The Effect of Job Stress and Feeling of Entrapment on Perceived Task Performance and the Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction in the Scope of Organizational Sustainability ()
1. Introduction
In the field of organizational sustainability, it is known that there are academic studies that deal with many concepts and different approaches to increase employee motivation and work engagement. The relationship between the concepts under organizational sustainability is another important issue discussed in these studies. As in all fields of positive sciences, we see that some subjects examined in different branches of science are also included in studies related to organizational behavior. The organizational sustainability umbrella is a concept that has an integrative character in this context. The concept of entrapment, which is one of the concepts emphasized in this study, can also be evaluated in this context. From this point of view, it is aimed to examine the concept of entrapment, which we encounter in the field of psychology, with a different perspective within the subject of organizational development in the scope of organizational sustainability. The call center sector, which is the subject of this study and on which the research study is carried out, is a specially selected business area in terms of the subjects that are the basis of the study. Unlike other business areas that have face-to-face communication, call center employees who serve customers by telephone or computer are constantly working in a workflow designed to respond accurately and quickly to customer demands on the phone and in front of the screen. Therefore, the subject of this study; can be defined as a very suitable line of work to explain the interaction of the concepts of job satisfaction, job stress, task performance, and entrapment with each other in the most accurate way. Here, research was conducted with the participation of the employees of a business that provides call center services for call center employees, who are exposed to a heavy workload and also a labor-intensive line of business. In this study, the effect of the entrapment on perceived task performance and the mediating role of job satisfaction in this effect will be examined, and some inferences will be made especially for the concept of entrapment. Our study aims to reveal the relationship between the concepts of job satisfaction, job stress, and task performance from a different perspective, as well as the concept of entrapment, by examining the interaction between these concepts.
2. Task Performance
The main purpose of all corporate organizations is to increase their corporate performance. Employee performance can be described as an indicator of corporate success (Ridwansyah & Saputro, 2018). Today, employee performance in the cruel and competitive business environment affects the entire organization’s performance (Shabbir & Naqvi, 2017). This has caused companies, especially in recent years, to focus on increasing the performance of their employees, who are considered to be the most critical elements of organizational capital (Harandi & Abdolvand, 2018). The concept of performance is assessed in many different dimensions in the literature. Generally, performance is described as the extent of achievement of a goal (Gül & Oktay, 2009). On the other hand, work performance is defined as the specific behavioral episodes of an employee in a standard period (Motowildo, Borman, & Schmitdh, 1997). In their study, Güney defined performance as the degree of success of employees depending on a predetermined work process and the quantity of work to be done another definition explains job performance as the employee behaviors that support organizational goals in the workplace (Zainal, 2020). Individual performance is measured by the employee’s success in achieving various goals, most of which are measured quantitatively (Coens & Jenkins, 2002: s. 36). As it can be understood from the concepts and definitions related to the subject, performance only has a meaning when there is an employee, and a job to be done and this work must be carried out within a certain period, and the work must also be carried on within a certain system. Predetermined parameters are required to assess all these issues. According to Barutçugil, individual performance consists of 3 main elements. The first one is the focus. The employees must be aware of the things they are doing. The second element is competence. The employees must have the necessary skills to perform the defined job. And the last one is dedication. The employees must be willing to contribute to the organization (Barutçugil, 2002: p. 49). Another study provides an interesting and different approach to performance. This approach suggests two different dimensions of job performance, namely, task (in-role) performance and extrarole performance (Harvey, Stoner, Hochwarter, & Kacmar, 2007). Extra role performance: Extra role performance is not within the formally determining limits of the employee’s job description It is defined as actions that are not mentioned in job descriptions but have an impact on the overall welfare and functioning of the organization (Bowling, 2010). Some sources refer to the term as contextual performance. These behaviors are voluntary and are not rewarded nor punished. Some examples of this performance dimension are guiding a new colleague, helping one’s colleagues, developing ideas for the organization’s benefit outside one’s field, and willingness to undertake tasks that fall in the gray area. Task performance: These are the necessary and expected actions to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the role specified in the job description (Vandewalle, Van Dyne, & Kostova, 1995: p. 222). It is defined as the performance of technical or specialized activities that define an individual’s job. Task performance contributes directly or indirectly to the main technical processes of a company and the processes in which goods and services are produced (Van Scotter, 1994). Furthermore, task performance refers to actions that are “expected, evaluated and rewarded” (Leung, 2008). In the organizational context, task performance is a contractual understanding between a manager and a subordinate regarding the performance of an assigned task (Pradhan, Jena, & Bhattacharya, 2016). Professional competence, clear job descriptions, a suitable working environment, and moral qualities are important for high task performance. An unclear job description will make it difficult to measure performance (Kılıç, 2006). Establishing a clear and reliable job description will increase the quality of the performance assessment (Gül, 2013). Task performance requires more cognitive ability compared to extra-role performance (Conway, 1999).
