While attention is increasingly drawn to the benefits of meaningful work on mental health, although with inconsistent findings, the prevalence of mental health complaints among university staff appears to be rising. The aim of this study was to examine the hypotheses that a high level of work meaning is negatively related to mental health complaints among academic staff in Sweden, and that women who perceive their work as highly meaningful will report lower levels of mental health complaints, as compared to men with similarly high perceptions of work meaningfulness. Self-report data from 1388 respondents were analysed using hierarchical multiple regressions. The results indicate a high average level of perceived work meaningfulness in this group, and a negligible negative association with mental health complaints after considering demographic and psychosocial factors. The findings indicate that, while work meaning may have a small negative association with mental health complaints, psychosocial factors appear to explain significantly greater variance in explaining mental health. Overall, the results suggest that, despite high levels of perceived work meaning, higher levels of mental health complaints may be explained by job efforts not being rewarded. Findings from this study may help future research and interventions to consider additional demographic and psychosocial factors, such as job insecurity, stress levels, and overcommitment, when exploring the multi-faceted relationship between work meaning and mental health. / Psykologi

Submitted by admin tede (tede@pucgoias.edu.br) on 2017-10-02T11:57:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JULIANA EVANGELISTA BRASILEIRO.pdf: 1369266 bytes, checksum: 8203f876cc5d809c9e6da485f5a7ae9b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-02T11:57:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JULIANA EVANGELISTA BRASILEIRO.pdf: 1369266 bytes, checksum: 8203f876cc5d809c9e6da485f5a7ae9b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-06-18 / The present study is the result of research carried out in an organization that Works in the field entertainment and leisure. It is a descriptive exploratory case study whose main objective was to investigate the perception of the workers in the circus in relation to their work environment based on the speech of the circus workers. The specific objectives of the study are: to understand the work environment of the circus workers and investigate the meanings that they attribute to their work, The theoretic base of the research is a psychodynamic approach to the work that includes the following categories: work organization, work conditions, inter-subjective relationships established within the organization, experiences of pleasure and suffering as well as strategies used by the workers in order to minimize the suffering. For the collection of data, semi-structured individual interviews with sixteen circus workers were used. After the literal transcription, the interviews were analyzed in accordance with the discourse analysis. The data indicate that the work organization, the work conditions and the work relations have similar characteristics to other organizations, forming, in this study, a category called administration of the work. The relationship and the liberty in the work are perceived as much as advantages as disadvantages to the circus workers. The workers consider the relationship with colleagues and bosses satisfactory, however the living and working together with the people from the job became a difficulty. There is a liberty/autonomy in relation to the presentation and rehearsals, however, it is necessary to the rules and norms, in addition to the need to be at the disposal of the circus most of the day, weekends and holidays. The working conditions are satisfactory, taking into consideration the adaptation during the trips (climate, noise, etc.). Working for a well-known name in the market, having your work card signed (for some) and satisfactory salaries were factories to represent security for the circus workers studied. The name of the company and the demands of the public, on the other hand, cause pressure and overwork. A variety of tasks which produce satisfaction by accumulating new functions and better salaries also cause overwork. The experiences of pleasure, those of suffering, the defensive strategies and the meaning of work, formed the second category denominate as subjective aspects of work. There is great satisfaction for those who participate in the work of the circus, for they consider the work to be gratifying and permits them to reach their objectives, fulfillment and survival, as well as bringing about a great deal of pleasure and being the pride of the family. The recognition of the public and the press, and the appreciation of their own work also brings pleasure to the circus worker. On the other hand the workers claim physical and mental fatigue with the work. There is also dissatisfaction in relation to the salary, rights and benefits, besides the lack of recognition of the