Occupational Stress in Workers and Managers in Steelworks in China

Occupational stressors and strains of 121 Chinese steelwork employees and 122 managers were measured using the Chinese version of the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI). It was found that factors intrinsic to the job, Type A behavior, logic, and organizational structure and climate were the main predictors of mental ill-health and physical ill-health in managers. Organizational structure and climate and relationships with other people were important predictors for workers. Management processes and organizational forces were the strongest predicting factors of job satisfaction in both samples. On certain OSI scales and subscales, managers scored statistically higher than workers. It is proposed that these results reflect the enormous economic and social changes currently taking place in China, together with certain features inherent in Chinese organizational and managerial processes.     

Social Class Differences and Occupational Stress

This paper examines the findings of a large community-wide survey on occupational stress. Data were collected on a random sample of the general population within the North East of England. A total of 2345 people returned completed questionnaires, which represented all socioeconomic groups. The bivariate results revealed that job satisfaction is significantly greater among the higher socioeconomic groups, but no differences were found in mental and physical (psychosomatic) health among the various socioeconomic groups. The results from a multiple regression analysis provided evidence that the issue of control is significant in predicting greater job satisfaction among all social classes, but not for mental or physical well being.     

The role of coping in the stress-strain relationship among senior police officers

In a large-scale study of senior police officers in Great Britain (Superintendent and Chief Superintendent ranks), the role of coping in the stress-strain relationship was explored. There was no indication of a direct impact of coping on physical well-being nor was there any evidence of a direct effect on job satisfaction, but coping was related to mental health. Coping also exhibited a direct relationship to subjectively perceived job stress. Moreover, coping moderated the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction, but a buffering influence was not observed on the job satisfaction-health linkages. Job satisfaction had a direct impact on both mental and physical ill-health (showing high satisfaction was associated with superior physical and psychological health). Likewise, there was a direct relationship between overall job stress and job satisfaction.     

Occupational stress within a U.K. higher education institution

Occupational stress in a U.K. higher education institution was investigated during a period of considerable organizational change. All employees, including academic, support and manual staff, were invited to participate anonymously in the survey. The results, based on the Occupational Stress Indicator, showed that employees reported significantly poorer mental and physical well-being, and greater job dissatisfaction, than a normative group. The findings suggested that female employees were at greater risk from adverse effects of occupational stress. Predictors of distress and job dissatisfaction were identified. The study concluded that occupational stress is a significant problem, and that further investigation is required in other similar institutions.     

IT企业员工压力源、应对方式与身心健康的相关研究

本研究旨在探索压力源、应对方式与身心健康的关系和作用机制。结果表明：所有压力源和控制型应对方式与身心健康有显著相关;对男性心理健康起预测作用的压力源为人际关系、角色模糊、工作家庭平衡、职业发展,且控制型应对方式在角色模糊与心理健康之间起调节作用;对男性身体健康起预测作用的压力源为工作负荷、角色冲突和控制型应对方式;对女性心理健康起预测作用的压力源为工作家庭平衡,对女性身体健康起预测作用的压力源为工作负荷。     

The relative importance of psychological acceptance and emotional intelligence to workplace well-being

Psychological acceptance (acceptance) and emotional intelligence (EI) are two relatively new individual characteristics that are hypothesised to affect well-being and performance at work. This study compares both of them, in terms of their ability to predict various well-being outcomes (i.e. general mental health, physical well-being, and job satisfaction). In making this comparison, the effects of job control are accounted for; this is a work organisation variable that is consistently associated with occupational health and performance. Results from 290 United Kingdom workers showed that EI did not significantly predict any of the well-being outcomes, after accounting for acceptance and job control. Acceptance predicted general mental health and physical well-being but not job satisfaction, and job control was associated with job satisfaction only. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and applied implications of these findings. These include support for the suggestion that not controlling one's thoughts and feelings (as advocated by acceptance) may have greater benefits for mental well-being than attempting consciously to regulate them (as EI suggests).     

