Tuija Muhonen

The role of gender and job level in coping with occupational stress

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between coping and health problems in the context of gender and level in the organization. Questionnaire data were collected from 279 women and men (100 managers and 179 non-managers) at a sales department in a Swedish telecom company in which men and women worked at similar tasks. It was hypothesized that, if gender and level in the organization were controlled for, the use of problem-focused strategies would be associated with fewer health problems and the use of emotion-focused strategies with greater health problems. It was also predicted that men and women at a similar organizational level would not differ in their use of problem-focused coping strategies. The results showed, contrary to the hypothesis, that when level and gender were controlled for, no relation between problem-focused strategies and health was obtained. Instead the emotion-focused strategy of Seeking emotional support was associated with fewer health problems, whereas Focus on emotions and Alcohol/drug disengagement were associated with more symptoms. Coping was at least partly related to level. At a managerial level the men and the women used basically the same strategies whereas at a non-managerial level traditionally-conceived coping patterns were evident.

The Demand-control-support model and health among women and men in similar occupations

The aim of the study was to investigate the main and the interaction effects of the demand–control–support (DCS) model on womens and mens health in a Swedish telecom company. According to the DCS model, work that is characterized by high demands, low decision latitude, and low support decreases health and well-being. Furthermore, control and support are assumed to interact in protecting against adverse health effects of stress. Earlier studies have failed to consider occupational status and gender simultaneously. Questionnaire data from 134 female and 145 male employees in similar occupations were collected. Correlational analysis supported the main effect hypotheses irrespective of gender. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that only demands predicted womens health, whereas both demands and lack of social support predicted mens health. However, no interaction effects were found for either women or men. Further studies should probe the relevance of the model while considering gender and occupational status.

Stress and Health among Women and Men in a Swedish Telecom Company

The aim of the study was to investigate gender differences at managerial and nonmanagerial level in perceived stress and control and the relationship to health problems. Questionnaires were collected from 281 women and men at both managerial and nonmanagerial level in a sales department in a large Swedish telecom company. Items describing sources of stress were selected from Dallner, Gamberale, Olsson, and Örelius (1999) and developed through a group interview. The results showed only minor differences in perceived stress and no differences in perceived control when comparing men and women working at the same level in the organization. Instead the differences in perceived stress and control were found between managers and nonmanagers. In addition, the study showed both differences and similarities in explaining health symptoms for women and men at the same organizational level. Similarities were found at a nonmanagerial level but at a managerial level health problems were not predicted by the same factors for women and men. The need to consider organizational level in future studies about stress and gender is addressed.

Collective and Individualistic Coping with Stress at Work.

In the present study, coping was viewed as both an individualistic and a collective phenomenon, and the investigation assessed how use of collective and individualistic coping strategies was related to sex of respondent and organizational level. These strategies were measured by responses to Swedish versions of the Strategic Approach to Coping Scale and the COPE Inventory. Data were collected by means of an Internet-based questionnaire completed by 950 female (n = 502) and male (n = 448) employees at both the managerial (n = 171) and nonmanagerial (n = 764) levels, working in customer service in a Swedish telecom company. The mean age of the participants was 47 yr. (SD = 9.7). Analysis showed women more often used collective strategies, but so also did both women and men managers. Men did not use problem-focused individualistic coping strategies more often than women. No interactions between sex and organizational level were found. Separate analyses for women and men indicated that coping was more related to organizational level than to sex.

Kortversioner av frågeformulär inom arbets- och hälsopsykologi—om att mäta coping och optimism

Muhonen, T. & Torkelson, E. (2005). Short versions of inventories within work- and health psychology. Nordisk Psykologi, 57, 288–297 One approach to reduce the “response burden” in applied psychological research is to create short versions of inventories. The present study reports the reliability of the Swedish versions of two short inventories; Brief COPE (Carver, 1997) and LOT-R (Scheier, Carver & Bridges, 1994). Brief COPE consists of 14 coping scales comprising 2 items per scale. LOT-R contains six items assessing generalized optimism. Altogether 332 undergraduate students participated in the study. The reliability coefficients indicated that a majority of the Brief COPE scales, as well as LOT-R possessed adequate reliabilities. Overall, the results of the study support the use of the Swedish versions of Brief COPE and LOT-R. Nyckelord: Brief COPE, LOT-R, Reliabilitet

Social climate as a mediator between leadership behavior and employee well-being in a cross-cultural perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct effects of empowering and employee-centered leadership on well-being, and the indirect or mediating role of social organizational climate between leadership behavior and well-being in a cross-cultural perspective. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaires were distributed in two furniture retail stores in Sweden and two stores in China belonging to the same company. The final sample consisted of 483 participants from the Chinese and 254 participants from the Swedish stores. Findings – The results of the structural equation modeling showed that there was no direct effect between leadership behavior (employee-centered leadership and empowering leadership) and well-being in either the Swedish or the Chinese sample. Further, the findings of the study indicate that social climate mediates the relationship between leadership behavior and employee well-being, but this seems to be culturally contingent. The mediating effect is prevalent in a culture ...

