Work as a cause of stress (Johansson) Flashcards
Aim
To investigate whether work stressors such as repetitiveness, machine regulated pace of responsibility increase stress related physiological arosual and stress related illness
Method
Quasi - workers were defined as being high risk of stress and a control group
Participant used
24 workers at a Swedish sawmill
- high risk group: 14 ps - set pace, production line and complex jobs
- control group: 10 participants: cleaners and maintenance workers
Procedure: How many in the high risk group and their jobs
14 “finishers” in a Swedish sawmill. Their jobs were to finish off the wood at the last stage of processing timber.
The work was machine paced,isolated, very repetitive yet highly skilled and the finishers productivity determined the wage rates for the entire factory
Who were the high risk group compared to and their jobs
A low risk group of 10 cleaners
Work was varied, largely self paced and allowed more socialising with other workers
How was the data collected
Levels of stress related hormones in the urine were measured in work days and rest days
Records: stress related illness and absenteeism
Self reports about mood and alertness and caffeine and nicotine consumptions were recorded
What were the self reports finishing
used about mood and alertness and caffeine and nicotine consumptions were recorded
What results were found
The high risk group secreted higher stress hormones on work days than rest days and higher than control groups
The high risk groups significant higher level of stress related illness such as headaches and higher levels of absenteeism than low risk group
Results : simplified
High risk: higher stress hormones on work than rest days
High risk: higher levels of stress related illness
What was concluded
A combinations of work stressors lead to chronic physiological arousal
This in turn leads to stress related illness and absenteeism