These are;
Task knowledge: Having the necessary knowledge on technical aspects or principles and the ability to perform multiple tasks to ensure job performance,
Task skill: Using the technical knowledge to successfully perform the task without too much supervision.
Task habits: The innate ability to respond to assigned tasks that facilitate or hinder performance.
Studies show that task performance and extra-role performance contribute independently to job performance (Van Scotter, 1994). Both performance dimensions are quite valuable for a company’s struggle to survive and for strengthening individual performance (Stankevičiūtė, 2020). Another important result of these studies is that the subject of extra task performance will be even more important in the coming years.
3. Work Stress
In the literature, work stress emerges as an academic study subject discussed in detail, especially in management and organizational development. It may be useful to focus on the concept of stress itself before passing on to the concept of job stress to make the subject easier to understand. The word “stress” is of Latin origin (Dülgeroğlu & Başol, 2017: p. 295). The word “estrica” was used to express strain, tension and pressure (Serinkan, Kaymakçı, Alişan, & Avcık, 2012). Dr. Hans Selye was the first person to use the concept of stress in the literature and explain this concept. Selye defines stress as changes in a person’s physiology caused by several factors arising from internal and/or external environments (Özdevecioğlu et al., 2003: p. 131). Many different definitions for this concept have been introduced into the literature in different disciplines to this date. It can also be described as a force that causes physical and/or psychological uneasiness or discomfort in people (Gignac & Appelbaum, 1997: s. 22). Another study, on the other hand, describes it as physical, cognitive, and emotional reactions of a person against external dangers they face and events they encounter (Erkutlu, Chafra, & Bumin, 2011: p. 199). Today, people spend most of their time at work life. As a result, work stress may arise from workflow, work processes inevitably, and, human relations (Erdoğan, Ünsar, & Süt, 2009: p. 449). Another definition from the literature explains stress as “any organizational role that produces negative results for the individual” (Devi & Sharma, 2013: s. 172). Work stress arises when a discrepancy occurs between the performance expected from the employee for the employee to perform the role properly and on time, and the employee’s ability and skills to fulfill these expectations (Bhuiana, Menguc, & Borsboom, 2005). Several fundamental problems increase work stress and affect people negatively. These fundamental problems include uncertain job descriptions and roles, too much responsibility with less authority, prejudices in terms of gender, religion, and age (Rosch & Kenneth, 1987: p. 147), unfavorable work relationships, unfair wage policies, violent and humiliating attitudes, namely mobbing, heavy workload, and unfavorable working conditions (Ziauddin, Jam, & Hijazi, 2010: p. 617). Work stress is a phenomenon that is known to be an essential factor in affecting the performance of all employees of an organization. It may consequently result in employee absenteeism, lack of senior staff (Campbell, 1995: p. 22). Work stress may also manifest itself when the work productivity level expected from the employee exceeds the employee’s capacity. The employee may express it with undesirable physical and emotional reactions (Sarıışık, 2008: p. 152). Another work stress approach based on system theory describes work stress as a situation that occurs when the expected motivation, low performance, and the resignation of experienced and competencies such as talent, skills, authority, and time management cannot be met by the employee with personal resources. This unfavorable situation causes the employee to have work stress, as his/her inability to meet the demand creates an obstacle to reach his/her goals in professional life (Efeoğlu & Özgen, 2006). Although it expresses a negative situation, a certain level of stress leads to an increase in job satisfaction and strong organizational loyalty, meeting the work-related demands and expectations of the employees (Moncrief, Babakus, Cravens, & Johnston, 1997: p. 795). If stress can be kept at an acceptable level that does not harm the person psychologically and physiologically, it can be useful for both employees and businesses (Unur, 2011: p. 233), furthermore, as per the need for achievement theory (Atkinson, 1974; McClelland, 1961).
