Collectivism, Cultural Identity and Employee Mental Health: A Study of New Zealand Māori

Māori are a collectivistic people living within a largely individualistic country. The present study tested whether Māori who practice higher levels of workplace collectivism feel greater alignment with their overall cultural beliefs, and report better mental health results because of their lower levels of anxiety and depression. Three hundred and thirty-six Māori employees were surveyed, and a regression analysis showed significant direct effects, with collectivism accounting for a sizable 20 % of the variance in both anxiety and depression. Two moderators relating to cultural knowledge and cultural language were also tested. Significant two-way interactions were found: high collectivism and high cultural knowledge led to low depression, and high cultural knowledge and high cultural language skills led to low depression and anxiety. A three-way interaction was found between anxiety, collectivism and cultural knowledge and/or language: low anxiety was reported by respondents with high collectivism and either high cultural knowledge or cultural language. Overall, the study highlights the importance of collectivism and cultural identity for Māori employees’ mental health.     

The Cultural Orientations of Entrepreneurs and Employees’ Job Satisfaction: The Turkish Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Case

The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether cultural orientations which were pervasive and salient in the society of SMEs’ entrepreneurs predict employees’ job satisfaction. Paternalism, collectivism, individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance were assessed as pervasive and salient attributes for Turkish society. Data were gathered from 217 male SMEs entrepreneurs and 1140 employees. The cultural orientations scales together with some questions related to the firms and demographics, and job diagnostic index (JDI) with demographical questions were applied to entrepreneurs and employees, respectively. The findings of this study revealed that paternalism, collectivism and power distance predicted employee job satisfaction significantly. It was argued that the congruency between entrepreneurs’ cultural orientations and employees’ cultural background and expectations, which was shaped by the organizational socialization process, might lead these results.     

Cognitive Cultural Intelligence and Life Satisfaction of Migrant Workers: The Roles of Career Engagement and Social Injustice

This paper examines the mediating effect of career engagement on the relationship between cognitive cultural intelligence (CQ) and life satisfaction among international migrant workers in Australia. It also examines the moderating effect of perceived social injustice on the cognitive CQ–career engagement relationship, as well as on the indirect cognitive CQ–life satisfaction relationship via career engagement. Using survey data from four hundred and sixty-two migrant workers in Australia, it was found that cognitive CQ was positively related to life satisfaction and that career engagement mediated this relationship. Social injustice moderated the impact of cognitive CQ on career engagement such that the impact was stronger among those perceiving a higher rather than a lower level of social injustice. Furthermore, the indirect effect of cognitive CQ on life satisfaction via career engagement was also stronger for those perceiving higher social injustice. These findings provide new insights regarding the antecedents of life satisfaction as well as reveal a vocationally relevant mechanism underlying the relationship between cognitive CQ and life satisfaction. The results inform potential practical strategies to enhance the career progression and life satisfaction of international migrant workers.     

Erratum to: The Development Hypothesis of Women Empowerment in the Millennium Development Goals Tested in the Context of Women’s Access to Land in Africa

A number of empirical studies have shown a positive influence of employment stability on job satisfaction. Employment stability, usually measured by the type of contract an individual has, may affect one’s job satisfaction directly, as well as through its impact on other relative variables, such as job security, since a stable position seems to bring individuals a sense of security. The aim of our research is to investigate the relationships between job security, employment stability and job satisfaction of workers in Poland. In the study, we strive to show how these factors impact knowledge workers and other workers differently. In order to conduct analysis, we propose two logistic models, separate for these two groups, with job satisfaction as a dependent variable and type of contract and three items denoting different dimensions of job insecurity: an insecure source of income, too many duties to cope with and being treated unjustly at the workplace, as independent variables. The robustness of the models has been defended by the introduction of the time dimension. The results show that job insecurity is the most influential factor in the model of job satisfaction for all employees. However, this impact differs depending on the employment arrangements. Flexible workers are much more vulnerable to job insecurities in terms of job satisfaction. Another finding is that the job satisfaction of knowledge workers is more influenced by job security.     

The Effects of Employee Involvement and Participation on Subjective Wellbeing: Evidence from Urban China

This study examines how perceptions of the work context affect the job and career satisfaction of Chinese employees. Perceived organizational support (POS), procedural justice, and gender bias against women are considered as antecedents. Gender is expected to moderate the relationships between these antecedents and the outcome variables. The results of hierarchical regression analysis on data from 591 Chinese employees indicated that POS and procedural justice are positively related to employees’ job and career satisfaction. Additionally, gender acts as a moderator in the relationship between POS and job satisfaction, and between gender bias against women and career satisfaction.     

