The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the structure of jobs and burnout, and to assess to what extent, if any this relationship was moderated by individual coping methods. This study was supported by the Karasek's (1998) Job Demand-Control-Support theory of work stress as well as Maslach and Leiter's (1993) theory of burnout. Coping was examined as a moderator based on the conceptualization of Lazarus and Folkman (1984). Two overall overarching questions framed this study: (a) what is the relationship between job structure, as operationalized by job title, and burnout across different occupations in support services in a large municipal school district? and (b) To what extent do individual differences in coping methods moderate this relationship? This study was a cross-sectional study of county public school bus drivers, bus aides, mechanics, and clerical workers (N = 253) at three bus depot locations within the same district using validated survey instruments for data collection. Hypotheses were tested using simultaneous regression analyses. Findings indicated that there were statistically significant and relevant relationships among the variables of interest; job demands, job control, burnout, and ways of coping. There was a relationship between job title and physical job demands. There was no evidence to support a relationship between job title and psychological demands. Furthermore, there was a relationship between physical demands, emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment; key indicators of burnout. Results showed significant correlations between individual ways of coping as a moderator between job structure, operationalized by job title, and individual employee burnout adding empirical evidence to the occupational stress literature. Based on the findings, there are implications for theory, research, and practice. For theory and research, the findings suggest the importance of incorporating transactional models in the study of occupational stress. In the area of practice, the findings highlight the importance of enriching jobs, increasing job control, and providing individual-level training related to stress reduction.

La conception d’un système de transport en commun doit prendre en compte différentes dimensions pour résoudre deux problèmes importants d’optimisation : l’ordonnancement des véhicules (le graphicage) et l’affectation des conducteurs (l’habillage). Dans nos travaux, nous nous sommes focalisés sur le problème de l'habillage. L’objectif est de minimiser le nombre de conducteurs en respectant toutes les contraintes sociales et économiques. Par sa nature combinatoire, l’habillage est considéré comme une tâche complexe du processus de conception de réseaux de transport en commun. Nous avons proposé une approche fondée sur les hyper-heuristiques dont le principal avantage réside dans leur faculté d’adaptation à différents problèmes. Nous nous sommes intéressés plus particulièrement à une approche coopérative, capable de prendre en compte les changements au cours du processus de résolution. Nous avons étendu les fonctionnalités et amélioré les performances du framework traditionnel des hyper-heuristiques. L’algorithme proposé comporte une combinaison de plusieurs phases et plusieurs niveaux. La métaphore de la coalition est utilisée pour permettre la coopération entre hyper-heuristiques. Elle est destinée à favoriser la diversification des solutions et amplifier la capacité de recherche selon un contrôle décentralisé où chaque hyper-heuristique possède une certaine autonomie. Il est ainsi possible d’envisager différents modes de coopération entre les hyper-heuristiques : partage de solutions, apprentissage par mimétisme ou encore mise en concurrence de différentes stratégies de recherche. L’expérimentation a été réalisée aussi bien sur des instances réelles que sur des benchmarks. Elle a donné de bons résultats tant sur la déviation que sur le temps d’exécution. / The design of public transport system must take into account different dimensions to solve two main problems of optimization: the vehicles scheduling and driver scheduling. In our work, we focused on bus driver scheduling. Its objective is to minimize the number of drivers in accordance with social and environmental constraints. By its combinatorial nature, bus driver scheduling is considered a complex task in the design process of network transport. We have proposed an approach based on hyper-heuristics whose main advantage lies in their ability to adapt to different problems. We are particularly interested in a cooperative approach, which is able to take into account changes in the resolution process. We have extended the functionality and improved performance of the traditional framework of hyper- heuristics by proposing a pattern based on an organizational model. The proposed algorithm consists of a combination of several phases and several levels. The metaphor of the coalition is used to make cooperate several hyper-heuristics. The coalition is intended to favor diversified solutions and expand search capacity with decentralized control where each hyper-heuristic has certain autonomy. It is thus possible to consider different ways of cooperation between the hyper-heuristics: sharing solutions, learning by mimetism or carrying out different competitive search strategies. The experiment was carried out both on real-world instances and benchmarks. It gave good results on both quality of solution and execution time

