Philip Dewe

Locus of Control and Well-Being at Work: How Generalizable are Western Findings?

Managers from 24 geopolitical entities provided data on work locus of control, job satisfaction, psychological strain, physical strain, and individualism/collectivism. The hypothesis that the salut...

Individual strategies for coping with stress at work: A review

Abstract This paper discusses some of the conceptual and methodological issues involved in the study of coping. It focuses on individual coping with work and work-related problems, and adopts a transactional framework for the definition of the key concepts of stress, appraisal and coping. It identifies and reviews 17 recent papers which are representative of the coping literature, as defined by the scope of the paper. What it draws out of this review largely concerns issues of measurement, and four particular issues are flagged as important for future research. It concludes that there is a need for more and more adequate studies, particularly in relation to the classification and modelling of coping, and that the adequacy of those future studies should be partly judged in terms of how well they deal with the issues raised here.

An Investigation of the Components of Moral Intensity

While there is considerable interest in the topic of business ethics, much of the research moves towards measuring components with a view to predicting ethical behaviour. To date there has not been a satisfactory definition of business ethics, nor has there been any real attempt to understand the components of a situation that may influence an individuals assessment of that situation as ethical or otherwise. Using Joness (1991) construct of moral intensity as a basis for investigation, this paper presents some exploratory analysis on the context within which ethical decisions are assessed. The findings reveal that individuals differ in their assessments of the same situation and often use a number of complex reasons to explain whether a situation poses an ethical problem for them. These findings are discussed within a framework of measurement issues and future directions for research.

Applying the Concept of Appraisal to Work Stressors: Some Exploratory Analysis

Researchers agree that the measurement of stressors and coping in occupational stress research should reflect new approaches and offer alternative frameworks if the different dynamics to the stress process are to be more adequately explored. This research adopted a methodology which reflected the presumed transactional nature of the appraisal process. How individuals appraise, give meaning to, and cope was explored by combining qualitative and quantitative data. Individuals, it seems, can describe the meanings they give to events and how they cope with them. The understanding that can be derived when alternative methodologies are used must lead to a refinement of traditional measurement strategies and a more fruitful avenue for future research.

Leisure and Its Role as a Strategy for Coping with Work Stress

The purpose of this study was to determine the dimensions of leisure that were important to people coping with work-related stress. Data were provided by 695 principals and deputy principals from secondary schools throughout New Zealand who were experiencing major legislative and organizational change in the education sector. The results produced a robust, replicable, and reliable two-factor structure using FACTOREP, a factor replication procedure. It appears that leisure is best measured in terms of active-challenge and passive-recuperative dimensions when considered in relation to coping with work-related stress. The results show that for the present occupational group, the passive nature of leisure is more important for coping with work stress. These results have implications for those involved in workplace health promotion where the emphasis thus far has been on physical activity and fitness. The results also confirm the importance of determining the most appropriate number of factors to rotate.

Measuring work stressors: The role of frequency, duration, and demand

Abstract In recent years a number of authors have suggested that progress towards a better understanding of the stressor-stress relationship can only be achieved by altering the way in which work stress is investigated. One strategy is to investigate what it is we are measuring when we assess work stressors. More particularly there is a need to use rating scales that measure demand associated with work roles rather than just imply it. Dimensions such as frequency, duration, and level of demand were measured in addition to the traditional method of simply asking individuals to indicate whether they agree/disagree that stressors are present at work. The results point to the incremental increase in variance explained when these additional facets are measured over and above the variance explained by traditional methods. This result confirms the ned to develop a better understanding of the concept of demand, the difference between chronic and acute stressors, and the interaction effects of the different facets.

The appraisal process: Exploring the role of meaning, importance, control and coping in work stress

Recent reviews on occupational stress research suggests that if progress is to be made towards a better understanding of stress at work then researchers need to consider alternative methodologies and establish new frameworks. This paper takes up that challenge and using both quantitative and qualitative techniques attempts to explore the appraisal process individuals go through in determining stressful experiences. The meanings individuals give to events, their importance and individual levels of control all provide fruitful avenues for further research. Such variables provide new approaches to research and offer a potential for explanation far greater than the more traditional interactional models.

New Zealand ministers of religion: Identifying sources of stress and coping strategies

Abstract Because the primary focus in occupational stress research has been on refining our understanding of the relationship between stressors and stress responses, relatively few attempts have been made to examine the nature and structure of the different constructs involved in that relationship. One reason for this has been die apparent acceptance that current measures adequately describe work role stressors or that constructs such as coping can be researched by simply selecting and devising measures on an a priori basis. This paper considers the stressors reported by ministers of religion in New Zealand and the strategies may use to cope with those problems. The results draw attention to die fact that while existing scales provide a good measure of general perceptions they are not useful or designed for evaluating specific role relationships or their nature and structure. The implications of these findings arc discussed in terms of measurement issues and future research.

EAPs and Stress Management

Recently a more cynical attitude to workplace stress reduction programmes has been emerging. If these programmes are accepted as beneficial then what has gone wrong? Attempts to answer this question and to search for reasons why stress intervention programmes have failed to realize their potential. Identifies a number of possible stumbling blocks including issues of power, ethics, theory, methodology, philosophy and skill practice. Out of the discussion come a number of directions for future practice.

A factor replication approach to the measurement of coping

Contemporary definitions of stress emphasize the transaction between the individual and the environment. This transactional approach requires stress researchers to confront a range of measurement issues concerning how the transactional process should be operationalized in a work setting. One of the constructs that has received increased interest is that of coping. How in a work setting coping strategies should be measured, and more particularly classified, has resulted in considerable debate and discussion. This research explores the use of factor replication techniques, and more specifically FACTOREP, on a checklist of coping strategies devised for principals and deputy principals. The results suggest that when attempts are made to identify those coping factors that can be replicated across samples, there is general support for coping strategies to be classified as either problem-focused or emotion-focused. The implications of this finding are discussed in terms of the measurement of coping, coping taxonomies and issues such as coping styles versus coping behaviours and universal versus context-specific measurements.