Lecture 1: Introduction Flashcards
Occupational health psychology
Focuses on creating healthy workplaces in which people produce, serve, grow and are valued. People are able to use their talents and gifts to achieve high performance, high satisfaction and well-being. Can help prevent occupational illness, injury and promote health and wellbeing.
Psychosocial hazards
those aspects of work design and the organization and management of work, and their social and organizational contexts, which have the potential for causing psychological, social or physical harm. It is associated with internationalization and increased global competition, evolution of info and communication technologies and changes to the workforce.
What are the emerging psychosocial risks?
- new forms of employment contracts and job insecurity;
- the ageing workforce;
- work intensification;
- high emotional demands at work;
- poor work–life balance.
European definition of OHP by EAOHP
the contribution of applied psychology to occupational health. Located on the interface btw OH and psychology, seen as a multidisciplinary area
How does the North American definition differ to the European one?
The European one focusses on procedures, practices and methodologies while the NA definition looks at psychological perspectives. It is defined as inclusive of knowledge and methods from psychology, public/occupational health, organizational studies, human factors, and allied fields (such as occupational sociology, industrial engineering, economics, and others)
Characteristics which define the discipline?
(a) an applied science, (b) evidence driven, (c) oriented towards
problem solving, (d) multidisciplinary, (e) participatory, (f) focused on intervention,
with an emphasis on primary prevention
Primary prevention
Primary interventions for the improvement of occupational
health are targeted at the source of problems, i.e., the design,
management, and organization of work. These contrast with secondary interventions that focus on workers’ responses by bolstering coping resources, and tertiary interventions that centre on effects/outcomes through
the provision of remedial support.
What are the 3 contrasting approaches for drawing conclusions on topic areas in OHP?
Scrutiny of existing curricula (includes surveys of occupational safety and health, job stress theory, risk factors, physical + psychological health, org interventions and research methods)
Published research themes (work-related stress and negative workplace experiences are popular themes, others are less popular like positive perspectives)
Expert surveys
Most prioritized OHP-related issues
common mental health problems, the use of government guidance
on the management of work-related stress, the identification of emerging risks, planning for major events (e.g., pandemics), work-related driving, work-life
balance, immigrant and migrant workers, and non-standard workplaces (e.g., flexiwork, telework). Core 5 issues: interventions to promote health, organizational research methods, design of the psychosocial work
environment, stress theory, and stress interventions.
What do OHP practitioners do?
- OHP practitioners review, evaluate, and analyze work environments.
- They design programs and procedures to promote worker health and reduce stress caused by psychological, organizational, and social factors
- Possible responsibilities include policy planning, employee screening, training, audit and evaluation, and crafting interventions that are evidence based.
European Developments in OHP
- Developed interventions for workers during wartime which improved health and physical conditions, introduced welfare supervisors
- Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 reduced prevalence of diseases and injuries
- Psychosocial research in Nordic countries improved the field
North American developments
- established SOHP
- field of economic psychology-> Munsterberg
- anxieties about implications of developments for the health of workers-> Occupational Safety and Health Act
- NOISH looked into research and demonstrations relating to occupational safety and health (Sauter)
- Psychosocial questions were integrated into the quality of employment survey
- Work in America: psychosocial hazards and primary prevention
European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EAOHP)
Institution to bring together, support those concerned for research, teaching and practice related to psychological, social and organizational issues in occupational health. Registered as a charity. Had conferences around the world, give fellowships for exceptional research, practice and activities and prizes given. Academy associated with journal work and stress which was awarded the best paper prize
Society for Occupational Health Psychology
Promotes and encourages psychological research on theoretical and practical questions related to occupational health. Was established in the US. Linked to the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
Motivation
This is what moves people to action. Shaped by intersecting cultures, gender, race, class etc.
Cultures
Systems of ideas, interactions, institutions that guide the actions of individuals
How do cultural differences shape motivation?
