Johansson: Workplace Stress

Question 1

Method?

Answer 1

Quasi experiment where workers were defined as being at high risk of stress or in a control group

Question 2

PPs?

Answer 2

24 Swedish sawmill workers

• 14 high risk working at a set pace
• 10 control group working as cleaners

Question 3

Procedure?

Answer 3

• Levels of stress-related hormones (adrenaline and non-adrenaline) in urine were measured
• records kept of stress-related illness and absenteeism
• self-reports about mood and alertness and caffeine and nicotine consumption measured

Question 4

Results?

Answer 4

• 14 finishers secreted more stress hormones on work days than on test days+higher levels than control group
• high-risk group significantly higher levels of stress-related illness such as headaches and higher levels of absenteeism

Question 5

Conclusions?

Answer 5

-combination of work stressors-especially repetitiveness, machine pace and responsibility-lead to chronic physiological arousal.

Question 6

Strengths?

Answer 6

• concurrent validity as physiological+psychological measures
• triangulation= 2 measures
• urine samples reliable+objective which supports psychology as a science

Question 7

Weaknesses?

Answer 7

• self-report= social desirability
• ethnocentric
• urine samples don’t show cause+effect

Question 8

Aim?

Answer 8

To investigate whether work stressors such as repetitiveness, machine-regulated pace of work and high levels of responsibility increase stress-related physiological arousal and stress related illness.