PERCEIVED INFLUENCE OF JOB STRESS AND WORK LOCUS OF CONTROL ON PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AMONG MEDICAL DOCTORS AND NURSES IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the perceived impacts of job stress and work locus of control on the psychological well-being among federal employed medical doctors and nurses in South-East Nigeria. Two hypotheses were postulated and tested from data received from three hundred and four participants who were selected through the convenience sampling technique. Participants comprised of 111 Medical Doctors and 193 Nurses (166 males, 138 females) with ages ranging from 30 to 58 years (M = 44.20; SD = 6.28). The participants were administered the Job Stress Scale (JSS) by Parker and Decottiis (1983), the Work Locus of Control Scale (WLCS) by Spector (1988), and the Psychological Well-being Scale (PWBS) by Ryff (1989). The cross-sectional survey design was adopted while the hierarchical multiple regression statistics was used to analyse the data collected. The study's findings indicated that neither job stress nor work locus of control significantly predicted the psychological well-being of doctors and nurses working in South-East Nigeria. The implications of these results underscore the need for employers to explore and implement other effective strategies to enhance the psychological well-being of their employees so as to foster increased productivity and efficiency in the workplace.