The use of various types of individualized pay setting has increased dramatically in Sweden. In order for individualized pay to work as an incentive, the pay system has to be perceived as fair. This thesis focuses on the various subjective perceptions that arise in relation to individualized pay setting, since such perceptions may have consequences for employee attitudes and behavior. Using survey data from Swedish human service workers (Study I and II) as well as other public employees (Study III), the general aim was to shed more light on employees’ pay attitudes and fairness perceptions in connection with individualized pay setting. Study I examined some of the explanatory factors behind employee pay attitudes. The results showed that perceiving a clear connection between work results and pay, and perceiving a sound working climate, were both related to more positive attitudes towards the pay distribution process. Study II examined factors potentially associated with pay-related justice perceptions. The results demonstrated that perceptions of having sufficient feedback, proper information on pay criteria, gender equality, and lower workloads were connected with more favorable views of pay justice. Pay justice perceptions, in turn, appeared only to be marginally connected with employees’ work-related attitudes and behavior. Study III investigated whether women’s and men’s perceptions of the individualized pay-setting process differed. The results showed that both genders had a similar awareness of the organizational policies and goals. The women, however, reported much lower levels of pay-related gender equality than the men and perceived that men, overall, benefited more from individualized pay setting. In conclusion, employees’ perceptions of a well-functioning working climate, apparent links between work effort and pay, as well as perceived equal opportunities contribute to individualized pay systems being viewed as more fair.

While many employees are engaged in their jobs, others suffer from poor working conditions and impaired well-being. Research suggests that job demands may impair employee work attitudes and health while both job resources and personal resources can have positive effect. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relative importance of job demands, job resources, and a personal resource (self-efficacy) for employees’ health and motivation at work. Questionnaire data were collected from white-collar employees of a Swedish construction company (n = 156). Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed the relative importance of job demands, job resources and personal resources. The job demands were negatively related to health and motivation at work, while the job resources and the personal resource were linked to better health and motivation. The findings generally supported the hypotheses. The specific types of demands and resources were significant varied across outcomes and, unexpectedly, workload was positively correlated with job performance. The findings contribute to a growing literature which indicates that lower job demands and access to both job resources and personal resources may improve employees' health and motivation at work.

Omvandlingen av sjukvården mot marknadisering och nya driftsformer har huvudsakligen genomförts utifrån ekonomiska och politiska föresatser om ökad effektivitet och vårdkvalitet. Goda arbetsvillkor för personalen är en viktig förutsättning för förverkligandet av dessa mål. Givet det oklara kunskapsläget kring psykologiska implikationer av omställningen i välfärdssektorns styrning var syftet med avhandlingen att studera olika aspekter av arbetsvillkor samt arbetsrelaterade attityder och hälsa i privat, bolagiserad och förvaltningsdriven sjukvård. Det gjordes genom att undersöka hur krav och resurser i arbetet förhåller sig till uppkomsten och utbredningen av utbrändhet hos sjuksköterskor, betydelsen av kontroll i och över arbetet för de anställdas arbetstrivsel samt hur motivationsbaserade kognitioner av bemyndigande hos vårdpersonal förändras vid privatisering och relaterar till attityder och hälsa. De empiriska studierna inkluderade såväl tvärsnittliga som longitudinella enkätdata från tre svenska akutsjukhus med olika driftsform. Resultaten visade högre nivåer av utbrändhet hos sjuksköterskor i privat jämfört med förvaltningsdrivet sjukhus. För arbetstrivsel fanns ingen nivåskillnad mellan de tre driftsformerna. Krav i arbetet hängde samman med högre utbrändhetsnivåer och lägre arbetstrivsel. Flera resurser var förenade med lägre grad av utbrändhet medan kontroll hängde samman med högre trivsel. Vid en förändring från bolagiserad till privat driftsform var vårdpersonalens bemyndigande relativt stabilt. Dock fanns efter privatiseringen en tendens till standardisering då graden av bemyndigande blev mer lika. Likaså skedde en statusmässig differentiering i bemyndigande mellan yrkesgrupperna genom att flera med låg status fick mindre bemyndigande. Sammantaget pekar avhandlingen på fler likheter än skillnader mellan driftsformerna vilket antyder att driftsform tycks ha mindre betydelse för såväl nivå som betydelse av arbetsvillkor för personalens attityder och hälsa. / The shift in health care towards marketization and new types of ownership has mainly been carried out for financial and political reasons aimed at increasing care efficiency and quality. Good working conditions for the personnel are essential for these goals. However, knowledge of the implications at the individual level is still limited. Considering this, the aim of this thesis was to study working conditions, work-related attitudes and health in private for-profit (PFP), private non-profit (PNP), and publicly administered (PA) hospitals in three empirical studies. This was done by investigating how demands and resources at work predict the development of burnout, how control within and over work relate to employee job satisfaction, and how perceptions of empowerment change in connection with privatization and relate to attitudes and health. The empirical studies include cross-sectional and longitudinal questionnaire data from three Swedish acute care hospitals with different ownership types. The results showed higher levels of burnout among nurses at the PFP hospital than those at the PA hospital. There was no difference in levels of job satisfaction among the ownership types. Demands were associated with higher burnout levels and lower job satisfaction. Several job resources were associated with lower burnout, while control was related to higher job satisfaction. In a change from PNP to PFP, employees’ empowerment levels remained relatively stable. However, there was a tendency towards standardization as their degrees of empowerment became more similar after privatization. Also, a status-related differentiation in empowerment occurred among the occupational groups as some with low status experienced less empowerment. Altogether, the findings show more similarities than differences among the ownership types, suggesting that ownership is of less importance for both the levels and the impact of working conditions on attitudes and health. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defence, the following paper was unpublishd and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript.</p>

