Arbetsplatsen har kommit att bli en viktigt arena där hälsan och förutsättningarna för hälsan kan påverkas. De senaste åren har det skett en positiv utveckling gällande den fysiska arbetsmiljön men inte gällande den psykosociala arbetsmiljön där speciellt anställda inom hälso- och sjukvården upplever en allt mer pressad arbetssituation. Litteraturgenomgången kring psykosociala arbetsförhållanden visar att det finns lite forskning gjord kring positiva aspekter av socialt stöd och hälsa. Detta ses som ett problem då det i arbetsmiljön ligger en avsevärd potential i främjandet av hälsa och att fokus bör förflyttas från det patogena till det salutogena synsättet. Syftet var att ur ett salutogent perspektiv se det sociala stödets betydelse på arbetsplatser inom privat hälso- och sjukvård samt undersöka medarbetarnas självuppskattade hälsa och upplevelser av arbetsplatsen och arbetssituationen. Metoden var en kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie. En strukturerad webenkät användes för att samla in data. Totalt deltog 91 medarbetare inom närsjukvården på ett privat hälso- och sjukvårdsföretag, vilket innebar en svarsfrekvens på 43 %. Resultaten visar ett direkt positivt samband mellan socialt stöd och olika arbetsrelaterade faktorer samt hälsa. Socialt stöd medierar även effekterna av kontroll på nivån av den självuppskattade hälsan. Dock fanns det inget underlag för att socialt stöd har en större betydelse än andra arbetsrelaterade faktorer i relation till hälsa. Konklusionerna var att ett gott emotionellt klimat bidrar till gynnsamma hälsoeffekter. Ett viktigt perspektiv i det hälsofrämjande arbetet är att skapa och främja goda relationer på arbetsplatsen. Exempelvis är formella samtalsgrupper effektiva vid främjandet av goda relationer, samt bidragande till minskningen av stressupplevelser vilket även fångar in den preventiva tillämpningen. Hälsa berör flera aspekter och bör ses så holistiskt som möjligt. / The workplace has become an important arena where health- and the prospects of health can be affected. In recent years there have been positive developments regarding the physical work environment but not concerning the psychosocial development environment where employees especially in the health care system is experiencing an increasingly tight labor situation. The literature review on psychosocial working conditions show that there is little research done on the positive aspects of social support and health. This is seen as a problem when the work environment is a considerable potential in the promotion of health, and that the focus should move from the pathogenic to the salutogenic approach. The aim of this thesis was from a salutogenic perspective to study the importance of social support at workplaces in the private healthcare, and examine employees' self-estimated health and perceptions of the workplace and working conditions. The Method was a quantitative cross-sectional study. A structured web-based survey was used to collect data. A total of 91 employees of the local health services in a private healthcare company participated, representing a response rate of 43%. The Results showed a direct positive relationship between social support and various work-related factors and health. Social support also mediates the effects of control on the level of self-estimated health. However, there was no basis for social support as a greater factor than other work-related factors in relation to health. The Conclusions were that a good emotional climate contributes to beneficial health effects. An important perspective in health promotion is to create and foster good relationships in the workplace. For instance are formal discussion groups effective in the promotion of good relations, as well as contributing to the reduction of stress experiences, which also captures the preventive view. Health concerns several aspects and should be seen as holistic as possible.

Historically, leadership research has focused on managers’ characteristics and behavior, their leadership style and its implications for a business’s success. In contrast, this dissertation examines how working conditions in the workplace affect first-level managers’ everyday work, their possibilities to practice leadership, and consequently their leadership style. The theoretical framework guiding the dissertation is a gender analysis with a doing gender perspective and the methodology is a case study. Two workplace organizations in a Swedish municipality are studied: a male-dominated manufacturing industry and a female-dominated elderly care service. The empirical materials consist of twenty-six semi-structured interviews, primarily with male and female first-level managers, but also with their immediate supervisors. In addition, the materials include a questionnaire and organizational documents. The results show that organizational structure and culture have implications for managers’ working conditions and consequently the leadership style they are willing and able to implement. The sex ratio among employees did not have any implications for which type of leadership informants described in their everyday practices. The ideal leadership and the everyday leadership practices portrayed by informants entail being explicit, controlling and rational managers who are able to make decisions and carry forth extensive structural changes. Their narratives reveal an authoritarian and task-oriented leadership style that has its roots in early industrialism. Leadership is strongly marked by masculinity, and even though women and men describe practicing the same type of leadership in their everyday work, their ideas about gender depict two complete opposites in which women and femininity is subordinated to men and masculinity. This indicates a divergence between the gender we think and the gender we do. Nonetheless, sex ratio among employees has implications for the level of sexism. While informants in both workplace organizations described gender discrimination, only those in the manufacturing industry described experiencing sexual harassment.

