ARTICLE 1:
Schaufeli & Taris (2014)
Schaufeli, W.B. & Taris, T.W. (2014). A critical review of the Job Demands-Resources Model:
Implications for improving work and health. In G. Bauer & O. Hämmig (Eds), Bridging occupational,
organizational and public health (pp. 43-68). Dordrecht: Springer.
1. Mention several similarities and differences between the Job Demands-Resources model on
the one hand, and the Job Demands Control model and the Effort-Reward Imbalance model on
the other.
Similarities:
All three models are recognized as some of the leading job stress models.
All three models are based on the notion of balance, they all assume that employee’s
well-being is the result of a balance between positive and negative job characteristics.
Differences:
The JD-R model (Demerouti et al., 2001), unlike de JD-C (Karasek,
1979) and the ERI (Siegrist, 1996), is not restrictive to specific job demand and job
resources, instead it assumes that any JD and JR affect employee’s health and well-being.
Therefore, the scope of this model is much broader.
Due to the great flexibility of the JD-R model, it can be applied to many more different
work settings than the other two models. Therefore, it is not only attractive for
researcher but also for practitioners.
Unlike the other two models, the JD-R model does not relate well-defined specific
concepts to each other, there is no one single JD-R model, the model is heuristic
in nature, and it represents a way of thinking about how job and personal characteristics
affect the health, well-being and motivation of the employee.
2. Explain the differences between the original JD-R model and the revised JD-R model.
The original JD-R model (Demerouti et al., 2001) was originally published to understand the
predictors or possible causes of burnout. This model recognizes job demands and job resources,
on one hand job demands are defined as physical, social or organizational aspects of the job that
require sustained physical or mental effort and have associated physiological and psychological
costs (such as work overload, job insecurity, interpersonal conflicts, heavy lifting and so on). On
the other hand, job resources are defined as psychical, social or organizational aspects of the job
that may help in achieving work goals, reduce job demands and its associated costs or stimulate
personal growth and development (such as feedback, job control and social support). This model
states that long-term high job demands lead to overtaxing and consequently to exhaustion (the
energetic component of burnout) and that lack of resources leads to withdrawal behaviour and
disengagement (the motivational component of burnout). That is, there is a main effect of job
demands and job resources on burnout, in which job demands is associated with exhaustion and
lack of resources is associated with disengagement. Next to this, the model also states that job
resources can alleviate the negative effects of job demands on exhaustion. Additionally, evidence
supporting the claim of this model has been found in the literature.
The revised JD-R model (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004) was introduced three years later, and it
is based on the same criteria as the original model with one important change, the introduction
of work engagement in addition to burnout. This change gave a positive twist to the model, in
which instead of finding possible explanation to only a negative psychological state (burnout),
explanations were also seek for its positive counterpart (work engagement). Work engagement is
defined as a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigour,
, dedication and absorption. In addition, in this model burnout is seen as unitary and not a two-
dimensional construct. Furthermore, this model assumed that burnout leads to health problems
such as depression, cardiovascular disease and psychosomatic complaints. Additionally, the
model recognizes the inherent motivational qualities of job resources, it states that job resources
play a strong motivational role because they satisfy basic human needs for autonomy,
relatedness and competence. Furthermore, they reduce job demands by increasing the
willingness to spend compensatory effort and therefore they become instrumental in achieving
work goals. Next to that, the revised JD-R model focuses on work outcomes as the goal, and they
believe that job demand and job resources lead to those outcomes through burnout or job
engagement. There are two processes present in this model, the health impairment process (job
demands – burnout – negative work outcomes) and the motivational process (job resources –
work engagement – positive work outcomes), on one side burnout is expected to mediate the
relation between job demands and employees health and well-being, and on the other side,
engagement is expected to mediate the relation between job resources and organizational
outcomes (such as organizational commitment and performance).
3. The focus of the revised JD-R model is on two processes: the health impairment process and
the motivational process. Describe these processes.
There are two processes present in this model:
Health impairment process (job demands –> burnout –> negative work outcomes): in this
process burnout is expected to mediate the relation between job demands and employee's
health and well-being through the gradual draining of mental resources. This will also lead to
depression, cardiovascular disease and other complaints.
Motivational process (job resources –> work engagement –> positive work
outcomes): engagement is expected to mediate the relation between job resources and
organizational outcomes (such as organizational commitment and performance). There is a great
focus on the inherent motivational qualities of job resources because they are believed to satisfy
basic human needs for autonomy, relatedness and competence. Furthermore, they reduce job
demands by increasing the willingness to spend compensatory effort and therefore they become
instrumental in achieving work goals.
4. Describe the revised JD-R model and explain the concepts used.
*Same as in question 2*
5. It is concluded from the cross-sectional evidence for the JD-R model that: “the joint effect of
job demands and job resources on burnout and engagement adds little beyond their additive
effects” (p. 48). Explain what the authors mean by this.
Cross-sectional evidence provided strong evidence for the assumptions of the model. The first
studies were conducted in the Netherlands with call-centre employees, industrial workers, health-
care staff and white-collar workers. The findings of such studies were replicated in other countries,
cultures and occupational groups and found a strong support for the model too. However, Hu et al.
conducted a study on the interactions or additive effects of job demands and job resources and
found that the predictive power of such effect decreased sharply. That is, JD and JR are useful
predictors by themselves, however, even though you would expect their interaction to be significant,
the effect of their interaction does not add a lot of extra value, that is to say, evidence for
this interaction effect is rather weak and you would need a very large sample in order to test this.
