The role of social support in suppressing the effect of job stress on personality traits

Objective: the present study aimed at studying the relationship between job stress and personality traits and also if the effect of job stress on personality traits was moderated by family support. Method: The populations consisted of offshore personnel working in Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) in Kharg Island. 234 participants using convenience sampling answered three questionnaires (job stress, very brief NEO-form, and perceived social support of family-scale). Four main hypotheses using structural equation analysis were examined. Result: The findings showed a predictive effect between the personality traits and job stress except for openness to experience such that stress had an increasing effect on neuroticism and a decreasing effect on extraversion, agreeability, and conscientiousness. Family support, on the other hand, as a moderator can decrease the effects of job stress on personality traits except for openness to experience, extraversion, and agreeability such that it can decrease neuroticism and increase conscientiousness. Conclusion: the results generally revealed the effects of job stress on personality traits and showed that family support, as a buffer, can reduce the effects of job stress on personality traits. The results were discussed based on the existing models on personality changes.