Det har skett stora förändringar på arbetsmarknaden, där visstidsanställning/ behovsanställning blivit alltmer vanligare anställningsformen i Sverige. Individer som inte har fast anställning har även sämre psykosociala arbetsförhållanden och upplever större stress på arbetsplatsen, vilket i sin tur kan leda till mental ohälsa. Även kvinnor upplever sig ha sämre psykosociala arbetsförhållanden jämfört med män. I denna studie undersöks sambandet mellan psykosociala arbetsförhållanden, arbetsbelastning, anställningsform samt kön och mental ohälsa. De psykosociala förhållanden mäts genom den så kallade krav- och kontrollmodell som omfattar vilken typ av arbete individen utför. Resultatet uppvisade positiva samband mellan både psyksociala arbetsförhållanden, alltför många arbetsuppgifter, visstidsanställning, kvinna och mental ohälsa då mental ohälsa var större hos de individer som upplever sig ha höga krav och låg kontroll i arbetet (spänt arbete) än hos individer med låga krav och hög kontroll på arbetsplatsen. Även alldeles för stor arbetsbelastning hade en stor betydelse när det gäller mental ohälsa. Detta gäller även anställningsform då resultatet visade att visstidsanställda var i högre utsträckning utsatta av mental ohälsa än de som har fast anställning. Emellertid vad gäller kön så resultatet uppvisade att kvinnor drabbas i högre utsträckning av mental ohälsa jämfört med män däremot kan detta inte kopplas till krav och kontroll på arbetsplatsen. Studien avslutas med diskussion kring de resultat som har erhållits från regressioner. / There have been major changes in labor markets, where temporary employments have become increasingly more common form of employment in Sweden. Individuals who do not have a permanent job have also worse psychosocial working conditions and experience greater stress in the workplace, which in turn can lead to mental ill health. Although women perceive themselves as having poorer psychosocial working conditions compared to males. The present study examines the relationship between psychosocial working conditions, workload, employment status, sex and mental ill health. The psychosocial working condition measured by the so called demands and latitudes model that includes the type of working the individual performs. The result showed a positive correlation between psychosocial working conditions, too many tasks, temporary employment, women and mental ill health where mental ill health was grater in those individuals who have high demands and low control at work than those with low demands and high control in the workplace. Also heavy workload had a major role in the mental ill health. This also applies to employment status when the results showed that temporary workers were more often affected of mental ill health than those with permanent employment. However, in terms of gender, the results showed that women are affected more often of mental ill health compared to men; however, this cannot be linked to demand and control in the workplace. The study concludes with discussion of the results obtained from the regressions.

The purpose of this bachelor thesis was to illuminate and analyze the working conditions of visual artists in the Swedish region of Värmland. As a profession which is known to have many problems concerning income and the fact that most artist are unable to get by on their art sales alone it becomes interesting to look closer on cultural policy’s affecting the artists, where the problems lie and what possible help they can get. I have used previous research and different sources to map out the working conditions in Sweden and Värmland alike and also interviewed five different visual artists in Värmland to get a general view of the working conditions in the country as a whole and their perception of the situation and special circumstances in Värmland. I have also used discourse analysis to compare the source material with the answers of my respondents to see which discourses that exists, that have hegemony, and to see how this subject is talked about. The results of this study showed how political decisions may force artists to become self-employed entrepreneurs even though many artists do not self-identify as such or even have any interest in profitable gain. The study also shows among other things that most artists have another occupation on the side but that there are some aids to help the artists with income. The situation in Värmland appears to both good and bad for artists, it seems easier for them to get exposure, but the artists complain about the regions lack of interest and contributions to the visual arts.

