Estimating the 'appropriate' age for retirement as a function of perceived occupational characteristics

The 'appropriate' age for retirement as perceived by 120 young, 120 middle-aged, and 120 elderly adults was investigated. No participants displayed any difficulties in expressing an opinion about the minimum and maximum 'appropriate' ages for retirement for various different occupations. Participants' representations of the 'appropriate' retirement age varied primarily as a function of the perceived physical constraints involved in the occupation but also depended on their age (the younger the respondent, the lower the perceived 'appropriate' minimum retirement age). There was no tendency among the young adults to wish to prolong the work life of older individuals. There was no tendency in any of the three age groups to associate age of retirement with perceived cognitive or social and organizational characteristics of work: only the perceived physical demands of work predicted age at retirement.     

Discrepancies between chronological age and personal age as a reflection of unrelieved worker stress

Abstract

The general proposition that stress-related variables will be associated with discrepancies between chronological age and perceived personal age of working adults was examined. Responses from a field survey of day, afternoon, and night fixed-shift workers in a large manufacturing organization (n = 1674) were used to explore the relationships between a variety of reported stress-related variables and personal age constructs. Discrepancies between perceived personal age and chronological age were reported by a large proportion of the workers surveyed. Three categories of stress-related variables each accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in discrepancies. As hypothesized, the reported presence of stressors and the frequency/extent of strains (stress-related outcomes) were positively correlated with feeling older than one's chronological age. In addition, the reported presence of support mechanisms for coping with stressors was negatively correlated with feeling older than one's chronological age. The manner in which work and non-work stress may impinge upon personal age perceptions is discussed, and appropriate avenues for future research in this domain are considered.     

Associations between stress at work and attitudes towards retirement in hospital physicians

Abstract

There is a need to understand the associations between attitudes towards retirement in specific occupations and various psychosocial and work-related factors. This study identified correlates of retirement thoughts and retirement preference in hospital physicians. The sample comprised 447 (251 male and 196 female) physicians from three hospital districts in Finland. After adjustment for gender, age and salary, minor psychiatric morbidity increased likelihood of retirement thoughts and retirement preference. Retirement thoughts and retirement preference were more common in doctors reporting low job control, poor teamwork and unjust supervision than in doctors perceiving their working conditions more favorably. Work preference was associated with high overwork. The associations of work characteristics with retirement thoughts and retirement preference largely persisted after control for indicators of health and social circumstances. In conclusion, in addition to demographic and financial factors and health, retirement attitudes in hospital physicians seem to be related to organizational and managerial factors that are potentially amendable to intervention. This has implications for retaining hospital physicians who might otherwise retire.     

The relationship between perceived employability and subsequent health

Abstract

Being capable of getting new employment may enable an employee to cope with turbulent situations or deteriorating job conditions. Individuals who have higher perceived employability are likely to appraise a situation at work more favourably, and consequently experience better health and well-being. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between perceived employability and subsequent health, while controlling for baseline health, background factors, and work environment exposures. The study is based on 53 items in the National Working Life Cohort in Sweden from two data collections (2004 and 2005), comprising 1918 individuals. Forced entry hierarchical regression analysis showed that, after controlling for demographics, psychological demands, control, and ergonomic exposures, perceived employability was positively associated with global health and mental well-being, but unrelated to physical complaints. When baseline health status was added, perceived employability was still a significant predictor of two out of three outcome variables. Individuals with higher perceived employability had a tendency to report better health and well-being a year later. It is concluded that how an employee perceives his or her possibilities in regard to acquiring new employment is relevant for well-being at a later stage. Perceived employability, which has been little studied before, is therefore a useful concept in health promotion, both at the individual and at the organizational level.     

Job insecurity,coping resources and personality dispositions in occupational strain

This paper presents research on the relationships between the work-related stressor of perceived job insecurity and various indicators of occupational strain, taking into account employees' personality dispositions (trait negative and positive affectivity) and coping resources. Respondents were 222 Australian public servants surveyed during organizational restructuring that involved downsizing and threat to job certainty. The research was formulated within an adaptation of Osipow, Doty, and Spokane's (1985) framework of stress-strain-coping that included the possible direct as well as moderating effects of personality dispositions in reporting occupational strain (Parkes, 1990). Findings from hierarchical regression analyses indicate consistent significant independent effects of personality dispositions, coping resources and perceived job insecurity on various indicators of strain. There was also support for the moderating roles of negative affectivity and self-care in the relation between perceived job insecurity and physical strain. Implications for the role of dispositional factors, especially negative affectivity, and the utility of various coping resources in accounting for occupational strain in times of threatened job security are discussed.     

