Journal of Management 2003 29(4) 569–588 The Impact of Perceived Organizational Support on the Relationship Between Boundary Spanner Role Stress and Work Outcomes

This study examines the impact of perceived organizational support (POS) on the relationship between boundary spanner role stressors (i.e., role conflict and role ambiguity) and both work attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction and intent to remain) and behavior (i.e., task performance). Results indicate that POS has strong effects on role ambiguity and role conflict, as well as job satisfaction and intent to remain. However, POS is not related to task performance in our sample. POS also has moderating effects on several role stress—outcome relations. The paper discusses the implication of these findings for managers, along with recommendations for future research. © 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. In order to maintain competitiveness, many organizations require their employees to as-sume greater and more widely prescribed work responsibilities. The pressure related to undertaking broader job duties may lead employees to experience greater levels of stress related to their work roles. Unfortunately, existing research (e.g., French & Kahn, 1962; Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn & Snoek, 1964) indicates that role stress is strongly associated with both short (e.g., physiological, attitudinal, and behavioral) and long (e.g., chronic diseas