Employees’ vs the self-employed
To develop hypotheses about the relationship between self-employment and work-related stress, we
investigate differences in job demand, job control and social support between the self-employed and
wage-paid workers. Regarding job demand, the self-employed typically have longer working hours
than wage-paid workers, which may contribute to job demand (Hyytinen and Ruuskanen, 2007).
Hassels, Rietveld and Zwan (2016) argued that long hour working among the self-employed may not
have to result in higher stress level compared with employees, as they explained that ‘working longer
hours may indicate the business is doing well and has, for example, been associated with higher
levels of work satisfaction among the self-employed’ (Millán et al., 2013). Moreover, some aspects
of self-employment like dependency on suppliers and customers, may contribute to job demand but
with little indication in academia. However, Hassels, Rietveld and Zwan (2016) argued that some
features of self-employment may decrease job demand, for example, self-employed face fewer
demands associated with the routines and hierarchical constraints of organisations than wage-paid
workers (Eden, 1975). These differences may contribute to higher or lower work-related stress of the
self-employed compared with wage-paid workers. Consequently, the relationship between job
demands and work-related stress may also vary between these two occupational groups.
Thus, based on H2a: job demands are positively related to the self-employed’s work-related stress,
we propose:
H2b: the self-employed (baseline is employees) moderate the relationship between job demand and
work-related stress
Secondly, as verified by many previous studies, the majority of self-employed have significantly higher
levels of job control than wage-paid workers (Eden, 1975; Benz and Frey, 2008; Hamilton, 2000;
Hundley, 2001; Parasuraman and Simmers, 2001). The self-employed have more freedom to make
decisions about what to do at work and how and when to perform their tasks, whereas wage-paid workers
operate within organisational hierarchies in which they are subject to the decisions of others (Benz and
Frey, 2008). In other words, on average, the self-employed have more decision-making authority than
wage-paid workers. More decision-making authority is evident, for example, in having
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more frequent intervals between spells of work and in being able to do work outside the workplace
(Hyytinen and Ruuskanen, 2007). The self-employed are in control of their businesses and hence can
redefine activities when new tasks emerge and to implement changes (such as the introduction of
new working procedures or modification of the product portfolio) when they desire (Hundley, 2001).
A higher degree of decision authority enables a greater ability to reduce stress and work-related
stress (Patzelt and Shepherd, 2011).
Thus, based on H3a: job controls are negatively related to the self-employed’s work-related stress,
we propose:
H3b: the self-employed (baseline is employees) moderate the relationship between job control and
work-related stress
Another difference between the self-employed and employees is that the self-employed would be
expected to have differences in social support, especially the supports from family and friend, compared
with managers or employees. One significant aspect is the family, friend and partner support on self-
employment by furnishing labour and enabling the pooling of financial resources (Sanders and Nee,
1996). For example, concerning financial aspects, social support can reduce living costs and promote
accumulation of financial capital and achieve intra-family/intra-friend loans (Sanders and Nee, 1996).
Moreover, a reliance on family or friends’ labour can help the self-employed with management demands
(Tetrick et al., 2000). Furthermore, such labour can provide emotional support when the self-employed
experience business difficulties and they can be trusted to handle sensitive transactions in which the risk
of opportunism and malfeasance is high (Sanders and Nee,1996). On the other hand, for employees,
social support, especially from family, partner and friends, may be limited
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due to company policy and organisation hierarchy constraints.
Thus, based on H4a: social support is negatively related to the self-employed’s work-related
stress
This study proposes:
H4b: the self-employed (baseline is employees) moderate the relationship between social
support and work-related stress
Moreover, to develop buffer hypotheses on the moderating effect of social support, this study
considers the differences of moderating effect of social support between the self-employed
and employees. Firstly, it is needed to understand that the rationale underlying this moderating
effect is that social support facilitates one's efforts in coping with stress and, as such, can be
considered a coping resource – those more efficient in garnering social support may appear to
improve coping (Johnson and Hall, 1988). As noted before, it is not only easier for the self-
employed to gain the social supports in term of quantity but also in term of quality, social
support may works more efficiently directly and indirectly, while wage-paid workers
are constrained due to the complexity of their served
organisations.
Thus, based on:
H5a: social support moderates the relationship between job demands and the self-employed’s
work-related stress
H6a: social support moderates the relationship between job controls and the self-employed’s
work-related stress
If the results of H5a and H5b are different, this study propose:
H5b: the self-employed (baseline is employees) moderate the relationship between the
interaction of social support*job demands and work-related stress
H6b: the self-employed (baseline is employees) moderate the relationship between the
interaction of social support*job control and work-related stress
