Does Your Supervisor Stress You Out? How Support Influences Sex Differences in Stress Among Immigrants

Abstract

Despite the influx of immigrants in the American workplace, little is known about their well-being. The authors built on literature pertaining to gender-specific stressors and organizational support theory to examine a model of stress for immigrants. Analysis of a national, archival data set (N = 150) demonstrated that, consistent with research involving U.S. citizens, immigrant women reported higher stress than immigrant men. The authors extended the literature, however, by showing that the sex–stress relationship is not straightforward for this population. Specifically, supervisor support moderated the effect of sex such that male–female stress differences were twice as large when supervisors were less supportive.

Despite the influx of immigrants in the American workplace, little is known about their well-being. The authors built on literature pertaining to gender-specific stressors and organizational support theory to examine a model of stress for immigrants. Analysis of a national, archival data set (N = 150) demonstrated that, consistent with research involving U.S. citizens, immigrant women reported higher stress than immigrant men. The authors extended the literature, however, by showing that the sex–stress relationship is not straightforward for this population. Specifically, supervisor support moderated the effect of sex such that male–female stress differences were twice as large when supervisors were less supportive.