Social support at work as a buffer of work stress–strain relationship: a signal detection approach

With respect to the stress-buffering effects of social support at work upon stressor–strain relationships, some studies report the effects while others do not despite similarities of methods. Some reasons for the inconsistencies across studies might be due to the absence of assessing social support dimensions and work stressors. In the present study, data concerning social support at work, work stressors and mental stress among white-collar workers in Japan (N=416) were analysed using signal detection analysis to determine how individual social support variables interact with stressor variables. Two types of higher-order interactions involving social support variables were observed. It is suggested that certain types of social support at work could be effective in redressing the impact of work stressors, but only for certain types of workers who have specific multiple work stressors. These findings were also useful for practical application to domestic occupational health problems. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.