The Effect of Mental Workload on Job Performance with the Mediating Role of Job Stress

Abstract

Background and Objective: Developing technology, increasing job competition, and employer demands for higher productivity increase job stress and workload which affect job performance. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of mental workload on job performance among offshore employees of a power plant with the mediating role of job stress. Materials and Methods: This study is descriptive-analytical. A total of 97 workers of a power plant participated in the study in 2019. A job status questionnaire was designed, and its validity and reliability were estimated. The questionnaire included three sections of mental workload (8 questions), job performance (7 questions), and job stress (9 questions). Then the questionnaires were distributed to the case group (47 employees in electric power generation) and the control group (32 administrative staff). Finally, the relationship between mental workload, job performance, and job stress was investigated using the structural equation method by SPSS22 and AMOS24 software. Results: According to the results of the Pearson correlation coefficient test, significant relationships were observed between the variables of workload-job stress, job stress-job performance, and workload-job performance (P<0.05). Job stress has a mediating role between workload and job performance with a mediation percentage of 0.415 due to the structural equation model; therefore, high workload results in high job stress which reduces job performance. Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, workload increases job stress among employees and reduces job performance

Keywords

• job performance
• job stress
• mental workload
• offshore employees