Aspekte der Gesundheitsförderung für LehrerInnen

For future actions in workplace health promotion programs for teachers in secondary school, specific (health-related) work strain and resources should be examined. By means of a mail survey (return rate 55%) indicators of work strain, work-related resources, work-related wellbeing (self efficacy and job satisfaction) and indicators of subjective health state (GHQ-12, somatic symptom list and two global ratings of the state of health) were collected. Results show, that compared to other populations significant poorer health ratings for teachers are observed. According to the main presumption, the individual state of health is explainable to a great extent by work strain, resources and work related wellbeing (explained variance between 13 and 29%). The results show however, that the association between the perceived strength of several dimensions of work strain and resources at the one hand and subjective health state on the other hand is limited. Usually, actions in workplace health promotion are based on an empirical investigation concerning the working conditions. Actions that only focus on dimensions of work strain (or lacking resources) which are most emphasised by the employees may risk mischief, as other — more outstanding health related — aspects are possibly neglected. Foregoing investigations prior to workplace health promotions should therefore put more emphasise on the association of work strain, resources and indicators of health.     

Occupational Stress, Mental Health and Satisfaction in the Canadian Multicultural Workplace

Workplaces are becoming increasingly multicultural and therefore, include a large variety of employees from more than one ethnicity, nationality, religious and/or cultural background. In the context of this new global economy, Canadian workplace structure and composition has also permanently changed. Consequently, the primary purpose of this project was to explore occupational stress, mental health and satisfaction (life, job, relationship) as experienced by immigrant individuals attempting to achieve integration into Canadian workplaces. In order to address this research aim, responses of Canadian born participants (N?=?42) were compared to those of non-Canadian born participants (N?=?42) with respect to a series of questionnaires addressing the variables of interest. Our results suggested that, with the exception of self-reported symptoms of somatization and paranoia, non-Canadian born workers in the fields of education, healthcare and/or social work report more similarities than differences when compared to the responses of Canadian born workers. In general, the findings of this study suggested positive outcomes for non-Canadian born professionals who immigrate into Canada under the economic category.     

Relationship Between Socio-Economic Values and Wellbeing: An Overview Research in Asia

This paper investigates ten Asian nations to consider how socio-economic values affect happiness and satisfaction. Moreover, it considers whether economic factors can strongly affect wellbeing under certain conditions. Males in Asia are said they have more opportunities to obtain higher happiness and satisfaction but it does not happen in the current study. Unemployment has negative and significant impact with regard to happiness and satisfaction in developing countries yet it does not have the same effect in developed nations. It is believed cultural value positively affects happiness and satisfaction in East Asia but the result in the models is different with no clear relationship between this variable and wellbeing. Furthermore, some people declare that a relative increase of income compared to the lowest group will lead them to lower life satisfaction.     

新生代农民工定居城市意愿影响因素分析

以西北四省936位新生代农民工的实地调查数据为依据,运用二元Logistic回归方法,对影响新生代农民工定居城市意愿的因素进行分析。结果显示,性别、受教育程度、工作单位性质、对居住条件的满意程度、对城市青年的态度和户籍制度对新生代农民工定居城市的意愿有显著影响,此外,婚姻状况、月储蓄、参加社会保险的情况和原住地经济水平也对新生代农民工迁移城市的意愿具有一定影响。     

Wellbeing Among Indonesian Labour Migrants to Malaysia: Implications of the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding

A spate of media attention has focused on the harsh conditions endured by Indonesian labour migrants in Malaysia. In June 2009, human rights abuses led to a ban by Indonesia on recruitment of Indonesians for domestic service in Malaysia. This ban was overturned on May 30th 2011, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two nations on migrant employment conditions. Against this backdrop, this paper reports on the findings of a survey administering the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) among a sample of Indonesian labour migrants. The aims of the study were: (a) to determine the degree to which Indonesian labour migrants to Malaysia are satisfied with their lives; (b) to contribute the first psychometric data for the PWI for this migrant group; (c) to compare results to existing studies for other labour migrants in Asia; (d) to examine whether the PWI responses fall within the narrow range predicted by the ‘Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis’; and (e) to determine the contributions of sets of perceived macroeconomic conditions, perceived institutional factors and perceived social conditions to the prediction of wellbeing over and above the contribution of demographics. Results indicated a high level of personal wellbeing and the PWI demonstrated good psychometric properties. In particular, the sample reported very high satisfaction with religiosity. The PWI full score narrowly exceeded the normative range for non-Western countries and was within the narrow band predicted by the ‘Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis’. Sets of perceived macroeconomic conditions, institutional factors and social conditions added incrementally to the prediction of wellbeing over and above demographics, suggesting that current attempts inherent in the MoU to stem abuse and improve conditions for Indonesian labour migrants might have benefits to subjective wellbeing in this migration context in the future.     

