Social Relations at the Collective Level: The Meaning and Measurement of Collective Control in Research on the Psychosocial Work Environment

In this article, we suggest that organizational-level social relations should be defined and measured as workplace norms. We base this argument on new research on the components of the psychosocial work environment and on the availability of new techniques for measuring and analyzing workplace norms as organizational properties. Workplace norms emerge from interactions and negotiations among organizational actors, through which patterns of behavior, attitudes, and perspectives become defined as legitimate. This is an underestimated dimension of the psychosocial work environment that should be assessed with two types of data: self-reports by employees of their experiences in the workplace (task-level control) and self-reports by employees and employers of collective or group-level norms. Hierarchical linear modeling is an especially useful tool for analyzing the relationships between workplace norms and different organizational outcomes because it allows researchers to separate the effects of individual-level variables from group or organizational-level factors. Our approach is anchored in the Nordic perspective of the work environment developed over the past 50 years.

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Measurement of the Psychosocial Work Environment in Spanish: Validation of the Psychosocial Factors Questionnaire 75 (PSF-Q75) to Capture Demands and Resources at Different Levels of Analysis

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.580196 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Hector P. Madrid ◽

Cristian A. Vasquez ◽

Malcolm Patterson

Keyword(s):

Work Environment ◽

Psychosocial Factors ◽

Work Conditions ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

Organizational Level ◽

Levels Of Analysis ◽

Psychosocial Work ◽

Spanish Validation ◽

Development And Validation ◽

Different Levels

The psychological work environment is composed of both stressful and motivational work conditions at different levels of analysis. However, most relevant theory and research lack an integrative conceptualization and appropriate instrumentation to account for this work context structure. These limitations are particularly present in non-mainstream populations, such as the Spanish community of researchers and practitioners. In this study, based on the job demands–resources model, we present an updated conceptualization in which stressful and motivational psychosocial factors are integrated and defined at the job, the group, and the organizational level of analysis into a single conceptualization. Furthermore, derived from this conceptualization, we present a study of the development and validation of a questionnaire to account for the psychosocial work environment in Spanish, labeled Psychosocial Factors Questionnaire 75 (PSF-Q75), which provides measures for 23 different psychosocial factors. The results of this study supported the questionnaire’s construct, convergent, divergent, and predictive validity, together with its reliability. Thus, this conceptualization and questionnaire provides researchers and partitioners with a more comprehensive approach to the assessment of the psychosocial work environment and promises benefits for interventions in the workplace.

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Research on the Innovation Method of HRM Based on Information Technology

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.687-691.4485 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 687-691 ◽

pp. 4485-4488

Author(s):

Man Jing Zhang

Keyword(s):

Firm Performance ◽

Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽

Psychological Contract ◽

High Performance ◽

Affective Commitment ◽

Organizational Level ◽

Linear Modeling ◽

Individual Level ◽

Relational Contract ◽

The Individual

As an organization s strategy to manage the employment relationship, high-performance work system (HPWS) may lead to superior firm performance and favorable employee outcomes through cultivating the relational aspects of employee’s psychological contract. In this study, we investigated the processes (mediation and moderation) linking HPWS and outcomes at both the organizational and individual levels. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis on a sample of 1129 employees from 92 firms in the Pearl River Delta of China indicated that HPWS was associated with increased firm performance and decreased turnover rate at the organizational level, and relational contract fully mediated the cross-level relationships between HPWS and employees affective commitment and in-role performance at the individual level. In addition, perceived supervisor support moderated the HPWS and relational contract relationship. We discuss theoretical and practical implications to end of this paper.

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Factors Contributing to Korean Employees’ Job Satisfaction: A Multilevel Study

Journal of Career Development ◽

10.1177/0894845319880611 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 089484531988061

Author(s):

Jhong Yun (Joy) Kim ◽

Andrew Keane

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽

Psychological Factors ◽

Organizational Level ◽

Contributing Factors ◽

Linear Modeling ◽

Individual Level ◽

Organization Level ◽

Korean Ministry ◽

The Individual

In this study, we examined the contributing factors to the job satisfaction of employees in Korean organizations. We utilized hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), in conjunction with data collected from the Seventh Human Capital Corporate Panel survey conducted by the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor, to investigate antecedents of job satisfaction at the individual and organizational levels and across these levels. At the individual level, variables were divided into demographic and psychological factors. At the organizational level, variables were divided into administration factors and factors related to human resources. Results suggest that 86% of job satisfaction can be attributed to individual-level variables and 14% is due to organization-level variables. The individual-level psychological factors explain around 46% of the variance in job satisfaction, whereas demographic factors explain only 4% at the individual level. Organizational-level factors account for almost 35% of the variance related to job satisfaction between companies.

