Occupational Stress, Personality, and Coping Strategies among Aircraft Maintenance Personnel in Hong Kong

Abstract

The effects of occupational stress on job satisfaction, physical health, and work injuries were examined among 138 Chinese aircraft maintenance personnel. Results indicated that occupational stress predicts higher work injuries, poorer physical health, and lower job satisfaction. Direct and moderator effects of optimism, neuroticism, and coping strategies on the stressor-strain relationship were also examined in the current study. Neuroticism was found to be a reliable predictor of poor physical health, while at the same time a moderator which intensifies the effects of occupational stress on work injuries. Furthermore, support coping and control coping were found to moderate the aversive effects of work-related stress on physical health and work injuries respectively. The contributions and limitations of the findings were discussed, with special attention drawn to the possible combined effects of Big Five traits in affecting the occupational stressor-strain relationship, and the implications of coping strategies for occupational health psychology.