circus as culture and art, by society and the government which, for example, result in difficulties to install themselves in cities. The defensive strategies used indicate denial an/or rationalization represented by certain behaviours, such as: the search for a close relationship with colleagues and bosses, taking into consideration their daily living; the conformity in relation to the work environment, accidents, etc. Considering all of the previous categories, the meaning that the workers attribute to their work have factors in common with other organizations, such as: security and stability of tasks, pleasure and pride in the work and recognition of the work. However, there are the meanings that are specific to the circus in virtue of their life style. The family’s relationships established in the circus plays a central role in the life of circus workers, which guide the forms of work, of living, of learning, of values and traditions acquired by family inheritance. / O presente estudo é resultado de uma pesquisa realizada em uma organização que atua no ramo de entretenimento e lazer. Trata-se de um estudo de caso de caráter descritivoexploratório com o objetivo geral de investigar a percepção dos trabalhadores do circo em relação ao seu contexto de trabalho com base em seu discurso. Tem como objetivos específicos: apreender o contexto de trabalho dos trabalhadores do circo e investigar os sentidos que os trabalhadores circenses atribuem ao seu trabalho. O embasamento teórico da pesquisa é a abordagem psicodinâmica do trabalho que abrange as seguintes categorias: organização do trabalho, condições de trabalho, relações intersubjetivas estabelecidas no interior da organização, vivências de prazer e sofrimento e estratégias utilizadas pelos trabalhadores para enfrentar o sofrimento. Para a coleta de dados, utilizaram-se entrevistas semi-estruturadas individuais com dezesseis trabalhadores de um circo. Após transcrição literal, elas foram analisadas conforme a análise de discurso. Os dados indicam que a organização do trabalho, as condições de trabalho e as relações de trabalho abarcam características semelhantes a outras organizações, foram aglutinadas em uma categoria denominada nesta pesquisa de gestão do trabalho. O relacionamento e a liberdade no trabalho são percebidos tanto como vantagens como desvantagens para os trabalhadores do circo. Consideram o relacionamento com colegas e chefes satisfatório, porém a convivência (morar e trabalhar) com as pessoas do trabalho torna-se uma dificuldade. Existe uma liberdade/autonomia em relação à realização de números e aos ensaios, porém, é necessário o cumprimento de regras e de normas, além da necessidade de estar à disposição do circo a maior parte do dia, aos finais de semana e feriados. As condições de trabalho são satisfatórias, apesar de exigir uma constante adaptação durante as viagens (clima, barulho, etc.). Trabalhar em uma empresa de renome no mercado, ter carteira assinada (para alguns) e salários satisfatórios, geram segurança aos trabalhadores do circo pesquisado. O nome da empresa e as exigências do público, por outro lado, provocam pressão e sobrecarga, além da variedade de tarefas que produz tanto satisfação por agregar novas funções e salários como sobrecarga no trabalho. As vivências de prazer, as de sofrimento, as estratégias defensivas e os sentidos do trabalho, formaram a segunda grande categoria denominada de aspectos subjetivos do trabalho. Há uma grande satisfação dos participantes por trabalharem no circo, pois consideram o trabalho gratificante e que proporciona o alcance de objetivos, conquista e sobrevivência, além de provocar prazer e ser um orgulho para a família circense. O reconhecimento do público e da empresa, e a valorização do seu próprio trabalho também são indicadores de prazer ao trabalhador circense. Por outro lado, os participantes relataram cansaço físico e mental no trabalho. Existe também relatos de insatisfação em relação ao salário, direitos e benefícios, além da falta de reconhecimento do circo como cultura e arte por parte da sociedade e do governo, o que resulta em dificuldades de instalarem-se nas cidades, por exemplo. As estratégias defensivas utilizadas indicam a negação e/ou a racionalização representadas por determinados comportamentos, tais como: a busca de bom relacionamento com colegas e chefes, levando em consideração a convivência diária com eles; o conformismo relativo ao ambiente de trabalho e outros, também se caracterizam como estratégias defensivas. Abordando todas as categorias anteriores, os sentidos que os trabalhadores atribuem ao seu trabalho possuem fatores em comum com outras organizações, tais como: segurança e estabilidade, variedade de tarefas, prazer e orgulho no trabalho e reconhecimento do trabalho. Porém, existem sentidos específicos do circo, em virtude do estilo de vida circense. As relações familiares estabelecidas no circo encontram lugar central na vida dos circenses o que norteia as formas de trabalho, de vida, de aprendizagem, de valores e tradições adquiridos por herança familiar.

