Anne Mäkikangas

Psychosocial work stressors and well-being: self-esteem and optimism as moderators in a one-year longitudinal sample

The purpose of the present follow-up study was to investigate the roles of self-esteem and optimism in the relationship between psychosocial work stressors and well-being for a sample of Finnish employees (n=457). The data were obtained by means of questionnaires which were completed twice, in 1999 and 2000. The results of the moderated hierarchical regression analyses revealed that low levels of self-esteem and optimism had a direct negative effect on emotional exhaustion and mental distress among men employees. Furthermore, self-esteem moderated the relationships between poor organizational climate and emotional exhaustion and mental distress among male employees. Among female employees optimism moderated the relationships between time pressures at work, job insecurity and poor organizational climate on mental distress. Altogether, our present study suggests that self-esteem and optimism are important resources which both have main effects as well as moderator effects on well-being, although these effects are gender specific.

Psychological consequences of fixed-term employment and perceived job insecurity among health care staff

The present study sought to clarify the roles of fixed-term employment and perceived job insecurity in relation to an employees job attitudes (job satisfaction, turnover intentions) and well-being (work engagement, job exhaustion). Specifically, we examined which of the two situations, high subjective job insecurity and a permanent job (i.e., violation hypothesis) or high subjective job insecurity and a fixed-term job (i.e., intensification hypothesis), would lead to the most negative job attitudes and well-being. Data from 736 employees in one Finnish health care district were collected by questionnaires. The results supported the violation hypothesis: Under conditions of high perceived job insecurity permanent employees had lower levels of job satisfaction and work engagement as well as a higher level of job exhaustion than fixed-term employees, whereas under conditions of a low level of perceived job insecurity there were no differences between permanent and fixed-term employees in this respect. Generally, employees with fixed-term contracts had more positive job attitudes and well-being than their permanent counterparts. Thus, permanent employees with perceived job insecurity showed the most negative job attitudes and well-being.

Testing the effort-reward imbalance model among Finnish managers: the role of perceived organizational support.

The present study is aimed at examining the combined effects of effort-reward imbalance (ERI), overcommitment (OVC), and perceived organizational support (POS) on turnover intentions and work engagement, among Finnish managers (n = 1,301). Consequently, the study contributes to the research literature by examining how the ERI-outcomes relationship was dependent simultaneously on OVC and POS. The results showed that ERI x OVC x POS interaction was significant only for turnover intentions. The ERI-turnover intentions relationship was strongest under conditions of high OVC and low POS. In addition, the relationship between ERI and decreased work engagement, especially dedication, was strengthened among overcommitted managers, compared to their less committed counterparts. Altogether, the results indicate that interventions aimed at reducing turnover intentions and increasing work engagement by increasing ERI should consider OVC and POS.

Work-family conflict and its relations to well-being: the role of personality as a moderating factor

The aim of the present study was to examine the role of the Big Five personality dimensions as possible moderating factors between two types of work–family conflicts: work interference with family (WIF); and family interference with work (FIW); and their relationship to well-being in the domains of work and family generally as well. The participants were fathers (n=296) who took part in a national family research project in the Netherlands in 1995. All fathers were employed full-time. The results showed that emotional stability moderated the relationships between WIF and job exhaustion and between WIF and depression. In addition, agreeableness moderated the relationship between FIW and marital satisfaction. Consequently, emotionally stable fathers were protected from negative effects of WIF on well-being at work (job exhaustion) and on general well-being (depression). In the same way, agreeable fathers were protected from negative effects of FIW on marital satisfaction. Besides these moderating effects, both WIF and FIW and emotional stability and agreeableness had main effects on well-being.

The factor structure and factorial invariance of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) across time: evidence from two community-based samples.

This study provides new knowledge about the factor structure of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12; D. Goldberg, 1972) through the application of confirmatory factor analysis to longitudinal data, thereby enabling investigation of the factor structure, its invariance across time, and the rank-order stability of the factors. Two community-based longitudinal adult samples with 1-year (n = 640) and 6-year (n = 330) follow-up times were studied. As a result, the correlated 3-factor model (i.e., Anxiety/Depression, Social Dysfunction, and Loss of Confidence) showed a better fit with both samples than the alternative models. The correlated 3-factor structure was also relatively invariant across time in both samples, indicating that the scale has good construct validity. The rank-order stabilities of the factors were low across time, which suggests that the GHQ-12 measures temporal mental state.

