COVID-19 Concerns and Personality of Commerce Workers: Its Influence on Burnout

We analyze burnout in a sample of commercial workers in Spain and its relationship with sociodemographic variables, personality, and concern about the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on their jobs through a cross-sectional design. Participants (n = 614) answered an online survey, including questions about sociodemographic data, concern, NEO-FFI (personality), and MBI (burnout syndrome). The survey took place from October 2020 to May 2021. We assessed the relationships between sociodemographic variables, pandemic concern, and personality as predictors of burnout by hierarchical regression analysis and then tested using SEM (structural equation models). The proposed model showed adequate goodness-of-fit indices. The results of the present study suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic had little effect to the development of burnout syndrome in commerce employees. However, in agreement with previous literature, the present study shows that personality has a significant role in predicting burnout. Neuroticism, introversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were strong predictors for burnout dimensions. In addition, we found that personality directly affected the pandemic concern: individuals with high levels of Neuroticism and low levels of extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness have more pandemic concerns. In conclusion, personality is an important factor that affects the level of workers’ concern about the influence of the pandemic on their job and the development of burnout syndrome. Furthermore, although we found significant differences between groups formed by various sociodemographic characteristics, the conclusion regarding this type of variable is that their ability to predict burnout is deficient

Changes in Psychology students’ workload due to alignment with the EHEA

Alignment with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has involved changes in teaching methodology and in the learning process, which have led to a change in student workload. The main aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the perception of the workload of undergraduate and graduate psychology students and to analyse the nature of the changes produced by this adaptation. The sample comprised 845 students (497 readings for the licentiate’s degree and 348 for the bachelor’s degree). To measure perceived workload, the NASA-TLX scale was used. This evaluates the following dimensions: mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, performance, and frustration/dissatisfaction; these variables were evaluated for the following academic activities: attending theoretical classes, attending practical classes, conducting group work outside the classroom, searching for material and bibliography, studying and personal work, attending tutorials, and other activities (seminars, conferences, etc.). The results show a significant increase in the perceived load of attendance in practical classes, in the performance of group work outside the classroom and in total perceived workload for bachelor’s degree students. It is concluded that adjusting to the EHEA has involved an increase in perceived workload for students. This points to a need to work in the classroom on developing interpersonal skills and planning and organization of teamwork, as well as greater coordination between teachers in the evaluation systems.La adaptación al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) ha supuesto una importante modificación en la metodología docente y en el proceso de aprendizaje, lo que ha generado un cambio respecto a la carga de trabajo del alumnado. El principal objetivo de este estudio es evaluar y comparar la percepción de la carga de trabajo de estudiantes de Psicología de la licenciatura y del grado y analizar la naturaleza de los cambios producidos por esta adaptación. La muestra utilizada estuvo formada por 845 estudiantes (497 de licenciatura y 348 de grado). Para la medida de la carga percibida se empleó la escala NASA-TLX, que evalúa las siguientes dimensiones: demanda mental, demanda física, demanda temporal, rendimiento y frustración/insatisfacción; estas variables fueron evaluadas para las siguientes actividades académicas: asistencia a clases teóricas, asistencia a clases prácticas, realización de trabajos en grupo fuera del aula, búsqueda de material y bibliografía, estudio y trabajo personal, asistencia a tutorías y otras actividades (seminarios, jornadas, etc.). Los resultados muestran un aumento significativo en la carga percibida de la asistencia a clases prácticas, en la realización de trabajos en grupo fuera del aula y en la carga total percibida para los estudiantes de grado. Se concluye que la adaptación al EEES ha supuesto un incremento en la percepción de carga de trabajo de los estudiantes, lo que apunta a la necesidad de trabajar en las aulas el desarrollo de competencias interpersonales y de planificación y organización del trabajo en equipo, así como una mayor coordinación docente entre los sistemas de evaluación

Influence of the CoViD-19 Pandemic on Mental Workload and Burnout of Fashion Retailing Workers in Spain

This study analyzed the levels of mental workload and the presence of burnout on a sample of fashion retailing workers from Spain and its relationship with the current CoViD-19 (Coronavirus disease-19) pandemic. We established a cross-sectional design. Participants (n = 360) answered an online survey including questions about sociodemographic data, perception of CoViD-19, CarMen-Q questionnaire (workload), and MBI (burnout syndrome). The survey campaign took place in October and November 2020. The results showed that participants exhibited deep concern about the CoViD-19 pandemic and its influence in the workplace. Although the mental workload was near the middle point of the scale, participants showed moderate to high burnout levels, revealing that the sample was at risk of experiencing higher burnout levels over time as the pandemic and associated economic crisis continued. The multiple regression analysis results indicated that environmental changes, work overload, somatic symptoms, insomnia, negative job expectations, and uncertainty constituted significant mental workload predictors. Insomnia, somatic symptoms, and negative job expectations constituted significant predictors for burnout. Differences between job positions and genders in mental workload and burnout were found. In conclusion, the uncertainty at work derived from the CoViD-19 pandemic harms fashion retailing workers’ psychological well-being in Spain

EntreComp Questionnaire: A Self-Assessment Tool for Entrepreneurship Competencies

The European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (EntreComp) offers a comprehensive description of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that people need to develop for an entrepreneurial mindset. The use of the framework as a self-assessment tool has garnered attention, but there is scarce presence of instruments that address the whole set of competencies proposed by Entrecomp. In view of the lack of specific tools, the objective of this research was to assess the evidence of validity and reliability of a new questionnaire. The sample was composed of 742 college students from several Spanish universities between 17- and 64-years-old, with 34.6% being men and 65.4% being women. To evaluate the validity based on relationships with other measures, the Entrepreneurial Intention and Entrepreneurial Self-Capital scales were also administered. Confirmatory factor analysis showed an internal structure made up of four dimensions: Ideas and Opportunities, Personal Resources, Specific Knowledge, and Into Action. The results showed satisfactory evidence of validity based on relationships with Entrepreneurial Intention and Entrepreneurial Self-Capital and good reliability. The questionnaire has good psychometric properties and can be an easy and useful tool for the self-assessment of entrepreneurial competencies within the EntreComp framework