Social climate and job control as mediators between empowering leadership and learning from a cross-cultural perspective

The purpose of this article is to examine the direct effects of empowering leadership on learning and the indirect or mediating role of social climate and job control from a cross-cultural perspective. Questionnaires were distributed to two furniture retail stores in Sweden and two stores in China belonging to the same company. The final sample consisted of 483 participants from the Chinese and 254 participants from the Swedish stores. The results of the structural equation modeling showed that there was a direct relationship between empowering leadership and learning (both in the Chinese and the Swedish sample). The study also showed that social climate had a mediating effect of empowering leadership and learning (both in the Chinese and the Swedish sample). In addition, the result indicated that job control had a mediating effect (Swedish sample). The model explained 38% of the variance in learning among the Chinese sample and 62% in the Swedish. This indicates that the tested factors are highly relevant in the context of learning. Despite some methodological limitations such as the cross-sectional design and problems with acquiescence in responses, the results indicate the complexity of the role of culture in organizational behavior. Managers working in increasingly globalized contexts need to take into consideration that some organizational behaviors gradually become more universal, whereas others remain culturally contingent. This article illustrates the complex relationship between leadership behavior, social climate, job control, and learning in the same corporate culture but in different cultural settings.

Work stress, coping, and gender: implications for health and well-being

Stressful working conditions and their implications for health are important topics in occupational health psychology today (Paoli and Merllie, 2001; Spielberger and Reheiser, 2005). Studies show that increasing demands in the workplace have induced negative stress among employees (Lidwall and Skogman-Thoursie, 2001), and especially among women (Lundberg, 2002; Lundberg and Gonas, 1998; Matuszek, Nelson, and Quick, 1995). Although both women and men report work-related stressors, such as role ambiguity, downsizing, and time pressure, women are confronted with additional stressors (Nelson and Burke, 2002). Jobs dominated by women have lower status, are less well paid, and have limited opportunities for personal and career development (Alexanderson and Ostlin, 2001; Greenglass, 2002; Lundberg and Gonas, 1998; Nelson and Burke, 2002). Women are often exposed to role conflicts and conflicts between work and family responsibilities (Burke and Greenglass, 1999; Greenglass, 2002; Lundberg, 1998), as well as sex discrimination and underutilization of skills (Greenglass, 2002). Women also experience more psychological and physical symptoms (Alexanderson and Ostlin, 2001; Matuszek et al ., 1995; Vaananen, Toppinen-Tanner, Kalimo, Mutanen, Vahtera, and Peiro, 2003). In a longitudinal study, Bildt and Michelsen (2002) identified more occupational risk factors predicting poor mental health for women than for men, suggesting that these findings mirror the gender-segregated labor market. Bildt (2001) concluded that several aspects at todays workplaces are harmful for many female employees’ mental health.

Exploring gender harassment among university teachers and researchers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of gender harassment and how it is related to different organisational factors, ill-health and job satisfaction among women and men working as university teachers and researchers. Design/methodology/approach – A web questionnaire was conducted in a university college in South Sweden. The final sample consisted of 322 participants, 186 women and 136 men. Findings – The results showed that gender harassment was more prevalent among women than men, and among senior lecturers and professors than lecturers. Gender harassment was associated with high job demands, less fair leadership style of the immediate manager and job dissatisfaction for both women and men. For women, there was also an association between gender harassment, ill-health and gender of the immediate manager. For men, poorer social organisational climate was related to gender harassment, but contrary to women, gender harassment was not related to the gender of the immediate manager...

Consequences of cyberbullying behaviour in working life

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore health- and work-related outcomes of cyberbullying behaviour and the potential mediating role of social organisational climate, social support from colleagues and social support from superiors. Design/methodology/approach Altogether 3,371 respondents participated in a questionnaire study. Findings The results of this study indicate that social organisational climate can have a mediating role in the relationship between cyberbullying behaviour and health, well-being, work engagement and intention to quit. Contrary to earlier face-to-face bullying research, the current study showed that cyberbullying behaviour had stronger indirect than direct relationships to health, well-being, work engagement and intention to quit. Practical implications Communication through digital devices in work life is becoming more prevalent, which in turn increases the risk for cyberbullying behaviour. Organisations need therefore to develop occupational health and safety policies concerning the use of digital communication and social media in order to prevent cyberbullying behaviour and its negative consequences. Originality/value Cyberbullying behaviour among working adults is a relatively unexplored phenomenon and therefore this study makes valuable contribution to the research field.