Job Stress and Employee Well-Being Among Airline Personnel in an Asian Developing Country

This study examined the relationship between job stress and employees' well-being in a developing country in Asia. Job stress was operationalized in terms of perceived experiences at jobs which were chronic in nature. Employee well-being was operationalized in terms of organizational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire from 150 employees working in a national carrier in a developing country in Asia. Pearson correlation and moderated multiple regression were used to analyze the data. Job stress was significantly related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Moderated multiple regression did not support the role of gender as a moderator of the stress–outcome relationship.     

The Role of Personality Profiles in the Longitudinal Relationship Between Work-related Well-being and Life Satisfaction Among Working Adults in Switzerland

Drawing on the concept of spillover between work and life domains and using a person-centred approach, the present study examined the role of Big Five personality trait profiles in moderating the relationship between work-related well-being and life satisfaction over a 1-year period in a sample of working adults in Switzerland (N = 1204). Latent profile analysis was first carried out to derive and compare alternative latent personality profile models. Subsequently, a two-wave cross-lagged structural equation model using three personality profiles (resilient, average, and oversensitive) as moderators was tested. Work stress and job satisfaction were used as negative and positive indicators of work-related well-being. The results showed that in the overall sample, only Time 1 life satisfaction predicted Time 2 job satisfaction. We found a moderating role for the personality profiles, where the effect of Time 1 work stress on Time 2 life satisfaction became salient in the oversensitive profile, while a significant effect of Time 1 life satisfaction on Time 2 work stress was found in the resilient profile. The current study showed that different combinations of personality traits may determine the way in which work-related well-being and general well-being relate to each other. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

The Influence of Language Form and Conventional Wording on Judgments of Illness

Prior research indicates that category labels influence category judgments, but little is known regarding the effects for familiar categories with significant social consequences. The present studies address this issue by examining the effect of linguistic form on judgments of illnesses. Both mental and physical illnesses were presented in each of three linguistic forms: noun, adjective, and possessive phrase. In Study 1, participants were asked to judge the permanence of a set of novel illnesses that differed in wording (e.g., “He is a baxtermic”; “He is baxtermic”; “He has baxtermia”). In Studies 2 and 3, participants were asked to judge which forms of wording were most familiar for actual mental illnesses (e.g., schizophrenia) and physical illnesses (e.g., diabetes). In Study 4, participants were asked to judge the permanence of a set of familiar illnesses that differed in wording. The results indicated that for novel illnesses, nouns (“is a”) imply greatest permanence and possessive nouns (“has”) imply least permanence. However, for familiar illnesses, permanence judgments are also influenced by how frequently each form appears in ordinary language use. Mental illnesses are more often expressed with relatively permanent forms (“is” and “is a”) , whereas physical illnesses are more often expressed with relatively transient forms (“has”). The results demonstrate the importance of both linguistic form and conventional wording patterns on how categories are interpreted.     

The role of appraisal-related beliefs in psychological well-being and physical symptom reporting

Pharmacy workers from a large United Kingdom public hospital participated in a daily diary study (n = 32, number of responses = 204) to explore if daily beliefs about high work demands' influence on affect and goals were associated with daily affective well-being, job satisfaction, and reports of physical symptoms. After completion of an initial questionnaire, participants were required to complete the diary twice daily, before and after work, over a 2 week period. Measures of daily affective well-being and job satisfaction after work were associated with beliefs concerning work demands' influence on both goals and affect. Measures of physical symptoms after work were not associated with beliefs concerning work demands' influence on goals or affect.     

