Cross - Sectional and Longitudinal - Analyses were carried out to establish the relations between measures of personality and the effectiveness, effort and efficiency associated with work production in an insurance brokerage. Measures of subjective stress, work stressors and strains together with motivational factors of Goal Setting and Goal Commitment were assessedin relation to the above. Relations between Trait Anxiety (TA), effort, production and efficiency were tested. Higher TA was associated with higher effort and production but TA was unrelated to efficiency. This was contrary to the prediction of the Processing Efficiency Theory (Eysenck, 1979). Inclusion of additional personality factors: Type A Behaviour Pattern (TABP), Locus of Control (LOC) and the Marlowe - Crowne Social Desirability (SD) also confirmed the original findings that TA was positively related to effort and productivity but not efficiency. TA was related to stress in both studies. TABP and LOC were unrelated to effort, work production and efficiency. TA and TABP were associated with all the three measures of subjective stress, work stressors and strains, LOC was associated with work stressors and strains while the interaction of TA and SD was associated with subjective stress and work stressors. Similar analyses were carried out to discover relations between personality and change in performance occurring between October and November after removing variance in baseline (October) performance. TA was positively related to the increase in effort, effectiveness and perceived stress from October to November. Inclusion of motivational factors revealed that Goal Commitment was related to effectiveness and efficiency. Goal Setting was not significantly related to effectiveness, effort and efficiency when baseline performance was taken into account. TABP was positively related to Goal Commitment whilst TA was positively related to Goal Setting

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Within occupational health psychology, much research has focused on the job strain model (Karasek, 1979) as a way of explaining the widely-held belief that work stress leads to ill-health. However, to date the evidence for this model is mostly cross-sectional and equivocal. With a view to progressing the understanding of how stress at work and health might be linked, this thesis examined how job characteristics might be le related, on a daily basis, to general symptom reporting

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This study explores one of the most prevalent and influential models of occupational stress. The central aim was to explore the extent to which this model could be extended to incorporate broader organizational climate and culture factors as well as more positively orientated mediating phenomena. Occupational stress has been the focal point of research and practice for several decades. However in recent times this research has been criticised for focusing primarily on the individual level of analysis, not acknowledging research contributions from outside organizational and health psychology, and studying overly negative orientated phenomena. Consequently this study proposed a conceptual model which expands upon Cooper and Marshall's (1976) infamous model of occupational stress. This conceptual model hypothesised that incorporating broader macro-level factors as potential sources of stress and more positively orientated mediating psychological states could add a meaningful amount of value and further understanding of the occupational stress process. A secondary analysis of a multinational pharmaceutical company's global employee opinion survey was performed to identify and develop a macro-level climate assessment tool. A sample of employees within the same R&D function was then assessed using the same macro-level climate tool as well as two other validated assessment tools, These included a traditional stress risk assessment and a more recent positive psychological assessment tool The study found that both the macro and positive psychological state variables were able to account for a significant proportion of additional variance in psychological well-being and physical health, The study also found some preliminary support for extending Cooper and Marshall's model to incorporate the macro-level factors as sources of stress and positive psychological states as mediators. The final model identified that macro and micro level perceptions appeared to have differing effects upon individual health outcomes through the mediating positive psychological states. It ~as hypothesised that this may be due to the level of proximity of these variables in relation to employees

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Although forensic services are often regarded as stressful, dangerous and emotionally demanding environments, there has been a surprising lack of research into the phenomena of stress amongst forensic healthcare professionals, especially in the UK. There is mounting evidence to suggest that burnout influences a significant proportion of forensic healthcare professionals and can result in a range of detrimental consequences for the individual, their organization and clients. The small body of research evidence that has examined burnout amongst forensic healthcare professionals is reviewed. Methodological limitations are explored and questions regarding the generalisability and rigor of the available research findings are raised. The research study investigated stress, coping and psychological well-being amongst 135 forensic healthcare professionals employed within four Medium Secure Units in the UK. Background information and measures of psychological well-being, burnout, occupational stress, work satisfaction and coping were collected using a postal survey. The results showed that a substantial proportion of forensic healthcare professionals experienced markedly elevated levels of occupational stress and psychological distress, whilst moderate levels of burnout and a range of problem-focused, emotionfocused and palliative coping strategies were demonstrated. Contributions to theory, research and clinical practice are discussed. The strengths and limitations of the research study are further examined. Future research directions and potential implications for clinical practice are explored. Personal motivations and practical difficulties encountered during the research process are finally presented.

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