关键词: 高校教师, 付出回报失衡, 焦虑, 过度承诺, 心理契约破裂

Abstract: Based on the theoretical framework of the Effort-Reward Imbalance Model, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the generative mechanism of young college teachers' anxiety. Specifically, this study focused on how effort-reward imbalance affects the generation and levels of anxiety and under what conditions the effect will occur. Although previous studies have revealed that effort-reward imbalance would lead to a number of emotional health-related problems, it is still not clear the underlying mechanism of how effort-reward imbalance caused these emotional health problems. Furthermore, whether the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and emotional health-related problems will be influenced by other factors remains to be explored. Over-commitment is considered to be a moderator between effort-reward imbalance and health outcomes, which have been proved in many researches. Nevertheless, the research objectives of previous studies were mainly concentrated on health care workers, few studies on other occupational groups. Thus, the selection of the research objectives in previous researches limited the generalizability of the research results. This study proposed a moderated mediation model to reveal the underlying mechanism and boundary conditions of the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and anxiety. To be specific, this study hypothesized that effort-reward imbalance can promote anxiety by strengthening psychological contract breach and this indirect process will be moderated by over-commitment. To verify these hypotheses, there were 336 young college teachers participated in this study. In addition, three-wave data were collected, of which the time interval was two months apart. The data of demographic variables and effort-reward imbalance were collected in the first wave, the data of psychological contract breach and over-commitment were collected in the second wave, and the data of anxiety was collected in the third wave. The statistical software of SPSS 20.0, AMOS 20.0, and PROCESS were used for all variable data analysis. After controlling for the effects of demographic variables, the results showed that: (1) Effort-reward imbalance had a significant positive effect on anxiety (β=.19, p<.01) and psychological contract breach (β=.28, p<.01); psychological contract breach had a significant positive effect on anxiety (β=.25, p<.01). (2) Psychological contract breach partially mediated the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and anxiety, and the mediating effects account for 26.92% of the total effects. (3) Over-commitment can not only moderate the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and psychological contract breach, but also moderated the relationship between psychological contract breach and anxiety. That means the higher the level of over-commitment, the stronger the positive relationship between effort-reward imbalance and psychological contract breach, and the stronger positive relationship between psychological contract breach and anxiety. The findings of this study indicated that the effect of effort-reward imbalance on anxiety was not only a direct process, but also an indirect process through psychological contract breach as a mediator role. Meanwhile, the mediation process of effort-reward imbalance on anxiety also has boundary conditions that were affected by over-commitment. This study had both significant theoretical and empirical implications. From the perspective of theoretical implication, these findings expanded the theoretical framework of the effort-reward imbalance model, and especially provided a more specific analysis perspective for the follow-up study on the potential mechanism between effort-reward imbalance and its outcomes. Additionally, from the perspective of empirical implication, this study suggested that we should pay more attention to the feeling of efforts-rewards balance among young college teachers. On the other hand, it is necessary to guide young college teachers to maintain work-life balance through proper self-adjustment while working hard.

Key words: college teacher, effort-reward imbalance, anxiety, over-commitment, psychological contract breach