Subjective underemployment and psychosocial stress: the role of perceived social and supervisor support.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of subjective underemployment on psychosocial stress. The moderator effects of perceived social and supervisor support were also investigated. Data were collected during the summer of 1987 in a public utility governmental agency in the United States. The sample size was 212 with a 71% response rate. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between subjective underemployment and psychosocial stress. As expected, the results revealed a significant positive relationship between subjective underemployment and five indexes of psychosocial stress. The interactions between subjective underemployment and social and supervisor support were not significant; however, the relationships were in the expected directions. Supervisor support was positive and significantly related to psychosocial stress, but social support was not.