Perceived risk and behavioural feedback: Strategies for reducing accidents and increasing efficiency

Abstract

There is overwhelming evidence that people will adapt to an increase in perceived risk by taking more care, and to a reduction in perceived risk by taking less care (behavioural feedback). This can reduce the effects of some safety measures and even, in some cases, produce the opposite effect to that which was intended or expected. Any safety programme should take account of this by seeking to minimize any change in perceived risk while maximizing the change in objective risk. It is, for example, probably counterproductive to ‘oversell’ the potential benefits of any safety measure.     

Perception and control of occupational injury risks in fishery--a pilot study

The frequency of occupational accidents in fishery is high in most fishery nations. Implementation of safety measures has, however, been limited. The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to explore Swedish fishermen's attitudes towards occupational risks and accident control. Information was acquired through a questionnaire distributed to a convenience sample of 92 fishermen. Indices were built, containing variables relevant to perceived risk levels in connection with work, perceived manageability of risks, activity in safety work, technical knowledge and individual attitudes towards risks. The results did not support earlier findings of low risk awareness and risk acceptance among fishermen. Perceived manageability of risks but not perceived risk level, accident experience or risk acceptance, were significantly associated with activity in safety work. The results suggest that safety work might benefit from efforts to develop fishermen's understanding of how the development of hazardous situations can be prevented or managed. The results do not support strategies for accident control in fishery based solely on increasing risk awareness.     

Perceived physical work capacity,stress, sleep disturbance and occupational accidents among firefighters working during a strike

Fire-fighting and rescue work are arranged in such a way that various kinds of accidents and catastrophes can be handled. In an understaffed situation, such as a strike, this goal may not be met. The objective of this study was to investigate factors associated with perceived physical work capacity, stress, sleep disturbance, and occupational accidents among firefighters who remained at work during an extended strike. A cross-sectional questionnaire study was carried out among 543 firefighters (83% of the target group) in 71 fire brigades in Finland. After the strike had lasted for 9 to 11 weeks, most of the firefighters perceived their physical work capacity to be rather good or very good. Stress increased along with a decreasing number of personnel in a crew (OR= 2.3, CI= 1.0-5.3, for less than 75% of a normal crew vs. normal crew) and with decreasing number of personnel in a shift (OR= 2.4, CI= 1.1-5.4, for less than 25% of normal shift vs. normal shift). Sleep disturbance was reported to occur as soon as the total working time exceeded 50 h/week. Working more than 70 h/week increased the risk of occupational accidents almost 4-fold compared with working no more than 50 h/week. These results suggest that exceptional situations, such as a strike, are a challenge to human capacity. With time, increased stress and sleep disturbance may lead to serious consequences.     

After-effects of working at visual display units

Abstract

Two experiments were carried out to examine the acute and chronic after-effects of working with VDUs on subsequent subjective mood and performance efficiency. Both showed that working at a VDU has a negative after-effect on the user's subjective well-being but only if that person has a high level of cognitive failure. There was no evidence of any such effect on measures of performance efficiency.     

Editorial statement: Stress and work compensation

Shift work has been reported to predict health problems, and a possible explanation is that shift work may lead to poorer health habits, thereby increasing a person's vulnerability to illness. This study examined the association between shift work and health habits, as indicated by smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity and by being overweight. A questionnaire was sent to all 2795 female nurses working in the 10 hospitals of two Finnish health care districts. From the 2299 respondents, we selected those 506 shift workers who reported having always done shift work and those 183 day workers who had never done shift work. Shift workers were found to smoke more and to be overweight more often than day workers. These differences gradually increased in each successive age group, being 1.94 pack-years in smoking and 0.9 kg m^-2 in body mass index among nurses over 45 years of age. Shift work was not associated with alcohol intake or sedentary lifestyle. This evidence is compatible with the possibility that shift work in nurses increases smoking and being overweight to a degree that contributes to health problems, including coronary heart disease.     

