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A study of socially dirty work: a conservation of resource framework / CUHK electronic theses & dissertations collection

Occupations involve regular contacts and associations with stigmatized or degraded people (e.g, policemen, nurses, social workers) are referred to as socially dirty work (Hughes, 1951; Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999; 2014).Socially dirty workers dealing with clients who are stigmatized by the society may encounter identity threat and negative societal perceptions towards their work (Kreiner, Ashforth & Sluss, 2006). Though the clients are stigmatized by the society, professional trainings of socially dirty workers advocate treating the clients as equal and respectable individuals. Hence, socially dirty workers face a big challenge to handle conflicting perceptions towards their clients– taking the professional side or the societal side. / Drawing on the conservation of resource (COR) framework (Hobfoll, 1989; 1990), I examined the effect of work dirtiness on socially dirty worker’s job outcomes and investigated the effects of two contextual factors. In particular, I proposed a construct called the intensity of social work dirtiness (ISWD) –the extent to which clients are stigmatized by society: when the clients are more stigmatized by the society, socially dirty workers are more likely to experience resource loss and job strain. I also proposed employees’ work orientations (calling / job orientation) and professional-client relationship quality, would moderate the effect of intensity of social work dirtiness on employees’ stressful experience and work outcomes. / Data were collected at three time points from 16 hospitals in Mainland China. Results showed that the intensity of social work dirtiness was positively related to job strain and further affected employees’ job satisfaction, turnover intentions and psychological wellbeing. The moderating effects of work orientations and relationship quality were also supported in the analysis. / 现代社会有许多职业需要经常接触污名化的客户 (如警察、护士、社工),这类职业被定义为社会型厌恶性工作(Hughes, 1951; Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999; 2014)。 社会型厌恶性工作者往往会遇到自我身份认同的难题和承受社会对他们的负面印象(Kreiner, Ashforth & Sluss, 2006)。 另一方面,这类型的工作者通常都接受了职业价值观的训练:要平等对待和尊重他们的客户。因此,社会型厌恶性工作者常常面临挑战:如何看待工作中接触的污名化客户 -- 是跟随社会大众的看法还是保持职业的看法。根据资源保存理论 (Hobfoll,1989)。当客户的污名化程度越严重,这类型工作者越可能承受更大的压力。 / 我提出员工的工作导向以及员工与污名化客户的关系会调节客户污名化程度对员工压力的影响。 / 我在中国内地的医院和香港的社工组织中收集了数据并作了详细分析,模型中的部分假设得到了验证和支持。 / Wen, Shanshan. / Thesis Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-117). / Abstracts also in Chinese; appendix includes Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 06, October, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:cuhk.edu.hk/oai:cuhk-dr:cuhk_1291483
Date January 2015
ContributorsWen, Shanshan (author.), Lau, Dora C. (thesis advisor.), Chinese University of Hong Kong Graduate School. Division of Business Administration. (degree granting institution.)
Source SetsThe Chinese University of Hong Kong
LanguageEnglish, Chinese, Chinese
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, bibliography, text
Formatelectronic resource, electronic resource, remote, 1 online resource (124 leaves) : illustrations (some color), computer, online resource
CoverageChina, Hong Kong, China
RightsUse of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International" License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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