Social support and faculty work performance within the job demands resources model | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Social support and faculty work performance within the job demands resources model Midya Yousefi, Jun Zhang, Junjian Gao This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9025441/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Social support in academia involves interactions among staff to achieve shared goals aligned with the university’s mission. It functions through either a direct model (Social Support-Stress Effect) or a buffering model, which mitigates stress’s negative impact. However, consistent evidence for the buffering model in higher education remains limited. This cross-sectional quantitative study used the JD-R model to examine co-worker support as a buffer between faculty stressors and work performance in Malaysian research universities. SEM (PLS) analyses revealed that (1) increased role stressors (ambiguity and conflict) were linked to decreased faculty performance, and (2) perceived peer support buffered the negative impact of role conflict on academic performance, including teaching and research. Promoting peer support can reduce academic stress and enhance performance. Educational leaders must invest in support mechanisms, such as peer groups and communication training, to foster a culture of mutual respect that encourages innovation and resilience in academic communities. Social support Work Performance Job Stress JD-R Model PLS-SEM Research Universities Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 04 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 27 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 23 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 19 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 14 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 26 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 21 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 20 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 20 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9025441","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":625779841,"identity":"4ab63036-e907-4e52-a0d6-2b5ab5e05396","order_by":0,"name":"Midya Yousefi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAw0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYPACOR5+HgiLsYFILcY8kj2kamEwOEOsFt0Zycckf1QYyBifOXzwcwGDjeyGAwS0mN1IS5PmOWPAY3a2LVl6BkOaMRFacsykGdv+8Jid5zGQ5mE4nEiUFsmf/wx4jPv5P//mYfhPnBYJ3gYDHgPeHjagLQeI0HLmWbI1zzEDHokzx8yseQySjWcS1HI8+eDNHzUG9vw9yY9v81TYyfYR0sIgkIDMMyCkHAT4CRo6CkbBKBgFIx4AABTpPxP4t603AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Wenzhou-Kean University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Midya","middleName":"","lastName":"Yousefi","suffix":""},{"id":625779842,"identity":"30288a57-4e46-4782-a384-b932012cc926","order_by":1,"name":"Jun Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Dongbei University of Finance and Economics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jun","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":625779843,"identity":"2328a535-32d4-41d2-b99f-80dba0dc0464","order_by":2,"name":"Junjian Gao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Wenzhou-Kean University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Junjian","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-04 03:53:57","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9025441/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9025441/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107487570,"identity":"daceeb48-4a00-4595-83f4-e19a980befe7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-22 02:42:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":559100,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"File1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9025441/v1_covered_eea7b5f6-cd0e-4285-b868-beb4efe3718b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Social support and faculty work performance within the job demands resources model","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"discover-education","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"diedu","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Education](https://www.springer.com/journal/44217)","snPcode":"44217","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44217/3","title":"Discover Education","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Social support, Work Performance, Job Stress, JD-R Model, PLS-SEM, Research Universities","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9025441/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9025441/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSocial support in academia involves interactions among staff to achieve shared goals aligned with the university\u0026rsquo;s mission. It functions through either a direct model (Social Support-Stress Effect) or a buffering model, which mitigates stress\u0026rsquo;s negative impact. However, consistent evidence for the buffering model in higher education remains limited. This cross-sectional quantitative study used the JD-R model to examine co-worker support as a buffer between faculty stressors and work performance in Malaysian research universities. SEM (PLS) analyses revealed that (1) increased role stressors (ambiguity and conflict) were linked to decreased faculty performance, and (2) perceived peer support buffered the negative impact of role conflict on academic performance, including teaching and research. Promoting peer support can reduce academic stress and enhance performance. Educational leaders must invest in support mechanisms, such as peer groups and communication training, to foster a culture of mutual respect that encourages innovation and resilience in academic communities.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Social support and faculty work performance within the job demands resources model","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-21 15:31:24","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9025441/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-05-04T16:46:40+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-27T14:31:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-23T22:05:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-19T17:00:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"186787071172889275595353495890532548337","date":"2026-04-18T05:41:07+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"195969174548240938370999441328158279694","date":"2026-04-17T11:27:42+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"83110864831986210034740790560504714634","date":"2026-04-15T11:14:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"298088215381075940301937703635021900846","date":"2026-04-14T10:27:19+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-14T08:52:13+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-03-26T19:39:44+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-03-21T07:02:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-03-20T16:07:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Discover Education","date":"2026-03-20T16:01:07+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"discover-education","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"diedu","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Education](https://www.springer.com/journal/44217)","snPcode":"44217","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44217/3","title":"Discover Education","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"7ca645a1-f343-472a-a6a5-df6547abf328","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 21st, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-05-04T16:46:40+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-14T18:23:16+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-21 15:31:24","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9025441","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9025441","identity":"rs-9025441","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}
Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below.
Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure
cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can
have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy
(via DOI)
is the canonical version.