Looks at the possible association between spare time use andpsychological wellbeing in a longitudinal investigation of young peoplewho were studied from 1980 (when they were still…
Abstract
Looks at the possible association between spare time use and psychological wellbeing in a longitudinal investigation of young people who were studied from 1980 (when they were still at school) to 1988 (when they were in the workforce). In those who were unemployed or dissatisfied with their jobs, spare time spent in solitary, aimless activities was negatively associated with psychological wellbeing, whereas spare time spent in purposeful activities, particularly those involving other people, was positively associated with psychological wellbeing. No such associations were observed in those who were employed in jobs they saw as satisfactory, or in any of the groups while they were still at school. Discusses the implications for counselling dissatisfied young workers and the young unemployed.
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Arnold B. Bakker, Carolyn M. Boyd, Maureen Dollard, Nicole Gillespie, Anthony H. Winefield and Con Stough
The central aim of this study is to incorporate two core personality factors (neuroticism and extroversion) in the job demands‐resources (JD‐R) model.
Abstract
Purpose
The central aim of this study is to incorporate two core personality factors (neuroticism and extroversion) in the job demands‐resources (JD‐R) model.
Design/methodology/approach
It was hypothesized that neuroticism would be most strongly related to the health impairment process, and that extroversion would be most strongly related to the motivational process. The hypotheses were tested in a sample of 3,753 Australian academics, who filled out a questionnaire including job demands and resources, personality, health indicators, and commitment.
Findings
Results were generally in line with predictions. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that job demands predicted health impairment, while job resources predicted organizational commitment. Also, neuroticism predicted health impairment, both directly and indirectly through its effect on job demands, while extroversion predicted organizational commitment, both directly and indirectly through its effect on job resources.
Research limitations/implications
These findings demonstrate the capacity of the JD‐R model to integrate work environment and individual perspectives within a single model of occupational wellbeing.
Practical implications
The study shows that working conditions are related to health and commitment, also after controlling for personality. This suggests that workplace interventions can be used to take care of employee wellbeing.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature by integrating personality in the JD‐R model, and shows how an expanded model explains employee wellbeing.
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Moira Jenkins, Helen Winefield and Aspa Sarris
The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of accused bullies in terms of their experiences of fairness in the manner in which the complaint against them was managed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of accused bullies in terms of their experiences of fairness in the manner in which the complaint against them was managed, and examine the subsequent health and career ramifications of being accused of workplace bullying.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory study was carried out through a mixed methodology: 30 managers who had been accused of workplace bullying completed a survey about their experiences, and 24 of these participants were interviewed. A thematic analysis of the interview data was undertaken.
Findings
A number of themes emerged from the analysis including negative psychological health outcomes for accused bullies in terms of depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress, and suicidal ideation. Other dominant themes were the poor perceptions of justice in the way in which the investigations were carried out, negative career consequences, and exit from the organization, whether the accusations of bullying were substantiated or not. Loss of confidence in the participants' managerial abilities and roles also emerged as a significant ramification for a number of the accused bullies.
Research limitations/implications
Despite the methodological limitations of such exploratory research, this study highlights the importance of organizations adhering to the principles of organizational justice when addressing workplace bullying complaints, including recognising the potential health consequences of a bullying investigation for the accused perpetrators as well as for the bullying victims.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies that examine workplace bullying from the perception of the accused bully and, as such, breaks a long tradition of workplace bullying research being informed only through victims' accounts of workplace bullying,
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Aleksandra Pop‐Vasileva, Kevin Baird and Bill Blair
The purpose of this paper is to examine the work‐related attitudes (job satisfaction, job stress and the propensity to remain) of Australian academics and their association with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the work‐related attitudes (job satisfaction, job stress and the propensity to remain) of Australian academics and their association with organisational, institutional and demographic factors.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected by distributing a survey questionnaire to 750 academics, from 37 Australian universities.
Findings
The results indicate a moderately low level of job satisfaction, moderately high level of job stress, and high propensity to remain. The findings reveal that the organisational factors (management style, perceived organisational support, and the characteristics of the performance management system) exhibited the most significant association with academic work‐related attitudes, with the only significant institutional factor, the declining ability of students, negatively impacting on job satisfaction and job stress. The findings revealed that work‐related attitudes differ, based on discipline, with science academics found to be more stressed and less satisfied than accounting academics. Different organisational and institutional factors were associated with the work‐related attitudes of academics from these two disciplines.
Practical implications
The findings will make university management aware of the work‐related attitudes of staff, and the factors that are associated with such attitudes, thereby assisting management in developing management policies, and taking appropriate action to address the concerns of staff.
Originality/value
The study provides an initial comparison of the work‐related attitudes (job satisfaction, job stress, and propensity to remain) of Australian academics across the accounting and science disciplines. The study also provides an important insight into the association between specific organisational and institutional factors, with the work‐related attitudes of Australian academics across both disciplines.
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Andrea Bickerdike, Joan Dinneen and Cian O' Neill
Due to the international paucity of empirical evidence, this study aimed to investigate the health metrics and lifestyle behaviours of a staff cohort in a higher education…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to the international paucity of empirical evidence, this study aimed to investigate the health metrics and lifestyle behaviours of a staff cohort in a higher education institution (HEI) in Ireland.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 279 (16.4% response rate) HEI staff (academic, management, clerical/support), via a web-based health questionnaire that incorporated validated measures such as the Mental Health Index-5, Energy and Vitality Index, Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (short form) and the AUDIT-C drinking subscale. A cluster analytical procedure was used to examine the presence of distinct clusters of individuals exhibiting either optimal or sub-optimal health behaviours.