Hence, we hypothesize the following:
H1: Work stress has a significant and positive effect on perceived task performance.
4. Feeling of Entrapment
It is known that different dimensions of the feeling of entrapment have been examined, especially in psychological studies. However, it is also known that it is a field of study that is a part of business life, which is an important part of life, and that concerns the field of organizational behavior. There are different approaches and definitions in the literature regarding the feeling of being trapped. Anderson described entrapment as an embodied experience pivoting between a sense of “being out-of-body” which they described as “a floating sensation”, and “a feeling of being kept in place or smothered” (Anderson-Nathe, 2008: p. 65). Hage, on the other hand, positively interpreted entrapment, as a “demonstration of not giving in to circumstances” (Hage, 2009). In another study, “entrapment” was defined as a specific form of waiting that emphasizes a limit to future-oriented actions (Bissell, Straughan, & Gorman-Murray, 2020). Another study on the feeling of entrapment that stands out in the literature defines entrapment as having a strong desire to escape from an undesirable situation or certain difficulties but feeling that all the ways to avoid or escape from this situation are closed (Gilbert, Alan, Brough, Melley, & Miley, 2002). Cramera et al. have stated that the concept of entrapment focuses on the effect of blocked behaviors, which is particularly associated with chronic, stressful life events (Cramera, Rasmussen, & Tucker, 2019). Under normal conditions, every individual has the will to overcome difficulties by fighting against them. But people may sometimes lose their will to fight under unstable living conditions. In such cases, people may feel empty and helpless. Negative events and experiences coming one after another appear to be an important factor that triggers such negative situations (Uysal, Akın, & Arslan, 2015). As Trachsel et al. emphasized; entrapment is a feeling that emerges when individuals who are defeated or consider themselves defeated want to escape but also feels incapable of doing so (Trachsel, Krieger, Gilbert, & Holtforth, 2010). Being under stress and behaviors that are somehow restricted by internal or external factors are among the factors that trigger the emergence of psychological entrapment. Nevertheless, it should be noted that there may be some chronic causes for the emergence of the sense of entrapment. However, the feeling of entrapment includes mood disorders in which an individual is constantly and inevitably unable to control their circumstances (Taylor, Gooding, Wood, & Tarrier, 2011). Employees face some negative situations as a result of the radical changes in business life, which have emerged especially during the pandemic. Loneliness, social isolation, and entrapment are likely to be associated with each other due to the social and economic consequences of the pandemic, such as curfews and working from home (Holmes, O’Connor, Perry, & Arseneault, 2020).
In a study conducted in recent years, it has been revealed that more than thirty percent of the young population suffers from feelings of entrapment and that more screening for suicidal thoughts is also required (O’Connor et al., 2021: p. 6). It is a known fact that there are many different causes of the feeling of entrapment. In the literature, these causes have been considered as internal and external factors, and scales have been developed for them (Gilbert & Allan, 1998). It is possible to list some of the factors that trigger the feeling of entrapment as follows. Uncertainty, inability to see the future, and mental discomfort and feeling insecure are due to the inability to plan the future. Experiencing situations that develop outside the person’s control, to which they cannot intervene and on the outcomes of which they cannot be effective, and thereby resulting in negative feelings. Having communication issues is due to the problems in getting or accessing the right information or analyzing the information correctly, thereby resulting in a feeling of being at an impasse. Feel pessimistic by moving away from positive thinking and focusing on negative scenarios. Negative emotions are due to being or feeling unable to fulfill one’s obligations. The feeling of inadequacy and alienation is due to the strong and dominant people around you. Feeling stuck due to dissatisfaction with one’s status and inability to see an exit. Feeling trapped by other people. Feeling entrapped, particularly in work life, appears like an issue that can directly affect job satisfaction and task performance. As these concepts show, it appears that the feeling of entrapment will continue to be a hot topic as an intensely studied field also with the effect of the pandemic. Therefore, our second hypothesis formulated as follow:
H2: Entrapment has a significant and adverse effect on perceived task performance.