Šiame darbe pirmą kartą Lietuvoje kompleksiškai vertinami visuomeninio maitinimo įmonių darbuotojų darbo sąlygos, psichosocialiniai veiksniai bei sveikata. Šis tyrimas galėtų atkreipti atsakingų institucijų dėmesį į sveikatos nusiskundimus susijusius su sveikatos riziką, kurią įtakoja ergonominės, higieninės ir psichosocialinės sąlygos. Tai įgalintų laiku užkirsti kelią profesinių ir neprofesinių ligų išsivystymui. Darbo tikslas - ištirti Kauno miesto visuomeninio maitinimo įmonių darbuotojų (padavėjų, barmenų) darbo sąlygas, veikiančius psichosocialinius veiksnius bei nusiskundimus sveikata, pasiūlyti priemones sveikatos pakenkimų prevencijai. Tyrimo metodika. Tyrimas atliktas 2006 metų birželio – rugpjūčio mėnesiais. Atsitiktine tvarka buvo atrinkta 15 Kauno miesto didžiųjų viešojo maitinimo įmonių. Anoniminės anketinės apklausos būdu ištirta 200 darbuotojų. Atsako dažnis buvo 79,1 proc. Duomenims rinkti buvo naudojami standartizuoto tipo ir negatyvaus elgesio darbe klausimynai. Statistiniams ryšiams įvertinti buvo naudojamas SPSS 12 statistinis paketas. Rezultatai. 67,5 proc. respondentų nurodo, kad jų darbo aplinka yra triukšminga. Viešojo maitinimo įmonių darbuotojai po darbo jaučia fizinį (97,5 proc.) ir psichologinį (93 proc.) nuovargį. 9,5 proc. apklaustųjų patiria psichologinį terorą, 14,0 proc. patiria stresą savo darbo vietoje. Išvados. Respondentai po darbo jaučia fizinį ir psichologinį nuovargį. Viešojo maitinimo įmonių darbuotojai (tiek vyrai, tiek moterys)... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This work first time in Lithuania fully analyses working conditions, psychosocial factors and health of public catering companies’ employees. This research should pay attention of responsible institutions to health complaints, involving health risk, which result from ergonomic, hygienic and psychosocial conditions. It could prevent development of professional and non professional diseases. Aim of the study. Analyze working conditions of Kaunas public catering employees (waiters, bartenders), acting psychosocial factors and health complaints; suggest prevention means to health disorders. Methods. The research was carried out in June - August, 2006. 15 public catering companies in Kaunas were randomly chosen. 200 employees were given anonymous questionnaires. Answer response was 79,1 %. We used standard and negative behavior in the work questionnaires to collect the data. To estimate statistical relations we used SPSS 12 statistical packet. Results. 67,5 % of the respondents claim, they have noisy working conditions. Employees of public catering companies feel physical (97,5 %) and psychological (93 %) tiredness. 9,5 % of respondents feel psychological terror, 14,0 % feels stress in their working place. Conclusions. Respondents feel physical and psychological tiredness after work. Employees of public catering companies (both men and women) averagely smoke and use alcohol more often than population in Lithuania. Main health problems are-short sight, headache, cough, sore... [to full text]

L’abandon de la carrière chez les enseignants, généralement appelé l’attrition des enseignants dans les écrits scientifiques, a été l’objet de nombreuses études. La connaissance en est assez avancée dans certaines régions du monde, mais très peu de recherches ont étudié cette problématique au Québec. Ainsi, l’objectif principal de ce travail de recherche était d’identifier les facteurs de l’attrition des enseignants au Québec. L’objectif spécifique de cette recherche était d’observer comment ces facteurs influencent la perception des individus et amènent certains d’entre eux à prendre la décision de quitter. Dans le cadre de cette étude qualitative, 26 individus (16 femmes et 10 hommes) ayant récemment quitté l’enseignement ont été rencontrés. Dix participants ont exercé la profession enseignante au niveau primaire et 16 au niveau secondaire. Afin de recueillir les données, le chercheur a procédé à des entrevues de groupe semi-dirigées d’une durée de deux heures. Les résultats de cette étude indiquent que les facteurs qui influencent l’attrition des enseignants au Québec sont nombreux et variés. Ils sont surtout relatifs aux conditions d’exercice de la profession et les plus souvent mentionnés sont les difficultés liées à la gestion de classe, la précarité du travail, les difficultés dans les relations avec les collègues, la charge de travail et le peu de soutien offert par la direction. Le contexte social et la faible valorisation de la profession enseignante ont aussi été mentionnés. Par ailleurs, le chercheur a analysé la perception qu’avaient les participants de leur expérience de travail à l’aide de la théorie de l’autodétermination (Deci et Ryan, 2000). Les résultats de cette analyse suggèrent que les participants ne se sentaient pas en mesure de satisfaire leurs besoins psychologiques fondamentaux dans le cadre du travail enseignant. / Teachers’ attrition has been the subject of a large number of research in recent years. Researchers have extended the knowledge of this problem in many countries, however very few of them have studied the particularities of teachers’ attrition in Québec. The aim of this research was to identify the factors that seem to influence teachers’ attrition in Québec. More specifically, the present study aimed to observe how these factors seem to affect teachers’ perceptions of their working experience and lead some of them to quit teaching. This qualitative study examines the teaching experience of 26 individuals (16 females and 10 males) who have recently quit teaching. Ten of them taught elementary school and 16 taught at the high school level. Subjects were invited to partake in a two hour long focus group. The results show that the factors of attrition in Québec are numerous and varied. Most of them are relative to teachers’ working conditions, mostly classroom management difficulties, job insecurity, problematic relationships with colleagues, work overload and lack of support from the school principal. Unsupportive social context and lack of acknowledgement were also mentioned. Subjects’ perceptions toward their teaching experience were also analyzed using self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Results suggest that the subjects’ basic psychological needs where not satisfied through their teaching experience.

