Job crafting in Serbia: Serbian mixed-method validation of the Job Crafting Scale

Cilj ovog istraživanja je bila validacija srpske adaptacije Skale preoblikovanja posla (eng. the Job Crafting Scale - JCS), primenom kombinacije kvalitativnog i kvanitativnog pristupa u okviru tri studije na ukupnom uzorku od 832 osobe zaposlene u različitim sektorima privrede. Preoblikovanje posla (eng. job crafting) predstavlja ponašanje na poslu koje je usmereno na preoblikovanje radnih zadataka tako da se pojača i održi motivacija za rad. U prvoj studiji smo proveravali razumevanje stavki kao i prilagođenost sadržaja stavki našoj kulturi. U drugoj studiji smo proverili faktorsku sturukturu JCS skale, kao i pouzdanost i validnost faktora. U trećoj studiji smo testirali invarijantnost predloženih modela između uzorka druge i treće studije, kao i kriterijumsku validnost analiziranjem korelacija JCS skale i posvećenosti poslu (eng. work engagement). Kvalitativna analiza je pokazala da većina ajtema uspešno prenosi željeno značenje. Posebnu pažnju treba obratiti na interpretaciju skorova dimenzije smanjivanje ometajućih zahteva na poslu pošto ovi ajtemi mogu ukazivati na ponašanja koja se ne opažaju kao poželjna. Imajući u vidu ukupnu pouzdanost, invarijantnost četvorofaktorskog modela drugog reda i kriterijumsku valjanost, verzija skale sastavljana od 21 ajtema se može smatrati validnom merom preoblikovanja posla u Srbiji. Takođe, ova studija je ukazala da kratka forma srpske verzije JCS skale od 12 ajtema ima zadovoljavajuća psihometrijska svojstva i da može biti validna lokalna mera preoblikovanja posla.The aim of the current study was to validate the Serbian adaptation of the Job Crafting Scale (JCS), applying both qualitative and quantitative approaches, within three studies totalling 832 employees from different industries. Job crafting is work behaviour aimed at modifying job tasks in order to enhance and maintain work motivation. In Study 1, we have tested the understanding of all items and their possible cultural embeddedness. In Study 2, we have tested the JCS factor structure, factors' reliability and validity. In Study 3, we have tested the invariance of the proposed models (Study 2 and Study 3 models) and criterion validity by analysing the correlation between the JCS and work engagement. Qualitative analysis has revealed that the majority of items transferred the intended meaning. Special care should be taken in interpreting the decreasing hindering job demands dimension scores, since these items might point toward behaviours that were not perceived as positive. With its overall reliability, second-order four-factor model invariance and criterion validity, originally composed 21-item JCS could be considered to be a valid instrument for assessing job crafting in Serbia. The present study has also shown that the 12-item JCS-Serbian short version has satisfactory psychometric properties and that it could be considered as a valid local job crafting scale

Workplace bullying in Serbia: The relation of self-labeling and behavioral experience with job-related behaviors

Workplace bullying has been identified as a widespread problem in contemporary organizational research. The aim of the paper was to acquire theoretically based and comparable findings about workplace bullying in Serbia: to explore the behavioral experience and self-labeling approaches (applying the Negative Acts Questionnaire - Revised, NAQ-R) and their relationship with job-related behaviors. The sample comprised 1,998 employees. Prevalence rates of workplace bullying based on self-labeling and behavior experience approaches overlap significantly (70% of employees operationally identified as bullied had also labeled themselves as bullied). Both the self-labeling and behavioral experience approach showed significant correlations with job-related behaviors (perceived threat to a total job, absenteeism, intention to leave, and perceived productivity). Previously bullied, presently bullied and non-bullied employees differed significantly on all four job-related behaviors, with large effect size for the intention to leave and medium effect size for the perceived threat to a total job. The findings support combining self-labeling and behavioral experience approaches in workplace bullying research. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179018

The influence of global motivational orientation and needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness on work motivation

The aim of this research was to test whether work motivation is affected by global motivational orientation or by the perception of the degree of satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness in a work context. Self-determination theory provided conceptual framework. The sample comprised 428 respondents. The following scales were used: the Global Motivation Scale, the Basic Need Satisfaction at Work Scale, while the scale for measuring work motivation was designed for the purposes of this research paper. Regression analysis was applied. The results show that every aspect of work motivation is mostly under the influence of the eponymous tendency on the level of a global motivational orientation. The influence of environmental factors associated with the work context on an individual's work motivation depends mostly on the perception of the degree of satisfaction of the need for competence at work