, 6. In recent developments of the JD-R model, personal resources are also included in the
model. Explain what personal resources are and describe three ways in which they can be
incorporated in the JD-R model.
Originally, the JD-R model only included work environment characteristics, however, most
psychological approaches assume that human behaviour is the results of both environmental and
personal factors. Therefore, personal resources were included in the model. Personal resources refer
to psychological characteristics of an individual that are associated to resilience and the ability to
impact one’s environment successfully. They play an important goal in accomplishing work goals
since they stimulate personal growth and development. Although, it is known that personal
resources play a role in the mode, it is yet not clear what specific role they play. They have been
integrated in the model in five different ways:
PR directly impacting on well-being: PR such as resilience and
control directly reduce burnout and increase engagement.
PR moderating the relationship between job characteristics and well-being: PR do not
directly affect the outcome, but they work as a buffer for the negative aspects of the job
(demands) and exacerbate positive aspects of it (resources).
PR mediating the relationship between job characteristics and well-being: According to the
Conservation of Resources theory (Hobfoll, 2002), job resources tend to accumulate, which
makes employees develop higher feelings of self-confidence and optimism and this consequently
affects work engagement (causing a positive gain spiral).
PR influencing the perception of job characteristics: According to the Social Cognitive
Theory (Bandura, 1997), personal resources shape the way people understand and react to
their environment, which in turn affects work engagement.
PR acting as a third variable: Because PR may affect employee's well-being and employee’s
perception of job characteristics, they could also play the role of ‘third variable’ that could
explain the relationship between both (Bakker et al., 2010).
7. Some longitudinal studies showed that a gain spiral (or gain cycle) exists between job
resources or personal resources and work engagement. Explain what a gain spiral is and give an
example of such a gain spiral.
There is evidence from longitudinal studies that suggest that the relationship between demands,
resources and outcome is not as straightforward and unidirectional as the model suggests. This
evidence shows that there may be a reciprocal causation or gain spiral going on, and this is
particularly the case in the motivational process of the model, in which resources and work
engagement mutually influence each other. This reciprocal causation illustrates the flexible and
dynamic nature of the model and it suggest that future research should not focus in the overly
simplistic idea of a linear causation but instead, focus on the dynamic relation between the different
concepts of the model.
8. In recent developments, job demands are subdivided into “challenges” and “hindrances”.
Explain the difference between these types of job demands and provide examples. How will
challenges and hindrances influence the occurrence of work engagement and burnout?
Both challenges and hindrances are positively related to burnout, however, the relationship between
job demands and engagement can vary depending on the type of demand. On one side hindrances
relate negatively to engagement whereas challenges relate positively to engagement. Challenges at
work could be workload, time-pressure and responsibility. Hindrances at work can be job ambiguity
, or role conflicts. Challenges could have potential to promote mastery and personal development
whereas hindrances only prevent it.
9. A point of criticism concerning the JD-R model is its heuristic character. The demands,
resources and outcomes contained in the model can vary strongly between studies. Substantiate
why you do or do not consider this to be a problem.
The JD-R, unlike other models such as the JD-C and ERI, is not restrictive to specific job demand and
job resources, instead it assumes that any JD and JR affect employee’s health and well-being.
Therefore, the scope of this model is much broader and due to its great flexibility, it can be applied to
many more different work settings and contexts. However, this comes at a cost of decreased
specificity. Other psychological models and tools will be needed in order to explain the psychological
processes that are involved given a specific set of demands, resources and outcomes. That is to say,
the model provides a useful description of how demands, resources, psychological states and
outcomes are associated, but it does not give a particular psychological explanation. I consider this
an important issue that the researcher or practitioner should keep in mind, but not necessarily a
problem. The JD-R can indeed be very useful and easily applicable in many different contexts, and the
lack of explanations should not hold professional in the field back from using it, since there is a great
array of tools and models that are readily available and can be used to explain the specific underlying
psychological processes.
10. In principle, the JD-R model is a model for research at individual level, but it can also be
applied to research at team level. Explain what requirements the measurements of demands,
resources and outcomes must meet according to Schaufeli and Taris.
The JD-R model is an individual- level approach and applying to entire teams or organization might
carry some problems, since it assumes social psychological processes that include shared perceptions
and shared experiences (for instance the collective perception of demands and resources and the
collective experiences of burnout and engagement). Therefore, in doing so, the compatibility
principle cannot be violated, this principle states that all variables in a model must be operationalized
at the same level or septicity. Future applications of the JD-R model to teams and organization should
use commensurate collective measures and consider the social-psychological involved in these
collective/shared perceptions and experiences.
11. Schaufeli and Taris emphasise that the JD-R model is a continuation and integration of
previous theories and models, but that it cannot replace those models. Explain the reason for
this.
The JD-R, unlike other previous models such as the JD-C and ERI, is not restrictive to specific job
demand and job resources, instead it assumes that any JD and JR affect employee’s health and well-
being. Therefore, the scope of this model is much broader and due to its great flexibility, it can be
applied to many more different work settings and contexts. However, this comes at a cost of
decreased specificity. Other psychological models and tools will be needed in order to explain the
psychological processes that are involved given a specific set of demands, resources and outcomes.
That is to say, the model provides a useful description of how demands, resources, psychological
states and outcomes are associated, but it does not give a particular psychological explanation. And
although a great array of tools and psychological models are readily available today, this is the reason
why the JD-R model does not replace previous models and theory of the associations between work
characteristics, personal characteristics and work outcomes, but instead, it complements them.
