern, burnout, and social support, explained business travel stress among business travelers in Malaysia. We recruited 100 working adults (n = 63 men, n = 37 women) who traveled for business purposes from airports in Malaysia. Participants completed a series of questionnaires using the paper-and-pencil method. The mediation analyses showed that only burnout mediated the relationship between business travel and perceived stress. Specifically, the less intensely an individual traveled, s/he experienced a higher level of perceived stress; and this could be explained by the high level of burnout experienced. These findings have shed some light on how to deal with business travel stress at organizational and personal levels. Our findings suggested that organization-level interventions and policies should place an emphasis on employees who have to travel and in particular those who travel less intensively. Also, to provide support for business traveling employees, corporations should set up interventions and policies that aim to decrease burnout associated with business traveling.

Keywords:

Burnout, Business Travel, Health Concern, Perceived Stress, Social Support

References

[1] Adler, N., & Matthews, K. (1994). Health psychology: Why do some people get sick and some stay well? Annual Review of Psychology, 45, 229-259.

[2] Allen, T. (2001). Family-supportive work environments: The role of organizational perceptions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58(1), 414-35.

[3] Awa, W. L., Plaumann, M., & Walter, U. (2010). Burnout prevention: A review of intervention programs. Patient education and counseling, 78(2), 184-190.

[4] Bacharach, S. B., Bamberger, P., & Conley, S. (1991). Work-home conflict among nurses and engineers: Mediating the impact of role stress on burnout and satisfaction at work. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 12, 39-53.

[5] Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Verbeke, W. (2004). Using the job demands-resources model to predict burnout and performance. Human Resource Management, 43, 83-104.

[6] Bakker, A. B., Le Blanc, P. M., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2005). Burnout contagion among intensive care nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 51(3), 276-287.

[7] Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.

[8] Batt, R., & Valcour, P. M. (2003). Human resource practices as predictors of work-family outcomes and employee turnover. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 42, 189-220.

[9] Berardo, D. H., Shehan, C. L., & Leslie, G. R. (1987). A residue of tradition: Jobs, careers, and spouses’ time in housework. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 381-390.

[10] Bonney, J., Kelley, M. L., & Levant, R. (1999). A model of fathers behavioral involvement in child care in dual-earner families. Journal of Family Psychology, 13(3), 401-15.

[11] Broadhead, W., Gehlbach, S., De Gruy, F., & Kaplan, B. (1988). The Duke-UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire: Measurement of social support in family medicine patients. Medical Care, 26, 709-723.

[12] Bryant, H. E., Csokonay, W. M., Love, M., & Love, E. J. (1990). Self-reported illness and risk behaviours amongst Canadian tavellers while abroad. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 82, 316-319.

[13] Budd, L., Vorley, T. (2013). Airlines, apps, and business travel: A critical examination. Research in Transportation Business and Management, 9, 41-49.

[14] Carlson, D. & Perrewe, P. (1999). The role of social support in the stressor-strain relationship: an examination of work-family conflict. Journal of Management, 25(4), 513-40.

[15] Cohen, S., & Williamson, G. (1988). Perceived stress in a probability sample of the U.S.. In S. Spacapam & S. Oskamp (Eds.), The social psychology of health: Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology (pp. 31-67). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

[16] Cohen, S., Mermelstein R., Kamarck T., & Hoberman, H.M. (1985). Measuring the functional components of social support. In I.G. Sarason & B. R. Sarason (Eds), Social support: Theory, research, and applications. The Hague, Netherlands: Martinus Niijhoff.

[17] DeFrank, R. S., Konopaske, R., & Ivancevich, J. M. (2000). Executive travel stress: Perils of the road warrior. Academy of Management Executive, 14, 58-71.

[18] Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 499-512.

[19] Engs, R. (1970). The Health Concern Questionnaire. Unpublished Master's Thesis. University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. Retrieved from IUScholarWorks: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17250

[20] Engs, R. (1989). Assessing construct validity and re-assessing the reliability of the Health Concern Questionnaire. Retrieved from IUScholarWorks: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17251

[21] Espino, C. M., Sundstrom, S. M., Frick, H. L., Jacobs, M., & Peters, M. (2002). International business travel: Impact on families and travelers. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 59, 309-322.

