SABBATICAL LEAVE AS A "TIME OUT" FROM ACADEMIC JOB STRESS: A TEST OF CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES THEORY by

To test hypotheses derived from Conservation of Resources Theory (COR), research showing the ameliorative effects of a short respite from work on job stress and strain was replicated among academics on a protracted respite–Sabbatical leave. In a quasi-experiment, 16 faculty members from 10 universities in three countries completed measures of job stress, strain and coping resources before, during and after their Sabbatical. They were compared to 148 matched controls who were not on leave during the same period. Analysis of variance detected significant declines in perceived stress and burnout during the respite among those who were on Sabbatical and no changes among the control participants. Furthermore, the respite promoted sense of control, positive affect, and life satisfaction. The results confirm COR and extend the length of leave from work that produces ameliorative respite effects from the days and weeks o previous research to months and years. Studying Stress: The Respite Design Respite research began as a way to examine the impact of job stress on strain using a more rigorous method than most previous job stress research. Over time, studying stress during such between-events respites, especially vacations, emerge as a topic of study in its own right. (Eden, 2001). Respite research uses repeated-measures designs to examine the hypothesized effects of job stress on strain without the causal ambiguity of single-occasion, stress-strain correlations. Workers are observed on the job and during low-stress off-the-job periods, called respites. A respite from work may be a day off, a weekend, a vacation, or some other form of absence from the work setting when the everyday pressures of the job may be absent. On each occasion workers rate both subjective stress to validate the presumed high or low stress of the occasion, and psychological strain as a hypothesized response to stress. Analyzing the data as interrupted time-series design, causal inferences concerning the effects of stress on strain can b drawn (Eden, 1982, 1990, 2001). A recursive pattern of rising and falling subjective job stress and strain, as objective job stress is present and absent, respectively, confirms the hypothesis th stress causes strain. Because a time-series design is relatively free of causal ambiguity, Cook an Campbell (1979) stated that “This design is obviously a very powerful one for inferring causal effects” (p. 222) and rated it very high on internal validity. The rival hypotheses that a reductio in stress and strain caused a respite such as vacation, or that an increase in job stress and strain Deleted: Page Break