Ohälsa på arbetsplatsen utgör en stor riskfaktor beträffande folkhälsa. Jag har valt att undersöka hur anställda på en myndighet beskriver dess innebörd av socialt stöd och hurvida det är en viktig faktor för arbetslivet att kunna uppleva någon form av socialt stöd. Tidigare forskning har visat att bristande socialt stöd på arbetsplatsen ger en ökad risk för stress, vilket kan resultera i att arbetsglädje och välmående försämras. Med hjälp av socialt stöd från arbetskollegor skapas det arbetsglädje och ett ökat välmående. Syftet: med denna uppsats var att undersöka hurvida handläggare på en myndighet upplever soicalt stöd i arbetet. Detta för att kunna se om sociala stödet har samband med arbetshälsan och hur det påverkar arbetstagarnes vämående. Metod: I studien har en kvalitativ ansats använts, där 4 respondenter intervjuvades på en myndighet i ett län i Mellansverige. I studien har data analyserats och styrkats från en deskriptiv innehållsanalys, där intervjuerna transkriberades och kategoriserades för att kunna få fram resultatet.  Resultat: visade att samtliga respondenter upplevde att socialt stöd på arbetsplatsen är något positivt och kan även fungera som ett hjälpmedel främst vid stressiga perioder. Studien har även visat att socialt stöd från arbetskollegor skapar trygghet i arbetet. Detta genom att man vid svåra situationer får stöd från kollegor för att finna lösningar på problem som kan uppstå. Slutsatsen: visar att med ett gott arbetsteam skapas det en förutsättning för en bättre arbetshälsa med ökad välbefinnande även vid stressiga situationer.

Substantial technology developments over the past two decades have dramatically transformed today’s workplaces. It became easier to perform work functions. However, these changes made employers to think about productive and effective working time usage in the electronic working place. Companies began to use electronic surveillance. The appliance of this equipment determined the appearance of legal problems. Hence the usage of control technologies brings the conflict among the interests of employer and employee. There arises necessity to decide to whose interests to give the preference. There is offered to seek the balance of the interests in order to retain the confidence and trustworthy atmosphere in the workplace. In fact, this is achieved when the fundamental data protection principles – legitimacy, transparency, proportionality and security – are being applied. The legal regulation of USA and European Union differently estimates the problem of the privacy in the electronic working place. The United States inclined to give the preference to business interests because employer posses the electronic equipment. Besides here the employer can use the provider exception. This shows that the employee in the United States can have no reasonable expectation of privacy in the electronic working place. However, in Europe the electronic surveillance is morally illegal and infringes the constitutional right of privacy. European Union values the data protection principles and the... [to full text]

Detta är en fallstudie som handlar om de varierande uppfattningar som en arbetsgrupp vid en vårdavdelning har haft av ett påbörjat arbete med grupputveckling. Denna grupp gavs möjlighet för forskaren att studera under hösten 2013 och en studie av denna arbetsmetod är idag aktuell. Arbetet med grupputveckling har skett genom en modell innehållande hälsopromotion. För att ta reda på gruppens uppfattningar av denna metod genomfördes kvalitativa enskilda intervjuer med dem. Materialet har till en början inspirerats av en fenomenografisk analysmetod. Därefter förändrades valet av analysmetod till en blandad metod istället. Detta för att kunna visa en så rättvis bild som möjligt av informanternas uppfattningar. Fenomenografin är fördelaktig gällande analysen av det syfte som är formulerat, vilket är att förstå på vilka olika sätt som deltagarna har uppfattat den aktuella grupputvecklingsmetoden. Resultatet som visade sig i studien var att arbetsmetoden för grupputveckling till viss del har gett ett positivt resultat. Dock visade det sig att alla uppgifter som skulle genomföras inte ännu hade hunnit fullföljas. Detta på grund av svårigheter med att finna vikarier till en slimmad vårdavdelning. Tidsaspekten för denna studie har varit 10 veckor.