5. Job Satisfaction
The foundations of the concept of job satisfaction were laid with “Hierarchy of Needs Theory” and “Two-Factor Theory”. Vroom defines it as the emotional reactions of employees to their jobs, to the responsibilities they undertake as part of these jobs, and to their positions. Therefore, employees’ responses that show contentment with the job are indicators of job satisfaction, whereas the responses that express discontentment are indicators of job dissatisfaction. Job satisfaction can also be described as an indicator of the extent to which the job expectations of the employee are met (Weiss, 2002). The positive mental state that the employee has due to a job done successfully indicates job satisfaction, while the negative mental state indicates job dissatisfaction (Spector, Chen, & O’Connell, 2000). Job satisfaction is very important for organizations, as it affects the employees’ perspective, the relationships they build in the workplace, their physical and psychological health, and thus their performance (Özgen & Yalçın, 2010). Job satisfaction is also an important indicator since it shows how well the relationships and hierarchical structure within the organization are established, and to what extent employees embrace the managers. Therefore, job satisfaction is an important indicator also for managers aiming to keep the job satisfaction of employees at a high level. Job satisfaction is essential for organizations, due to its relationship with factors such as organizational citizenship, productivity, job alienation, intention to quit the job, internal conflicts, and occupational accidents. Even though a high level of job satisfaction does not directly increase the performance of employees, it affects the overall performance of the organization due to the motivation, commitment, and other internal changes it brings (BayrakKök, 2006). It is pointed out that being successful, in particular, will also motivate employees who have reached the level of self-realization, to achieve high efficiency (Helvacı & Başaran, 2020). Another important aspect of job satisfaction is its function of preventing job alienation. Employees who experience job alienation isolate themselves from the work and organization, do not feel like members of the organization, and have weaker business networks and friendships. The other two aspects that relate to job satisfaction and that make it important for organizations are absenteeism and intention to quit the job. Studies show that the frequency of absenteeism, intention to quit the job, and the turnover rate of employees with job dissatisfaction are higher than other employees (BayrakKök, 2006). Job dissatisfaction also leads to indiscipline and conflicts among employees (Kahn, 1973). Job dissatisfaction causes distraction, poor concentration, as well as neurological, emotional, and mental problems in employees (Miner, 1992). Factors affecting job satisfaction are examined in two parts: individual and job-related/organizational factors. Individual factors include an employee’s individual and psychological characteristics, personality, education level, expectations, work experience, position, age, gender, marital status, lifestyle, social status, etc. (Özkalp & Kırel, 1996; Glenn, Taylor, & Weaver, 1977; Telman & Ünsal, 2004; García-Bernal, Gargallo-Castel, Marzo-Navarro, & Rivera-Torres, 2005). Job-related and organizational factors are the characteristics and nature of the job, the level of difficulty, the proportionality between the work performed and the wage, the level of self-determination of the employee, autonomy, the ability to participate in decision-making mechanisms within the organization, the opportunity to progress in career and promotions, organizational policies, work conditions, etc. (Özpehlivan, 2018; Nergis & Yılmaz, 2016). As the studies show, job satisfaction is in interaction with many different concepts related to management and organizational behavior. It seems to be a subject that will have more study areas with different concept combinations. However, job satisfaction should mediate the effects of work stress and feeling of entrapment on perceived task performance. Because, the work stress, should decrease the job satisfaction; however, as per need for achievement theory (Atkinson, 1974; McClelland, 1961), work stress increases the perceived task performance. The same should be true for the feeling of entrapment. An increase in the feeling of entrapment should decrease job satisfaction, which in turn decreases perceived task performance (Cuyper, Notelaers, & Witte, 2009). Our following hypotheses are based on the effect of job satisfaction on perceived task performance and its mediating effect in the effects of work stress and entrapment on perceived task performance:
H3: Job satisfaction has a significant and positive effect on perceived task performance.
H4: Job satisfaction mediates the effect of work stress on perceived task performance.
H5: Job satisfaction mediates the effect of entrapment on perceived task performance.
6. Methodology
Our objective in this study is to demonstrate the mechanism of the effect of work stress and feeling of entrapment on the perceived task performance.
Our hypotheses related to our objective are as follow:
H1: Work stress has a significant and positive effect on perceived task performance.