Cognitive functioning is important for managing work and life in general. However, subjective cognitive complaints (SCC), involving self-perceived difficulties with concentration, memory, decision making, and clear thinking are common in the general and in the working population and can be coupled with both lowered well-being and work ability. The present thesis investigated the extent to which SCC among people in the work force can be explained by objective cognitive functioning (study I &amp; II) and working conditions (study III), utilizing samples from the working population. The potential roles of other common psychological problems which often co-occur with SCC were also investigated in studies I-III. In Study I, high levels of SCC were associated with significantly poorer episodic memory performance during high executive demands and a trend was found towards poorer episodic memory, while not being associated with semantic memory. In Study II, high levels of SCC were associated with significantly poorer executive cognitive performance on all three executive cognitive tests used. Symptoms of depression, chronic stress and sleeping problems were found to play an important role in the relations between SCC and episodic memory during divided attention in study I and executive cognitive functioning in study II. In Study III, in all cross-sectional data analyses, high quantitative demands, information and communication technology (ICT) demands, underqualification in the work situation and inter-personal conflicts were positively associated with SCC, whereas social support, good resources at work and overqualification in the work situation were negatively associated with SCC. In all prospective data analyses, quantitative job demands, ICT demands and underqualification were positively associated with future SCC, including when adjusted for baseline cognitive complaints. The findings may guide prevention of and interventions for SCC among people in the work force. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 2: Accepted.</p>

I denna socialpsykologiska uppsats har vi undersökt svenska ledares upplevelse kring balansen mellan arbetsliv och privatliv. Ämnet är av relevans att studera då dagens föränderliga arbetsvillkor ställer höga krav på de anställdas anpassningsbarhet. Behovet av anpassning medför en alltmer komplex tillvaro i hanteringen av en tillfredställande gränsdragning mellan dessa domäner. Vårt syfte med studien var att förmedla en förklaring och helhetsbild som påvisar vad som är mest angeläget för ledarna i hanteringen av denna gränsdragningsprocess. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie, och utifrån syftet och frågeställningarna har vi använt Grundad teori som metodval. Det insamlade datamaterial har därmed analyserat grundligt med hjälp av transkribering och kodning, som resulterade i följande kategorier: Vikten av att upprätthålla sociala relationer, organisatorisk stöttning, stöd i privatlivet, stöd via frizon och eget förhållningssätt. Resultatet visar sammanfattningsvis att det som möjliggjorde en tillfredställande gränsdragning var ett fungerande socialt stöd. Det mest angelägna för ledare var att kunna upprätthålla de stödjande sociala relationerna som möjliggjorde en lyckad kombination av arbetet och privatlivet, som i sin tur resulterar i ökat välbefinnande genom tillfredställd gränsdragning. / In this social-psychological essay we have examined Swedish leaders experience about the balance between work and personal life. The topic is relevant to study when today's changing working condition puts high demands on the employees' adaptability. The need for adaptation involves an increasingly complex existence in dealing with a satisfactory distinction between these domains. Our purpose of this study was to convey a statement and overview that demonstrates what is most indicate for the leaders in the management of this demarcation process. We conducted a qualitative study, and based on the purpose and the issues we have used Grounded theory as our method. The collected datasets from semi-structured interviews and written submissions have thus analyzed thoroughly by means of transcribing and coding, that resulted in the following categories: The importance of maintaining social relationships, organizational support, private life support, free zone support, and own approach. The result shows that what enabled a satisfactory demarcation was a functioning social support. The most important thing for leaders was to maintain the supportive social relationships that enabled a successful combination of work and private life, which in turn resulted in improved well-being through a satisfied boundary.

