Carolyn M. Boyd

Occupational stress in Australian university staff: Results from a national survey.

This article presents results from a study of occupational stress in Australian university staff. The authors report data on psychological strain and job satisfaction from nearly 9,000 respondents at 17 universities. Academic staff were generally worse off than general staff, and staff in newer universities were worse off than those in older universities. At the aggregate level, selfreport measures of psychological well-being were highly correlated with objective measures of university well-being (investment income, student–staff ratios, and recent cuts in staffing levels and in government operating grants). The authors conclude that the financial difficulties imposed on Australian universities in recent years are having serious consequences for the psychological well-being of their staff, particularly academic staff (faculty). Copyright 2003 by the Educational Publishing Foundation

Unique aspects of stress in human service work

Two unique stressors associated with human service work are emotional dissonance, particularly the need to hide negative emotions (emotion work), and client/customer-related social stressors. The latter may involve disproportionate or ambiguous client/customer expectations and/or verbally aggressive customers. These stressors affect all human service workers, even though they may vary in the extent to which their work involves lasting relationships with clients/customers, and in the amount of training they have received to deal with client/customer-related social stressors. For example, health professionals typically develop long-lasting relationships with their clients whereas call centre workers may have only a single brief interaction. In accordance with contemporary theories of work stress (conservation of resources, effort-reward imbalance, demand-control-support), we argue that social support and training designed to develop “role separation” are crucial resources needed to help human service worker...

The Role of Personality in the Job Demands-Resources Model: A Study of Australian Academic Staff.

Purpose ‐ The central aim of this study is to incorporate two core personality factors (neuroticism and extroversion) in the job demands-resources (JD-R) model. Design/methodology/approach ‐ It was hypothesized that neuroticism would be most strongly related to the health impairment process, and that extroversion would be most strongly related to the motivational process. The hypotheses were tested in a sample of 3,753 Australian academics, who filled out a questionnaire including job demands and resources, personality, health indicators, and commitment. Findings ‐ Results were generally in line with predictions. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that job demands predicted health impairment, while job resources predicted organizational commitment. Also, neuroticism predicted health impairment, both directly and indirectly through its effect on job demands, while extroversion predicted organizational commitment, both directly and indirectly through its effect on job resources. Research limitations/implications ‐ These findings demonstrate the capacity of the JD-R model to integrate work environmentandindividual perspectives withinasinglemodel of occupational wellbeing. Practical implications ‐ The study shows that working conditions are related to health and commitment, also after controlling for personality. This suggests that workplace interventions can be used to take care of employee wellbeing. Originality/value ‐ The paper contributes to the literature by integrating personality in the JD-R model, and shows how an expanded model explains employee wellbeing.

Work-Family Conflict and Well-Being in University Employees

ABSTRACT This is one of the first reported studies to have reviewed the role of work-family conflict in university employees, both academic and nonacademic. The goal of this research was to examine the role of work-family conflict as a mediator of relationships between features of the work environment and worker well-being and organizational outcomes. A sample of 3,326 Australian university workers responded to an online survey. Work-family conflict added substantially to the explained variance in physical symptoms and psychological strain after taking account of job demands and control, and to a lesser extent to the variance in job performance. However, it had no extra impact on organizational commitment, which was most strongly predicted by job autonomy. Despite differing in workloads and work-family conflict, academic (“faculty”) and nonacademic staff demonstrated similar predictors of worker and organizational outcomes. Results suggest two pathways through which management policies may be effective in improving worker well-being and productivity: improving job autonomy has mainly direct effects, while reducing job demands is mediated by consequent reductions in work-family conflict.

Hindrances are not threats: advancing the multidimensionality of work stress.

The challenge-hindrance framework has proved useful for explaining inconsistencies in relationships between work stressors and important outcomes. By introducing the distinction between threat and hindrance to this framework, we capture the potential for personal harm or loss (threat) associated with stressors, as distinct from the potential to block goal attainment (hindrance) or promote gain (challenge). In Study 1, survey data were collected from 609 retail workers, 220 of whom responded 6 months later. The results supported a 3-factor threat-hindrance-challenge stressor structure and showed that threat stressors are associated with increased psychological distress and emotional exhaustion, and reduced dedication, whereas hindrance stressors undermine dedication but may not be related to distress or exhaustion with threats included in the model. Study 2 utilized a diary study design, with data collected from 207 workers over 3 workdays. Findings revealed that the threat, hindrance, and challenge appraisals of individual workers are statistically distinct, and associated with stressors and well-being as anticipated: threats with role conflict and anxiety, hindrances with organizational constraints and fatigue, and challenges with skill demands and enthusiasm. Overall, moving to a 3-dimensional challenge-hindrance-threat framework for stressors and stress appraisals will support a more accurate picture regarding the nature, processes, and effects of stressors on individuals and organizations, and ensure prevention efforts are not misguided.

