The Effect of Social Support on the Motivation of Health Workers of Yazd with the Mediating Role of Job Stress

Abstract

Background: Considering the impact of employees' motivation on the quantity and quality of their performance, it is necessary that managers pay attention to the variables which strengthen and weaken motivation. Social support means being accepted by society and appreciating the employees' services by people, which can be effective in reducing job stress and tensions and improving employees' motivation. Occupational stress is a phenomenon in which employees are caught when facing expectations beyond their known capacity. It manifests itself in the form of physiological, psychological and behavioral effects. The aim of this article is to examine the effect of social support on the motivation of health sector employees with the mediating role of job stress in the health and treatment sector of Yazd. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted on the employees of the health and treatment in Yazd in 2021. Using Cronbach's alpha formula, 346 employees were selected by simple random method. The required data were collected by 3 standard questionnaires: Haynes et al, Perry and Karnavaq et al. The convergent, divergent, and content validity and the composite reliability coefficient of the questionnaire were confirmed by the opinion of management professors and experts of Yazd health and treatment department. Using Cronbach's alpha test, its internal consistency was confirmed. In order to analyze data, descriptive statistics and structural equation model and SPSS 20 and AMOS 18 software were used. Results: 3 research hypotheses were confirmed through the path test and structural equation model. The findings showed that social support with the critical value of (3.163) and path coefficient of (0.85) had a positive and significant effect on employees' motivation (P = 0.002). Social support had a negative and significant effect (P = 0/042) on job stress with the critical value of (- 2.996) and path coefficient of (- 0.17). Job stress also had a negative and significant effect (P = 0.001) on employees' motivation with a critical value of (- 2.308) and the path coefficient of (- 0.28). Finally, job stress played a mediating role regarding the test statistic (2.12) in the path of these 2 variables. Conclusion:  As the coverage of social support increases, mental health and occupational motivation of each individual improve, and finally, stress-related factors will be reduced.