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Expanding the Domain of the Psychosocial Work Environment: Work Place Norms and Work-Family Conflict as Correlates of Stress and Subjective Health Symptoms

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e336032004-001 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Tove H. Hammer ◽

Per Oystein Saksvik ◽

Kjell Nytro ◽

Hans Torvatn ◽

Mahmut Bayazit

Keyword(s):

Work Environment ◽

Family Conflict ◽

Subjective Health ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

Work Place ◽

Psychosocial Work ◽

Work Family Conflict ◽

Health Symptoms ◽

Work Family

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Being bullied at work--Psychosocial work environment, organisation's economic situation, and individual situation of the target

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e577572014-018 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Maarit A.-L. Vartia ◽

Maria Hirvonen

Keyword(s):

Work Environment ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

Economic Situation ◽

Psychosocial Work ◽

Being Bullied

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Impact of relatedness, uncertainty and slack on corporate entrepreneurship decisions

Management Decision ◽

10.1108/md-10-2019-1392 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Robert Garrett ◽

Shaunn Mattingly ◽

Jeff Hornsby ◽

Alireza Aghaey

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽

Cognitive Strategies ◽

Corporate Entrepreneurship ◽

New Venture ◽

Organizational Level ◽

Linear Modeling ◽

Slack Resources ◽

Content Type ◽

Positive Effect

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of opportunity relatedness and uncertainty on the decision of a corporate entrepreneur to pursue a venturing opportunity.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a conjoint experimental design to reveal the structure of respondents' decision policies. Data were gathered from 47 useable replies from corporate entrepreneurs and were analyzed with hierarchical linear modeling (HLM).FindingsResults show that product relatedness, market relatedness, perceived certainty about expected outcomes and slack resources all have a positive effect on the willingness of a corporate entrepreneur to pursue a new venture idea. Moreover, slack was found to diminish the positive effect of product relatedness on the likelihood to pursue a venturing opportunity.Practical implicationsBy providing a better understanding of decision-making schemas of corporate entrepreneurs, the findings of this study help improve the practice of entrepreneurship at the organizational level. In order to make more accurate opportunity assessments, corporate entrepreneurs need to be aware of their cognitive strategies and need to factor in the salient criteria affecting such assessments.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the limited understanding of corporate-level decision-making with regard to pursuing venturing opportunities. More specifically, the paper adds new insights regarding how relatedness and uncertainty affect new venture opportunity assessments in the presence (or lack thereof) of slack resources.

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Does Postsecondary Education Attainment Matter in Community Service Engagement? Evidence from Across 18 OECD Countries

Education Sciences ◽

10.3390/educsci11030096 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 96

Author(s):

Hee Jung Gong ◽

Jung Eun Hong

Keyword(s):

Postsecondary Education ◽

Community Service ◽

Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽

Tertiary Education ◽

Oecd Countries ◽

Least Square ◽

Linear Modeling ◽

Individual Level ◽

Service Engagement ◽

The World

This study is concerned with the central issues of community service engagement (CSE) in 21st century democratic societies around the world. To examine the factors influencing postsecondary education attainment’s relationship to CSE, this study utilized data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries using ordinary least square (OLS) and two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) methods, including various factors for each country’s individual and country levels. The results show that attainment in postsecondary education at the individual level and investment and enrollments in tertiary education both have an influence on increasing CSE in 18 OECD countries. The present study is expected to contribute to an understanding of the relationship between postsecondary education and CSE across the world.

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The Psychosocial Work Environment and Perceived Stress among Seniors with Physically Demanding Jobs: The SeniorWorkingLife Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18147437 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (14) ◽

pp. 7437

Author(s):

Jonas Vinstrup ◽

Annette Meng ◽

Emil Sundstrup ◽

Lars L. Andersen

Keyword(s):

Work Environment ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

High Stress ◽

Organizational Factors ◽

Work Conditions ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

Psychosocial Work ◽

Decision Latitude ◽

Collegial Support ◽

Increased Risk

Background: Poor psychosocial work conditions are known to foster negative health consequences. While the existing literature on this topic focus mainly on white-collar workers, the influence of different aspects of the psychosocial work environment in physically demanding jobs remain understudied. Likewise, senior workers represent a population of the workforce at increased risk of adverse health outcomes and premature exit from the labour market. This study investigates the association between psychosocial work factors and perceived stress among the senior work force. Methods: Utilizing cross-sectional findings, this study reports associations between psychosocial factors (organizational justice, cooperation and collegial support, decision latitude, clarity of tasks, and quality of leadership) and the outcome of perceived stress quantified by Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS). Currently employed senior workers with physically demanding jobs were included in the analyses (n = 3386). Associations were modeled using general linear models with weights to make the estimates representative. Results: For all individually adjusted psychosocial variables, the category of “good” was consistently associated with lower stress scores compared to the categories of both “moderate” and “poor” (all p < 0.0001). Likewise, in the mutually adjusted analysis, the category of “good” was statistically different from “poor” for all included variables, while the category of “moderate” remained different from “poor” for “clarity of tasks”, “cooperation and collegial support”, and “decision latitude”. Conclusions: Among senior workers with physically demanding jobs, poor ratings of organizational factors related to the psychosocial work environment are consistently associated with high stress scores. Blue-collar occupations focusing primarily on physical risk factors are recommended to increase awareness on psychosocial aspects that may be relevant to the local work environment.

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