Workplace Stress Flashcards
Who conducted the first study onto workplace stress?
Johannson
What was the method of study 1?
Carried out a natural experiment on workers in a Swedish sawmill. 10 finishers (high risk) and 10 cleaners (low risk). The finishers had a high workload and they had little control. The amount of days absent from work were recorded and hormone levels in urine samples were recorded on work and rest days
What were the findings and conclusion of study 1?
The finishers had higher levels of stress hormones, adrenaline and noradrenaline, on work days, more absences from work and more stress related illnesses e.g depression, headaches and anxiety. This shows that work stressors such as low control and high workload create long term physiological arousal which leads to stress related illnesses and absenteeism
What the practical applications from study 1?
- changing to a weekly wage rather than piecework
- giving the finishers more control over the machine
- rotating jobs to allow the finishers more variety
- more contact with other workers
What are two limitations of study 1?
- more research is needed as what factors were the main source of stress
- sampling issues as all males, from Sweden and only one occupation
What are two strengths of study 1?
- high ecological validity as natural experiment
- research was scientific as urine samples provided evidence of increased stress hormones
Who conducted study 2 onto workplace stress?
Marmot et al
What was the method of study 2?
Studied over 7000 London civil servants over 5 years and they compared higher grade employees who were predicted to have high workplace with low grade employees who would experience low control
What were the findings and conclusion of study 2?
Men and women in low grade clerical positions were much more likely to develop CV disorders and found the low job control employees were three times more likely to have a heart attack. This shows that having a low control in the workplace could be a contributory factor to stress related illnesses
What are three strengths of Marmots study?
- little risk of psychological harm
- large sample
- longitudinal study ruling out individual differences
What are three limitations of Marmot study?
- self report questionnaires may be affected by researcher bias and participant bias
- correlational so cause and effect can’t be established
- longitudinal so people may drop out so the sample may not be representative
