The struggle for \u27appropriateness\u27 - new sources of (techno-)stress

Information and communication technologies are employed in every aspect of contemporary life. Facilitated by ICT, many innovations in the organization of work have taken hold. The effects of these developments on the quality of life are disputed. By referring to the phenomenon of ‘technostress,’ scholars’ caution against potentially harmful effects of ICT on workers’ health. This relatively new line of research roots the sources of stress for the individual in features of ICT. The present paper is motivated by the observation that ICT is also rooted in social relations. The way it is used is heavily influenced by social norms and sensemaking. Based on this, the paper theorizes about new sources of stress originating from the social sphere that are enabled and facilitated by ICT. In particular, the paper investigates the notion of ‘appropriateness’ as a theoretical building block for a more complex understanding of stress in today’s workplaces. In doing so, the paper seeks to establish a new theoretical framework capable of investigating new sources of stress on a theoretical as well as empirical level

Emerging Issues in Occupational Health Psychology

This book compiles the cutting-edge research published in the Special Issue “Emerging Issues in Occupational Health Psychology” (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health). The articles included in this book use strong and innovative theoretical approaches to provide evidence regarding the importance of working characteristics and resources to promote healthier and more sustainable environments in which employees can be happy and productive

Exploring the relationship between working from home, mental and physical health and wellbeing: a systematic review

Background Understanding the impact of working from home on health and wellbeing is of great interest to employers and employees alike, with a strong need for up-to-date guidance. The aim of this systematic review was to identify, appraise and synthesise existing research evidence that explores the impact of home working on health and wellbeing outcomes for working people and health inequalities in the population. Methods We conducted a systematic review of qualitative, quantitative and observational studies. We searched databases, reference lists and UK grey literature and completed citation searching of included papers. We extracted and tabulated key data from the included papers and synthesised narratively. Factors associated with the health and wellbeing of people working at home reported in the literature were displayed by constructing mind maps of each individual factor which had been identified. The findings were combined with an a priori model to develop a final model, which was validated in consultation with stakeholders. Results Of 96 studies which were found to meet the inclusion criteria for the review, 30 studies were published before the COVID-19 pandemic and a further 66 were published during the pandemic. The quality of evidence was limited by the study designs employed by the authors, with the majority of studies being cross-sectional surveys (n = 59). For the most part, for studies which collected quantitative data, measures were self-reported. The largest volume of evidence identified consisted of studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic which looked at factors which influence the relationship between working from home and measures relating to mental health and wellbeing. Fifteen studies which considered the potential for working at home to have different effects for different subgroups suggested that working at home may have more negative consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic for women and in particular, mothers. There was very little evidence on age (two studies), ethnicity (one study), education or income (two studies) in terms of moderating home working effects, and very limited evidence from before the COVID-19 pandemic. The concept of enforced working from home and having ‘no choice’ was reported in only one paper prior to the pandemic and two papers reporting on working from home as a result of COVID-19. However, the concept of lack of choice around working from home was implicit in much of the literature – even though it was not directly measured. There were no clear patterns of wellbeing measures which changed from positive to negative association (or vice versa) during the pandemic. Limitations The quality of the evidence base was very much limited by study designs, particularly for studies published during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the majority of studies consisting of data collected by cross-sectional surveys (often online). Due to the rapidly expanding nature of the evidence on this topic, it is possible that new studies were published after the final citation searches were conducted. Discussion The evidence base for the factors which influence the relationship between home working and health-related outcomes has expanded significantly as a result of the need for those whose work could be done from home to work at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings suggest that there are factors relating to the external context, the role of employers and the circumstances of the employee which contribute to determining whether someone works at home and what the associated impacts on health and wellbeing may be. Learning from the COVID-19 lockdown experience will be important to inform future policy on home and hybrid working. Future work There is a need for better-quality studies of the health impact of home working, in particularly studies which recruit a range of participants who are representative of the working population and which are designed to minimise sampling/recruitment biases and response biases. Funding This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme (project reference 18/93 PHR Public Health Review Team) and will be published in full in Public Health Research; Vol. 11, No. 4. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. Study registration This study is registered as PROSPERO 2021 CRD42021253474

What Supports Serendipity on Twitter? Online Survey on the Role of Technology Characteristics and Their Use

Serendipity experiences are highly desirable in work life, considering both individuals' learning and organizational innovation capacity. This study looks into information and social serendipity in the context of Twitter. While Twitter can be viewed as a fruitful platform for serendipity to emerge, there is little understanding of what technology characteristics and use practices contribute to such experiences in work-related use. Drawing from the functional affordances theory, the paper investigates the role of presenteeism, self-disclosure, recommendation quality and pace of change, and different types of Twitter use as possible antecedents of serendipity. A cross-sectional international online survey was conducted with 473 respondents who actively use Twitter in their work. An exploratory factor analysis was performed, followed by linear regression analysis to identify relevant statistical associations. The findings indicate that presenteeism (i.e., the fundamental element of reachability) seems to have an effect on serendipity while the more designable characteristics, like the quality of recommendations, do not. Overall, the findings imply that serendipity experiences are primarily explained by individual characteristics like personality and specific ways of using Twitter. This is amongst the first studies on the role of Twitter characteristics as functional affordances in the formation of serendipity. The extensive empirical study contributes a detailed analysis of the antecedents of serendipity and opens avenues for research and design to identify new serendipity-inducing mechanisms.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

What do we know about automation at work and workers' wellbeing? Literature review