Harrassment at work: A view into the new perspective

Maltretiranje na radnom mestu je tema koja još od devedesetih godina prošlog veka privlači pažnju evropskih naučnika. Nažalost, brojna sistematska istraživanja ovog fenomena sprovedena u tih dvadesetak godina ostaju relativno nepoznata našoj stručnoj javnosti, pa se izučavanje ove teme mahom svodi na studije slučajeva iz prakse psihijatara, kliničkih psihologa i predstavnika radničkih sindikata. S obzirom na to da je pomenuti pristup izučavanju ove teme dragocen, ali nedovoljno sveobuhvatan za njeno razumevanje, ovaj rad ima za cilj da pruži sažeti prikaz aktuelnih tendencija u izučavanju ovog fenomena, koje uglavnom dolaze iz skandinavskih zemalja. Problem se analizira kroz prikaz empirijskih i teorijskih pristupa njegovoj deskripciji, objašnjavanju, i pronalaženju konkretnih akcija za njegovo rešavanje. U tom smislu analiziraju se tzv. esencijalni i neesencijalni kriterijumi definisanja maltretiranja na radnom mestu, kao i uticaj karakteristika ličnosti i organizacionih faktora na razvoj negativnih oblika ponašanja u radnom kontekstu. Takođe, pružen je i kraći opis Upitnika o negativnim postupcima (The Negative Acts Questionnaire) koji su sastavili profesori univerziteta u Bergenu i koji je korišćen u preko sto istraživačkih projekata širom Evrope i sveta. U poslednjem delu rada dat je predlog nekih obrazovnih i organizacionih mera za prevenciju ove pojave.Harassment at work has been the issue attracting the attention of European scientists since the nineties of the last century. Unfortunately, numerous systematic researches of this phenomenon carried out in those twenty years remain relatively unknown to our professional public, so the study of this topic comes down largely to the case studies from the practices of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and representatives of the labour unions. Given that the above mentioned approach to studying this issue is valuable, but not sufficiently comprehensive for its understanding, this paper is aimed at providing a concise review (survey) of the current trends in the study of this phenomenon mainly coming from the Scandinavian countries. The problem is analysed through the review of the empirical and theoretical approaches to its description, explanation and finding the concrete activities for its resolution. In this sense the so-called essential and non-essential criteria of defining harassment at work have been analysed, as well as the impact of the personality characteristics and organisational factors on the development of negative behavior patterns in the working context. The short description of the Negative Act Questionnaire is also given designed by the University of Bergen professors which has been used in over a hundred research projects all over Europe and the world. At the end of the paper the proposal for certain educational and organisational measures for the prevention of this phenomenon has been given

Difference in place attachment between students in Helsinki and in Belgrade

Vezanost za mesto je u poslednje dve decenije predmet mnogih studija. Međutim, nema mnogo kroskulturalnih studija o toj temi. Cilj ovog istraživanja jeste utvrđivanje razlike u stepenu opšte vezanosti za kuću, susedstvo i grad između mladih u Beogradu i Helsinkiju, uz razmatranje socijalne i fizičke dimenzije vezanosti. Ispitan je i uticaj pola na sve tipove vezanosti, kao i uticaj rezidencijalnih varijabli. Podaci su prikupljeni Skalom vezanosti za mesto. Ispitanicima je zadat i upitnik o rezidencijalnim i sociodemografskim karakteristikama uzorka. Instrument je preveden na srpski i finski jezik uz poštovanje procedure prevoda instrumenata za kroskulturalne studije i zadat ispitanicima na njihovom maternjem jeziku. Ispitivanje je sprovedeno putem interneta, na uzorku od dvesta studenata psihologije, od toga 100 stanovnika Beograda i 100 stanovnika Helsinkija, ujednačenih po polu (60% ž, 40% m) i uzrastu (stari u proseku 24,4 godine). Među dobijenim rezultatima može se istaći sledeće: 1) mladi koji žive u Beogradu pokazuju veći stepen opšte vezanosti za svoj grad nego mladi koji žive u Helsinkiju za svoj, 2) Beograđani pokazuju i veću socijalnu vezanost za svoj grad, ali i kuću u odnosu na vršnjake iz Helsinkija, 3) fizička vezanost za kuću i grad takođe je značajno veća kod mladih Beograđana, 4) u srpskom uzorku postoje značajne razlike između muškaraca i žena u stepenu opšte, socijalne i fizičke vezanosti za kuću i fizičke vezanost za grad, dok u finskom uzorku ne postoje razlike u stepenu vezanosti za jedan od tri pomenuta životna mesta.Place attachment refers to the process of human-place bonding; the bonding process includes both physical and social ties formed within an environment. In the last two decades, place attachment has been the subject of many studies, but there have not been many cross-cultural studies. The aim of this study was to determine differences in global attachment to house, neighbourhood and city among young people in Belgrade and Helsinki, with consideration of social and physical dimensions of place attachment. Additionally, the effects of gender on all types of place attachments were tested. Data were collected using the Place Attachment Scale (Hidalgo & Hernandez, 2001) and the Questionnaire on residential and socio-demographic characteristics of the sample. The instrument was translated into Serbian and Finnish, respecting the translation procedure for cross-cultural studies (Brislin, 1986) and administered to subjects in their native language. The study was conducted on the sample of two hundred students of psychology, comprising: 100 inhabitants of Belgrade, and 100 of Helsinki, balanced by gender (60% female, 40% male) and age (average 24.4 years). The following results can be pointed out: 1) young people living in Belgrade show greater degree of global attachment to their city than young people living in Helsinki to their city, 2) young people from Belgrade also show greater social ties within their city and house, in relation to peers from Helsinki, 3) physical attachment to house and city is also significantly higher in young inhabitants of Belgrade. An interesting finding is 4) the existence of significant differences between men and women in the degree of global, social and physical attachment to house and physical attachment to city in the Serbian sample, and non-existence of differences in place attachment between men and women in the Finnish sample. The findings are interpreted within the Hofstede's five Cultural Dimensions

