QWL is a major issue for employees, and how organizations deal with this issue is of
both academic and practical significance. QWL and its relationships with employeesâ
mental health and performance became an explicit objective for many of the human
resource policies in modern organizations. Although there is no formal definition of
QWL, industrial psychologists and management scholars agree in general that QWL
is a construct that deals with the well-being of employees and that QWL differs from
job satisfaction.
QWL variables are excellent indicators of whether or not employees are coping well
with the stressors they are confronted with. Employees in the workplace should
experience and exhibit high levels of mental health in order to ensure they cope
effectively with the stressors they are being exposed to. According to the literature,
QWL can produce a favourable work environment which is beneficial for developing
and maintaining a good mental health. If this is the case, it could be assumed that
QWL could be an important determinant and predictor of mental health. It would be
of value to investigate which QWL variables play a significant role in determining
mental health especially in service organizations where demands are high.
The aim of the research was to determine whether QWL variables are predictors of
employeesâ mental health in a service organization in the Free State. For the
purpose of this study, one-hundred and forty two (142) employees working in a
service organization in the Free State were selected. QWL was measured by the
Leiden Quality of Work Life Questionnaire while mental health was measured by
Warrâs Mental Health Measures, the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), the
Satisfaction with Life Questionnaire and the Affectometer 2, which is a measure of
general happiness. The multiple stepwise regression was used to predict which QWL
variables affect employeesâ mental health in a service organization in the Free State.
Due to the fact that non-probability sampling and more specifically accidental
sampling was used, the results of this study could not be generalized. The sample of respondents consisted of more white respondents of which 58% were
male respondents, which were married and having at least a matriculation
qualification. The respondents exhibited a very high level of QWL except for work
and time pressure, physical exertion, job insecurity and lack of meaningfulness. A
high level of mental health was also exhibited by the respondents. The level of
general health in terms of all the dimensions varied from low to very low.
Furthermore, the respondents displayed a low level of satisfaction with life especially
with material wealth. The respondentsâ level of general happiness (all the respective
dimensions) was very low. Lack of meaningfulness, role ambiguity, social support
(supervisor), work and time pressure, social support (colleague), skill discretion,
hazardous exposure, job insecurity, physical exertion and decision latitude were
identified as valid predictors of employeesâ mental health in the service organization.
Further research regarding QWL as a predictor of mental health should be
conducted since there were very few studies done in this regard.
Based on the study a clear idea can be obtained as to which QWL variables are
predictors of employeesâ mental health. The importance of acknowledging these
factors aimed at improving employeesâ QWL and mental health in service
organizations becomes apparent.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-12152010-115606 |
| Date | 15 December 2010 |
| Creators | Markham, Lyle Grant |
| Contributors | Prof M Kotze, Prof CL Bester |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-12152010-115606/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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