Rapid technological advances are profoundly changing the world of work. The introduction of automation technologies in the workplace has complex direct and indirect impacts on work activities and the wellbeing of workers. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive review of the emerging literature on the impact of new automation technologies on workers’ subjective wellbeing. We specifically examine the evidence on (i) automation risk, (ii) the expectations and fears surrounding automation and (iii) the adoption of automation technologies, and how they can influence workers’ job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Taken together, the findings from this literature are mixed and largely depend on the type of technology examined. Studies reveal great variation in the impacts across different occupations and industries. While many studies focus on investigating negative consequences of automation technologies, our review suggests that there is potential for both positive and negative effects on wellbeing to coexist. As much remains unknown, we identify possible avenues for future research to further explore this complex relationship, notably, the need for a broader, more holistic approach to the assessment of both risks and impacts to ensure successful adoption from the perspective of enhancement of worker wellbeing

Understanding Exploitation in Consensual Sex Work to Inform Occupational Health & Safety Regulation

The impetus behind this Special Issue emerged from a quest to move beyondbinary thinking in the contemporary period about people who sell sexual services,including recent disputes about “sex trafficking vs. prostitution” and“criminalization vs. decriminalization”, to encourage theoretical and empiricalscholarship by exploring how sex work actually operates under different regulatoryregimes. The volume includes contributions from scholars of different socialsciences backgrounds based in five countries– New Zealand, the United Kingdom,Brazil, the United States and Canada. The article topics range widely,and both quantitative and qualitative research methods are showcased. The empiricalevidence presented adds to our current understanding of the complexityof this phenomenon of sex commerce/prostitution, which is found to be largelya problem of social inequality within and across capitalist societies. The authorscall for policies to address occupational and societal wide inequities faced by sexworkers across many countries

Organisational commitment and job satisfaction in higher educational institutions: the Kenyan case.

Research on organisational commitment has gained momentum over the last two decades because of its association with positive work practices. As organisations undertake restructuring measures to maintain a leaner workforce, employee commitment to the organisation has now become more critical than ever. The main objectives of this research are: (a) to establish whether Meyer and Allen’s multidimensional organisational commitment is applicable to a Kenyan setting; (b) to determine whether there are any sector (i.e. public and private) and occupational group (i.e. academic and administrative) differences in the levels organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions; and (c) to examine the extent to which demographic characteristics, professional commitment, job and role-related factors, and HRM practices influenced organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions among employees in public and private universities. This study was motivated by the state of Kenyan universities, particularly public universities as centres of excellence which are responsible for the development of human resources required for national development. Over the last two decades, public universities have been facing a myriad of problems which have affected their ability to motivate and retain their employees. This has been as a result of the general state of economic decline the country has been experiencing since the late 1980s. Consequently, facilities are rundown, students’ unrest on the increase while employees are dissatisfied because of various monetary and non-monetary factors resulting in high turnover rates among academics while those who have remained are actively involved in moonlighting activities to supplement their income. The declining conditions in public universities have pushed private universities from the periphery to the forefront. Although, they offer market-oriented courses, their dependence on tuition fees as their main source of funding has made them unaffordable to ordinary Kenyans, thus raising concerns about equity in these institutions. The data for this study was collected using questionnaires from 829 academic and 785 administrative employees from three public and three private universities, with a response rate of 54% (446 academic employees) and 62% (486 administrative employees) after data screening. The data was analysed using statistical package (SPSS). In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted from 15 academic and administrative employees with the aim of validating the data collected from the questionnaires. The findings indicated that Meyer and Allen’s multidimensional organisational commitment was applicable in the Kenyan context. Secondly, the independent variables (i.e. personal characteristics, job and role-related factors, professional commitment and HR practices) were stronger predictors of organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions for academics than for the administrative employees. Thirdly, employees from private universities were more committed to their universities and satisfied with their jobs than employees from public universities. Finally, age, education, professional commitment, role overload, supervisory support, job security, promotional opportunities, distributive justice and participation in decision making were the most important predictors of organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions among employees in Kenyan universities. These results are significant for theory, policy and practice. In light of the applicability of the multidimensional organisational commitment to the Kenyan context, university managers should try to understand and establish work-related practices which are likely to enhance the most ‘desirable’ component of commitment

Knowledge, attitude and practice on female sexual dysfunction ( mati putik) among women in Kuantan Pahang, Malaysia

Female sexual dysfunction or also known as ‘mati putik’ can be defined as women with lack of sexual desire, difficulty in arousal, inability to reach orgasm, pain during intercourse, failure to feel pleasure from sex or anxiety about sex performance. In Malaysia, infidelity or sexual relationship was the top reasons of divorce cases. Hence, this study aimed to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practice on female sexual dysfunction among females in Kuantan, Pahang. A total sample of 100 married women was randomly selected based on the classification in inclusive and exclusive criteria. The response from participants was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) with 95% confidence interval. The result of this study revealed that more than half of the respondents are found to have a high level of knowledge (n=59, 59.0%) only. Other than that, there was no significant association between the scores of knowledge, attitude and practice with socio-demographic characteristics. Besides, the correlation between knowledge-attitude and attitude-practice scores were identified to be significantly associated but not for knowledge-practice scores. In conclusion, this study has revealed that respondents possess good knowledge level regarding female sexual dysfunction differ from the level of attitude and practice. These findings proved that women in Malaysia were not aware of their sexual health and contribute to the number of divorce cases. Hence, it is recommended that future study may be able to increase the sample size and ought to emphasize the rural area more than an urban area for a better outcome. It is also suggested for the upcoming study to discover more factors that may contribute significantly to the level of knowledge, attitude and practice on female sexual dysfunction