本研究探討「工作意義」與「工作投入」之關聯性，並討論工作人員對於工作意義與工作投入是否受個人特質因素所影響。本研究問卷設計採用 Lee (1996) 修正的 Rokeach 價值項目為基礎，用來定義工作意義，個人特質部份以工作人員之性別、年齡、婚姻狀況、職位類別、業務類別、教育程度、工作與所學相關、工作年資，共計8項變項來驗證其工作意義是否會影響工作投入。 研究對象以新北市區公所之工作人員進行實證調查，調查所得資料採用SPSS統計套裝軟體對263份有效問卷統計分析，研究發現： 一、 個人特質中的「性別」、「年齡」、「婚姻狀況」、「業務類別」、「教育程度」、「工作年資」對工作意義有顯著差異。 二、 個人特質中的「年齡」、「婚姻狀況」、「教育程度」、「工作與所學相關」、「工作年資」對工作投入有顯著差異。 三、 「工作意義」與「工作投入」存在顯著正相關，顯示人們對工作的投入程度受到工作能幫助達成個人價值觀的程度所影響。 希望根據上述研究發現，使區公所工作人員瞭解對現任工作之工作意義為何，並清楚自己所重視之工作價值項目與目前工作投入之情況，進而可以依據所重視之工作價值，來找尋適合的工作內容與環境。同時，提供政府部門瞭解目前工作人員之工作意義與工作投入情況與其工作上之需求，於人力資源管理上作改善，增加工作人員工作投入程度，提升行政效能，亦可做為遴選新聘人員時之參考。 / This study investigates the relationship between " work meaning" and "job involvement", analyzing how employees’ personal characters influence their " work meaning" and "job involvement". The questionnaire takes Rokeach value items modified by Lee(1996) as the basement to define work meanings. Personal characters include gender, age, marital status, position, the category of occupation, level of education, the association between studying background and work, and seniority, totally eight variables are tested in the survey to know whether work meaning influences job involvement. Research objects are servants of district office, new taipei city government. Statistical software “SPSS” is used to analyze the survey data and the 263 valid questionnaires, the study found: 1. Personal characters include gender, age, marital status, the category of occupation, level of education, seniority are more likely to effect one’s work meaning. 2. Personal characters include age, marital status, level of education, the association between studying background and work ,and seniority are more likely to effect one’s job involvement. 3.Work meaning is positively and significantly correlated with job involvement. It shows that the more work can achieve one’s personal values the more he or she would like to involve. We hope the above findings can help the servants of district office to realize the work meaning of the present job, and pay attention to the value they place importance on. It can finally help them to meet suitable occupation and work conditions. At the same time, it provides government departments with what the employees’ real need, improves human resource management, and increases job involvement of civil servants. When the governments recruit, the study can also be used as a reference to find the satisfying employees.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:39:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JanineMCV.pdf: 558685 bytes, checksum: 18c82ef29cd36d9fe7317fb56c3c7f73 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-11-20 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This master s dissertation deals with motivation and the meaning of work amongst bank employees. This is done considering a cognitive perception. Work is understood here under a social and subjective comprehension, once it deals with significance attribution. Motivation is the process that rules choice of the different possibilities of individual behavior, all of which according to the Expectation Theory. This study aims to analyze the implications of the productive restructure, since it is related to technological innovation, organizational changes and management, in motivation and work significance. Thus, the objective of the research is to verify motivational differences and the meaning of work amongst bank employees. This is done in two distinct moments of the productive restructure of bank employees in Natal-RN. The research is divided in two parts. In the first one, changes that occurred in banks between 1999 until 2005 were identified by the means of interviews with 7 bank managers. The analyzed perspective was training intensifying, quality emphasis of customer attendance, the use of automation/technology, staff stabilization, change in staff profile, work intensification, etc. In the second study the Inventory of Motivation and Work Meaning was applied. Thus, questions related to work focus, social demographic data, in 187 bank employees were dealt with. The collected data was compared to data from previous work. It was observed that productive restructure has a reflection in the meaning of work increasing self-expression, economical reward, and responsibility in work conditions. All of the item mention beforehand maintain the level of inhumanness and consummation and respond as being the characteristics of the real work environment. On the other hand, bank employees value less justice, self-expression and more the survival perspective, implying instrumental values to work. As for motivation, it is increased among bank employees. These employees have greater expectations that their work produce results since they believe in their interference in work results / A presente disserta??o estuda a motiva??o e o significado do trabalho entre banc?rios, sob uma perspectiva cognitiva. Entende-se o significado do trabalho como uma compreens?o subjetiva e social, pois deriva do processo de atribuir significado. A motiva??o ? o processo que governa as escolhas de diferentes possibilidades de