Psychometric properties of the Serbian version of the negative acts questionnaire: Revised

The Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R), together with its earlier version, The Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ), is one of the most utilized instruments for exploring workplace bullying, both in applied and scientific research. Contrary to its widespread use, there are a few published NAQ-R validation studies. In this paper we wanted to support developing grounds for future cultural analysis, comparison and development of the NAQ-R which was created as an instrument primarily for measuring workplace bullying in Anglo- American cultural settings. The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Serbian translation of the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R) by exploring its factor structure, internal consistency and criterion validity. The sample comprised 1710 employees from both private and public sector in Serbia. Principal component analysis revealed one component that explained almost 60% of the total variance. The Confirmatory factor analysis was carried out in order to test the one, two and three factor solutions suggested by the authors of the NAQ. The results of CFA confirmed all three solutions, but only fairly, as some of the fit indicators did not reach the expected values. Reliability analysis showed excellent internal consistency of the NAQ-R (Cronbach's alpha=0.96). The significant correlations of the NAQ-R with job and organization related measures, and subjective health and well-being measures provided evidence of its construct validity. Higher correlations of the NAQ-R with a set of work related behaviors than the correlations with helath related measures were in accordance with the nature of the phenomenon that is primarily focused on work-disabling behaviors. The results of this study showed acceptable psychometric properties of the Serbian translation of the NAQ-R. Obtained findings indicate that the future development of the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised could follow two streams: one would be a further refinement of the uniform NAQ as a true cross-cultural measure that would generate comparable findings and the second one the development of separate national and/ or regional forms

The relation of risk-taking propensity, professional preferences and the approach to the selection of future profession

Istraživanja su pokazala da pojedinci skloni riziku biraju zanimanja koja uključuju visok nivo neizvesnosti, promene ili fleksibilnosti. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je da se ispita odnos između sklonosti ka riziku i profesionalnih preferencija, kao i da se ispita odnos između različitih indikatora pristupa odabiru buduće profesije i sklonosti ka riziku. Ispitivanje je sprovedeno na uzorku od 583 srednjoškolca završnih razreda srednjih škola. Za procenu sklonosti ka riziku korišćena je modifikovana verzija EVAR (Evaluation of Risk) skale, a profesionalna interesovanja ispitivana su preko Testa profesionalnih opredeljenja (TPO). Pored toga, analizirani su i neki indikatori pristupa odabiru profesije koji su interesantni u kontekstu karijernog savetovanja, kao što su: dužina odabira profesije, broj profesionalnih preferencija i spremnost za donošenje profesionalne odluke. Rezultati pokazuju da sklonost ka riziku značajno korelira s profesionalnim preferencijama u kojima je rizik važna karakteristika posla (kao što je su zanimanja iz oblasti bezbednosti), kao i sa zanimanjima u kojima je rizik važan deo uspeha (kao što je sport). Takođe, pokazalo se da pojedinci skloni riziku ocenjuju da su spremniji da donesu odluku o sopstvenom profesionalnom izboru. U skladu s dobijenim rezultatima, može se zaključiti da sklonost ka riziku predstavlja značajnu karakteristiku koju treba uzeti u obzir prilikom izučavanja profesionalnih preferencija i pristupa odabiru buduće profesije kod adolescenata. PR Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179018.Research has shown that risk-taking individuals choose professions that involve a high level of uncertainty, change or flexibility. The aim of this research was to study the relation between risk-taking propensity and professional preferences, as well as between different indicators of the approach to the selection of future profession and risk-taking propensity. The study was conducted on the sample of 583 students attending the final grade of secondary school. For the assessment of risk-taking propensity we used a modified version of the Evaluation of Risk scale (EVAR), while professional interests were investigated by the Test of Professional Orientation (TPO). In addition, we analysed certain indicators of the approach to the selection of profession that were interesting in the context of career counselling, namely: duration of the selection of profession, the number of professional preferences and readiness to make a professional choice. The results have shown that risk-taking propensity is significantly correlated with professional preferences where risk is an important job feature (such as professions in the field of security) as well as with the professions where risk is an important part of success (such as sports). It has also been shown that risk-taking individuals assess themselves as more ready to make decisions on their own professional choice. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that risk-taking propensity is an important characteristic that should be taken into account when studying professional preferences and the approach to the selection of future profession in adolescents

