Relationships on the Job and Work-Related Stress within the Third Sector in Europe

The aim of the study is to analyse the association between occupational stress and interpersonal relationships on the job for non-profit workers in Europe. The main assumption of the paper is that social support coming from interpersonal relationships on the job may counteract stress caused by adverse working conditions. The econometric analysis, based on a standard ordered probit model, employs data from the Sixth European Working Conditions Survey carried out in 2015 and released in 2017. Four measures of relationships on the job were considered. Not only relationships on the job with the manager and with colleagues but also external contacts with clients and patients with whom employees interact with when performing their job are included in these relationships, and social interactions with family members made possible by the ability to conciliate working time with family or social commitments outside the job are included as well. The results show significant correlations between interpersonal contacts on the job and job-related stress. Workers who get along well with co-workers have a lower probability of reporting work-related stress.