Lecture 1: Introduction

Question 1

Occupational health psychology

Answer 1

Focuses on creating healthy workplaces in which people produce, serve, grow and are valued. People are able to use their talents and gifts to achieve high performance, high satisfaction and well-being. Can help prevent occupational illness, injury and promote health and wellbeing.

Question 2

Psychosocial hazards

Answer 2

those aspects of work design and the organization and management of work, and their social and organizational contexts, which have the potential for causing psychological, social or physical harm. It is associated with internationalization and increased global competition, evolution of info and communication technologies and changes to the workforce.

Question 3

What are the emerging psychosocial risks?

Answer 3

• new forms of employment contracts and job insecurity;
• the ageing workforce;
• work intensification;
• high emotional demands at work;
• poor work–life balance.

Question 4

European definition of OHP by EAOHP

Answer 4

the contribution of applied psychology to occupational health. Located on the interface btw OH and psychology, seen as a multidisciplinary area

Question 5

How does the North American definition differ to the European one?

Answer 5

The European one focusses on procedures, practices and methodologies while the NA definition looks at psychological perspectives. It is defined as inclusive of knowledge and methods from psychology, public/occupational health, organizational studies, human factors, and allied fields (such as occupational sociology, industrial engineering, economics, and others)

Question 6

Characteristics which define the discipline?

Answer 6

(a) an applied science, (b) evidence driven, (c) oriented towards
problem solving, (d) multidisciplinary, (e) participatory, (f) focused on intervention,
with an emphasis on primary prevention

Question 7

Primary prevention

Answer 7

Primary interventions for the improvement of occupational
health are targeted at the source of problems, i.e., the design,
management, and organization of work. These contrast with secondary interventions that focus on workers’ responses by bolstering coping resources, and tertiary interventions that centre on effects/outcomes through
the provision of remedial support.

Question 8

What are the 3 contrasting approaches for drawing conclusions on topic areas in OHP?

Answer 8

Scrutiny of existing curricula (includes surveys of occupational safety and health, job stress theory, risk factors, physical + psychological health, org interventions and research methods)
Published research themes (work-related stress and negative workplace experiences are popular themes, others are less popular like positive perspectives)
Expert surveys

Question 9

Most prioritized OHP-related issues

Answer 9

common mental health problems,the use of government guidance on the management of work-related stress, the identification of emerging risks, planning for major events (e.g., pandemics), work-related driving, work-life balance, immigrant and migrant workers, and non-standard workplaces (e.g., flexiwork, telework). Core 5 issues: interventions to promote health, organizational research methods, design of the psychosocial work environment, stress theory, and stress interventions.

Question 10

What do OHP practitioners do?

Answer 10

• OHP practitioners review, evaluate, and analyze work environments.
• They design programs and procedures to promote worker health and reduce stress caused by psychological, organizational, and social factors
• Possible responsibilities include policy planning, employee screening, training, audit and evaluation, and crafting interventions that are evidence based.

Question 11

European Developments in OHP

Answer 11

1. Developed interventions for workers during wartime which improved health and physical conditions, introduced welfare supervisors
2. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 reduced prevalence of diseases and injuries
3. Psychosocial research in Nordic countries improved the field

Question 12

North American developments

Answer 12

1. established SOHP
2. field of economic psychology-> Munsterberg
3. anxieties about implications of developments for the health of workers-> Occupational Safety and Health Act
4. NOISH looked into research and demonstrations relating to occupational safety and health (Sauter)
5. Psychosocial questions were integrated into the quality of employment survey
6. Work in America: psychosocial hazards and primary prevention

Question 13

European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EAOHP)

Answer 13

Institution to bring together, support those concerned for research, teaching and practice related to psychological, social and organizational issues in occupational health. Registered as a charity. Had conferences around the world, give fellowships for exceptional research, practice and activities and prizes given. Academy associated with journal work and stress which was awarded the best paper prize

Question 14

Society for Occupational Health Psychology

Answer 14

Promotes and encourages psychological research on theoretical and practical questions related to occupational health. Was established in the US. Linked to the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

Question 15

Motivation

Answer 15

This is what moves people to action. Shaped by intersecting cultures, gender, race, class etc.

Question 16

Cultures

Answer 16

Systems of ideas, interactions, institutions that guide the actions of individuals

Question 17

How do cultural differences shape motivation?

Answer 17

In the West and WEIRD samples: stem from inside the person due to intrinsic forces to belong, enhance self-esteem, achieve and maintain cognitive consistency. Regulatory forces like incentives reduce agency.
Non-weird contexts: motivation emerges from relationships, obligations and culturally inscribed norms. This results in behavioural regulation to adjust behaviour

Question 18

What are models of agency?