Validity of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale Within a Forensic Inpatient Hospital

Although the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale(BPRS) has been utilized across several clinical settings, its potential utility within forensic psychiatric hospitals has not yet been investigated. Given the diversity of training and background among correctional mental health workers (i.e., psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, recreation therapists, psychologists, social workers,etc.) it is possible that the uniform use of the BPRS among the correctional staff would require extensive training and that substantial “refresher” training may be required to maintain the integrity of rater practices. The present study examined the ability of previously trained forensic mental health professionals to accurately assess psychopathology using the BPRS. Overall,experienced raters demonstrated relatively high concordance rates with “gold standard” ratings across three BPRS training videos (Case 1, Case2 and Case 3). No overall “rater drift” was apparent. However, raters were found to make significantly more errors when rating behavioral observation ratings than for ratings based on self-report patient statements. Findings suggest that ratings done by forensic mental health workers are relatively accurate when compared to “gold standard” ratings established for assessment of community and forensic psychiatric patients. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An examination of gender differences for job satisfaction,mental health,and occupational stress among senior U. K. civil servants

This study found that gender differences exist within senior U.K. civil servants. Females within the civil service were significantly more job dissatisfied, and suffered from poorer mental and physical ill health. They also showed more concern about their role at work, the factors associated with their particular job, the job's relationship to the home environment, and the constraints of the job. Males were more affected by how much control they felt they had at work, and by their hard-driving and achievement oriented behavior.     

What Makes People Happy? Some Evidence from Northern Ireland

Using data on over 3000 individuals in Northern Ireland, this paper conducts an econometric investigation into what makes people happy. It draws a distinction between “objective” (income, marital status) and “subjective” (satisfaction with one’s standard of living (SoL); money worries; experience of poverty) factors determining happiness. In so doing, it takes a broader view of “economic status” than one defined solely by income: occupational class, mortgage status, financial worries, rural/urban residence, poverty experience, and, of course, income coalesce to form this, more complex, concept of economic status. Juxtaposed against this, is the concept of “context-free” and “context-specific” well-being. A particular example of the latter is the degree of satisfaction with one’s SoL and an important point of focus of the paper is the relationship between SoL satisfaction and happiness. A complementary point of focus is an analysis of the determinants of context-free and context-specific well-being. The paper also examines the effects of non-economic factors on happiness in particular on specific aspects of the ill-health of respondents and upon the quality of the areas in which they live. Having analysed these effects, it places a money value on each of the diversity of effects that act upon a person’s level of happiness.The analysis in this paper is based on the Poverty and Social Exclusion in Northern Ireland (PSENI) Project’s data and I am grateful to the Project leaders – Paddy Hillyard, Eithne McLaughlin and Mike Tomlinson – for permission to use these data. Thanks are due to Andrew Oswald, to one of the Editors of JOHS, and to two anonymous referees for their valuable comments. Needless to say, the usual disclaimer applies.     

Organizational identification as a trigger for personal well-being: Associations with happiness and stress through job outcomes

Recent literature highlights that well-being, happiness, as well as personal stress, has become important for guiding public policy in areas that might involve suboptimal behaviour. Positive life outcomes can extend from one field of life (family, work, sport, children, hobbies, etc.) to another, multiplying success, performance, and health. In the present study, we aimed to verify whether the positive relation between organizational identification and employees' experiences then extends also into a positive association with more general well-being that is unrelated to the work context. For this purpose, we considered two proxies of organizational well-being: job satisfaction (on the positive side) and turnover intention (on the negative side) as well as the distal associations with happiness. The study involved 305 workers who completed a questionnaire made up of five scales: organization identification, job satisfaction, turnover intention, happiness, and personal stress. We found that organizational identification is positively related to employees' job satisfaction and negatively related to their intention to leave. Afterwards, job satisfaction and turnover intention were related to personal stress and happiness, suggesting a positive effect of organizational identification above and beyond the work context.     

Differential incidence of procrastination between blue and white-collar workers

The present study compared chronic procrastination tendencies claimed by “whitecollar” working adults (n = 141) with rates reported by Harriott and Ferrari ( 1996) of “blue-collar” working adults (n - 211). Participants completed reliable and valid measures of everyday procrastination tendencies (decisional, arousal, and avoidant), and socio-demographic items at one of several public forums. Results showed no significant difference between classes of working adults on age, gender, marital status, or the number of children, although “white-collar” workers claimed higher levels of education than “blue-collar” workers. “White-collar” workers also reported significantly higher scores on all three forms of chronic procrastination than “blue-collar” workers. It seems that professional employees report procrastination more frequently than unskilled workers. Further research is needed to explore the causes and consequences associated with differences in chronic procrastination by occupational group.     

