Examining Positive Performance Implications of Role Stressors by the Indirect Influence of Positive Affect: A Study of New Business Managers

Abstract

This article examines whether managers' performance in new businesses improves when they are exposed to role stressors. In a 3-year longitudinal survey, we drew on the challenge–hindrance framework and Karasek's (1979) job demand-control model to acknowledge direct and interaction effects of role stressors (i.e., role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload) on positive affect. In addition to finding support for such influences, our results support that positive affect facilitates performance, thus suggesting that role stressors can be indirectly positive for performance. This study encourages research to go beyond the traditional stressor–strain perspective, to incorporate positive affect in role-stress models, and pay more attention to interaction effects between role stressors.