Workplace design practitioners and organizational managers are increasingly noticing all the various aspects in which the workplace affects organizations and their employees. The studies on the relationships between the workplace, organizations and their employees are more focused on psychology or facility management than the socio-spatial perspective. Workplace design, configuration and spatial features impact how well and how much a company can benefit from its human capital. Although the concept of the relation of workplace to an organization is not new, it is relatively unexamined. This thesis introduces a new set of spatial variables to workplace studies, following the concept of personal control. The discussed spatial variables effectively describe the features of workplace floor plan and the characteristics of a workstation. Furthermore, this dissertation develops a method that creates the link between workplace spatial setting and a sense of belonging, organizational outcomes – organizational commitment, work motivation, job satisfaction and work performance. Based on the detailed statistical analyses of a field survey that included 336 participants from 16 organizations, a model of spatial features influence sense of belonging and organizational outcomes was identified within this study. The research findings provide evidence for creating a workplace with a sense of belonging and better organizational outcomes through spatial design. This dissertation is comprised of six chapters. Chapter 1, an introduction, provides a general study background, discusses the problems to be solved in the study, and proposes an approach to deal with the target problems. Chapter 2 firstly reviews the current workplace studies related to spatial features. Secondly, it discusses the influence of workstation design on the human muscle system. Thirdly, it discusses the most relevant psychological issues at a workplace as stated by previous researches. Finally, the chapter reveals how a workplace affects the work of an organization. Chapter 3 specifies how workplace influences an employee’s sense of belonging and environmental control, and introduces the conceptual model. It also introduces the independent and dependent variables, generates research hypotheses. Chapter 4 describes the field survey design, procedures and the participants. It also covers the initial data analysis of the field survey: how the survey instrument, the questionnaire, was developed, commenting on all the aspects it includes – spatial experiences, work motivation, commitment, sense of belonging, job satisfaction and work performance. Chapter 5 is data analysis. This chapter discusses the research findings on workplace design features in relation to employees’ sense of belonging, satisfaction with ambient physical environment, and organizational outcomes – commitment, work motivation, job satisfaction and individual work performance. The final chapter summarizes the findings, comments on design implications of the research results, and draws conclusions. The dissertation ends in admitting the limitations of this research and discussing practical implications for future investigation.

Univ., Diss u.d.T.: Bühler, Caroline: Berufliche Identität im Wandel--Bern, 2004.

The ongoing demographic changes in Germany pose increasing challenges for the healthcare system. As society ages, the number of people in need of care rises rapidly, and in the wake of multimorbid illnesses, the quality of care required is constantly changing. But fewer and fewer skilled nursing staff are available in the labor market to cope with this growing need for care. The continuing shortage of skilled workers means that the increasing demands on nursing staff have to be met by fewer and fewer staff. As a result, the workload is increasing enormously, and the health of nursing staff is suffering, causing additional absences due to staff illness and further exacerbating the staff shortage. The incapacity numbers in nursing professions are now at a record high, raising concerns regarding the security of patients. Many nurses now experience mental health problems such as burnout. Previous models to explain the development of burnout in the work context point to the great importance of demands and resources; however, they are too unspecific to make predictions for the nursing context. This thesis therefore, develops a specific model to explain the development of burnout in health care professions (e.g., nursing), with a particular focus on the role of intraindividual resources. For this purpose, a multimethod approach was used in the context of three studies. In the first study, qualitative interviews were conducted in long-term care settings: group interviews in workshops with employees and individual interviews with leaders. Based on these findings, longitudinal surveys in long-term care and hospitals were conducted in the second and third studies to test the hypotheses derived in Study 1. Chapter 4 uses two qualitative interview studies to describe the perspectives of employees and leaders in long-term care regarding perceived challenges in the work context