H2: Entrapment has a significant and adverse effect on perceived task performance.
H3: Job satisfaction has a significant and positive effect on perceived task performance.
H4: Job satisfaction mediates the effect of work stress on perceived task performance.
H5: Job satisfaction mediates the effect of entrapment on perceived task performance.
Research Design
1) Measures
The main goal of this study is to assess the effects of work stress and feeling of entrapment on the perceived task performance and the mediating role of job satisfaction. The research model presented in Figure 1 is designed, and the questionnaires from previous studies were used during the research. Four different scales along with the questions to determine participants’ profiles were used to measure the variables in the research model. The work stress scale has nine items that were originally developed by Bruin & Taylor (2005), the Entrapment scale by (Gilbert & Allan, 1998), the task performance scale was developed by Kirkman and Rosen (Kirkman & Rosen, 1999). The job satisfaction scale, which has a total of six items was developed by Salas-Vallina & Vidal (2018).
2) Sampling
The research is carried out with call center agents in Turkey. The total number of call center agents, as of March 2021, is 8642 (TBB, 2021). The call centers managements were contacted by phone, and the questionnaire was sent in the electronic form to two call center management willing to participate, and it was distributed to the call center agents by them. Participation was voluntary, and no names or information that may lead to the disclosure of the identity of the participants were collected. The data collection process of the article was done before 2020. A total of 699 surveys were used. Thirty-six surveys were eliminated due to incomplete or inconsistent answers. The respondents’ profile is given in Table 1.
![]()
Figure 1. Proposed research model (suggested by the author).
3) Measure Validity and Reliability
Internal consistency and reliability along with the convergent validity and discriminant validity were evaluated before the path analysis of the research model. For internal consistency, Cronbach’s Alpha and Composite Reliability (CR) coefficients were examined. For the merger validity, Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and factor loadings were examined. Factor loadings are expected to be equal to or greater than 0.708; Cronbach Alpha and combined reliability coefficients are expected to be equal to or greater than 0.70 (Sarstedt, Hair Jr., Cheah, Becker, & Ringle, 2019), and the AVE value is expected to be equal to or greater than 0.50 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981; Hair et al., 2006; Hair, Sarstedt, Hopkins, & Kuppelwieser, 2014; Sarstedt, Hair Jr., Cheah, Becker, & Ringle, 2019). Cronbach’s Alpha, AVE, and CR values of the final run are presented in Table 2.
![]()
Table 2. Factor loadings, CR and AVE values of scales.
The results show that all constructs have acceptable internal consistency, and it is concluded that convergent validity is provided. The method proposed by Henseler, Ringle, and Sarstedt (2015), which is the heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio of the correlations (Voorhees et al., 2016), is used to assess discriminant validity. The HTMT is defined as the mean value of the item correlations across constructs relative to the geometric mean of the average correlations for the items measuring the same construct. The criteria for HTMT values are that the value should not be more than 0.90 for the constructs that are conceptually very similar and not more than 0.85 for those that are distinct (Henseler, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2015). All the values in the HTMT table obtained were below the threshold (Table 3). VIF values were also assessed, and the highest was observed between Task Performance and Stress (1926 < 3).
Assessment of the research model was performed by evaluating PLS-SEM results (Sarstedt, Hair Jr., Cheah, Becker, & Ringle, 2019). The coefficient of determination (R2) was measured as 0.220, which is greater than 0.010 (Sarstedt, Hair Jr., Cheah, Becker, & Ringle, 2019), and the estimation power coefficients (Q2) calculated for Job Satisfaction and Task Performance are 0.114 and 0.168, respectively, greater than zero (Hair, Sarstedt, Hopkins, & Kuppelwieser, 2014). Hence, it is concluded that the research model is valid.
4) Hypothesis Testing
SmartPLS 3.2.9 statistics software (Ringle, Wende, & Becker, 2015) was used to test the hypotheses by using partial least squares path analysis (PLS-SEM) with the bootstrap resampling method (Chin, 1998). As the first step, direct effects were tested, and the results are reported in Table 4.
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.
As per the results given in Table 4, H1, H2, and H3 hypotheses were supported. Afterward, the mediation path was added to the research model, and the test was repeated. The results are reported in Table 5.
