Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Abstract Much warranted attention over the past few decades has been devoted to the problem of retaining women faculty in academe, particularly in areas where they poorly represented such as in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This study uses descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling techniques to test an existing model of general faculty departure intentions (Zhou & Volkwein, 2004) on three samples of faculty (a) women faculty, (b) women faculty in STEM, and (c) women faculty in non-STEM fields. Findings revealed that although several significant pathways to intention to leave for women faculty in STEM and in non-STEM fields were identified, the tested model is not an overall good fit of the data for any of the three samples, implying the need for new models of faculty departure intentions specifically for women in STEM and non-STEM disciplines. Implications for practice, theory, and future research are discussed.

Background: Anxiety in the workplace is a special problem as workplaces are especially prone to provoke anxiety: There are social hierarchies, rivalries between colleagues, sanctioning through superiors, danger of accidents, failure, and worries of job security. Workplace phobia is a phobic anxiety reaction with symptoms of panic occurring when thinking of or approaching the workplace, and with clear tendency of avoidance. Objectives: What characterizes workplace-related anxieties and workplace phobia as domain-specific mental disorders in contrast to conventional anxiety disorders? Method: 230 patients from an inpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation center were interviewed with the (semi-)structured Mini-Work-Anxiety-Interview and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, concerning workplace-related anxieties and conventional mental disorders. Additionally, the patients filled in the self-rating questionnaires Job-Anxiety-Scale (JAS) and the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R)measuring job-related and general psychosomatic symptom load. Results: Workplace-related anxieties occurred together with conventional anxiety disorders in 35% of the patients, but also alone in others (23%). Workplace phobia could be found in 17% of the interviewed, any diagnosis of workplace-related anxiety was stated in 58%. Workplace phobic patients had significantly higher scores in job-anxiety than patients without workplace phobia. Patients with workplace phobia were significantly longer on sick leave in the past 12 months (23,5 weeks) than patients without workplace phobia (13,4 weeks). Different qualities of workplace-related anxieties lead with different frequencies to work participation disorders. Conclusion: Workplace phobia cannot be described by only assessing the general level of psychosomatic symptom load and conventional mental disorders. Workplace-related anxieties and workplace phobia have an own clinical value which is mainly defined by specific workplace-related symptom load and work-participation disorders. They require special therapeutic attention and treatment instead of a “sick leave” certification by the general health physician. Workplace phobia should be named with a proper diagnosis according to ICD-10 chapter V, F 40.8: “workplace phobia”. / Hintergrund: Angst am Arbeitsplatz ist ein spezielles Phänomen, da Arbeitsplätze ihrer Natur nach angstauslösende Charakteristika aufweisen: Vorgesetzte die sanktionieren, Rangkämpfe mit Kollegen, reale Unfallgefahren, Scheitern und Leistungsversagen, Unklarheit um plötzliche Veränderungen, Arbeitsplatzunsicherheit. Arbeitsplatzphobie ist eine phobische Angstreaktion mit Panikerleben beim Gedanken an oder bei Annäherung an den Arbeitsplatz. Fragestellung: Was charakterisiert arbeitsplatzbezogene Ängste und Arbeitsplatzphobie als lebensbereichsspezifische Angsterkrankungen in Abgrenzung zu klassischen Angsterkrankungen? Methode: 230 Patienten einer stationären psychosomatischen Rehabilitation wurden im halbstrukturierten Interview (Mini-Arbeits-Angst-Interview, Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) hinsichtlich arbeitsplatzbezogener Ängste und klassischer psychischer Erkrankungen befragt. Selbsteinschätzungsurteile wurden hinsichtlich des Schweregrads der arbeitsbezogenen (Job-Angst-Skala, JAS) und allgemeinen psychosomatischen (Symptom-Checkliste, SCL-90-R) Symptombelastung erhoben. Ergebnisse: 58% der befragten Patienten litten an mindestens einer arbeitsplatzbezogenen Angstvariante. Arbeitsplatzbezogene Ängste kamen bei 35% der Befragten zusammen mit einer klassischen Angsterkrankung vor, bei 23% jedoch als allein stehende Angsterkrankung. 17% der Befragten erfüllten die Kriterien einer Arbeitsplatzphobie. Arbeitsplatzphobie-Patienten hatten signifikant höhere Job-Angst-Werte als Patienten ohne Arbeitsplatzphobie, und sie waren signifikant länger arbeitsunfähig in den letzten 12 Monaten (23,5 Wochen versus 13,4 Wochen). Schlussfolgerung: Arbeitsplatzbezogene Ängste und Arbeitsplatzphobie haben eine spezielle klinische Wertigkeit, die sich anhand arbeitsbezogener Partizipationsstörungen und spezifischer arbeitsbezogener Symptombelastung beschreiben lässt. Arbeitsplatzphobie erfordert besondere therapeutische Herangehensweisen anstelle von angsterhaltender da Vermeidungsverhalten fördernder „Krankschreibung“. Arbeitsplatzphobie sollte als Diagnose benannt werden entsprechend ICD-10 Kapitel V, F 40.8: “Arbeitsplatzphobie”.