Findings
A multitude of concerning patterns were identified including poor anthropometric profiles (64.4% of males overweight/obese), excessive occupational sitting time (67.8% of females sitting for = 4 h per day), hazardous drinking among younger staff (38.2% of 18–34 year olds), sub-optimal sleep duration on weeknights (82.2% less than 8 h), less favourable mean psychometric indices than the general Irish population, and insufficient fruit and vegetable intake (62.1% reporting <5 daily servings). Cluster analysis revealed “Healthy lifestyle” individuals exhibited significantly lower BMI values, lower stress levels and reported fewer days absent from work compared to those with a “Sub-optimal lifestyle”.
Originality/value
In contrast to the abundance of research pertaining to student cohorts, the current study is the first to examine the clustering of health-related variables in a cohort of HEI staff in Ireland. Findings will be used to inform policy at the host institution and will be of broader interest to higher education stakeholders elsewhere. Future longitudinal studies are required to monitor the health challenges experienced by this influential, yet under-researched cohort.
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Jason Kain and Steve Jex
Karasek's (1979) job demands-control model is one of the most widely studied models of occupational stress (de Lange, Taris, Kompier, Houtman, & Bongers, 2003). The key idea…
Abstract
Karasek's (1979) job demands-control model is one of the most widely studied models of occupational stress (de Lange, Taris, Kompier, Houtman, & Bongers, 2003). The key idea behind the job demands-control model is that control buffers the impact of job demands on strain and can help enhance employees’ job satisfaction with the opportunity to engage in challenging tasks and learn new skills (Karasek, 1979). Most research on the job demands-control has been inconsistent (de Lange et al., 2003; Van Der Deof & Maes, 1999), and the main reasons cited for this inconsistency are that different variables have been used to measure demands, control, and strain, not enough longitudinal research has been done, and the model does not take workers’ individual characteristics into account (Van Der Deof & Maes, 1999). To address these concerns, expansions have been made on the model such as integrating resources, self-efficacy, active coping, and social support into the model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001b; Johnson & Hall, 1988; Demerouti, Bakker, de Jonge, Janssen, & Schaufeli, 2001a; Landsbergis, Schnall, Deitz, Friedman, & Pickering, 1992). However, researchers have only been partially successful, and therefore, to continue reducing inconstencies, we recommend using longitudinal designs, both objective and subjective measures, a higher sample size, and a careful consideration of the types of demands and control that best match each other theoretically.
This study seeks to examine the contents and the nature of the academic psychological contract. It aims to explore to what extent the contract has been fulfilled and the impact of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to examine the contents and the nature of the academic psychological contract. It aims to explore to what extent the contract has been fulfilled and the impact of demographic variables on the contract and its fulfilment.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for the study were collected through a survey of 280 academic staff of a middle‐ranked Australian university. To identify the contents of the academic psychological contract, three focus groups, each comprising eight academic staff, were conducted in three schools. The ordered probit model was employed to explore the impacts of various demographic variables.
Findings
The elements of the academic psychological contract to a certain extent differ from that of the contracts of other professions. Also, the academic psychological contract is more transactional than relational in character. Overall, the academic psychological contract has been fulfilled at the low level.
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes to the debate on the different interpretation of employer obligations and their fulfilment between research‐oriented and teaching‐oriented academics. Exploring the psychological contract from both employee and employer perspectives will assist in the understanding of mutual expectations. Further research should involve a wide range of universities and make comparisons across national boundaries.
Practical implications
Some items, such as ensuring a safe workplace, the provision of adequate resources to do work, the provision of equal and competitive pay, fair promotion, consultation and recognition of skills and talents, ranked considerably higher than others and should, therefore, be given priority over others. More support should be provided to young, research‐oriented academics who are enthusiastic about research, but mobile and marketable in order to develop university sustainability.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature by arguing that the contents and the perceived significance of the academic psychological contract are to a certain extent different from those of the contracts in other sectors.
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E. Carson, R. Ranzijn, A. Winefield and H. Marsden
This paper aims to extend the understanding of human and structural capital as key components of intellectual capital by refining their definitions and outlining their…
Abstract
This paper aims to extend the understanding of human and structural capital as key components of intellectual capital by refining their definitions and outlining their relationships. It argues that psychology and sociology can further develop the understanding of intellectual capital despite having not previously been sufficiently recognised as relevant to the debate. The paper draws on these disciplinary areas to develop a model that specifies subsets of human and structural capital, of intellectual capital and the relationship between them, as a basis for a more comprehensive definition and effective measurement of it across a range of industries and firms. Finally, it argues that it is important for employers to determine how to capture human capital and convert it into structural capital so that it is not lost in times of rapid restructuring and high staff turnover.
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Toon W. Taris and Michiel A.J. Kompier
This chapter examines employee learning behavior as a function of work characteristics. Karasek’s Demand-Control (DC) model proposes that high job demands and high job control are…
Abstract
This chapter examines employee learning behavior as a function of work characteristics. Karasek’s Demand-Control (DC) model proposes that high job demands and high job control are conducive to employee learning behavior. A review of 18 studies revealed that whereas most of these supported these predictions, methodological and conceptual shortcomings necessitate further study. Perhaps the most important weakness of the DC-based research on learning is that the conceptual foundations of the DC model regarding employee learning behavior are quite rudimentary, while the role of interpersonal differences in the learning process is largely neglected. The second part of this chapter explores the relationship between work characteristics and learning behavior from the perspective of German Action Theory (AT). AT explicitly discusses how work characteristics affect learning behavior and assigns a role to interpersonal differences. We conclude by presenting a model that integrates action-theoretical insights on learning with DC-based empirical results.