[22] Fisher, C. (1998). Business on the road. American Demographics, 20, 44-47.

[23] Fisher, S., & Cooper, C. (1990). On the move. New York: Wiley.

[24] Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1988). The relationship between coping and emotion: Implications for theory and research. Social Science and Medicine, 26, 309-317.

[25] Gustafson, P. (2013). Business travel from the traveller’s perspective: Stress, stimulation and normalization. Mobilities, 9, 63-83.

[26] Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76, 408-420.

[27] Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

[28] Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J. (2014). Statistical mediation analysis with a multicategorical independent variable. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 67(3), 451-470.

[29] Hoffman, L. W. (1989). Effects of maternal employment in the two-parent family. American Psychologist, 44, 283-292.

[30] Hooker, J. (2012). Cultural differences in business communication (pp. 389-407). In C. B. Paulston, S. F. Kiesling & E. S. Rangel (Eds.), The Handbook of Intercultural Discourse and Communication. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.

[31] House, J. S., Landis, K. R., & Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 241, 540-545.

[32] Liese, B., Mundt, K. A., Dell, L. D., Nagy, L., & Demure, B. (1997). Medical insurance claims associated with international business travel. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 54, 499-503.

[33] Malach-Pines, A. (2005). The Burnout Measure, Short Version. International Journal of Stress Management, 12, 78-88.

[34] Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Occupational Behaviour, 2, 99-113.

[35] Oddou, G., Mendenhall, M. E., & Ritchie, J. B. (2000). Leveraging travel as a tool for global leadership development. Human Resource Management, 39, 159-172.

[36] Penney, L. M., & Spector, P. E. (2005). Job stress, incivility, and counterproductive work behavior (CWB): The moderating role of negative affectivity. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 777-796.

[37] Pines, A., & Aronson, E. (1981). Burnout: From tedium to personal growth. New York: Free Press.

[38] Roberti, J. W., Harrington, L. N., & Storch, E. A. (2006). Further psychometric support for the 10‐item version of the perceived stress scale. Journal of College Counseling, 9(2), 135-147.

[39] Shirom, A. (1989). Burnout in work organizations (pp. 25-48). In C. L. Cooper (Ed.), International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Oxford, England: John Wiley & Sons.

[40] Spielberger, C. D. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: STAI (Form T). Palo Alto, CA: Mind Garden.

[41] Striker, J., Luippold, R. S., Nagy, L., Liese, B., Bigelow, C., & Mundt, K. A. (1999). Risk factors for psychological stress among international business travelers. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 56, 245-252.

[42] Vinokur, A. D., & Vinokur-Kaplan, D. (1990). “In sickness and in health:” Patterns of social support and undermining in older married couples. Journal of Aging and Health, 2, 215-241.

[43] Viswesvaran, C., Sanchez, J. I., & Fisher, J. (1999). The role of social support in the process of work stress: A meta-analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 314-334.

[44] Voydanoff, P. (2005). Work demands and work-to-family and family-to-work conflict: Direct and indirect relationships. Journal of Family Issues, 26, 707-726.

[45] Wallston, K. A., Wallston, B. S., & Devellis, R. F. (1978). Development of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scale (MHLC). Health Education Monographs, 6, 160-170.

[46] Welch, D. E., Welch, L. W., & Worm, V. (2007). The international business traveler: A neglected but strategic human resource. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18, 173-183.

[47] Westman, M., & Etzion, D. (2002). The impact of short overseas business trips on job stress and burnout. Applied Psychology, 51(4), 582-592.

[48] Zimmermann, R., Hattendorf, J., Blum, J., Nüesch, R., & Hatz, C. (2013). Risk perception of travelers to tropical and subtropical countries visiting a Swiss travel health center. Journal of Travel Medicine, 20, 3-10.

Downloads

How to Cite

Karunaharan, D. (2019). Running Head: Business Travel and Perceived Stress Psychological Stress among Business Travelers in Malaysia. Journal of Psychological Research, 1(1), 4–11. https://doi.org/10.30564/jpr.v1i1.269

Issue

Article Type

Article