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The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ): An Instrument for Internationally Comparative Assessments of Psychosocial Job Characteristics Article  in  Journal of Occupational Health Psychology · November 1998 DOI: 10.1037/1076-8998.3.4.322 · Source: PubMed

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Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 1998, Vol. 3, No. 4, 322-355

Copyright 1998 by the Educational Publishing Foundation I076-8998/98/$3.00

The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ): An Instrument for Internationally Comparative Assessments of Psychosocial Job Characteristics Robert Karasek University of Massachusetts Lowell

Quintal Brisson

Norito Kawakami

Irene Houtman and Paulien Bongers National Institute for Work and Health

Laval University

Gifu University

Benjamin Amick New England Medical Center

Part I discusses the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), designed to measure scales assessing psychological demands, decision latitude, social support, physical demands, and job insecurity. Part II describes the reliability of the JCQ scales in a cross-national context using 10,288 men and 6,313 women from 6 studies conducted in 4 countries. Substantial similarity in means, standard deviations, and correlations among the scales, and in correlations between scales and demographic variables, is found for both men and women in all studies. Reliability is good for most scales. Results suggest that psychological job characteristics are more similar across national boundaries than across occupations.

This article consists of three parts. Part I introduces

Part II reports the cross-national validity, for men

the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) as a tool for

and women, of the JCQ scales in six broadly

psychosocial job assessment. First, a description of

representative populations from four advanced indus-

scales and their underlying theoretical concepts is

trial societies: the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Japan. JCQ scale means, standard

presented. This is followed by a discussion of empirical issues in the development of the question-

deviations, reliabilities, and correlations are com-

naire and its validity. Part I concludes with a

pared. Part III reviews comparison of the intercountry

discussion of measurement issues, administrative

and interoccupation differences in the scales, dis-

issues, and future challenges.

cusses specific scales implications of the

issues, and discusses the study for

interpretation

of

psychosocial job assessment questionnaires. Robert Karasek, Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Chantal Brisson, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, J~aval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; Norito Kawakami, School of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan; Irene Houtman and Paulien Bongers, National Institute for Work and Health, Amsterdam; Benjamin Amick, The Health Institute, New England Medical Center, Boston. The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) is copyrighted. Users should request the instrument from the JCQ Center (see the JCQ Usage Policy section). The JCQ is provided with research documentation to most users free of charge, but commercial and very large research projects pay a usage fee to support comparative reliability analysis and instrument development on a nonprofit basis through the JCQ Center, University of Massachusetts Lowell. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Robert Karasek, Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854.

PARTI The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ): Psychosocial Job Assessment Instrument Instrument Overview The JCQ is a self-administered instrument designed to measure social and psychological characteristics of jobs. The best-known scales—(a) decision latitude, (b) psychological demands, and (c) social support—are used to measure the high-demand/lowcontrol/low-support model of job strain development. The demand/control model predicts, first, stress-related risk and, second, active-passive behavioral correlates of jobs. Other aspects of work demands are assessed as well: 322

323

SPECIAL SECTION: JOB CONTENT QUESTIONNAIRE

(d) physical demands

and (e) job

insecurity. The

instalment has a recommended length of 49 questions.

psychological strain occur when the psychological demands are high and the worker's decision latitude

can be used for microlevel, job-

is low: job strain. Low social support at work further

characteristic analytic purposes, such as assessing the

increases risk. A second set of hypotheses, related to

relative risks of individuals' exposures to different

what might be called good stress, involves active

All scales

work settings to predict job-related illness develop-

behavior development under conditions of high

ment, psychological distress, coronary heart disease,

demands and high decision latitude, which predict

musculoskeletal disease, and reproductive disorders.

motivation, new learning behaviors,

The scales also allow testing of hypotheses about

pattern development (of course, the active behavior

activation, worker motivation, and job satisfaction

hypotheses are contingent on demands not being too

and have been used for such studies. The conceptual

high). The reverse is predicted for low demands

framework underlying the JCQ allows its application

coupled with low decision latitude: a very unmotivat-

in social policy as a measure of work

ing job setting leading to negative job learning or

quality

(Karasek, 1998), in addition to the more commonly

and coping

gradual loss of previously acquired skills.

assessed work quantity issues: wages, hours, and

A dynamic version of the model integrates the job

benefits. Broader economic development issues of

strain and active behavior hypotheses with personal-

skill utilization as well as social costs of market-based

ity characteristics measuring accumulated strain and

economic development are beginning to be addressed

self-esteem development (Karasek & Theorell, 1990)

(Karasek & Theorell, 1990) using the instrument. No

with the goal of predicting strain development and

personality orientation scales or measures of non-job

learning over time. The model is based on measures

stressors are included—two areas in which the user

of psychological demands of work combined with a

may want to supplement the instrument.

measure of task control and skill use (decision

The JCQ has been translated into over a dozen

latitude). The psychological demand dimension re-

languages. The instrument is nationally standardiz-

lates to "how hard workers work" (mental work load;

able by detailed occupation in several countries,

Meshkati, Hancock, & Rahami, 1990), organization

providing an occupational scoring system. An active

constraints

users' group supports usage of the JCQ, and an

demands. It includes subscales shown in Table 1

international board of researchers decides on policy and development issues.

