Department of Work Environment
University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) is a questionnaire-based instrument designed to measure the «content» of a respondent’s work tasks in a general manner which is applicable to all jobs and jobholders in the U.S. The best-known scales–(a) decision latitude, (b) psychological demands, and (c) social support–are used to measure the high-demand/low-control/low-support model of job strain development. The demand/control model predicts, first, stress-related risk and, second, active-passive behavioral correlates of jobs. Other aspects of work demands are assessed as well: (d) physical demands and (e) job insecurity. The instrument has a recommended length of 49 questions. No personality scales or measures of non-job stressors are included; two areas in which the user may want to supplement our instrument.
