Job-Worker Incongruence: Consequences for Health

This paper examines the consequences for a man's health of work which is perceived as excessively complex or excessively simple (job incongruence). Among a group of Canadian working men, excessively complex work is not disliked but is associated with lower mental and physical health. In addition to being disliked, overly simple work shows similar psychological but much less evident physical effects. The influence of job incongruence on physical health is most noticeable for men who feel their work is much too complexfor them to handle adequately. Evidence suggests that perceived incongruence has much larger effects on health than does objective incongruence.