SAMMANFATTNING   Mobbing är ett dolt men välkänt problem på många svenska arbetsplatser. Syftet med denna uppsats är; hur informanterna upplever, beskriver och förstår mobbning på arbetsplatsen. Genom att låta ett antal personer som själva anser sig vara eller ha varit utsatta för mobbning själva berätta om detta. Jag har delat upp syftet i tre frågeställningar: Vad berättar de intervjuade om det de varit med om? Vad möjliggör mobbning på arbetsplatsen enligt informanterna? Vad saknas på arbetsplatsen enligt informanterna? En kvalitativ metod med en hermeneutisk ansats har använts. På basis av relevant facklitteratur och avhandlingar har ökad förförståelse och kunskap införskaffats. Det har även varit en grund för att utarbeta en intervjuguide, som funnits med som ett stöd. Huvudfrågan till informanterna har varit: Berätta vad du varit med om? Sex intervjuer har genomförts där informanterna har uppsökt mig med sin historia. Därefter har intervjuerna transkriberas och sammanställts till kategorier. Sammanställningarna analyserades utifrån ett fyra kategorier/riskfaktorer; ledningens agerande, klimat på arbetet, personkemi och olösta konflikter samt utifrån de specifika teman som kommit fram vid sammanställningen syndabockar och stigma- eller stämplingsteori. Huvudresultatet visar samstämmigt att det är brister i kommunikationen som är grundproblemet. / Mobbing is a hidden but well-known problem in many Swedish workplaces. The purpose of this paper is; how informants perceive, describe and understand workplace bullying. By letting a number of people who consider themselves to be or have been victims of bullying themselves tell about this. I've divided the objective into three questions: What tells them about what they experienced? What enables workplace bullying according to informants? What is missing in the workplace according to the informants? A qualitative method using a hermeneutic approach has been used. On the basis of relevant literature and dissertations has increased understanding and knowledge acquired. There has also been a basis for preparing an interview guide, which was included as a support. The main question to the informants was: Please tell me what you experienced? Six interviews were conducted where the informants came to me with her ​​story. Subsequently, the interviews are transcribed and compiled into categories. The summaries were analyzed from a four categories / risk factors; management's actions, the climate at work, personal relationships and unresolved conflicts, and based on the specific themes that emerged when compiling scapegoats and stigma-or conspiracy theory. The main results show unanimously that there is a lack of communication which is the fundamental problem.

With the knowledge age evolving, colleges and universities should be ever vigilant to assure that the pedagogies practiced are adequately preparing future workers with skills required to keep pace (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006). Business managers have identified self-direction and technology use as increasingly important in the 21st century (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2006), yet a gap in research of pedagogies that advance self-directedness and promote technology use has been found. To help identify new pedagogies, the purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between self-directed learning (SDL) and technology use of people entering the workplace. A sample of 572 recent university graduates represented the new workforce entrants. Based on the Personal Responsibility Orientation (PRO)-Model of SDL (Brockett & Hiemstra, 1991), factors of self-direction were identified and measured by the Personal Responsibility Orientation -Self Directed Learning Scale (PRO-SDLS) (Stockdale, 2003). Attitudinal factors of technology use were measured by the Computer Technology Use Scale (CTUS) (Conrad & Munro, 2008). Results of this study indicated that while significant relationships between SDL and technology use were found, the effect size of the model tested is low (less than .03). Hierarchical regression indicated the factors of SDL as predictors of computer self-efficacy, attitudes toward technology use and computer anxiety are significant in some cases but account for less than 7% of the variance for any one factor. Additionally, both instruments used in this study are relatively new. While reliability for the PRO-SDLS was found to be consistent with previous research, this study indicates that caution should be taken in using the CTUS. Based on these results, this study includes implications for practice as well as recommendations for future research.

Typescript. / Thesis (D.P.H.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1984. / Bibliography: leaves [171]-177. / Photocopy. / xi, 177 leaves bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2002.