I denna uppsats behandlas ohälsans regionala utveckling och syftet är att analysera vad som påverkar den svenska ohälsan. Teori angående hushållens val mellan fritid och arbete används för att analysera resultaten från den empiriska undersökningen. Bakgrunden till denna uppsats bottnar i utvecklingen av ohälsotalen som har ökat med 5,1 dagar mellan åren 2000 och 2004. De empiriska resultaten påvisar att arbetslösheten har ett positivt samband med ohälsa och att kvinnor tenderar att vara mer sjuka än män. Vidare bekräftar resultaten att inkomsten har ett negativt samband med ohälsa och detta är även sant för stora företag. Följaktligen har små företag en positiv inverkan på ohälsotalen och en analys av kommuner belägna i den norra delen av Sverige påvisar ett högre ohälsotal än övriga kommuner. Vidare är individernas ålder en faktor som kan förklara utvecklingen av öhälsotalen. Dessa resultat bekräftar att arbetslöshet, kön, inkomst, företagsstorlek, ålder och kommuner belägna i den norra delen är faktorer som kan förklara ohälsotalens utveckling, men även andra faktorer är av betydelse. / This thesis examines the regional development of ill-health and the purpose is to analyse factors that tend to influence the Swedish ill-health. Theory of household choice between work and leisure is used when analysing the results of the empirical study. The background for this thesis is derived from the development of ill-health that has increased with 5.1 days between the years 2000 and 2004. The empirical findings show that unemployment has a positive relationship with ill-health and that women tend to be more ill than men. Furthermore, the results confirm that income has a negative relationship with ill-health and this is also true for large companies. Consequently, small companies have positive influence on ill-health and an analysis of the municipalities in the northern part of Sweden points out a higher number of ill-health than the other municipalities. Moreover, the individuals’ age is also a factor that can explain the development of ill-health. These findings confirm that unemployment, gender, income, size of company, age, and the municipalities in the north-ern part are factors that can explain the development of ill-health. However, other factors are important in the process as well.

Flera studier har pekat på viktiga faktorer för att hälsa och återgång till yrkeslivet ska vara möjliga men hur detta i praktiken ska ske och vilka rehabiliteringsåtgärder som är mest effektiva är otillräckligt belagt. Studien har genom intervjuer med sju kvinnor med stressrelaterade störningar granskat hur en tillfriskningsprocess kan upplevas och vad som upplevs som meningsfull hjälp i samband med den. Deras tillfriskning har inneburit en kamp och ett starkt personligt engagemang. Beslutsamhet och målinriktning var förutsättningar för att få ta del av rehabiliteringsåtgärder. Kvinnorna i studien har upplevt ett stort personligt ansvarstagande för sin tillfriskning men de har också betonat vikten av bekräftelse från en förstående omgivning. En stor besvikelse har uttryckts gentemot Försäkringskassan och i vissa fall arbetsgivare för bristande förståelse, stöd och hjälp. Genom bland annat kampandan har kvinnorna utvecklat sin självkännedom och sin livssituation. / Several studies have identified factors associated with the promotion of health and return to work. But knowledge is insufficient of how this is practically done and which rehabilitation methods are most effective. This study aimed to shed light on women’s experiences of their rehabilitation process and also experiences of meaningful support associated with the process. Interviews were done with seven women with stress-related disorders whose recovery involved great efforts and a great deal of personal responsibility. The respondents’ determination was a condition for receiving the needed rehabilitation measures. They also emphasized the importance of social support and an empathetic attitude from others. Respondents expressed disappointment with the way The Swedish Social Insurance Agency and employers have handled and treated them. Through the struggles women in this study have endured, they’ve achieved personal growth and the awareness needed to change their situation of life.

Aim:The study's aim is to examine whether and to what extent elementary school pupils aged 13 and 16 report that they ever have been forced to leave home by parents, have run away from home voluntarily or have seriously considered doing so. The aim is also to illuminate which circumstances contribute to these break-ups. Method: A quantitative approach is used; a survey material consisting of 1193 questionnaires is analysed. The data material has been used in earlier studies but the issue addressed here has not been studied earlier. The circumstances analysed are gender, ethnicity, the parents’ religious belief and education, living conditions (sharing home with both parents, one of them or none), contacts with professionals (psychologist, school nurse or curator), physical and mental wellbeing, way of upbringing (liberal vs authoritarian) and communication with parents. The findings are compared to a similar study from Great Britain. Results: The results show that 4 percents of the young people have been forced to leave home some time during their life and 9 percent have run away and stayed away for at least 24 hours. The proportion of young people seriously considering leaving home was 22 percents. It is concluded that being forced to leave home has different explanations compared to running away by own decision. It is thus two different phenomena. A few risk factors are identified.

The overall aim of this thesis was to identify factors that early in a sick leave period could illuminate people’s resources and obstacles for returning to work; factors that could predict need for professional support in the sick leave process leading to a positive outcome for the individual. This thesis consists of four studies. The studied population was living in a rural part of a northern county in Sweden, and had been on sick leave for 28 days irrespective of diagnosis. The participants have been followed for five years with different investigation methods and subgroups of participants. The thesis was initiated by sending a questionnaire to the participants; the responses were compared to groups of healthy controls. The aim was to find predictors of the likelihood of a return to work that can be identified early in a sick leave period. The main focus was on individual mental resources (Study I). The next phase involved studies of sick leave statistics obtained from the Swedish Social Insurance Office, for the study population two years before and two years after the start of the research project. The material from the sick leave statistics was analysed together with responses from the questionnaire study with Partial Least Square (PLS). This was done to search for connections between the participants and factors of concern for sick leave and returning to work in different subgroups (Study II). In-depth interviews also were conducted to explore what the participants experienced as important in their sick leave process as they progressed back to work, or to long term sick leave or disability pension (Study III). Another study investigated client files in the Swedish Social Insurance Office to describe what information that was possible to find: in terms of medical and vocational rehabilitation including assessments, predictors for the outcome of the sick leave process, and the quality of the information in the files (Study IV). The findings showed significantly lower life satisfaction and psychosocial resources in the study-group compared to the healthy controls. The PLS analysis showed that it was the impact of multiple factors that influenced the study group, and the PLS analysis could help with early prediction of the outcome. Important factors were: personal belief in an ability to work in the future, number of sick leave days in the past, diagnosis, self-evaluated symptoms, life satisfaction and sense of coherence, length of education and sector of employment, and many different consequences in daily life caused by activity limitations. The interview study confirmed these results and added the following important resources: confirmation and support, structural and contextual factors, and participation in the sick leave process. Ideal-types were crystallized that can be identified in the early phases of the sick leave process. The client file study showed that some information was possible to find but a majority of the wanted information was limited why an improvement on the quality of documentation is suggested to give better basis for the files.

Mothers and fathers in Sweden receive an earnings-related benefit of 80 percent of their income when they take parental leave. There exists a ceiling in the allowance though, meaning that some people with high earnings don’t receive fully 80 percent of their ordinary salary. The length of the parental leave varies between women and men and also among men and women. Various reasons are used to explain this; one of them is economical. This study investigates the economics reasons further by studying how additional compensations from the employer affect the length of the parental leave. The empirical material that is used in this study is called Time and money and it was collected in 2003 by Statistics Sweden. It consists of a survey of parents of 3164 children, born in 1993 or 1999.The used method for the study is regression analysis. Women and men are studied separately and also in different income-brackets. This proceeding makes it possible to detect if the effect of additional compensation vary by income. The result shows that mothers and fathers with high earnings are effected by the additional compensation from the employer, implying that economical reasons can’t be overlooked in explaining why the length of parental leave vary. No significant results are found for parents with low income.

Syftet med denna studie var att hos patienter som varit på besök inom primärvårdenundersöka nöjdhet/tillfredställelse med besöket, hur delaktig patienten känt sig isjukskrivningsbeslut i förekommande fall samt eventuella skillnader avseende detta mellankvinnor och män, samt sjukskrivna och icke sjukskrivna.Enkäter som handlade om patientens tillfredsställelse med besöket delades ut till patientermellan 18 och 64 år som besökte läkare vid Tierps vårdcentral under nio vardagar i oktober2009. Totalt 129 patienter ingick i studien.Av dem som diskuterat sjukskrivning med läkaren kände sig nästan alla delaktiga i det beslutsom togs. Den stora majoriteten av besökarna var helt och hållet nöjda med sitt besök. Ettfåtal av besökarna var inte alls nöjda med sitt besök på Tierps vårdcentral. De mönster somkan ses i tillfredställelse med besöket är att kvinnor var mer nöjda än män samt att ickesjukskrivna var nöjdare än de sjukskrivna.De skillnader som påvisades mellan grupperna var inte signifikanta men hade kanske varittydligare om studien haft fler deltagare. De mått som användes visade ingen större variation,ett annat instrument hade kanske kunnat påvisa större skillnader. / The aim with this study was to investigate, among patients who have visited a physician in aprimary care setting, the satisfaction with the encounter, to what extent the patient felt thatthey participated in decisions regarding sick leave, and potential differences regarding thisbetween women and men and people on sick leave and people not on sick leave.A questionnaire concerning patient satisfaction with their visit to a physician was handed outto patients between the ages of 18 and 64 that visited a physician at a primary care centre inTierp during nine weekdays in October 2009. A total of 129 patients were included in thestudy.Almost all of those who discussed sick leave with their physician felt that they participated inthe decision that was made. The majority of the visitors were completely satisfied with theirvisit. A few of the visitors were not at all satisfied with their visit. Observed patterns were thatwomen were more satisfied than men and people not on sick leave were more satisfied thanpeople on sick leave.The observed differences between the groups were not statistically significant but perhapsthey would have been more apparent if the number of participants had been greater. Themeasures used did not show a lot of variation, a different instrument might have showngreater differences.

It is now increasingly common for organisations to work actively with HR issues. Furthermore, it is a constant top priority for organisations to remain profitable. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether so called soft HR values, as manager’s communication skills, has an actual impact on hard values in terms of costs for the organisation. Leadership is largely characterised by emotional communication, which together with personnel costs were the main focus of the research. The study was conducted by letting store managers and department heads in shops carry out an emotion perception test and the test results were related to the store/department employee turnover and the number of sick leave hours. The results showed a strong tendency for statistical significance between emotion recognition and the predictors. This suggests that stores, which have low employee turnover and low sick leave hours, can be explained by the manager's capability in emotion perception. The study complements current research by emphasising the importance of emotionally competent managers to operate successful and profitable organisations. / Det är idag allt vanligare för organisationer att arbeta aktivt med HR-frågor. Dock är den största prioriteringen alltid ekonomiska lönsamheten. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om så kallade mjuka HR-värden, så som chefers kommunikation, har en faktisk påverkan på hårda värden i fråga om kostnader för organisationen. Ledarskap präglas till stor del av emotionell kommunikation, vilket tillsammans med personalkostnader utgjorde huvudfokus i studien. Studien genomfördes genom att låta butikschefer och avdelningschefer i butiker göra ett emotionsperceptionstest där testresultatet sedan relaterades till butikens/avdelningens personalomsättning och antal sjukskrivningstimmar. Resultatet visade en stark tendens till statistisk signifikans mellan emotionsperception och prediktorerna. Detta tyder på att butiker som har låg personalomsättning och lågt antal sjukskrivningstimmar kan förklaras med hjälp av chefens goda förmåga till emotionsperception. Studien kompletterar aktuell forskning genom att poängtera vikten av emotionellt kompetenta chefer för att driva framgångsrika och lönsamma organisationer.