comportamento do indiv?duo segundo a Teoria das Expectativas. Este estudo buscou analisar o reflexo da reestrutura??o produtiva, enquanto processo que engloba inova??es tecnol?gicas, mudan?as organizacionais e de gest?o, na motiva??o e significado do trabalho. Para tanto, objetivou verificar diferen?as na motiva??o e no significado do trabalho dos banc?rios em dois momentos distintos da reestrutura??o produtiva em bancos de Natal-RN. Por isso, esta pesquisa est? dividida em dois estudos. No primeiro, identificou-se, a partir de entrevistas com 7 gerentes de ag?ncias banc?rias, as mudan?as ocorridas nos bancos entre 1999 e 2005, tais como: intensifica??o dos treinamentos, ?nfase na qualidade do atendimento ao cliente, intenso uso da inform?tica/automa??o, estabiliza??o do quadro de pessoal, mudan?a no perfil do banc?rio, intensifica??o do trabalho, etc. No segundo estudo, aplicou-se o Invent?rio de Motiva??o e Significado do Trabalho; quest?es sobre centralidade do trabalho e ficha s?cio-demogr?fica, em 187 banc?rios. Os dados coletados foram comparados aos dados de estudo anterior com banc?rios. Observou-se que a reestrutura??o produtiva se reflete no significado do trabalho aumentando a percep??o de auto-express?o, recompensa econ?mica, responsabilidade e condi??es de trabalho e mantendo o n?vel de percep??o de desgaste e desumaniza??o, enquanto caracter?sticas que descrevem o trabalho na realidade. Por outro lado, os banc?rios passaram a valorizar menos justi?a e auto-express?o, enquanto valorizam mais a sobreviv?ncia, implicando um valor instrumental ao trabalho. Em rela??o ? motiva??o, observou-se um aumento da motiva??o dos banc?rios, visto que estes t?m mais expectativas de que os resultados do trabalho ocorram e acreditam mais fortemente que podem interferir nestes resultados

Magister Public Health - MPH / Job satisfaction is important for the delivery of quality health care and health worker retention. This study aimed to identify the extent of job satisfaction among University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (UTHK) health workers and to describe the variables related to job satisfaction. These included working conditions, remuneration, patient care, development opportunities, supervision, time pressure and staff relations. A cross- sectional survey of UTHK health workers was conducted using a standardized instrument to identify health worker job satisfaction with related key work factors. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 274 health workers selected using a proportional stratified random sampling method and which included 21 medical doctors, 159 nurses, 19 midwives, 37 paramedic and 37 administrative staff. Respondents provided written consent to participate in the study. Analysis consisted of both descriptive statistics of overall satisfaction and various satisfactionrelated factors. For determining whether there is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and its independent variables, data were categorized and Chi-square or Fisher Exact test performed. Results showed a moderate overall job satisfaction level with 79.1% of respondents rating their satisfaction between 6 and 8 (mean: 6.7) on a scale of 1-10. A majority of respondents (82.6%) reported being dissatisfied with work income and 85.6% believed that their pay was not comparable to the work done. Over four fifths of the respondents (83.3%) reported feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities at work while a big percentage (96.5%) reported their job to be demanding physically, emotionally as well as mentally. However, respondents reported strong satisfaction (between 80% and 95%) with respect to work meaning, professionalization, training and orientation variables. Factors significantly associated with job satisfaction were adequate training to fulfill responsibilities (p value<0.001), feeling unvalued by the hospital (p=0.037) and dissatisfaction with supervisor care for patients and employees (p=0.034). In conclusion, improvement of remuneration, working conditions and hospital management in Kigali University Teaching Hospital would be expected to increase the level of job satisfaction of hospital health workforce.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:38:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ElsonCV.pdf: 391419 bytes, checksum: 85728e346c01f7fd0f648ae172db2595 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-05-19 / Relations between the meaning attributed to work by first year university students and their academic and professional choice were analyzed. The participants were 921 students, 17-52 years old (M = 22; SD = 4.9), enrolled in 16 courses common to two college level institutions of the city of Natal, RN, one public, the other private. A questionnaire was designed for collecting data about the academic-professional choice, with open-ended and multiple choice questions. Work meaning was obtained by means of two questions on centrality and two scales pertaining to the Inventory of Motivation and Work Meaning: value and descriptive attributes. A socio-demographic set of questions ended the