Branimir Šverko

Origin of individual differences in importance attached to work: A model and a contribution to its evaluation

Abstract A model attempting to explain the origin of individual differences in the importance attached to work is presented. According to the model, the importance of work for an individual depends on an individuals perception of the possibilities for attainment of his/her salient work values through working. The results of an empirical study evaluating the model are also presented. Participants in the study were high school students of grade 10 (N = 923) and grade 12 (N = 949), university students (N = 348), and adults (N = 344). They answered questionnaires providing measures of (a) importance of 20 work values, (b) perceptions of their attainment possibilities in work, and (c) importance of work in general. Correlational analysis of the data supported the hypotheses derived from the model.

Working in the hidden economy: Associations with the latent benefits and psychological health

Hidden economy working can provide income and cushion the financial hardship during unemployment; can it also substitute for some latent functions of regular employment? According to Jahodas theory, the latent functions include the time structure, regular shared experience, information about personal identity, a link with the collective purpose, and enforced regular activity. This article explores whether the undeclared working reduces the degree of deprivation of these functions during unemployment and, consequently, improves the psychological health of a person. The data were collected from a sample of unemployed persons (N = 1138) registered with the Croatian Employment Bureau. A series of questions about their day-to-day activities were used to estimate the amount of undeclared working, an ad hoc developed scale to assess the extent of their latent deprivation, and the SF-36 Health Survey to measure their psychological health. The ANCOVA revealed that the participants who were often engaged in the hidden economy working exhibited reduced latent deprivation and improved psychological health compared to those who were sometimes engaged. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that their better psychological health was partially mediated through reduced latent deprivation. However, the unemployed who were never engaged in undeclared working exhibited a relatively high psychological health as well.

Assessment of Values and Role Salience

This chapter examines the methodological issues associated with the measurement of values and role salience and reviews representative measures that have been used in their assessment. The authors begin by explaining the concepts of roles and role salience and the constructs of life values and work roles, and reviewing taxonomies of values. Assessment approaches, measurement techniques and related methodological problems are then considered. Existing inventories for assessment of values and role salience are briefly described. The conclusion discusses the use of values and role salience assessment in career guidance.

Work-life balance among Croatian employees: role time commitment, work-home interference, and well being

This study explores whether work-life imbalance due to long working hours exists among employees in Croatia, and examines some of its antecedents and consequences. In studying the consequences, joint effects of the time spent at work and in home roles are considered in a broader conceptual framework which incorporates the concept of work-life interference. A questionnaire assessing individual and contextual variables, time spent at work and in home activities, intensity of work-home conflicts, and subjective well-being was applied via an on-line survey of Internet users (N = 188), and via personal interviews (N = 319). Since the two data sets did not differ significantly, they were merged in the final analysis. The results show that 75 percent of the respondents work more than 40 hours a week and 30 percent in excess of 48 hours per week. Hours spent at work and in home activities were not significantly related to subjective well-being (defined as low levels of stress symptoms and high levels of life satisfaction), thus questioning the common assumption that more hours mean worse well-being. Work-home interference variables, in particular the work-to-home conflict, account for a major part of the well-being variance.

Time-sharing factors and their relation to cognitive abilities and personality traits

Abstract The aim of this research was (1) to analyze the factor structure of time-sharing performance and (2) to examine the relations of identified time-sharing factors to cognitive abilities and personality traits. Eight computerized choice-reactions and tracking tasks were performed both singly, one by one, and concurrently, in different dual-task combinations, by 98 female psychology students. The subjects also completed a series of paper-and-pencil tests comprising 6 cognitive ability measures (mainly from GATB) and 4 personality measures (from EPQ). A factor analysis of perceptual-motor performance identified three single-task and three time-sharing factors, supporting the notion of the process-specific time-sharing abilities. None of the factors correlated with the personality measures. Two of the time-sharing factors, however, correlated with primary mental abilities, in particular with perceptual speed and accuracy and numerical ability, rather than with measures related to reasoning ability. The findings suggest that speed of information processing may be a crucial factor in time-sharing performance.

Aktivnosti i financijsko stanje nezaposlenih u Hrvatskoj. Ima li osnova za tezu o socijalnoj isključenosti dugotrajno nezaposlenih osoba

Cilj rada bio je ispitati strukturu svakodnevnih aktivnosti, financijsko stanje, percipiranu razinu socijalne podrske i intenzitet traženja posla nezaposlenih osoba u Republici Hrvatskoj, te provjeriti postoje li između kratkotrajno i dugotrajno nezaposlenih osoba razlike koje upucuju na djelovanje procesa socijalne iskljucenosti. Taj proces implicira krug socijalne degradacije u kojem dugotrajna nezaposlenost vodi siromastvu i socijalnoj izolaciji koji, potom, dodatno povecavaju marginalizaciju na tržistu rada. Ukoliko postoji ova spirala socijalnog srozavanja, onda bi osobe koje su duže vremena nezaposlene trebale pokazivati promijenjenu strukturu svakodnevnih aktivnosti, veci stupanj financijske deprivacije, manju socijalnu podrsku i smanjeni intenzitet traženja posla. Istraživanje je provedeno u ljeto 2003. godine u 25 ispostava Hrvatskog zavoda za zaposljavanje diljem Hrvatske, na uzorku registriranih nezaposlenih osoba (N = 1138). Analizom prikupljenih podataka ustanovljene su mnoge spoznaje o znacajkama i ponasanju nezaposlenih osoba, ali pretpostavljene razlike između kratkotrajno i dugotrajno nezaposlenih osoba nisu pronađene. To upucuje na zakljucak da proces socijalne iskljucenosti u Hrvatskoj (zasada) jos nije prisutan.