This study proposes that self-reported work stress among U.S. managers is differentially related (positively and negatively) to work outcomes depending on the stressors that are being evaluated. Specific hypotheses were derived from this general proposition and tested using a sample of 1,886 U.S. managers and longitudinal data. Regression results indicate that challenge-related self-reported stress is positively related to job satisfaction and negatively related to job search. In contrast, hindrance-related self-reported stress is negatively related to job satisfaction and positively related to job search and turnover. Future research directions are discussed.

Work-related stress among managers has been described as reaching epidemic proportions (Marino, 1997). Survey results seem to support this claim. For example, in recent surveys of managers, 88% reported elevated levels of stress (Tillson, 1997) and most reported feeling more pressure than they could ever remember (Cohen, 1997).

Although there is converging evidence that most managers report feeling work-related stress, less clear is the nature of the relationship between managers' self-reported work stress and work outcomes. Recent empirical evidence appears to suggest that there is little or no relationship between managers' self-reported work stress, defined as the subjective evaluation of the level of experienced stress associated with specific stressors, and job dissatisfaction, job search, and other negative work outcomes. For example, in their study examining the job search behavior of employed managers, Bretz, Boudreau, and Judge (1994) failed to find a significant relationship between self-reported work stress and job search. Leong, Furnham, and Cooper (1996) failed to find a significant relationship between self-reported work stress and job satisfaction or intention to quit in a sample of professional and...