Has the Inverted-U Theory of Stress and Job Performance Had a Fair Test?

By Lori A. Muse, S. Harris, H. S. Feild. 2003

170 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/26d6168d582d90aaac469b3fff11001e57d2047d

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In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

In Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

In Social Psychology

Citations in the corpus

IT Road Warriors: Balancing Work--Family Conflict, Job Autonomy, and Work Overload to Mitigate Turnover Intentions (2007, background): “Researchers should explore whether this is the case or whether some inverted-U curve exists between types of stress and job performance, as has been proposed (Muse et al. 2003).”
Sorting and Incentive Effects of Pay for Performance: An Experimental Investigation (2007, background): “Specifically, participants were asked to play one practice and eight experimental three-minute 2 However, Muse et al. (2003) argue that the inverted-U theory, which suggests that small amounts of stress aid performance while larger amounts impede it, has not yet been fairly tested. anagram games…”
Job Stress, Job Performance and Organizational Commitment in a Multinational Company: An Empirical Study in two Countries (2011, background): “%) of the 52 empirical studies examined supported a negative linear relationship between job stress and job performance (Muse et al., 2003).”
Just more of the same, or different? An integrative theoretical framework for the study of cumulative interruptions at work (2015, background): “Of course, the initial increase in performance is only possible if demands have not reached the maximum of people’s capacity (Muse et al., 2003).”
Examining the inverted U-shaped relationship between workload and innovative work behavior: The role of work engagement and mindfulness (2020, background): “Indeed, as Muse et al. (2003) reported in their meta-analysis, the inverted U-shaped effects of job demands on employee behavioral performance have received very limited empirical support.”
Impact of Stressors on Employee Performance: Moderating Role of Big Five Traits (2015, background): “14 According to Muse et al. (2003) and Sullivan and Bhagat (1992) that up to 1970s Stressors were considered as detrimental, in 1980s Stressor were dealt as beneficial while 1990s it was suggested that Stressors have a curvilinear relationship Lazarus and Folkman (1984) describe stress as specific…”