Job Satisfaction Among Immigrant Workers: A Review of Determinants

In recent years, an increasing number of studies have investigated the well-being of international immigrants in host countries. An important indicator of immigrants’ well-being is job satisfaction. Job satisfaction reflects a pleasant emotional state, in which individuals positively appraise their job or work experience. In this article, we discuss the determinants of immigrants’ job satisfaction, based on research conducted over the past three and a half decades. The determinants observed in the literature can be categorized into work- and non-work-related groups. Work-specific determinants include workplace environments, job characteristics, and work-specific personal factors (e.g., competency-related factors, psychological states, and work-specific demographics). Non-work-specific determinants include general demographics, culture-related factors (e.g., language, cultural traits, and acculturation), and community-related factors. This review demonstrates that past research has made important strides toward our understanding of the influential factors leading to immigrants’ job satisfaction. We call for future research to continue to explore these factors, as well as new factors, given the limited empirical evidence that exists for this population group.     

“Overwhelmed and out of my depth”: Responses from early career midwives in the United Kingdom to the Work,Health and Emotional Lives of Midwives study

BackgroundEfforts to resolve the longstanding and growing staffing crisis in midwifery in the United Kingdom have been hampered by very poor retention rates, with early career midwives the most likely to report burnout and intention to leave the profession.AimsTo establish the key, self-described factors of satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work for early career midwives in the United Kingdom, and suggest appropriate and effective retention strategies.MethodsThematic analysis was undertaken on a subset of free text responses from midwives who had been qualified for five years or less, collected as part of the United Kingdom arm of the Work, Health and Emotional Lives of Midwives project.FindingsMidwives described feeling immense pressure caused by an unremittingly heavy workload and poor staffing. Where relationships with colleagues were strong, they were described as a protective factor against stress; conversely, negative working relationships compounded pressures. Despite the challenges, many of the midwives reported taking great pleasure in their work, describing it as a source of pride and self-esteem. Midwives valued being treated as individuals and having some control over their shift pattern and area of work.DiscussionThese results, which reveal the strain on early career midwives, are consistent with the findings of other large studies on midwives’ wellbeing. All available levers should be used to retain and motivate existing staff, and recruit new staff; in the meantime, considerable creativity and effort should be exercised to improve working conditions.ConclusionThis analysis provides a ‘roadmap’ for improving staff wellbeing and potentially retention.     

Measuring and Analysing the Wellbeing of Australia’s Indigenous Population

According to most standard socioeconomic indicators (for example employment, income and education), Indigenous Australians tend to have worse outcomes than their non-Indigenous counterparts. Most objective health indicators including life expectancy also tend to be worse. Traditionally, these two domains and associated objective indicators have been the focus of research, government policy and evaluation. There has been less research, however, on differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in subjective measures of wellbeing. In this paper, I attempt to answer three related research questions on Indigenous wellbeing—What is the average level of emotional wellbeing and satisfaction with life for the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population of Australia? How do the differences between the two populations change once other characteristics have been controlled for? What are the factors associated with emotional wellbeing within the Indigenous population? With regards to the first two questions, Indigenous Australians are less likely to report frequent periods of happiness and more likely to report periods of extreme sadness than the non-Indigenous population. Surprisingly, given these results for emotional wellbeing, a major finding from the analysis was that Indigenous Australians were significantly more likely to report above-average satisfaction with their life. The main finding with regards to the third question is that using retrospective measures, those in remote areas report higher levels of happiness than those in non-remote areas. This is different to the results for socioeconomic status and objective measures of health found elsewhere and has important implications for government policy in Australia.     