(Subscales 2a, 2b; see Karasek & Theorell, 1990).

on task completion, and conflicting

The "recommended

version" includes additional

specific measures of cognitive workload (Subscales

JCQ Scales and Their Theoretical Bases The JCQ arose out of the adaptive response to serve the new empirically based areas of social epidemiology, behavioral medicine, and psychosocial job analysis, requiring a multidisciplinary theoretical

2c, 2d).

Scales la and Ib: Components of Decision Latitude—Skill Discretion and Decision Authority

model. Because the primary theoretical model upon which the JCQ is based and discussions of alternative scale formulations in its domain are extensively reviewed elsewhere (de Jonge & Kompier, 1997; Karasek, 1979, 1997; Karasek & Theorell,

1990;

Kristensen, 1995, 1996; Landsbergis, Schnall, Warren, Schwartz, & Pickering, 1994), this article only presents outlines of those arguments by way of an introduction to the JCQ scales.

The worker's control over the performance of his or her own job is measured by two theoretically distinct subdimensions of decision latitude that are usually highly correlated: skill discretion and decision authority (Karasek & Theorell, 1990). Skill discretion (Subscale la) is measured by a set of questions that assess the level of skill and creativity required on the job and the flexibility permitted the worker in deciding what skills to employ (similar to variety; e.g., Hackman & Lawler, 1971). A second

Scale I: Decision Latitude and Scale 2: Psychological Demands

subdimension, decision authority (Subscale Ib), assesses the organizationally mediated possibilities

The most commonly used demand/control model

for workers to make decisions about their work (autonomy; e.g., Hackman & Lawler, 1971). A

hypothesis (Karasek, 1979, 1997; Karasek & Theorell, 1990) predicts that the most adverse reactions of

question on skills required by the job allows assessment of skill underutilization (Subscale Ic). A

324

KARASEK ET AL.

Table 1 Scales and Numbers of Questions in the Full Recommended JCQ and the "Core QES" Scale

Core QES JCQ

Full recommended JCQ

6 3 2"

6 3 2" 3 2 3

4 1

5 1 1 2

2 2 2 2

2 2 2 3 1 1

1

1 2 2

3

4 2

27

49

1. Decision latitude a. Skill discretion b. Decision authority c. Skill undemtilization d. Work group decision authority (new) e. Formal authority (new) f. Union/representative influence (new) 2. Psychological demands and mental workload a. General psychological demands b. Role ambiguity c. Concentration (new) d. Mental work disruption (new) 3. Social support a. Socioemotional (coworker) b. Instrumental (coworker) c. Socioemotional (supervisor) d. Instrumental (supervisor) e. Hostility (coworker) (new) f. Hostility (supervisor) (new) 4. Physical demands a. General physical loading b. Isometric load (new) c. Aerobic load (new) 5. Job insecurity a. General job insecurity b. Skill obsolescence (new) Total questions

Note. JCQ = Job Content Questionnaire; QES = Quality of Employment Surveys. a Eight new scales/dimensions and additional items were added to make the Recommended JCQ format. also used in this scale.

- Education was

third, macrolevel component of decision latitude

high demand and high control, has high-prestige

assesses the possibility of participatory influence on

occupations: public officials, physicians, engineers,

organization level issues, as well as union and

nurses, and managers of all kinds. The passive job

work-group participation (Subscales Id, le, If).

quadrant (lower left), with low demands and low

The JCQ integrates use of both individual and occupation-based conceptions of job characteristics.