Bakgrund: Moralisk stress är ett begrepp som först kom att definieras av Jameton (1984) och anses uppstå när sjuksköterskor inte kan handla i enlighet med det de anser vara det rätta på grund av organisatoriska eller institutionella barriärer. Den legitimerade sjuksköterskan ansvarar för ett stort kunskaps- och arbetsområde som ska präglas av ett etiskt förhållningssätt och en personcentrerad vård. En inre konflikt uppstår när sjuksköterskan hindras att arbeta utifrån de rådande värdena, vilket ger upphov till känslor av moralisk stress. En större kunskap och förståelse inom problemområdet är nödvändig för att åstadkomma framtida förbättringar. Syfte: Syftet var att belysa moralisk stress hos sjuksköterskan. Metod: För att uppnå syftet har en litteraturöversikt genomförts. Sökningar efter relevanta artiklar i enlighet med den engelska översättningen av moralisk stress utfördes. Artiklar med kvalitativa och kvantitativa ansatser har använts. Resultat: Ur analysen urskildes tre olika huvudkategorier: bakomliggande orsaker till moralisk stress, konsekvenser av moralisk stress och strategier för hantering av moralisk stress. Diskussion: I resultatdiskussionen diskuteras moralisk stress hos sjuksköterskor utifrån Jean Watsons teori om mänsklig omsorg samt andra relevanta artiklar. Uppkomsten av moralisk stress hos sjuksköterskor diskuteras ur olika perspektiv. Skillnader i miljö och ledningens betydande roll avseende sjuksköterskors känslor av moralisk stress diskuteras vidare. Konsekvenser av moralisk stress hos sjuksköterskor diskuteras med betoning på patientsäkerhet och bemötandet av patienter. Medvetenheten kring moralisk stress hos sjuksköterskor behöver bli större. Ett fokus på moralisk stress hos sjuksköterskor kan med fördel lyftas redan under sjuksköterskeutbildningen. / Background: Moral stress is a term that was first defined by Jameton (1984) and is considered to occur when individuals are unable to act in accordance with what they consider to be right due to organizational or institutional barriers. The registered nurse is responsible for a large area of knowledge and work that needs to be characterized by an ethical approach and person-centered care. An internal conflict occurs when the nurse is prevented from working on the basis of these values, which causes feelings of moral stress. A greater knowledge and understanding of the problem area is necessary to achieve future improvements. Aim: The aim was to illustrate moral stress among the nurse. Method: To achieve this goal, a literature review has been conducted. Searches for relevant articles in accordance with the English translation of moral stress were performed. The databases Cinahl, PsycINFO and PubMed were used. Articles with qualitative and quantitative approaches have been used. Results: The analysis revealed three different main categories: underlying causes for moral stress, consequences of moral stress and strategies for managing moral stress. Discussion: In the result, moral stress is discussed among nurses based on Jean Watson's theory of human care and other relevant articles. The appearance of moral stress in nurses is discussed from different perspectives. Differences in the environment and management's significant role regarding nurses' feelings of moral stress are discussed further. The consequences of moral stress in nurses are discussed with emphasis on patient safety and the encounter of patients. Awareness about moral stress in nurses needs to be greater. A focus on moral stress in nurses should be emphasized during nursing education.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / Empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests that organisations, including higher education institutions (HEI‘s) have a propensity to focus on extrinsic rewards as a main motivator that attracts and retains staff (Kubler & De Luca, 2006). Twenge, Stacy, Campbell and Hoffman (2010) maintain that work values represent people‘s expectations from the workplace. Studies performed to determine the impact of intrinsic work values, as opposed to extrinsic work values and rewards, indicate that the sustainable factors influencing long-lasting career choices can be found in the attainment of intrinsic work values (Kovach, 1987; Masibigiri & Nienaber, 2011). With respect to leadership behaviours, intrinsic work values and rewards are seldom considered when focusing on the factors that lead to attracting and retaining academic staff. Werner (2011) posits the view that an understanding of underlying work values of employees can assist in sound people practices to foster engagement and retention of staff. Aspects of intrinsic work values become more important in the context of literature relative to research done about younger generations, who have different expectations from leadership and different ideas of desired work cultures (Sujansky, 2010). Brown (2003), as cited by Patton and McMahon (2009 p.41), states that ―occupational tenure is partially the result of the match between the culture and work values of the worker, supervisor and colleagues‖. The alignment of leadership culture to strategies is therefore important (Rhodes & Mc Guire, 2009). Moreover, the alignment between desired organizational work values and perceived current work values is contended to influence the effective functioning of a workplace. The current research was undertaken based on a cross-sectional, quantitative survey approach which requested participants to select work values out of a pre-designed list of approximately a hundred possible work-related values as positioned in the vision and mission statements of the institution at which the research was undertaken. The results of the research indicate that the two younger groups of academic staff who were targeted in this research, accord importance to intrinsic work values which relate to meaningful and fulfilling work. An analysis of the trends which emerged from the data suggest that leadership and cultural aspects designed to support desired work values may influence successful attraction and retention of these younger generations for academic careers. These findings emphasise the importance for leadership to act in alignment with change needs of academic staff and their own stated vision and mission strategies. The results provide useful insight into the current and perceived work-related values and could be used to inform strategic debates within the HEI. Although tentative in nature, the findings provide a heuristic framework within which to align work-related values across generations of academics and serve as an impetus for future research.

