Workplace Wellbeing Flashcards
What is psychological wellbeing?
State of wellbeing in which individuals realise their abilities, can cope with normal stresses of life, can work productively & fruitfully & is able to make contributions to their community
What is the cost of poor psychological wellbeing?
29.6 million working days lost due to work-related ill health (HSE, 2023/24)
Stress, depression/ anxiety accounted for 16.4 million working days lost due to work related ill health in 2023/24
Cost associated with presenteeism (attending work when ill), could be greater than absence - estimated to cost economy £15bn/yr
What is workplace stress?
State which is accompanied by physical, psychological & social complaints/ dysfunction & which results from individuals feeling unable to bridge gap between requirements/ expectations placed on them
What is the impact of stress in the workplace?
Conditions related to stress, anxiety & depression are leading cause of workplace absence in UK
Financial cost of work-related stress in 2023 was £28bn
What did the AXA mind health study find?
More than 21% UK adults are in emotional distress, almost half are not in a positive state of mental wellbeing & are at risk of burnout
What is the engineering approach to defining work-related stress?
Aversive/ noxious characteristic of work environment. Independent variable
What is the physiological approach to defining work-related stress?
Physical response to a threatening/ demanding environment. It’s a dependent variable
What is the psychological approach to defining work-related stress?
Result of dynamic interaction between the person & their work environment. Measures in terms of the cognitive process & emotional reactions which underpin these interactions
What are the cause, process and outcomes of stress?
Cause of bad feelings
Process - means by which work pressure results in loss of sleep
Outcome - high blood pressure & absenteeism
What are some physical stressors?
Productivity reduced in high temperatures
Noise linked with increased cardiovascular disease & increased mortality rate after long-term exposure
Noises environment associated with elevated stress hormones & poor work performance
Physical demands (e.g. continuous lifting) linked with stress - cause back pain
What are some psychosocial stressors?
Relations between role stressors & strain
Tasks with high repetition & short-term cycles are likely to result in repetitive strain & create risk for musculoskeletal disorders if ergonomics are neglected
Shift work causes strain - high levels of sleep disturbances among rotating shifts
Interpersonal work conflict
Employees on Flex Time showed less strain
How does locus of control differ between individuals in terms of stress?
Internal LOC moderate the relationship between stress & strain
How does hardiness differ between individuals in terms of stress?
Hardy personality types are resident to harmful effects of stress because of their stile of dealing with stressful events
How does type A personality differ between individuals in terms of stress?
Type A hardworking competitive drive causes stress & subsequent heart problems
More likely to experience stress than other personality types
What are physical consequences of stressors?
Responses related to employee physical health & wellbeing
Cardiovascular disease
Gastrointestinal problems
What are psychological consequences of stressors?
Emotional response to stressors
Anxiety & depression
Burnout
What are behavioural consequences of stressors?
Absenteeism
Turnover
Presenteeism
What is the demand-control model of work-related stress (Karasek, 1979)?
Structural model
High control + low demand = low strain
Low demand & control = passive
High demand & control = active (Lear motivation to develop new behavior pattern)
High demand + low control = high strain (risk of psychological strain and illness)
What is the demand control support model (Johnson & Hall, 1988)
Structural model stating social support is helpful to interaction with supervisors & co-workers
What are the positives of structural models
Low demand & high control predicts strain
Empirical evidence supporting the models
Simplicity makes the models attractive to practitioners as it makes sense
What are the negatives of structural models?
Less support for buffer hypothesis
Over-simplistic, reduces job demands to a handful of variables
Static nature of model - why are autonomy/ social support the most important resource?
What are transactional models of work-related stress?
Focus on balance between the demands people receive from work & their evaluation of their own coping resources
More complex than structural models
E.g. effort-reward imbalance model (Siegrist, 1996)
What are the positives of transactional work-stress models?
Risk factors for cardiovascular health, subjective, health, psychiatric disorders & burnout
Includes personal attributes (overcommitment), role of individual differences
Lots of supportive evidence for main effects