It was great, they were all young! Is there ageism in students’ reflections on professional internship?

Noting the tendency of students of work and organizational psychology to choose internships among a smaller number of hosting organizations paired with satisfaction with completed internship expressed by the sentence ‘It was great, they were all young’, we performed qualitative content analysis of students’ reflections on age in the context of internship attractiveness. The materials for the analysis were 1) Fifty internship reports and 2) Discussions with students. There was no explicit ageism in students’ reports. Students were equally satisfied with mentors from more and less popular organizations. Four categories related to attractiveness of internship hosting organizations emerged: organizational culture, organizational climate, working conditions and mentors’ work. As in the case of more attractive organizations they point to ‘younger’ organizations, as a factor of their attractiveness, they could be discussed as ‘clear manifestations of ageism’, but also they could be regarded as ‘younger generation centeredness’, and partly a form of ‘covert ageism’. Reflections could also be interpreted as a consequence of students’ professional insecurity, need for peer support, ease of communicating with peers and those of similar age. Psychological distance from older generations of colleagues and mentors at work can both be the source of covert and overt ageism. In order to enable students to fully utilize the benefits of internship for their professional development, it is important to work on recognizing and preventing ageism and overcoming generational distances

Employee wellbeing in the digital age

The accelerated development of the IT sector has been reconfiguring the labour market by creating new jobs and by changing work environments. It has linked people from all continents, allowing them to communicate easily within a virtual world. Even though IT has brought obvious benefits, it has also brought some serious challenges related to employee wellbeing. In the last few years, we have faced some serious problems that emerged as a consequence of mismanaged technological interventions. They have led to blurring the line between work and private life. Employee availability has made never-ending workdays a fact of lift. Some new work stressors, such as technostress and workplace cyberbullying, have emerged. Solving these problems is a momentous challenge for experts from various scientific fields. The scientific endeavours have to point to the ways in which technology could be brought back to the role of improving work performance in a way that would enhance human wellbeing and make employees enthusiastic about their future in the digital age

On the psychic condition of workers who have returned from the battlefield

Istraživane su karakteristike psihofizičkih stanja radnika koji su bili mobilisani i poslati na slavonsko ratište krajem 1991. i početkom 1992. Podaci su prikupljeni upitnikom i obrađeni deskriptivnom i korelaciono-faktorskom analizom. Rezultati pokazuju da su ispitanici ispoljili znatan stepen zrelosti i otpornosti i pokušaje adaptacije na ratni stres. O ceni koju su platili jasno govore podaci o post traumatskim simptomima, među kojima su najizraženiji nesanica, napetost, loše raspoloženje i umor. Opštija slika dobijena je faktorskom analizom simptomskih varijabli. Izdvojeno je pet faktora: opšta emocionalna nestabilnost, depresivne reakcije, psihička slabost, napetosti i anksiozne reakcije. Veliki broj radnika smatra da je radna organizacija bila potpuno nezainteresovana za njihove porodice dok su oni boravili na ratištu briga, podrška i materijalna pomoć porodicama gotovo potpuno su izostali. S druge strane, odnos neposrednih rukovodilaca prema povratnici obojen je tolerancijom i simpatijama, čime je readaptacija na radnu sredinu po povratku većini bila olakšana.Researches have been made into the psychophysical condition of workers who had been drafted and sent to Slavonian battlefield late in 1991 and early in 1992. The data has been collected by way of a questionnaire and processed by means of the descriptive and correlation factor analysis. The results obtained have shown that the respondents developed a considerable degree of maturity and resistance and that they attempted to adjust themselves to the war stress. Data on post-traumatic symptoms such as insomnia, tension, bad mood and fatigue give a clear proof of the price they had to pay. A general picture has been obtained by means of the factor analysis of symptom variables. Five factors have been singled out: a general emotional instability, depressive reactions, psychic weakness, tension and anxious reactions. Many workers hold that their working organizations showed no interest at all in their families while they were in the battlefield - they were given no support and were provided no relief at all. On the other hand, the manager's attitude towards these worker was tolerant and understanding, facilitating thus their readjustment to their working environment after they had come home