Syftet med studien är att belysa fyra förskollärares syn på planerad fysisk aktivitet och hur dederas beskriver att de arbetar e med det i förskolan. Tre frågeställningar formulerades utifrån syftet och dessa är: hur ser förskollärarna på begreppet planerad fysisk aktivitet, hur beskriver förskollärarna att de använder planerad fysisk aktivitet samt vilken påverkan upplever förskollärarna att planerad fysisk aktivitet kan ha på arbetsklimatet i förskolan.vilken påverkan förskollärarna upplever att planerad fysisk aktivitet kan ha på arbetsklimatet i förskolan. Syftet och frågeställningarna utformades utifrån ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv då studien utgår från förskollärares upplevelser. Studien utgår ifrån en kvalitativ ansats där fyra förskollärare på olika förskolor i Sverige har intervjuats. I resultatet framkommer det bland annat att förskollärarna har olika syn på fysisk aktivitet i förskolan då de definierar begreppet på olika sätt. Dessutom framkommer det att de har olika syften med den planerade fysiska aktiviteten i verksamheten. Förskollärarna arbetar även med planerad fysisk aktivitet på olika sätt där vissa använder utemiljön och barns fria lek medan andra har planerade gympapass inomhus. Det framkommer även i resultatet att planerad fysisk aktivitet kan påverka arbetsklimatet i verksamheten. / The purpose of the study is to elucidate four preschool teachers' views on planned physical activity and how they describe that they work with it in preschool. Three issues were formulated based on the purpose and these are: how do preschool teachers see the concept of planned physical activity, how do preschool teachers describe that they use planned physical activity and what impact the preschool teachers experience that planned physical activity can have on the working environment in preschool. The purpose and the questions were designed from a phenomenological perspective as the study is based on the experiences of preschool teachers. The study is based on a qualitative approach where four preschool teachers at different preschools in Sweden have been interviewed. The result shows that the preschool teachers have different views on physical activity in the preschool as they define the concept in different ways. In addition, it appears that they have different purposes with the planned physical activity in the business. Preschool teachers also work with planned physical activity in different ways where some use the outdoor environment and children's free play while others have planned gym passes indoors. It also appears in the result that planned physical activity can affect the working climate in the business.