Changes to the global economy over the past few decades along with growing support for neo-liberal policies in Canada have led to an increase in precarious, low-wage frontline service work. These kinds of occupations often involve sustained interaction with clients and have high job demands, low job control and insufficient monetary reward. Further, many of these jobs also tend to be gendered (i.e., they involve a large degree of ‘emotional’ labour or care work that is predominantly carried out by female workers). Working conditions such as these can have a negative impact on the mental health of frontline service workers leading to psychological distress and depression. Chronic stress or cumulative stressful life events can also increase vulnerability to depression. While these stressors can be exacerbated by poor working conditions, they can also exist independently of them. Comparative research across two or more frontline service occupations, similar in broad strokes but differing in workplace characteristics, is especially needed to understand how structural and contextual factors in the workplace and over the life course interact to produce depression. This thesis presents data from my supervisor (Dr. Cecilia Benoit) and colleagues’ 4-wave longitudinal study entitled “Interactive service workers’ occupational health and safety and access to health services” (Benoit, Jansson, Leadbeater & McCarthy, 2005). This is a study of three types of frontline service jobs – two in the formal economy (hairstyling and food and beverage service) and one in the shadow/informal economy (sex industry). Results of this secondary analysis demonstrate that not only do working conditions have a significant impact on the mental health of frontline service workers but that stressful life events also have very strong explanatory power in understanding why certain workers experience depression more than others. The findings indicate that sex workers have the highest levels of depression, in comparison to stylists and servers. Yet sex workers report protective factors in their jobs, including higher comparative decision latitude, that contradict much of the current literature on sex work. The thesis concludes with policy recommendations and gives direction for further research in the area of frontline service work and depression.

Since 1960s, preschools have been important parts both of Swedish welfare and of labour market policies. The preschool thus constitutes a very important site for rearing and educating young children. Reforms of the Swedish preschool in the 1990s concerning both accessibility and quality were introduced at a time when the economy of the municipalities dramatically deteriorated because of reductions in State subsidies. The strained economy of the State and the municipalities, has resulted, among other things, in a growing number of children in preschool groups and pressure to change organization and pedagogical content. These changes took place in a time of decentralization where the responsibility for organization of preschools was given to the municipalities. Changes in economy, organization and curriculum form the background for this study. The purpose of the study is to examine and understand how preschool working teams shape and realize the pedagogical practice and how working conditions affect this process. The approach of the study is interpretative, where the interpretative perspective is mainly represented by activity theory and theories of cultural reproduction. Three aspects of the actions are observed: the object of the actions, the instruments mediating the actions and the content of mediating actions. Bernstein’s concepts classification and framing are used as tools in analysing the empirical data. The interpretative, empirical study is based on qualitative data collected mainly by observations and interviews. Three preschools are chosen for the study. The preschools in the study are located in two municipalities in the north of Sweden, representing three different environments. All preschools receive children one to five years old. The personnel consist of preschool teachers and childminders working in teams. Eleven of them where interviewed. The study shows that daily routines both shape and restrict practices in preschools. The work is mainly focused on care giving, where the children are supposed to adapt to and subordinate themselves to the norms and to the existing routines. The children’s influence varies between organized activities, where they have little influence, and play time, where they can choose what to do. It also varies between the preschools, where the preschool with children from more affluent families have more freedom than children from the multicultural, lower-income environment do. The work is collectively oriented toward training adaptation, but also, to a certain extent, training for autonomy and responsibility taking. Organization of learning activities often takes the form of transmitting information. The informants regard themselves as caregivers with the main purpose to mediate security and create conditions for the children to develop socially. The changes in conditions emanating from political decisions have brought new working tasks to the preschools and have reduced the level of resources at the same time as the demands made are experienced as being harder. This creates frustration and tends to result in lower levels of ambition.