Perceived Effects of Organizational Downsizing and Staff Cuts on the Stress Experience: The Role of Resources

In response to global financial pressures, retail companies have introduced measures to reduce costs by cutting staff allocations to individual outlets. On the basis of interview data from four employees of a large retail organization, this paper employs an ideographic case-study approach to illustrate how the processes linking job characteristics to job-related strain and well-being (e.g. appraisal, action regulation, coping, resource utilization) unfold within four individual workers, as they attempt to manage perceived increases in demands resulting from staff cuts. We highlight the importance that these employees place on their own psychological resources (e.g. self-efficacy) and coping mechanisms (e.g. disengagement) in dealing with these changes, as well as how the perceived availability or absence of job resources (e.g. social support, decision authority, organizational justice) influences their ability to cope with increased demands. We use the insights gained from the case studies to illustrate the value of integrating multiple theoretical perspectives towards achieving a nuanced understanding of the intricacies involved in these experiences and to suggest ways in which the coping capacities of individual employees might be increased.

Fear of dogs in a community sample: Effects of age, gender and prior experience of canine aggression

Abstract An investigation was conducted into human fear of dogs and experiences of canine aggression in an adult community sample (n = 292). Consistent with expectations, it was found that, while fear of dogs was relatively common (present in almost half the respondents), fear of dog attacks was less so, and extreme fear of dog attacks was very rare. Women, middle-aged and older adults were more likely to fear dogs than men and younger adults, while older people were more likely than younger ones to fear dog attacks. Reported encounters with canine aggression, particularly threatening behavior, were relatively common, but having been attacked by a dog was less strongly related to fear of dogs than having been threatened by a dog. Logistic regression analyses revealed that being female, having been threatened by a dog, and being older were strong predictors of dog-related fear, while being older and obtaining higher scores on a measure of trait anxiety predicted fear of dog attacks.

Work–family conflict: The importance of differentiating between different facets of job characteristics

ABSTRACT This review study clarifies the relationships between job characteristics and work–family conflict (WFC) by differentiating among three facets of job characteristics: latent, perceived, and enacted. To date, research linking job characteristics to WFC has not distinguished the facets of job demands and job resources in this way. Such distinctions are important as a means of understanding the affective, behavioural, and cognitive processes involved in determining how and when job characteristics relate to WFC. Our review of 115 studies showed that perceived job characteristics have been most commonly explored in relation to WFC, whereas latent and enacted job characteristics have been hardly examined. While these findings may not be surprising, our contribution lies in reviewing the literature through the lens of these categories. Based on the findings, and through highlighting examples in the extant literature, we argue that understanding job characteristics in terms of both how they are perceived and enacted by workers will provide a deeper insight into the mechanisms underlying the relationship between job characteristics and WFC. In order to inform evidence-based interventions, future research must uncover the dynamic mechanisms underpinning the connection between job characteristics and WFC through a focus on enacted job facets and the cognitive, affective, and behavioural processes involved.

Mothers' integration of work, home and community in master planned communities: what's different?

Work/life research needs to incorporate consideration of community issues and is rarely conducted in master planned communities (MPCs). To address this gap the present exploratory study aimed to examine the specific work/life integration (WLI) experiences of working mothers residing in an Australian MPC. Fifteen interviews were conducted with 10 working mothers. Data analysis involved thematic coding of interview transcripts. Findings showed that working mothers in the present study had difficulties, similar to those of working mothers who do not live in an MPC, in undertaking work. Coping strategies, such as working part-time, were used to manage the situation. However, more positively the MPC facilitated a convenient lifestyle, enjoyable family life, the establishment of social support networks and offered affordable housing. Thus it enhanced the home and community components of WLI and appeared to enhance overall WLI satisfaction.

Enacting Job Demands and Resources: Exploring Processes and Links with Individual Outcomes

Recent approaches to worker stress aim to model how job characteristics and workers’ responses to them combine to influence worker wellbeing. We build on Daniels’ (Hum Relat 59(3):267–290. doi: 10.1177/0018726706064171, 2006) notion of enacted job characteristics to enhance understanding of the processes that shape workers’ experiences and behaviour on the job, in interaction with job characteristics and the work environment. In doing so, we offer a more nuanced picture of the pathways proposed by the Job-Demands Resources model to link job characteristics to worker exhaustion and engagement. We illustrate our arguments using examples of interview material gathered from qualitative interviews with retail workers. We conclude by offering new predictions and directions for research that flow from our advanced understanding of enactment, as integrated within the JD-R model.