A Person-Centered Approach to Subjective Well-Being

Rooted in Diener’s (Psychol Bull 95:542–575, 1984) three-component model of subjective well-being (SWB), the present work employed a person-centered approach to studying SWB based on Shmotkin’s (Rev Gen Psychol 9:291–325, 2005) dynamic systems framework. Within-individual configurations of life satisfaction (LS), positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) were explored using cluster analysis. Five distinct SWB configurations replicated within and across two samples (N = 756 first-year undergraduates; N = 550 community adults). A substantial number of participants reported a profile indicative of “high SWB” (high LS, frequent PA, infrequent NA). Consistent with expectations, these individuals were characterized by elevated mental, physical, and interpersonal functioning. In contrast, people with a “low SWB” profile reported the greatest dysfunction. Across the five clusters, however, adaptive functioning was not unique to individuals reporting a high SWB profile, nor was dysfunction unique to people characterized by a low SWB configuration. Results are discussed in terms of compensation and strain processes hypothesized by Shmotkin (2005). Implications for future research on SWB are considered.

Differential incidence of procrastination between blue and white-collar workers

The present study compared chronic procrastination tendencies claimed by “whitecollar” working adults (n = 141) with rates reported by Harriott and Ferrari ( 1996) of “blue-collar” working adults (n - 211). Participants completed reliable and valid measures of everyday procrastination tendencies (decisional, arousal, and avoidant), and socio-demographic items at one of several public forums. Results showed no significant difference between classes of working adults on age, gender, marital status, or the number of children, although “white-collar” workers claimed higher levels of education than “blue-collar” workers. “White-collar” workers also reported significantly higher scores on all three forms of chronic procrastination than “blue-collar” workers. It seems that professional employees report procrastination more frequently than unskilled workers. Further research is needed to explore the causes and consequences associated with differences in chronic procrastination by occupational group.     

Testing the buffering hypothesis: Perceptions of coach support and pre-competitive anxiety among male and female high school athletes

Research suggests that social support moderates or “buffers” the impact of stress on the individual and thus indirectly affects emotional well-being (Cohen and Wills, 1985). The present study sought to extend the “buffering hypothesis” to competitive sport by examining the influence of perceived coach support on competitive state anxiety among young athletes (N = 270). Results from confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) substantiated the validity of the sport-modified Social Provisions Scale (Russell and Cutrona, 1984; Ryska and Yin, 1994). Structural equation modeling analyses revealed a significant support-anxiety effect in the high trait-anxious model only (r =-.27, p .05). The present results suggest that perceived coach support represents an important mediating factor in the sport stress process among highly anxious athletes.     

Testing the buffering hypothesis: Perceptions of coach support and pre-competitive anxiety among male and female high school athletes

Research suggests that social support moderates or “buffers” the impact of stress on the individual and thus indirectly affects emotional well-being (Cohen and Wills, 1985). The present study sought to extend the “buffering hypothesis” to competitive sport by examining the influence of perceived coach support on competitive state anxiety among young athletes (N = 270). Results from confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) substantiated the validity of the sport-modified Social Provisions Scale (Russell and Cutrona, 1984; Ryska and Yin, 1994). Structural equation modeling analyses revealed a significant support-anxiety effect in the high trait-anxious model only (r =-.27, p .05). The present results suggest that perceived coach support represents an important mediating factor in the sport stress process among highly anxious athletes.     

Differences in occupational stress in three European countries

In this study, the reliabilities of the Dutch translation of the Occupational Stress Inventory, which is based on the theory of Cooper (Cooper & Marshall, 1976), was investigated. The sample comprised 436 nurses. A comparison is made of the individual and job satisfaction stress levels of Dutch and British nurses (N = 546), and of British managers (N =123) and German managers (N =133). The differences in the reliabilities of the Dutch version, compared to the British and German, are small. The differences between the stress and satisfaction scores are found to be greater between occupational groups than between nations.