Sammanfattning Många resultat i modern arbetslivsforskning fokuserar på stress och reaktiva åtgärder samtidigt som forskning inom kreativitet och innovation främst fokuserar på vinster i ekonomi och tillväxt. Denna studie har för avsikt att undersöka medarbetarens upplevda meningsfullhet i arbetet och kreativt klimat för att finna proaktiva faktorer gällande arbetsrelaterad stress och ohälsa. Interaktiv forskningsmetod med kvantitativa inslag användes då sambandet undersöktes genom en enkätundersökning. Utifrån datainsamlingens resultat formades ett verktyg med syftet att öka det kreativa klimatet och således öka meningsfullheten i arbetet vilket leder till positiva effekter i arbetsmiljön. Resultat från enkäterna visade signifikanta samband mellan meningsfullhet i arbetet och kreativt klimat samt var och en av dimensionerna inom kreativt klimat, vilket bekräftar studiens hypoteser. Ytterligare ett signifikant samband hittades mellan arbetsfunktion och meningsfullhet i arbetet. Slutsatsen är att ett verktyg som ökar det kreativa klimatet i organisationen leder till ökad meningsfullhet i arbetet. / Abstract Modern research in the area of work-life tends to focus on stress and reactive measures at the same time research in creativity and innovation mainly focuses on profits in economy and other organizational gains. This paper intends to examine work meaningfulness and creative climate, with an employee focus, to achieve proactive work in work-related stress and ill-health. The study is based on interactive research methodology with quantitative elements. A quantitative survey examined whether there was a correlation between the factors. Based on the results of the data a work tool was created, aiming to increase the meaningfulness of work via creative climate and thus affect the working environment in a positive sense. Results from the questionnaires showed significant correlation between work meaningfulness and creative climate, as well as each of the ten dimensions in creative climate, confirming the study's hypotheses. Another significant correlation between work function and work meaningfulness were also found. The conclusion is that the tool to enhance the creative climate of the organization leads to increased work meaningfulness.

<p>This study focuses the gendered relations of the Military Academy of Karlberg. More specific the study is investigating the experiences among young women and men cadets of suppression techniques. The purpose of the study is to get more knowledge about the work climate and suppression techniques at the officers’ training program 2007/2010. The research questions employed for the study were:- Do the women and men officer students/cadets have any experiences of master suppressiontechniques at the officers’ training program?- What kind of master suppression techniques occur at the officer’s training program?- What kind of master suppression techniques do women experience?- What kind of master suppression techniques do men experience?The study is a survey and data were retrieved by a questionnaire sent out to the participants. The 30 participants were randomly chosen, out of a population of 120 students/cadets. The result of this study shows that a majority of the participants have experiences from being exposed to suppression techniques. When it comes to suppression techniques, there is a tendency that it targets women more frequently in comparison with men.</p>

This study focuses the gendered relations of the Military Academy of Karlberg. More specific the study is investigating the experiences among young women and men cadets of suppression techniques. The purpose of the study is to get more knowledge about the work climate and suppression techniques at the officers’ training program 2007/2010. The research questions employed for the study were:- Do the women and men officer students/cadets have any experiences of master suppressiontechniques at the officers’ training program?- What kind of master suppression techniques occur at the officer’s training program?- What kind of master suppression techniques do women experience?- What kind of master suppression techniques do men experience?The study is a survey and data were retrieved by a questionnaire sent out to the participants. The 30 participants were randomly chosen, out of a population of 120 students/cadets. The result of this study shows that a majority of the participants have experiences from being exposed to suppression techniques. When it comes to suppression techniques, there is a tendency that it targets women more frequently in comparison with men.

Political liberalization and increased public costs have placed new demands on the Swedish public sector. Two ways of meeting these novel requirements have been to corporatize and privatize organizations. With these two organizational changes, however, comes a risk of increased insecurity and higher demands on employees; the ability to handle these changes is likely dependent on their social status within an organization. The general aim of the thesis is to contribute to the understanding of how corporatization and privatization might affect employees’ work climate, work attitudes and ill-health. Special importance is placed on whether outcomes may differ depending on the employees’ social status in the form of hierarchic level and gender. Questionnaire data from Swedish acute care hospitals were used in three empirical studies. Study I showed that physicians at corporatized and privatized hospitals reported more positive experiences of their work climate compared with physicians at a public administration hospital. Study II showed that privatization had more negative ramifications for a middle hierarchic level (i.e., registered nurses) who reported deterioration of work attitudes, while there were no major consequences for employees at high (physicians) or low (assistant nurses) hierarchic levels. Study III found that although the work situation for women and men physicians were somewhat comparable (i.e., the same occupation, the same organization), all of the differences that remained between the genders were to the detriment of women. The results of this thesis suggest that corporatizations and privatizations do not necessarily imply negative consequence for employees. However, the consequences appear to differ between groups with different social status. Employees whose immediate work situation is affected but who do not have sufficient resources to handle the requirements associated with an organizational change may perceive the most negative consequences. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript.