Mediating effect of online social support on the relationship between stress and mental well-being
| Published date | 13 August 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-07-2018-0022 |
| Date | 13 August 2018 |
| Pages | 178-186 |
| Author | Naveenraj Xavier,Reeves Wesley J. |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
Mediating effect of online social support
on the relationship between stress and
mental well-being
Naveenraj Xavier and Reeves Wesley J.
Abstract
Purpose –Workplace stress is on the rise and progressive organizations devise their own mechanisms to
mitigate it and enhance mental wellbeing (MWB). Of late, the workforce is increasingly dependent on social
networking sites (SNS) for social exchanges and debate is well documented if SNS could be used to mediate
the relationship between stress and MWB. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach –This study is based on a survey of 269 employees, on the following
constructs: stress, online social support (OSS) and MWB. The authors’proposed framework was
investigated using structural equation modeling.
Findings –Results indicated that stress has a significant negative effect on MWB and subsequently, OSS
partially mediates the relationship between stress and MWB. The results suggest that organizations allow the
use of social networking site in a controlled setting so that employees could use this as a mechanism to
control stress and enhance MWB.
Originality/value –To the best of the authors’knowledge, this is the first study on OSS role in mediating the
relationship between stress and MWB.
Keywords Stress, Social networking sites, Mental wellbeing, Online social support
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Work and family are the two most important roles an individual plays in life (Priyadharshini and
Wesley, 2014) regardless of cultural and natural boundaries. Nonetheless individuals always
identify themselves with work role as they provide identity and is considered to be the most
common and valued,perhaps the only source of existential support. Workplace identities arecore
role identitiesthat, for most individuals are salient and centralaspect of self-concept. Accordingly,
identity-relevant experiences in workplace are expected to manifest a healthy work environment
where the demands,pressures and expectationsare compatible with their abilitiesand resources.
However, studieson workplace experiences suggestthat workplace are a major source of stress.
Studies on “Best place to work,”“Best employer”or “High performing workplace”indicate that
organizationsthat provide a friendly environment are sparsely found.Accordingly, stress becomes
an inevitable part of human life that affects the individual’s mental and physical wellbeing.
Stress is a much debated and researched topic in organizational behavior. It is viewed as an
extremely personalized phenomenon and, hence, behavior that follows is believed to be different
in similar situations (Naveenraj and Wesley, 2017). The difference in behavior may perhaps be the
reason for inconclusive results in research on stress. Newer antecedents determined by the
changing work environment vary stress levels and individuals use one or more than one coping
mechanism (Chang and Lu, 2007; Vong et al., 2018).
Notably, social interactions or interpersonal exchanges with significant others is a pervasive
mechanism individuals adopt to mitigate level of stress and its impact on mental wellbeing (MWB)
Naveenraj Xavier and Reeves
Wesley J. are both based at VIT
Business School, VIT
University, Chennai, India.
PAGE178
j
MENTALHEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
j
VOL. 22 NO. 4 2018, pp. 178-186, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 DOI 10.1108/MHSI-07-2018-0022
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