Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity as Factors in Work Stress among Managers: A Case Study of Manufacturing Sector in Pakistan

The subject of stress at work has been thoroughly investigated in Western countries, particularly the United States. Very little work has been carried out in Southeast Asia. Pakistan has developed very rapidly into a the centre place in South Asia and business centre. Thus, it is probable that managers and workers experience stress as much as their Western counterparts. The data were collected from 100 manufacturing industries workers by using simple random technique. The present research study found that role conflict and role ambiguity were positively and significantly related to work stress among Pakistani managers and work stress was negatively and significantly related to job satisfaction. Two personality variables were chosen as moderator variables, but only one, tolerance of ambiguity showed moderating effects. Locus of control failed to moderate the stressor stress and stress response relationships. Overall, this study demonstrates that stress at work does exist for a sample of Pakistani managers and that the antecedents of this stress all roles related.