control, has clerical workers such as billing clerks,

The occupation-based job characteristic assessments

high-strain quadrant (lower right), with high demands

yield an effective communication tool for interpreting the meaning of the otherwise abstract psychosocial JCQ scales in terms of specific jobs situations, and provide a source of validating information about job situations. As an example: When the two JCQ job characteristic scales—decision latitude and psychological demands—are arrayed as a four-quadrant diagram, they define the strain and active behavior hypotheses of the demand/control model. These can be used to display (see Figure 1) average job characteristics of occupations in U.S. Census occupation codes and the U.S. Quality of Employment Surveys (QES) database (Karasek & Theorell, 1990). In Figure 1, the active job quadrant (upper right) with

and low-status service personnel such as janitors. The and low control, has machine-paced operatives such as assemblers, cutting operatives, freight handlers, as well as other low-status service operatives such as waiters. Occupations

with high percentages of

women are frequent (garment stitchers, waitresses, telephone operators, and other nurse's aides). Lowstrain

self-paced occupations

(upper

left)

often

involve significant training and self-pacing, such as repairmen, linemen, and natural scientists. Kristensen (1996) reconceptualized the four quadrants above respectively as qualified tempo

work,

and

work, surveillance work,

craftsman's

work,

Kristensen

identified the linkages to structural and technological

Active Job

'Architect

Engineer > Farmer r—H.S. ^Manager-trade 'Public i Physician Officials Bank Officer

Programmer

I Natural Scientist

+0.5o-(i Lineman

I Foreman

• Clerk Supervisor I Nurse

^fc Repairman 0C irpenter

^Machinist ~0.5o

I Watchman

Psychological Demands

+0.5 V ..... 1 ,..,.- ,_ ,i— Fireman Stationary i Health • Off. Computer Engineer^ Technician Operator ^Billing Clerk JDeliveryman I Sales Clerk

i

...

• Dispatcher -0.5a-i Janitor Miner

Gas Station Attendant Cutting ^Waitress Operative £ Nurse's Aide Freight handler Construction • Telephone Operate^^ Laborer • Keypuncher / High Strain £ Garment stitcher) Assemblerelectric/trans, mfg.

Figure 1. The occupational distribution of psychological demands and decision latitude (U.S. male and female workers; N = 4,495). From "The Political Implications of Psychosocial Work Redesign: A Model of the Psychosocial Class Structure" (p. 177), by R. A. Karasek, in J. V. Johnson and G. Johansson (Eds.), The Psychosocial Work Environment: Work Organization, Democratization, and Health, 1991, Amityville, NY: Baywood. Copyright 1989 by Baywood Publishing Company. Reprinted with permission.

326

KARASEK ET AL.

developments in production processes, thus making it more useful in job redesign contexts.

Scale 3: Social Support The demand/control model has been expanded by Johnson (Johnson, 1986; Johnson & Hall, 1988) with the addition of social support as a third dimension. The primary hypothesis, that jobs which are high in demands, low in control, and also low in social support at work carry the highest risk of illness, has been empirically successful in a number of chronic disease studies (Johnson, 1989; Karasek & Theorell, 1990). Karasek and Theorell (1990), Karasek, Triantis, and Chaudhry (1982), and Johnson and Hall (1988) discussed the differential impacts of support from coworkers and from supervisors and, within these, the separate impacts of instrumental and socioemotional support, respectively (Subscales 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d). Interpersonal hostility is also included as a measure of social support deficit (Subscales 3e, 3f). The social support addition acknowledges the need of any theory of job stress and behavior development to assess social relations at the workplace.

Scale 4: Physical Demands The "demanding costs" of work activity are not just mental but also physical. Indeed, the more traditional concept of workloads involves physical loads. Physiological effects of stress on the cardiovascular system, the effectiveness of mental functioning, and general fatigue are shown in much research literature to depend on both mental and physical loads, and thus this measure is also included in the JCQ. Although the original QES questionnaire contains only a single item on physical exertion (Subscale 4a), the recommended form of the JCQ includes static (Subscale 4b) as well as dynamic physical loads (Subscale 4c), both shown to be important for musculoskeletal disorder development.

Scale 5: Job Insecurity Work's psychological burden consists not only of the work of carrying out the task but also in the human costs of adapting to labor market dynamics. These have become increasingly important in the last several years, because the global economy has had job-displacing effects in many countries and increased reported job insecurity (Lohr, 1996). Measurement of these items poses statistical challenges (see

the Job Insecurity Scale section) because specific events of unemployment are relatively low frequency, even when the fear of job insecurity can be more widely experienced (Subscale 5a). The job insecurity effect can depend on the labor market requirements for particular skills, limiting future career development possibilities (Subscale 5b).

Theoretical Interpretation of Scales and Implications: Sociological and Psychological Origins The JCQ provides advantages to researchers by integrating strengths of multiple disciplines. However, it also presents the JCQ users with the challenge of reconciling multiple scientific literatures when findings are reported. We briefly outline major linkages below. The primary hypotheses of the JCQ, resulting from the demand/control model, are both psychological and sociolo...