Occupational Stress Scale – OSS
Measures the frequency with which employees are bothered by stressful occurrences across five occupational dimensions.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Occupational Stress Scale – OSS was developed by House, J. S., McMichael, A. J., Wells, J. A., Kaplan, B. H., & Landerman, R. (1979). It is designed to measure Occupational Stress. The scale is intended for use with Working adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 15 items organized into 5 factors/subscales: Responsibility Pressure, Quality Concerns, Role Conflict, Job vs. Non-Job Conflict, Workload.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Responsibility Pressure | 1,2,3 | 3 |
| Quality Concerns | 4,5,6 | 3 |
| Role Conflict | 7,8,9 | 3 |
| Job vs. Non-Job Conflict | 10,11,12 | 3 |
| Workload | 13,14,15 | 3 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 0 = Not at all / Never, 1 = Rarely, 2 = Sometimes, 3 = Rather often / Fairly often, 4 = Nearly all the time / Very often.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 0 to 12. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Subscale Stress: 0 – 3
- Moderate Subscale Stress: 4 – 8
- High Subscale Stress: 9 – 12
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Alpha values: Responsibility pressure (.59-.76), Job vs. non-job conflict (.56-.76), Quality concerns (.72), Role conflict (.70), Workload (.73).
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.