Demand-Control Model
topic
The Karasek demand-control model identifies two primary occupational stress dimensions: psychological demands (pace, difficulty, and conflicting demands of work) and decision latitude (control over how work is done and skill discretion). High-strain jobs (high demands, low control) produce the highest chronic stress and disease burden; active jobs (high demands, high control) produce challenge and growth; passive jobs (low demands, low control) produce skill atrophy; and low-strain jobs (low demands, high control) produce the lowest occupational stress.
Role
The demand-control model explains one of the most counterintuitive features of occupational stress: that objective workload is less predictive of stress-related disease than the combination of high workload with low control — with some of the most objectively demanding professions (surgeons, senior executives with high autonomy) showing lower stress-related disease than less demanding roles with lower control (administrative workers, assembly line workers). This insight shifts organizational stress intervention from reducing demands (often organizationally unacceptable) to increasing autonomy, decision latitude, and skill discretion — changes that reduce disease risk without necessarily reducing productivity.