Answer 18

Independent: when a person is autonomous which is a culturally grounded idea in europe. Good behaviour is seen as acting autonomously, feeling in control and determining your own outcomes.
Interdependent: being connected, flexible, committed, defined by relationships. Good behaviour is maintaining relationships, accommodating needs of others

Question 19

What else can cause differences in agency?

Answer 19

Contexts divided by social class and race, or that vary in resources. Having access to resources fosters independent agency. Working class contexts involve less resources which promotes interdependent agency. Different roots compared to Asian interdependence but shared emphasis on regulation by others.

Question 20

What happened when universities were framed as independent compared to interdependent?

Answer 20

When represented as interdependent, academic tasks were seen as less difficult, students were less stressed and performance improved

Question 21

What was found with models of agency when studying Hurricane Katrina?

Answer 21

Those who left the storm described actions in terms of preferences, choices and personal control. Those who stayed lacked the resources to evacuate, described actions in connecting with others, staying strong, caring for others etc. Observers and first responders described the stayers as without motivation. Those with more power or status have a more independent mindset, while those with less power experience themselves as interdependent

Question 22

Theoretical implications?

Answer 22

Self-regulation is well-measured, while other regulation is less well assessed. Tightness and looseness can be powerful in predicting and explaining cultural variation

Question 23

Hofstede’s value typology

Answer 23

Consists of individualism/collectivisim is how individuals define themselves and their relationships with others, in the groups or collectives to which they belong. Power distance is the levels of hierarchy in the society, existence of unequal distribution of power and acceptance of power differences. Uncertainty avoidance is the comfort level felt with uncertainty and ambiguity. Masculinity and femininity is the extent to which a society minimizes gender role differences. Future orientation is the extent to which members of the society are engage in future-oriented behaviours like planning and delayed immediate gratification.

Question 24

What are the 3 bipolar factors/dimensions?

Answer 24

• embeddedness is the cultural emphasis on maintenance of status quo, propriety and restraint of actions or inclinations that might disrupt group solidarity or order. Autonomy is being viewed as autonomous, meaning in uniqueness
• hierarchy is responsible behaviour to preserve social fabric, egalitarianism is transcending self interests to promote welfare of others
• mastery is emphasis on getting ahead through self-assertion, harmony is fitting into social environment

Question 25

How do cultural values impact behaviour?

Answer 25

People across cultures differ in their dominant facet of the self. Independent self is self-contained, autonomous, regulates behaviour by reference to own thoughts, feelings actions. Interdependent self is defined in being part of reference groups, so behaviour fits in with others' expectations

Question 26

Self-enhancement

Answer 26

Refers to a person's desire to maintain a positive self-view so seek out positive info about themselves. This differs across cultures. Modesty constrains people in Eastern cultures, making positive self-regard more implicit. Self-serving bias dominates individualistic cultures, less likely to show self-protection in response to negative feedback in Eastern cultures

Question 27

Self-efficacy

Answer 27

Judgement of capability to accomplish a certain level of performance. Efficacy perceptions are associated more with a group with collectivistic values, results in collective efficacy. Beliefs are also influenced by personal and group feedback. In high power distance cultures, low status members follow expectations set by high-status members. Self-efficacy more relevant in the West

Question 28

Achievement motivation

Answer 28

Striving for success, work hard, willing to face uncertainty and provide novel and creative solutions to problems. Stronger in individualistic cultures, while collectivists believe that consequences occur as a result of collective effort, should be related to success of the collective

Question 29

Self-consistency

Answer 29

Need for coherent view to operate effectively in environment-> continuity to link old events to maintain coherent views. More central for cultures with high uncertainty avoidance, less central in cultures where members value mastery

Question 30

Self-concordance

Answer 30

Maintaining consistency between self-awareness and personal goals

Question 31

Face

Answer 31

Respectability that a person claims for themselves from others based on the relative position occupied in the social network and how they function in this position. It conveys Lian- concern with moral character and Mianzi- concern with status. It is a strong motivational force in collectivistic societies

Question 32

How does goal orientation differ across cultures?

Answer 32

- individualistic: challenging goals that enhance individual sense of accomplishment, specific and difficult over moderate, regulation through promotion focus, personal dispositions towards the pursuit of goals - collectivistic: moderate goals (reduces risk of failure), regulate through prevention focus, learning is more complex (cognition, morality, behaviour + affect)

Question 33

Morality consistent with Confucian tradition?

Answer 33

means perfecting oneself in all dimensions and reaching high levels of achievement

Question 34

How does the need for uniqueness differ?

Answer 34

Intrinsic motivation was associated with the subjective wellbeing of Americans but not for Asian Americans, were more motivated when they chose the task themselves rather than an authority figure (more important for Asian Americans). Variety seeking is highly valued in the west while conformity is highly valued in the east. Differences found in personal initiative between the east and west

Question 35

Motivation

Answer 35

a function of the interaction between a person’s motivational dispositions and the situational factors that serve as motivators or inhibitors

Question 36

How can motivational factors be evaluated?