questionnaire. Data was entered in a SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) database, allowing for the pertinent statistical analyses, such as frequency, t test, chi square, factor analysis, cluster analysis and ANOVA. Results indicated that the decision about academic-professional career was made by the majority of the participants (in first option, N = 921) without the adequate consideration of the socio-professional reality (80.7%) and personal internal resources (98.5%). When considering the second option (N = 654), only the first criterion was taken into account, but only by 12.5% of the sample. The main difficulties faced by students during the choosing process were, then, made apparent in the data. 46.8% of the participants were unsatisfied with the course they had started and were anticipating unpromising perspectives in relation to it. The first year students took work as the second most important aspect of their lives and demonstrated an idealized vision about it. Five patterns of work meaning were identified. In relation to centrality and the value and descriptive attributes, the university students displayed differentiation in the attribution of work meaning according to course and area of knowledge / Neste estudo foram analisadas rela??es entre o significado atribu?do ao trabalho por universit?rios primeiranistas e a escolha acad?mico-profissional por eles realizada. Foram envolvidos 921 estudantes, entre 17 e 52 anos ( = 22, DP = 4,9), matriculados em 16 cursos comuns a duas institui??es de ensino superior da cidade de Natal (RN), sendo uma p?blica e outra particular. Para a obten??o dos dados relativos ? escolha acad?mico-profissional aplicou-se um question?rio desenvolvido para o estudo, contendo quest?es abertas e fechadas. O significado do trabalho foi apreendido por meio de duas quest?es sobre centralidade e duas escalas contidas no Invent?rio de Motiva??o e Significado do Trabalho: atributos valorativos e descritivos. Utilizou-se tamb?m uma ficha sociodemogr?fica. O registro das respostas aos itens de todo o protocolo deu-se sob a forma de banco de dados do SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) o que permitiu que fossem utilizadas t?cnicas estat?sticas pertinentes, tais como an?lise de freq??ncia, teste t, teste qui-quadrado (Pearson), an?lise fatorial, an?lise de vari?ncia (ANOVA) e an?lise de cluster. Os resultados indicaram que a escolha acad?mico-profissional, no tocante ? primeira op??o ao se prestar o vestibular (N=921), fora feita pela maioria dos participantes desprovida de uma adequada considera??o de crit?rios de avalia??o da realidade s?cio-profissional (80,7%) e de recursos pessoais internos (98,5%). Considerando-se a segunda op??o (N=654), apenas o primeiro crit?rio fora levado em conta e, ainda, de forma adequada por apenas 12,5% dos integrantes da amostra. Foram destacadas as principais dificuldades enfrentadas no processo de escolha. Constatou-se que 46,8% dos participantes se encontravam insatisfeitos com o curso iniciado e mantendo perspectivas pouco promissoras em rela??o ao mesmo. Os primeiranistas tomaram o trabalho como a segunda esfera de vida mais importante e demonstraram uma vis?o idealizada acerca do mesmo. Foi poss?vel a identifica??o de cinco padr?es do significado do trabalho. Quanto ? centralidade e aos fatores dos atributos valorativos e descritivos, os universit?rios apresentaram diferencia??o na atribui??o do significado do trabalho de acordo com curso e a ?rea do conhecimento

The work deals with the aspects of the role and responsibility of a worker in helping professions at work with a client who lost their meaning of life. The work answers the questions on what sphere of knowledge the helper is supposed to have to be able to provide a high-quality and expert care. Life situations are mentioned here, which presuppose the loss of meaning of life as well as the riscs of loss of meaning of life are evaluated. Also the role and responsibility of the worker in helping profession is outlined. The work was based primarily on literature by existential-minded authors and on professional literature focused on psychology, psychiatry, social work and ethics.

My work analyses the legislation changes in the area of social and legal protection of children in the Czech Republic that have been introduced over the last two years. This work focuses on impacts of these changes in the practice of transferring children to substitute care as well as ethical aspects directly connected with this process. Laws impacting the social and legal protection of children are being compared in order to understand the legal rights of children. The consequences of the legislative changes have a direct effect on the processes of handing children to substitute care. The work is not only concerned with the practical impacts, but also with the ethical side of the problem which was identified as the most important in my thesis. Case reports from my own practice provide a complementary evidence to the reader to better understand the process of placement of children into substitute care both at professional and ethical levels.