and potential opportunities for change. The results show that self-endangering behaviors promote the development of burnout among caregivers. The study suggests that self-endangering is a harmful coping strategy promoted by high altruistic job motivation, high identification with the team, and low self-esteem. Chapter 5 elaborates on the findings presented in Chapter 4 and tests them using a quantitative longitudinal survey over two measurement time points. The results confirm that high altruistic job motivation leads to more self-endangering behavioral tendencies and cognitions in nurses. Self-endangering cognitions mediate the effect of altruistic job motivation on the experience of exhaustion. Further evidence was found for the effect of low self-esteem on the promotion of self-endangering cognitions. Chapter 6 examines in a longitudinal survey the effect of altruistic job motivation and under what conditions it has a detrimental effect on health and leads to self-endangering tendencies in nurses. Workload, as well as leadership behavior, are examined as moderators. The results show that altruism promotes self-endangering cognitions when qualitative workload is high. In addition, leaders who allow their employees few opportunities to recover from work promote their employees’ self-endangering cognitions. In summary, self-endangering is a harmful coping strategy in caring professions; it promotes burnout and is particularly promoted by high altruistic job motivation and low selfesteem. Both changes in working conditions and behavioral interventions are needed to reduce self-endangering in caregiving and thus maintain caregivers' mental health. Intraindividual resources could be strengthened in interventions, working conditions could be changed, and leaders could be sensitized.:Abstract (English) Zusammenfassung (Deutsch) List of Figures List of Tables Self-Endangering in Nursing Theoretical Background Overview of the Research Program Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Nurses’ Burnout Self-Endangering and Nurses’ Job Motives Self-Endangering and Effects of Workload and Leadership Behavior Overall Discussion References Appendix / Der fortschreitende demographische Wandel in Deutschland stellt das Gesundheitssystem vor wachsende Herausforderungen. Mit zunehmender Alterung der Gesellschaft steigt die Zahl pflegebedürftiger Menschen rapide an und im Zuge von multimorbiden Erkrankungen verändert sich auch die Qualität der Pflegebedürftigkeit stetig. Zur Bewältigung dieses wachsenden Pflegebedarfes stehen immer weniger Fachkräfte in der Pflege dem Arbeitsmarkt zur Verfügung. Der fortschreitende Fachkräftemangel führt insbesondere in der Pflege dazu, dass die immer größere werdenden Arbeitsanforderungen von zunehmend weniger Personal bewältigt werden muss. In Folge dessen steigt die Arbeitsbelastung enorm und die Gesundheit des Pflegepersonals leidet, was zusätzliche Ausfälle durch Erkrankungen des Personals verursacht und die Personalknappheit weiter verschärft. Die Arbeitsunfähigkeitszahlen in pflegenden Berufen sind dadurch inzwischen auf einem Rekordhoch und besorgniserregend für die Versorgungssicherheit der Patienten*innen. Viele Pflegende leiden dabei insbesondere unter psychischen Erkrankungen, wie Burnout. Die bisherigen Modelle zur Erklärung der Entstehung von Burnout im Arbeitskontext weisen auf die große Bedeutung von Anforderungen und Ressourcen hin, sind dabei aber zu allgemein, um spezifische Vorhersagen für den Pflegekontext treffen zu können. Diese Thesis entwickelt daher ein spezifisches Modell zur Erklärung der Entstehung von Burnout in pflegenden Berufen, mit dem besonderen Fokus auf die Rolle von intraindividuellen Ressourcen. Hierzu wurde ein Multimethoden-Verfahren im Rahmen von drei Studien eingesetzt. In der ersten Studie wurden in der stationären Langzeitpflege qualitative Interviews im Rahmen von Gruppeninterviews in Workshops mit Mitarbeitenden und Einzelinterviews mit Führungskräften durchgeführt. Auf Basis der hieraus gewonnenen Erkenntnisse wurden in der zweiten und dritten Studie Längsschnittbefragungen in der Langzeitpflege und im Krankenhaus zur Prüfung, der in Studie 1 abgeleiteten Hypothesen, durchgeführt. Kapitel 4 beschreibt im Rahmen von zwei qualitativen Interviewstudien die Perspektive von Mitarbeitenden und Führungskräften aus der stationären Langzeitpflege hinsichtlich der wahrgenommenen Herausforderungen im Arbeitskontext und möglicher Veränderungsmöglichkeiten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass selbstaufopfernde Verhaltensweisen die Entstehung von Burnout bei Pflegenden begünstigen. Die Studie legt nahe, dass Selbstaufopferung eine gesundheitsschädliche Bewältigungsstrategie ist, die durch eine hohe altruistische Berufsmotivation, hohe Identifikation mit dem Team und geringen Selbstwert gefördert wird. Kapitel 5 vertieft die in Kapitel 4 dargestellten Ergebnisse und prüft diese anhand einer quantitativen Längsschnittbefragung über zwei Messzeitpunkte. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen, dass eine hohe altruistische Berufsmotivation zu mehr selbstaufopfernde Verhaltenstendenzen und Kognitionen bei Pflegenden führt. Selbstaufopfernde Kognitionen mediieren dabei den Effekt von einer altruistischen Berufsmotivation auf das Erschöpfungserleben. Weitere Hinweise zeigten sich für die Wirkung von geringem Selbstwert auf die Förderung von selbstaufopfernden Kognitionen. Kapitel 6 untersucht die Wirkung einer altruistischen Berufsmotivation in Pflegeberufen und unter welchen Bedingungen diese gesundheitsschädlich wirkt und zu Selbstaufopferungstendenzen von Pflegenden führt. Als Moderatoren werden die Arbeitsbelastung, sowie das Führungsverhalten untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Altruismus dann selbstaufopfernde Kognitionen fördert, wenn die qualitative Arbeitsbelastung hoch ist. Darüber hinaus konnte gezeigt werden, dass Führungskräfte, die ihren Mitarbeitenden wenig Möglichkeiten zur Erholung von der Arbeit ermöglichen, die selbstaufopfernden Kognitionen ihrer Mitarbeitenden fördern. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass Selbstaufopferung eine gesundheitsschädliche Coping Strategie in pflegenden Berufen darstellt, die Burnout fördert und insbesondere durch eine hohe altruistische Berufsmotivation und ein geringen Selbstwert gefördert wird. Es sind sowohl verhältnis- als auch verhaltensorientierte Maßnahmen notwendig, um Selbstaufopferung in der Pflege zu verringern und damit die psychische Gesundheit des Pflegepersonals zu erhalten. So könnten die intraindividuellen Ressourcen in Interventionen gestärkt, die Arbeitsbedingungen verändert, sowie die Führungskräfte sensibilisiert werden.:Abstract (English) Zusammenfassung (Deutsch) List of Figures List of Tables Self-Endangering in Nursing Theoretical Background Overview of the Research Program Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Nurses’ Burnout Self-Endangering and Nurses’ Job Motives Self-Endangering and Effects of Workload and Leadership Behavior Overall Discussion References Appendix

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Workplace design practitioners and organizational managers are increasingly noticing all the various aspects in which the workplace affects organizations and their employees. The studies on the relationships between the workplace, organizations and their employees are more focused on psychology or facility management than the socio-spatial perspective. Workplace design, configuration and spatial features impact how well and how much a company can benefit from its human capital. Although the concept of the relation of workplace to an organization is not new, it is relatively unexamined. This thesis introduces a new set of spatial variables to workplace studies, following the concept of personal control. The discussed spatial variables effectively describe the features of workplace floor plan and the characteristics of a workstation. Furthermore, this dissertation develops a method that creates the link between workplace spatial setting and a sense of belonging, organizational outcomes – organizational commitment, work motivation, job satisfaction and work performance. Based on the detailed statistical analyses of a field survey that included 336 participants from 16 organizations, a model of spatial features influence sense of belonging and organizational outcomes was identified within this study. The research findings provide evidence for creating a workplace with a sense of belonging and better organizational outcomes through spatial design. This dissertation is comprised of six chapters. Chapter 1, an introduction, provides a general study background, discusses the problems to be solved in the study, and proposes an approach to deal with the target problems. Chapter 2 firstly reviews the current workplace studies related to spatial features. Secondly, it discusses the influence of workstation design on the human muscle system. Thirdly, it discusses the most relevant psychological issues at a workplace as stated by previous researches. Finally, the chapter reveals how a workplace affects the work of an organization. Chapter 3 specifies how workplace influences an employee’s sense of belonging and environmental control, and introduces the conceptual model. It also introduces the independent and dependent variables, generates research hypotheses. Chapter 4 describes the field survey design, procedures and the participants. It also covers the initial data analysis of the field survey: how the survey instrument, the questionnaire, was developed, commenting on all the aspects it includes – spatial experiences, work motivation, commitment, sense of belonging, job satisfaction and work performance. Chapter 5 is data analysis. This chapter discusses the research findings on workplace design features in relation to employees’ sense of belonging, satisfaction with ambient physical environment, and organizational outcomes – commitment, work motivation, job satisfaction and individual work performance. The final chapter summarizes the findings, comments on design implications of the research results, and draws conclusions. The dissertation ends in admitting the limitations of this research and discussing practical implications for future investigation.