This study reports on the development and revision of an instrument to measure the relationship between workplace bullying and envy, as reported by the perpetrator of bullying. In the pilot study, referred to as Phase A, measures of workplace bullying, direct envy and indirect envy were developed. The constructs of envy and bullying were captured without the undesirable labels of ‘bullying’ and ‘envy’. The pilot instrument was administered to a random sample of 200 employees. A total of 74 questionnaires were returned, resulting in a 37% response rate. Psychometric analysis included Cronbach’s alpha and exploratory factor analysis. Written participant feedback was sought on question clarity and construct validity. The results indicated that the envy and bullying subscales had satisfactory internal reliability and construct validity and that the indirect participant-character methodology was the preferred measure of envy for the affect of anger. The relationship between envy and workplace bullying was investigated using Pearson product moment correlation coefficients. Results showed a positive relationship between envy and informal bullying. It was concluded that the instrument was a reliable and valid self-reported measure of envy and workplace bullying. The pilot instrument was adapted in Phase B of the study to improve its psychometric properties. Using the revised instrument, self-reported data on envy and workplace bullying were collected from a population of Australian workers in nursing, teaching and electrical trades. There were 1545 questionnaires distributed. A total of 413 usable questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 27%. Psychometric analysis included Cronbach’s alpha and confirmatory factor analysis. Gossip related behaviours were found to be related to a different construct than ‘bullying’ and these items were deleted from the analysis. A one way between-groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc tests was performed to explore the impact of industry (nursing, teaching and electrical trades) on bullying scores. Results showed small yet significant between-industry differences for informal bullying, with significant moderate differences for total bullying. In Phase B of the study, the relationship between envy and workplace bullying was investigated for the sample (N = 413) and ‘high anger’ envy groups, using Pearson product moment correlation coefficients. ‘High anger’ was not measured as ‘overt aggression’, but as envious anger felt toward the possessor of superior traits. The major findings from this research were that envy had a positive significant (p < .05) relationship with all types of workplace bullying: informal bullying, formal bullying and total bullying. Further, the correlations between envy and all types of workplace bullying were found to increase for ‘high anger’ groups. Large (r > .70) significant (p < .05) correlations were found for some of the highest anger groups. As envious anger increased, the strength of the correlation between envy and workplace bullying increased. An important finding to emerge from this research was that it is the psychoanalytic view of envy, marked by a ‘feeling of envious anger at the possessor of superior traits’, which was most associated with all types of workplace bullying. The results demonstrated that the self-report study managed to overcome some of the methodological challenges of studying bullying from the perspective of the perpetrator and of measuring undesirable concealed emotions such as envy. Several recommendations for future research and preventative workplace practice arose from the findings of this study. Future research should apply the objective methodology employed in this study to longitudinal self-reported studies. Such studies could provide insight into whether bullying is a static or an escalating process. Related to this, future studies need to investigate why bullying, as reported by the perpetrators of bullying in this study, is either not deterred by organisations or not formally reported by targets. The role of organisations in monitoring and preventing workplace bullying and the apparent inadequacy of workplace bullying policies and internal grievance processes warrant further research. There needs to be greater awareness of the potential for organisations to elicit [harmful] envy through workplace ‘rewards’. Investigation of the ‘progression of envious feelings’ at work may assist organisations to mitigate the escalation of envious feelings toward anger, which was found to be most associated with workplace bullying in this study. Importantly, organisations need to be aware of the potential for rewarded and talented workers to become targets of workplace bullying. As such, further workplace research is needed on narcissists, who envy those who receive more attention, praise or acknowledgement than themselves (Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 2007). Given the ubiquitousness of envy reported on in this study, the ‘spectrum’ of narcissistic tendencies in the general population (Foster & Campbell, 2007) should be measured.