As per the results reported in Table 5, the H4 hypothesis is supported while H5 is not. Multigroup analysis was performed to assess the differences between the groups. Table 6 shows the differences in gender groups and seniority levels.
As per results given in Table 6, work stress and feeling of entrapment on perceived task performance do not change based on gender. However, the effect of job satisfaction on task performance decreases significantly as seniority increases. Table 7 shows the differences between work experience groups. As per the results given in Table 7, the work stress increases the perceived task performance of the third group significantly compared to the first group.
![]()
Table 5. Direct and indirect effects.
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.
![]()
Table 6. Multigroup analysis (gender and seniority).
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.
![]()
Table 7. Multigroup analysis (work experience).
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. Groups: 1: 0 - 3 years; 2: 4 - 9 years; 3: 10 years and above.
7. Discussion, Conclusion and Implications
In recent years, various studies inspired by other disciplines have been seen under organizational sustainability, especially in academic studies on employee engagement and productivity. Organizational sustainability, which is an umbrella concept, is a complex concept that includes many different disciplines. It is known that different concepts and related applications are made in practice, especially in stress-intensive sectors. The concept of being trapped within the scope of the study can also be evaluated as a concept that can be evaluated in this context. This research has been designed, to predict that the concept of a feeling of entrapment, a subject that is studied more in psychology, will be a situation that can also be experienced in business life. Employees who are especially under intense working stress show signs of unrest and unhappiness, due to institutional obligations to be met and individual goals to be achieved. However, it is understood that factors such as disruption of the balance of work and private life, work stress and performance, trigger a feeling of entrapment on employees. This concept, which may have negative implications for institutional sustainability, has been the main topic of this study. According to Tokgöz and Once, companies need to learn a new business model, think about ways to increase their earnings and invest in the future for corporate sustainability (Tokgöz & Once, 2009). In another remarkable study, while Dyllick and Hockerts express corporate sustainability as a mixture of ecological and social sustainability, they also emphasize that institutions should focus on long-term gains rather than short-term gains (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2002). The Call Center sector, which has a high level of stress for this study, has been specifically selected. In the statistical study, data were obtained from 699 employees in different demographic structures. In this study, the impact of concern on perceived task performance and the role of mediation in relation to this effect were examined and some deductions were made specifically for the concept of entrapment. The result of the statistical analysis was determined to have a positive relationship between the concepts examined. In labor and stress-intensive work environments such as a call center, the concepts of job stress, job satisfaction, task performance, and entrapment are examined from a different perspective. As a result of the statistical study, some conclusions were reached. To evaluate the results; stress positively affects task performance while the feeling of entrapment adversely. Furthermore, job satisfaction only mediates the effect of stress on task performance. These results comply with the findings of Akter and Rahman (Akter & Rahman, 2018), and Menkes (Menkes, 2011) but contradict the findings of Ajai and Vijay (Ajay & Vijay, 2018). Akter and Rahman found that family, financial and social stresses have a positive effect on task performance while Ajai and Vijay found that stress decreases performance. Menkes (2011) notes that if the stress is managed well without panic, the adrenaline “helps people to accomplish things that they never would imagine possible”. To the best of our knowledge, no research examines the effect of the feeling of entrapment on task performance in the literature, therefore, this study is the first to examine it. We found that the feeling of entrapment adversely affects task performance on a moderate level (β = −0.369**), but contrary to our expectations, has no effect on job satisfaction. The feeling of entrapment may cause people to give up struggling to achieve the tasks assigned to them and this may reduce their perceived task performance. The most significant contribution of this study to the literature is the demonstration of the effect of the feeling of the entrapment of the task performance. But the reason why it does not affect job satisfaction requires further investigation. This study is expected to contribute to literature, especially in terms of how the concept of feeling of entrapment affects staff. For future research, the reason why the feeling of entrapment does not affect job satisfaction should be investigated. And the mechanism of the effect on task performance also should be revealed. For that purpose, motivation and organizational commitment may be included in the research models as mediators. Furthermore, the effect of the entrapment on perform-organization fit may also be investigated to reveal possible effects on task performance. Limitations of the study; all the data were collected from a single source so the findings may be biased. The participants were asked to evaluate their task performance which is open to biased outcomes.