Answer 36

Cultural values serve as a criteria for evaluating the meaning of various factors in the workplace. Positive: situational factors are seen as opportunities to satisfy self-worth and wellbeing. Negative: factors are interpreted as causing dissatisfaction and minimizing self-worth and well-being

Question 37

How does goal-setting and feedback differ?

Answer 37

1. self-set goals more important in US, socially oriented in India 2. power distance as there was a positive effect of participation in goal-setting for those with low power distance, goal type had no effect for those with high power distance values 3. goal specificity is moderated by cultural values as high context cultures-> more attention to situational cues 4. feedback is more explicit in West, more implicit in East (due to face saving)

Question 38

What cultural dimensions influence feedback?

Answer 38

- holistic orientation (more feedback seeking) - tolerance for ambiguity (more feedback seeking) - individualism vs collectivism - power distance + status identity - top-down feedback in high status vs multiple sources of feedback in low status

Question 39

Reward allocation rules

Answer 39

the equity rule (reward for one’s contribution), the equality rule (equal allocation of rewards), and the need rule (according to one’s needs)

Question 40

Pay for performance

Answer 40

Congruent with low-power distance culture, but inconsistent with collectivism and high power difference (violates group harmony). In collectivistic cultures, managers may reward relationships rather than performance, and team based rewards led to better performance than individual rewards. But, promotions are the preferred type of reward in America, while good pay is preferred in Chile

Question 41

How does a preference for certain rewards reflect economic conditions?

Answer 41

Poor economy increases the value of monetary rewards for those with a low standard of living. GDP is positively related to individualism. Work is seen as a higher value independent of the extent of development in the country. High power distance culture = higher CEO pay, ratio of pay to total compensation-> strength of power structure in a society

Question 42

How do job characteristics compare across cultures?

Answer 42

- similarity across countries was higher than across occupations - meaning is similar, but motivational forces vary - cultural values of power distance and collectivism moderated the effect of intrinsic + extrinsic motivation on work satisfaction - extrinsic job characteristics were positively related to work satisfaction across all - autonomy is linked to level of work stress - skill vs rule based (Nordic vs US) - empowerment is a strong motivator in the West (but less in high power distance cultures) - excessive job demands affect stress and anxiety in all cultures (job satisfaction = high demands + high control) - Americans prefer longer working hours while Swedish prefer less

Question 43

How does team context differ across cultures?

Answer 43

- perceive teams in different ways through different metaphors (relational vs instrumental terms) - more group belongingness, interdependence -> less social loafing, sucker effect - self-enhancement for individualists for personal success rather than groups - collectivists: viewed team positively despite negative feedback, while individualists negatively evaluated their team after negative feedback - cross-functional teams challenge the need for team goal congruity + harmonious relationships - collective efficacy significantly related to team performance for high interdependent teams -> culture moderated this relationship - group efficacy shaped by power distance

Question 44

How can cultural research influence multinational companies?

Answer 44

- managers across cultures agreed on the roles of strategic planning, innovation and change but differed in consideration + task initiation -cultural values like power distance, uncertainty avoidance can limit change - using high-authority figures can help adoption of new programmes - bottom-up process of adaptation, as local workforce should adapt to global environment + context is top down - balance between integration and local responsiveness

Question 45

How did Chinese employees adapt to market reform?

Answer 45

Chinese who are mostly vertical collectivists favoured differential rewards as they favoured differentiation. Horizontal collectivists were opposed to it

Question 46

How does work satisfaction differ across cultures?

Answer 46

- level of satisfaction when evaluating themselves relative to goals, integrating feedback, evaluating meaning of rewards + job -similarities decrease with more cultural distance - Western + developed cultures have more work satisfaction, more strongly related to life satisfaction, positive self-concept is key (but this varies, like warm groups linked to low satisfaction in west) - work satisfaction linked to job level in west - extrinsic job characteristics positively related across cultures, while intrinsic more related in rich countries - culture moderates impact of job satisfaction on withdrawal, as individualistic ppl more likely to quit when not satisfaction

Question 47

Self-reference

Answer 47

Self-referenced individuals, who focus on their own performance, to demonstrate mastery and improvement; they are reinforced by opportunities to engage in learning activities, no matter how comparable competitors are doing. Other-referenced people, who focus primarily on the performance of others, want to demonstrate superior capacity; reinforced by competitive goal attainment, no matter how they themselves were or are doing in an absolute sense. Positive self-reference motivation link and negative other-reference motivation more pronounced in high income levels

Question 48

Main issue of this research?

Answer 48

Overlooks the effect of globalization on changing work context to becoming highly complex and culturally diverse, more boundaryless organizations. Focus should shift to cross-cultural interfaces. Effects of task complexity should be explained further, bottom-up effects can explain team motivational behaviours