This study makes an important academic contribution by adding a new dimension to the existing scholarly literature on the acculturative processes of immigrants through its findings from an investigation into ethnic minority migrant Chinese Chinese’s acculturation experiences in relation to workplace interpersonal conflict in New Zealand. The literature reviewed illustrates the complexities of the acculturation process for immigrants and is of prime importance and relevance to this study. The literature provides an informed academic foundation that aligns with the subject matter under study. The focus of this study is on the acculturation process experienced by ethnic minority migrant Chinese in New Zealand as they strive to adapt to various aspects of their new surroundings. The study inquires into whether the length of acculturation has an influence on ethnic minority migrant Chinese’s handling of workplace interpersonal conflict in the New Zealand. The researcher’s interest in conducting this study arises from her own personal acculturation and workplace interpersonal conflict experiences as an ethnic minority migrant Chinese. A phenomenological interpretive research methodology was adopted for this study. One-on-one indepth interviews of 25 ethnic minority migrant Chinese from China (Mainland), Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam provided primary data on the individual migrant’s experience and perspective on acculturation and workplace interpersonal conflict in New Zealand. The findings from the 25 ethnic minority migrant Chinese interviewed reveal the complexities and difficulties in the acculturation process, as they attempt to adapt to various aspects of their new environment. The adaptive strategies used almost certainly mean that the immigrants will have to make changes in their thinking, attitude, speech, and social conduct. There is a particular emphasis on the study of intercultural dynamics at play in the face of workplace interpersonal conflict between immigrants and members of the host society. The acculturation process is made more difficult for migrants who have negative workplace encounters in their intercultural interactions resulting in misunderstandings and conflict. The findings also reveal the migrants’ response mechanisms, particularly in learning to be more assertive. This study found that the cultural orientations of the ethnic migrant Chinese are such that for many, this concept (assertiveness) has to be learned since it runs counter to their educational, cultural tradition, and familial upbringing. The principles of Confucianism are deeply rooted, such as respect for authority and an emphasis on ‘giving-face’ to others and preserving social harmony. From this study’s findings, there is empirical evidence that Confucian principles are deeply entrenched in the ethnic minority migrant Chinese’ psyche irrespective of which country of origin they come from. In addition, the findings show that the acculturation experiences are unique to the individual migrant, depending on the person’s previous exposure to a foreign environment, language proficiency and personality. This study shows that the acculturation process experienced by these migrants was a period of personal growth and development, acquiring self-confidence, self-rationalisation, changes, and adjustments. Also, the findings reveal that while the length of residence in the host country is a significant factor for these migrants, other factors are significant as well, such as acquiring a certain level of language proficiency and increasing self-confidence.

Internationally violence persists as a complex problem for nurses. While it is widely accepted that nursing staff in any health care setting can be the target of violence, in high acuity areas such as Emergency Departments (ED) nurses have an increased risk of violence. There is limited Australian research into violence experienced by nurses in the Australian Health sector, in particular the rural and regional Australian ED. Greater understanding of the phenomena of violence towards ED nurses, as it is manifest in the ‘real world’ rural and regional Australian setting is needed to enable development of context specific solutions for this problem. This thesis presents a contextual, specialty nurses’ assessment of violence risk, strategies for violence prediction and management, and the sequelae for the nurse. The aims of this study were to: Explore and describe the contextual assessment skills and preventative strategies rural and regional ED nurses use to understand and predict violent events, where the agent of violence is the patient, their family or friends, and understand the nature and scope of the sequelae of work place violent events from the nurse’s perspective. A mixed method instrumental case study was used to generate both qualitative and boundary for inquiry, and a structured process within which the chosen methods were able to define ‘the case’ and answer the research question. This study was undertaken in 2005, at a regional Australian ED. Twenty (20) Registered Nurses were recruited into the study and consented to being observed. Textual qualitative data were generated from two hundred and ninety (290) hours of participant observation, sixteen (16) semi-structured interviews, thirteen (13) unstructured field interviews, and researcher journaling. In addition, sixteen (16) violent events were observed and recorded via a structured observation tool. Textual data were analysed thematically assisted by the qualitative data management and retrieval software NVivo2, and numeric data were analysed using frequency counts. The participants used their nursing knowledge(s), experience and context to assess their risk of violence. Embedded in the practice of these ED nurses was their ability to convey caring and respectfully approach all people presenting to ED. The participants’ caring respectful demeanour underpinned their understanding of violence prevention strategies. Using this violence prevention approach, they attributed contextual meaning(s) to the violent event and agent of violence. The meaning(s) they attributed in turn shaped their response(s) to both the violent event and the agent of violence. A high level of observable collegial awareness supported and fostered their resilience towards the potentially negative affects of violence in the workplace. The five themes revealed by this study were; Conveying caring: Averting violence: Being alert: Recognising, assessing and responding to violence: Attributing meaning: Subjective understandings that shape responses to Violence : Collegial awareness: Forming trusting relationships to help manage violence: Fostering resilience: resisting the negative sequelae of violence. Violence was interpreted by these ED nurses in a more systematic and complex way than the current definitions make possible. Violence assessment, prevention and management skills were embodied in the participant ED nurses’ routine practice and their conceptualisation of caring. The meanings given to violence were contextually constructed and these ascribed meaning(s) and judgments informed the actions that the nurses took in response to both the violent event and the agent of violence. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)