Curvilinear effects of job characteristics on ill‐being in the nursing profession: a cross‐sectional study

AIMS: To investigate the curvilinear associations between two job characteristics (i.e. task identity and information processing) and negative outcomes (i.e. nurse need for recovery and negative affect). BACKGROUND: Research has historically demonstrated the beneficial effects of motivational job characteristics on several individual and organizational consequences. These job characteristics were indeed found to be positively and linearly related to positive outcomes such as job satisfaction. However, another stream of research contends that job characteristics may have curvilinear effects on employee well-being. DESIGN: A cross-sectional correlational design was used. METHOD: Data were collected during June 2014, using a questionnaire survey. A convenience sample of French nurses and assistant nurses was recruited (n = 269). All participants were working in centres specialized in providing care to people with disabilities. RESULTS: This study demonstrated statistically significant curvilinear effects of job characteristics on nurses' ill-being, while controlling for their linear effects. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support that nurses' job characteristics are associated with their ill-being in complex ways and provide organizational and managerial applications for healthcare centres.