Sense of Control Among Hospital Employees: An Assessment of Choice Process,Empowerment, and Buffering Hypotheses1

This study examines 3 theoretical arguments explaining employees' sense of control: (a) The choice process hypothesis stipulates that employees' sense of control is a consequence of their choice processes and perceived choice size; (b) the empowerment hypothesis proposes that sense of control results from the empowerment role of social and organizational support which endorse and authorize employees' job activities; and (c) the buffering hypothesis indicates that a successful management of job-related stressors is the key to greater sense of control, and that social support plays a role in buffering the potential negative influences of job-related stressors. An assessment of the hypotheses over a sample of 1,585 hospital employees in Korea provided overall support for the choice process hypothesis and partial support for both the empowerment and the buffering hypotheses. We discuss some practical and cross-cultural research implications of the findings.