The influence of psychological stressors on myoelectrical signal activity in the shoulder region during a data entry task

Psychological stress is suspected to play a key role in the development of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), and work pace may be a primary contributor. The purpose of this study was to observe how psychological stress affects muscle activity recorded from key muscles used to support the shoulder (the trapezius and levator scapulae muscles) during keying tasks. We hypothesized that muscle activity [amplitude of the myoelectric signal (MES)] would increase and the number of periodic rests in muscle activity ('EMG gaps') would decrease when computer work was performed at an increased pace, and with distractions in the environment. Ten healthy volunteers performed three typing tasks (N = no stress; I = stress induced by a work pace reward; IS = stress induced by a work pace reward plus irritation/distraction). Both muscles showed significant increases ( p < .05) in MES amplitude when comparing IS to the N and I conditions, whereas N and I were not different. There was significant reduction in the number of gaps observed during the I and IS conditions (essentially no gaps were observed) as compared to the N condition. Interestingly, MES amplitude measures were capable of preferentially detecting changes in activation due to the distraction stress, whereas the number of EMG gaps preferentially detected the stress of the increase in work pace. The effect of these stressors on heart rate and productivity are also discussed.     

The validity of the occupational stress indicator

During the last two decades two potent groups of predictors for work-related musculoskeletal problems have been identified: physical work load and poor psychosocial working conditions. However, little is known about their combined effects. In this study the buffering effect of control at work with respect to the negative effects of psychological demands and physical work load on musculoskeletal problems is examined. All study variables were sampled from 431 people working in geriatric nursing homes in Germany by means of questionnaires. Main effects and interactions were tested with multiple regression analysis. The results showed that control buffered the effects of high psychological demands, but not of high physical work load; the buffering effect of control was observed only when physical work load was low. The combined effects of demands and physical work load were over-additive. Thus, the power of different predictors for musculoskeletal symptoms depended on the level of other predictors. This suggests that the efficiency of certain strategies for the prevention of musculoskeletal problems is likely to depend on the level of risk factors, with different strategies being appropriate for different levels of risk.     

Sleep and napping in young shiftworkers: A 5-year follow-up

Abstract

The present study examined sleep characteristics in young workers who entered rapidly rotating shiftwork for the first time and stayed on shifts for 5 years. Data were collected when the subjects had shiftwork experience of approximately 1.5, 3.5 and 5.5 years and a mean age of 22, 24 and 26 years. Data are presented showing significant differences in the main sleep durations between situations within the shift cycle and a small reduction in overall sleep over the observed period, primarily due to a sleep reduction on afternoon shift days. Data on sleep quality did not show any change over this early period of shiftwork exposure. In addition, napping strategies did not change, with the exception of a small increase in those taking naps on night-shift days between 1.5 years and 3.5 years of shiftwork exposure. At all the observed phases there were more young shiftworkers taking a nap on the morning shift days than on the night-shift days. The data suggested that reduced sleeps on morning and night-shift days were not compensated by taking a nap, but rather with an increase in main sleep duration on afternoon shift days and days off. A weak tendency for individuals to be relatively long or short sleepers irrespective of sleep conditions could be seen.     

Nurses' representations of the perceived causes of work-related stress: A network drawing approach

This paper reports a study, involving a network drawing approach, that examined how nurses perceive the interrelationship between causes of workplace stress. Network analysis originated in sociology as a method of examining the relationship between people, objects or events. It has recently been adapted to examine participants' perceptions of the relationships between causes of a phenomenon, either by asking participants to complete a grid rating the strength of all the possible links between causes or by getting them to draw a diagram of the links that they think are important. The network drawing technique, in which participants are asked to draw a diagram indicating perceived causal links between nominated causes of stress and also to indicate the strength of these links, was employed in this study. The causes of stress were taken from a previous study in which nurses kept a diary for one week detailing stressful events and their causes. There were 48 participants in the present study and the main results confirmed the importance of staffing levels and inadequate support as perceived direct causes of stress. The study also revealed the importance of indirect links between staffing levels and other causes of stress. The networks illustrate how direct and mediating causes of stress are connected and lie largely outside nurses' control. The results are discussed in relation to other recent work on the causes and experience of stress by nursing staff.     

Effort-reward imbalance,overcommitment and sleep in a working population

The relationship between workplace characteristics and nocturnal sleep in a working population was investigated. Data from 709 employees (mean age=39 years; 87% men) from two German companies were analysed at the entry of the longitudinal cohort study (overall accrual 73%). We investigated the association between the effort-reward imbalance model at work (Siegrist, ) and self-reported sleep quality and sleep disturbances, as assessed by the Jenkins Sleep Quality Index. Effort and overcommitment were found to be higher, and reward was lower in participants with lower (N=328) vs. higher sleep quality (N=381), as well as in participants with (N=217) vs. without (N=492) disturbed sleep (all ps<.001). In regression analyses, lower sleep quality (R ²=.33) and sleep disturbances (R ² _Nagelkerke=.33) were predicted by older age, female gender (only significant for sleep disturbances), shift-work, lower physical and mental health functioning, and higher overcommitment. Individuals were 1.7 times more likely to report disturbed sleep per standard deviation increase in overcommitment. Gender-stratified analyses revealed that higher overcommitment was associated with unfavourable sleep in men, while in women poor sleep was related to lower reward. The findings suggest that overcommitment at work interferes with restful sleep in men, while in women disturbed sleep may be associated with the amount of overcommitment and perceived job reward and sleep quality associated with the perceived reward.     