Job resources and flow at work: Modelling the relationship via latent growth curve and mixture model methodology

The aim of the present three-wave follow-up study ( n ¼ 335) among employees of an employment agency was to investigate the association between job resources and work-related flow utilizing both variable- and person-oriented approaches. In addition, emotional exhaustion was studied as am oderator of the job resources–flow relationship ,a nd as ap redictor of the development of job resources and flow .T he variable-oriented approach, based on latent growth curve analyses, revealed that the levels of job resources and flow at work ,a sw el la sc hanges in these variables, wer e positively associated with each other .T he person-oriented inspection with the growth mixture modelling identified four trajectories based on the mean levels of job resources and flow and on the changes of these mean levels ove rt ime: (a) moderate work-related resources ( n ¼ 166), (b) declining work-related resources ( n ¼ 87), (c) high workrelate dr esources ( n ¼ 46), and (d) low work-related resources ( n ¼ 36). Exhaustion was found to be an important predictor of job resources and flow ,b ut it did not moderate their mutual association. Specifically ,al ow level of exhaustion was found to predict high levels of job resources and flow .O verall, these results suggest the importance of ap erson-oriented vie wo fm otivational processes at work. In addition, in order to fully understand positive motivational processes it seems important to investigate the role of negative well-being states as well.

Warr's scale of job-related affective well-being: A longitudinal examination of its structure and relationships with work characteristics

Abstract The aims of this 3-year follow-up study among Finnish managers (n=615) were first, to test the theoretically-based structure of the job-related affective well-being scale (Warr, 1990b), and second, to examine the linear and curvilinear longitudinal associations between work characteristics and job-related affective well-being. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the hypothesized four-factor model best described the structure of the job-related affective well-being scale; that is, the scale included four interrelated factors of job-related anxiety, comfort, depression, and enthusiasm at both measurement times. Structural equation modelling showed that high feelings of comfort at work were longitudinally associated with a positive perception of the supportiveness of the organizational climate, after controlling for sense of coherence. Conversely, the work characteristics included in this study (job control and supportive organizational climate) did not serve as antecedents of job-related affective well-being during the follow-up. In addition, there were no cross-sectional or longitudinal curvilinear associations between work characteristics and job-related affective well-being: associations were found to be linear. We conclude that (a) Warrs scale of job-related affective well-being is best conceptualized as consisting of four interrelated dimensions whose factor structure is (b) highly stable across a 3-year time interval.

Do low burnout and high work engagement always go hand in hand? Investigation of the energy and identification dimensions in longitudinal data

The aim of the present 2-year follow-up study among young managers (N=433) was to investigate the intraindividual developmental patterns of burnout and work engagement as well as their interconnections. More specifically, we examined the interconnectedness of the varying patterns (i.e., latent classes) of exhaustion and vigor (i.e., the energy dimension) and cynicism and dedication (i.e., the identification dimension) across time. The latent class solutions supported by the growth mixture modeling indicated four latent classes for exhaustion and five for vigor. In addition, four latent classes were found for cynicism and six for dedication. Cynicism and dedication represented opposites with a strong negative relationship, whereas exhaustion and vigor were not connected and seemed to be two independent constructs. Overall, the present findings confirmed the results of earlier studies relating to the energy and identification continua and underlined the importance of investigating the subdimensions of burnout and work engagement. Thus, our study showed that high cynicism goes hand in hand with low dedication, but high exhaustion and low vigor do not necessarily appear together.

Perceived employability: Investigating outcomes among involuntary and voluntary temporary employees compared to permanent employees

– The purpose of the present study is to examine how perceived employability relates to job exhaustion, psychological symptoms and self‐rated job performance in involuntary and voluntary temporary employees compared to permanent employees., – The study is based on a cross‐sectional design using a sample of university teachers and researchers (n=1,014) from two Finnish universities. Of the sample, 40 percent (n=408) are permanent employees, 49 percent (n=495) involuntary and 11 percent (n=111) voluntary temporary employees. Most respondents (54 percent) have education above a Masters degree, the average age is 43 years, and 58 percent are women., – The results of general linear model analyses show that perceived employability promotes favorable outcomes among all respondents. However, the negative relationship between perceived employability and job exhaustion and psychological symptoms is stronger among voluntary than among involuntary temporary employees., – The study indicates that although perceived employability seems to be important to all employees, involuntary temporary employees benefit least from high perceived employability in terms of individual well‐being.

Long-term patterns of effort-reward imbalance and over-commitment: Investigating occupational well-being and recovery experiences as outcomes

The aim of this study was, first, to identify long-term patterns of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and over-commitment (OVC), and, second, to examine how occupational well-being (burnout, work engagement) and recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery and control) differ in these patterns. The study was based on follow-up data with three measurement points (2006, 2008, 2010) collected from Finnish managers (N=298). Latent Profile Analysis resulted in five long-term ERI-OVC patterns: a high-risk pattern (high ERI, high OVC), found in 20% of the participants; a low-risk pattern (low ERI, low OVC), found in 24% of participants; a relatively low-risk pattern (low ERI, moderate OVC), found in 47% of participants; a favourable change pattern (decreasing ERI and OVC), in 7%; and an unfavourable change pattern (high ERI with increasing linear trend, OVC with curvilinear trend) in 2%. The results showed, in line with the ERI model, that managers in the high-risk pattern showed higher burnout scores and poorer recovery experiences compared to those in the low-risk patterns. However, no differences were found in work engagement between the high and low-risk patterns. Thus, the ERI model seemed better to explain stress-related indicators of occupational well-being than motivational indicators.