Australia is one of the most popular countries for immigrants to settle. Many highly qualified Indians from India have made Australia their home, and they hold important positions in the Australian work-force. The Australian work-force now consists not only of employees from different countries, but also of parents who try to balance their work roles and family roles simultaneously. For dual-earner families this can be difficult and could lead to increased job stress and work family conflict. Due to these cultural and gender differences, experiences in the paid work-force cannot be assumed to be the same for all employees. The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of culture and gender among working professionals in Australia and to study the interactional patterns within dual-earner couples in the Australian work-force. This was exploratory research and was conducted using three studies. All studies were cross-sectional, and qualitative as well as quantitative measures were used for data collection. In the first study data were collected from matched pairs of 10 Australian and 10 Indian born mothers who were employed in the Australian work-force. Interviews were conducted and responses to the interview were recorded. Results suggested some significant differences in job stress, with Australian mothers experiencing more job stress than Indian mothers. Further, interview results indicated that women from both cultures were responsible for most of the household work. Study two of the thesis combined culture and gender to investigate job satisfaction, work stress and work family conflict among Australian men and women working in the Australian work-force (N = 58). A 2 X 2 ANOVA was used for this. There were no cultural differences found among men and women of both cultures on measures of job satisfaction, work-family conflict and family-work conflict. However, cultural differences were observed on the job stress scale with Australian men and women experiencing more job stress than Indian men and women. There were also significant gender differences in job stress, workfamily- conflict and family-work conflict. Australian men and Indian men reported higher family-work conflict. Results of this study revealed significant gender differences and therefore, the third study was designed to investigate these gender differences further. Study three investigated the role of gender and work stress variables through crossover and spillover research. Many gender differences in predictors of fatigue, job stress and dyadic adjustment were found among couples both working in white collar professions. This study too strengthened the traditional gender role with women experiencing higher job stress and family-work conflict. It is suggested that these findings contribute to the work-stress literature in three ways. Findings confirm that gender, rather than culture, are responsible for differences among immigrants in their perception of job satisfaction, work-family conflict and family-work conflict. Findings also confirm the traditional gender role of women, who are responsible for most domestic household work, and also demonstrate that increase in work-family conflict and family-work conflict contributes to an increase in job stress among dual-earner couples. This research has provided an insight into factors contributing to both crossover and spillover among Australian dual earner professionals, an area which has not received much attention. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1365266 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2009

abstract: The 21st-century professional or knowledge worker spends much of the working day engaging others through electronic communication. The modes of communication available to knowledge workers have rapidly increased due to computerized technology advances: conference and video calls, instant messaging, e-mail, social media, podcasts, audio books, webinars, and much more. Professionals who think for a living express feelings of stress about their ability to respond and fear missing critical tasks or information as they attempt to wade through all the electronic communication that floods their inboxes. Although many electronic communication tools compete for the attention of the contemporary knowledge worker, most professionals use an electronic personal information management (PIM) system, more commonly known as an e-mail application and often the ubiquitous Microsoft Outlook program. The aim of this research was to provide knowledge workers with solutions to manage the influx of electronic communication that arrives daily by studying the workers in their working environment. This dissertation represents a quest to understand the current strategies knowledge workers use to manage their e-mail, and if modification of e-mail management strategies can have an impact on productivity and stress levels for these professionals. Today’s knowledge workers rarely work entirely alone, justifying the importance of also exploring methods to improve electronic communications within teams. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2018

In the present study, the relationship between work identity (emotion and cognition components) and work-related stress was investigated, and if work-life balance (WLB) and its components family-work conflict (FWC) and work-family conflict (WFC), might mediate this relationship. The study included 104 participants recruited via Facebook. The results showed: (1) Positive relationship between the cognitive component in the work-related identity and work-related stress; and (2) Negative relationship between the emotional component of the work-related identity and work-related stress. WLB was also shown to mediate the relation between the cognitive component in the work-related identity and work-related stress, accounted for by the WFC-component of WLB.

In Sweden the National Bureau of Statistics has reported an increase in stress-related disorders and sleep problems since the mid-1990’s. They also report that the number of hours of overtime worked has increased. Previous research on work-related stress and overtime work has demonstrated associations with altered physiological arousal, increased risk for stress related diseases, shorter sleep, greater fatigue and impaired performance. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the effects within individuals. The general aim of the thesis was to investigate the effect of overtime work and increased work stress on sleep, the diurnal pattern of cortisol, sleepiness and subjective stress in a within-subject design. In addition, it examined individual differences in the diurnal cortisol response to stress. We used a combination of methods – questionnaires, sleep and wake diaries, objective measures of sleep, stress hormones (salivary cortisol) and ambulatory measures of heart rate and blood pressure. Studies followed office workers during two different conditions of (I) high/low work stress and (II) overtime work respectively. The individual differences in the cortisol response to stress from study I prompted study III. In this study we examined two groups that showed different cortisol responses to stress. In conclusion, the results (I) demonstrated that a week with higher workload and stress affects physiological stress markers such as cortisol, and is associated with increased sleepiness and problems of unwinding at bedtime, shorter sleep duration and longer work hours. Furthermore (II) overtime work, under conditions of relatively low workload, was shown to be associated with modest effects on physiological markers of arousal. More pronounced effects were found on sleep and fatigue, with greater problems during overtime work. Study III indicated that individual differences in cortisol response to stress maybe related to fatigue and exhaustion.

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.

No description available.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur arbetsrelaterad stress påverkar diakoner i Svenska Kyrkan, samt vilken inverkan diakoners arbetsmiljö har på arbetsrelaterad stress. Studien har utgått från en kvantitativ ansats och datainsamling gjordes i form av en webbenkät som skickades ut till vigda diakoner som arbetar i två stift inom Svenska Kyrkan, varav 65 diakoner deltog i studien. Enkäten bestod av ett antal bakgrundsfrågor och sedan frågor tagna från det validerade frågeformuläret Work stress questionnaire. Empirin analyserades sedan utifrån de fyra kategorier som återfinns i Work stress questionnaire. Specifika frågor analyserades även utifrån arbetskrav och resurser som återfinns i teorin Job Demands- Resources Model och de sju antaganden från Human Relations Theory of Management, samt utifrån den tidigare forskning som finns om ämnet. Studiens resultat visade att det finns flera faktorer i diakoners arbete och arbetsmiljö som kan vara bakomliggande faktorer till arbetsrelaterad stress. Stor arbetsbelastning, otydliga mål, höga krav och förväntningar samt tidspress är några av de största bakomliggande faktorerna till arbetsrelaterad stress som diakoner ställs inför i sitt arbete. Studien visar även på att det behövs framtida forskning kring ämnet för att förstå och minska de faktorer i diakoners arbete och arbetsmiljö som leder till arbetsrelaterad stress.

No description available.

Due to employment equity legislation that opened up opportunities for women, women are under pressure to perform at work - something that may affect their occupational stress and impact on both the individual and the organisation. The respondents comprise six women managers in a market research organisastion. The respondents' perception of stress was supported by qualitative research methods and compared to the researcher's Organisational Stress Model. From the data it is evident that stressors at work such as workload, relationships, role overload and individual traits primarily affect the respondents' experience of stress. These stressors have an effect on respondents' perceptions of stress and impacts on their productivity and personal life. The respondents denoted a necessity for skills development in order to enhance themselves at work and on a personal level. The study has furthermore found that stress at work can, however, be somewhat alleviated by implementing stress programmes in organisations. / Psychology / M.A. (Navorsingsielkunde)

Geen opsomming beskikbaar nie / No summary available / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)