Relations between environmental problems,psychology and health among shift-workers in the Norwegian process industry

Abstract

A group of 89 male shift-workers, mean age 38 years, was examined for health complaints, subjective experience of their work environment, psychological defence strategies, and immunological factors. They worked in a process industry, controlling a complex chemical process partly by instruments and partly by direct checking of mechanical devices such as valves. Shifts were eight hours long and changed every second week.

The main problem areas identified were problems with the management, colleagues and superiors, feelings of being under-valued, time pressure, fear of making mistakes, and lack of influence and communication. The main health complaints were sleep disturbance and gastro-intestinal problems. Shift workers also complained about allergies, breathing difficulties, tension, anxiety and depression. There were no pathological levels of plasma immunoglobulins (Ig) or Ig complements. However, levels did correlate with experience of work-related problems and with measures of defence mechanisms. Up to 25% of the variance in die immunological indicators was explained by a combination of defence mechanism scores and those of perceived health and work problems. This suggests that immunoglobulins may be an indicator of work-related health risks (‘stress’), even if the level of explained variance is too low to use immunoglobulins alone as a ‘marker’. The same variables, and immunoglobulins, also related significantly to perceived health. This may be a particularly important indicator, and when combined with immunology and psychological variables, also as a risk factor for organic disease.     

Risk Perception and Human Health Risk in Rural Communities Consuming Unregulated Well Water in Saskatchewan,Canada

Rural communities dependent on unregulated drinking water are potentially at increased health risk from exposure to contaminants. Perception of drinking water safety influences water consumption, exposure, and health risk. A community‐based participatory approach and probabilistic Bayesian methods were applied to integrate risk perception in a holistic human health risk assessment. Tap water arsenic concentrations and risk perception data were collected from two Saskatchewan communities. Drinking water health standards were exceeded in 67% (51/76) of households in Rural Municipality #184 (RM184) and 56% (25/45) in Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation (BOFN). There was no association between the presence of a health exceedance and risk perception. Households in RM184 or with an annual income >$50,000 were most likely to have in‐house water treatment. The probability of consuming tap water perceived as safe (92%) or not safe (0%) suggested that households in RM184 were unlikely to drink water perceived as not safe. The probability of drinking tap water perceived as safe (77%) or as not safe (11%) suggested households in BOFN contradicted their perception and consumed water perceived as unsafe. Integration of risk perception lowered the adult incremental lifetime cancer risk by 3% to 1.3 × 10^?5 (95% CI 8.4 × 10^?8 to 9.0 × 10^?5) for RM184 and by 8.9 × 10^?6 (95% CI 2.2 × 10^?7 to 5.9 × 10^?5) for BOFN. Probability of exposure to arsenic concentrations >1:100,000, negligible cancer risk, was 23% for RM184 and 22% for BOFN.     

DISTANCE TO RETIREMENT AND OLDER WORKERS‘ EMPLOYMENT: THE CASE FOR DELAYING THE RETIREMENT AGE

This paper presents empirical evidence and a theoretical foundation in favor of the view that the retirement age decision affects older workers' employment prior to retirement. To the extent that there are search frictions on the labor market, the return on jobs is determined by their expected duration: The time to retirement is then key to understanding older workers' employment. Countries with a retirement age of 60 are indeed characterized by lower employment rates for workers aged 55–59. Based on the French Labor Force Survey, we show that the likelihood of employment is significantly affected by the distance to retirement, in addition to age and other relevant variables. We then extend McCall's job search model by explicitly integrating life‐cycle features with the retirement decision. Using simulations, we show that the distance effect in interaction with the generosity of unemployment benefits and the depressed demand for older workers explains the low rate of employment just before the eligibility age for the Social Security pension. Finally, we show that implementing actuarially fair schemes not only extends the retirement age, but also encourages a more intensive job search by older unemployed workers. (JEL: J22, J26, H55)