The stress at work has been too investigated in Brazil and abroad due to their harmful consequences to individuals and organizations. The profession of driver has already been identified as one of the most subject to the occurrence of stress. In view of these issues, the present study aimed to know which factors bus drivers consider as stressors at work, and also identify wheather they are under stress, and which are the symptoms and the stress phase they present. A sample with 134 drivers from two public transportation companies in Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, participated in this study, using as instrument an interview script composed by questions related to the perceived stress factors, to personal and professional data and the Lipp Inventory of Stress for Adults - ISSL. All data obtained have been entered into a spreadsheet SPSS for Windows program, version 17.0, for performing statistical analysis. The answers obtained with the interviews were subjected to content analysis, getting seven categories of stressors, among them "traffic", "social relationships" and "pressure of time" were predominant. Personal and professional data were correlated with data about stress using statistical analysis through Pearson correlation and Chi-square. The analysis by the Pearson coefficient showed that the greater the time in the current company, more symptoms of stress were reported. The associations obtained with Chi-square only were significantly to those who responded positively to the questions "Are you experiencing a problem outside the work situation that is causing your stress?" and/or "Have you ever had any health problem due to your work?" Further the subjects that have pointed the categories Low power" and "Social relationships" represented a proportional greater stress than those who haven t. The index of stress presented by the sample was 34,3%, and that was considered comparatively low. Among the drivers who have stress, the resistance phase and the psychological symptoms were predominant. It is suggested that future research investigate the specific working conditions of Uberlândia and the public transportation companies of the city. / O estresse no trabalho tem sido tema bastante pesquisado no Brasil e no exterior devido às suas conseqüências nocivas aos indivíduos e às organizações. A profissão de motorista já foi identificada como uma das mais sujeitas à ocorrência do estresse. Tendo em vista estas questões, o presente estudo visou conhecer quais os fatores considerados pelos motoristas de ônibus urbano como geradores de estresse no trabalho, assim como identificar se os mesmos estão sob estresse, qual a sintomatologia presente e a fase de estresse em que os sujeitos se encontram. Uma amostra com 134 motoristas de duas empresas de transporte coletivo de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, participou do estudo utilizando-se como instrumento um roteiro de entrevista composto de questões a respeito dos fatores percebidos de estresse, um questionário de dados pessoais e profissionais e o Inventário de Stress para Adultos de Lipp - ISSL. Todos os dados obtidos foram digitados em uma planilha do programa SPSS for Windows, versão 17.0, para realização de análises estatísticas. As respostas obtidas com as entrevistas foram submetidas à análise de conteúdo obtendo-se sete categorias de fatores estressores, entre as quais se sobressaíram Trânsito , Relacionamentos sociais e Pressão do tempo . Os dados pessoais e profissionais foram correlacionados com os dados a respeito do estresse utilizando-se análise estatística por meio de correlações de Pearson e Qui-quadrado. As análises através do coeficiente r de Pearson revelaram que quanto maior o tempo de trabalho na empresa atual, maior a quantidade de sintomas de estresse relatados. As associações obtidas com o Qui-quadrado em relação aos dados pessoais e profissionais só foram significativas para quem respondeu afirmativamente às perguntas Está passando por algum problema fora da situação de trabalho que esteja lhe causando estresse? e Você já teve algum problema de saúde devido ao seu trabalho? . Também os sujeitos que citaram as categorias de estressores Baixo poder de decisão e Relacionamentos sociais representaram uma proporção maior de estresse do que os que não citaram. O índice de estresse apresentado pela amostra foi de 34,3%, considerado comparativamente baixo. Dentre os motoristas que apresentaram estresse predominou a fase de resistência e a sintomatologia psicológica. Sugere-se que futuras pesquisas investiguem as condições de trabalho específicas de Uberlândia e das empresas de transporte da cidade. / Mestre em Psicologia Aplicada

Vehicle accidents by means of Public transport annually leads to a large number of passenger deaths and life long disablement. AsDu Toit, Martina Petronella a result, there is a need for preventative measures by identifying the psychomotor abilities of bus drivers during the recruitment and selection process of employment. The study was conducted among 398 bus drivers employed by a large bus company. The Vienna Test Battery was administered. It was found that distance estimation, ability to recognize forms and figures, concentration ability, eye-hand feet coordination and two-hand coordination predicted the effectiveness of bus drivers successfully. It is suggested that further research should focus on client services, attitude of bus drivers and learning potential, as factors that influence the effectiveness of bus drivers. / Industrial psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

Vehicle accidents by means of Public transport annually leads to a large number of passenger deaths and life long disablement. AsDu Toit, Martina Petronella a result, there is a need for preventative measures by identifying the psychomotor abilities of bus drivers during the recruitment and selection process of employment. The study was conducted among 398 bus drivers employed by a large bus company. The Vienna Test Battery was administered. It was found that distance estimation, ability to recognize forms and figures, concentration ability, eye-hand feet coordination and two-hand coordination predicted the effectiveness of bus drivers successfully. It is suggested that further research should focus on client services, attitude of bus drivers and learning potential, as factors that influence the effectiveness of bus drivers. / Industrial psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)