In the West and WEIRD samples: stem from inside the person due to intrinsic forces to belong, enhance self-esteem, achieve and maintain cognitive consistency. Regulatory forces like incentives reduce agency.
Non-weird contexts: motivation emerges from relationships, obligations and culturally inscribed norms. This results in behavioural regulation to adjust behaviour
What are models of agency?
Independent: when a person is autonomous which is a culturally grounded idea in europe. Good behaviour is seen as acting autonomously, feeling in control and determining your own outcomes.
Interdependent: being connected, flexible, committed, defined by relationships. Good behaviour is maintaining relationships, accommodating needs of others
What else can cause differences in agency?
Contexts divided by social class and race, or that vary in resources. Having access to resources fosters independent agency. Working class contexts involve less resources which promotes interdependent agency. Different roots compared to Asian interdependence but shared emphasis on regulation by others.
What happened when universities were framed as independent compared to interdependent?
When represented as interdependent, academic tasks were seen as less difficult, students were less stressed and performance improved
What was found with models of agency when studying Hurricane Katrina?
Those who left the storm described actions in terms of preferences, choices and personal control. Those who stayed lacked the resources to evacuate, described actions in connecting with others, staying strong, caring for others etc. Observers and first responders described the stayers as without motivation. Those with more power or status have a more independent mindset, while those with less power experience themselves as interdependent
Theoretical implications?
Self-regulation is well-measured, while other regulation is less well assessed. Tightness and looseness can be powerful in predicting and explaining cultural variation
Hofstede’s value typology
Consists of individualism/collectivisim is how individuals define themselves and their relationships with others, in the groups or collectives to which they belong. Power distance is the levels of hierarchy in the society, existence of unequal distribution of power and acceptance of power differences. Uncertainty avoidance is the comfort level felt with uncertainty and ambiguity. Masculinity and femininity is the extent to which a society minimizes gender role differences. Future orientation is the extent to which members of the society are engage in future-oriented behaviours like planning and delayed immediate gratification.
What are the 3 bipolar factors/dimensions?
- embeddedness is the cultural emphasis on maintenance of status quo, propriety and restraint of actions or inclinations that might disrupt group solidarity or order. Autonomy is being viewed as autonomous, meaning in uniqueness
- hierarchy is responsible behaviour to preserve social fabric, egalitarianism is transcending self interests to promote welfare of others
- mastery is emphasis on getting ahead through self-assertion, harmony is fitting into social environment
How do cultural values impact behaviour?
People across cultures differ in their dominant facet of the self. Independent self is self-contained, autonomous, regulates behaviour by reference to own thoughts, feelings actions. Interdependent self is defined in being part of reference groups, so behaviour fits in with others’ expectations
Self-enhancement
Refers to a person’s desire to maintain a positive self-view so seek out positive info about themselves. This differs across cultures. Modesty constrains people in Eastern cultures, making positive self-regard more implicit. Self-serving bias dominates individualistic cultures, less likely to show self-protection in response to negative feedback in Eastern cultures
Self-efficacy
Judgement of capability to accomplish a certain level of performance. Efficacy perceptions are associated more with a group with collectivistic values, results in collective efficacy. Beliefs are also influenced by personal and group feedback. In high power distance cultures, low status members follow expectations set by high-status members. Self-efficacy more relevant in the West
Achievement motivation
Striving for success, work hard, willing to face uncertainty and provide novel and creative solutions to problems. Stronger in individualistic cultures, while collectivists believe that consequences occur as a result of collective effort, should be related to success of the collective
Self-consistency
Need for coherent view to operate effectively in environment-> continuity to link old events to maintain coherent views. More central for cultures with high uncertainty avoidance, less central in cultures where members value mastery
Self-concordance
Maintaining consistency between self-awareness and personal goals
Face
Respectability that a person claims for themselves from others based on the relative position occupied in the social network and how they function in this position. It conveys Lian- concern with moral character and Mianzi- concern with status. It is a strong motivational force in collectivistic societies