The Impact of Core Self-evaluations on Job Satisfaction: The Mediator Role of Career Commitment

The present study investigated the impact of core self-evaluations on job satisfaction, with a primary focus on confirmation of the mediator role of career commitment. Three hundred and twelve male soldiers completed the Core Self-Evaluations Scale, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and The Chinese Career Commitment Scale. The results revealed that both career commitment and core self-evaluations were significantly correlated with job satisfaction. Structural equation modeling indicated that career commitment partially mediated the relationship between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction. The final model also revealed a significant path from core self-evaluations to job satisfaction through career commitment. The findings extended prior reports and shed light on how core self-evaluations influence job satisfaction; this provides valuable evidence on promoting job satisfaction in non-commercial organizations.     

The influence of perceived control on subjective wellbeing in later life

It has been proposed that a sense of control (primary control) is critical to maintaining positive and stable subjective wellbeing (SWB). As people age and control capacity presumably declines (due to physical and cognitive deterioration and increased sociocultural challenges), it is argued that the influence of secondary perceived control (or acceptance) increases to help maintain normative levels of SWB. While previous studies have typically investigated the relationship between perceived control and global estimates of satisfaction (i.e., overall life satisfaction), the present study evaluated the link between perceived control and seven key domains of satisfaction in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the control-satisfaction relationship. A community-based sample of 1,317 individuals (age range: 17–92 years) was utilised to examine potential age-related differences in perceived control (primary and secondary) and satisfaction. Findings revealed that primary and secondary perceived control both increased across age, with secondary perceived control increasing at a higher rate. Primary perceived control had predictive primacy for satisfaction over secondary perceived control (consistent with theory). A moderated mediation effect was also found, suggesting that, in later life, secondary perceived control influences primary perceived control and, in turn, influences satisfaction with various domains. Therefore, while primary control is important to wellbeing, it should be acknowledged that secondary perceived control may have unique significance to the wellbeing of older adults.     

The Use of Correspondence Analysis to Develop a Scale to Measure Workplace Morale from Multi-level Data

This paper focuses on the issue of comparing social groups or collectivities using measures derived from individual-level multivariate data. In this case, groups need to be differentiated such that: (a) between-group differences are maximized; (b) within-group differences are minimised; and (c) `differences' are calibrated to a scale that reflects a set indicators or observed variables.This paper demonstrates empirically how correspondence analysis can achieve this. It presents a scale of `workplace morale' derived from the responses of employees in a large sample of workplaces to questions concerning satisfaction with various facets of their job and their workplace. The scale derived through correspondence analysis is shown to achieve the three criteria described above.     

Small Fish in a Big Pond or Big Fish in a Small Pond? The Effects of Educational Mismatch on Subjective Wellbeing

This paper analyzes the effects of educational mismatch on subjective wellbeing. We first analyze whether a discrepancy exists between the aspirations associated with the level of education acquired by the individuals and the opportunities found in the labor market. Consistent with education generating certain aspirations, we find that educational mismatch has a sizable significant negative impact on life satisfaction for over-educated individuals while the effect is positive for under-educated workers. Next, we focus on workers with different educational levels but who perform similar jobs. In this case we only find under-education to negatively affect life satisfaction levels, a result which is consistent either with the existence of an inferiority complex or a struggle to perform a job for which the individual is not adequately trained. The effects are economically relevant and amount between one-fifth and one-fourth of the impact produced by other negative life events such as unemployment.     

中国国有林场职工的生活满意度及影响因素分析

以河北、浙江、山东等14个省（市、自治区）490个林场10000位职工的问卷调查为依据，采用Multinomial Logistic Regression方法深入分析职工生活满意度的影响因素。结果表明：53.6%的国有林场职工对生活感到不满意，68.2%的职工感觉生活压力很大。同时，职工年龄、工作年限、配偶工作、收入、住房面积、工作时间、工作环境、社会保障、林场与职工之间的关系以及职工对未来的信心程度等因素都对生活满意度具有显著的影响。     

The Contribution of Job and Partner Satisfaction to the Homeostatic Defense of Subjective Wellbeing

Two studies investigate subjective wellbeing (SWB) homeostasis. The first investigates the contribution of job satisfaction (JS) and partner satisfaction (PS) to the homeostatic defense of SWB. The extant model of homeostasis does not include either variable. The second study investigates the relationship between Homeostatically Protected Mood (HPMood) and other factors involved in the homeostatic model. It has been proposed that HPMood is the basic, biologically determined, positive mood that saturates SWB and other related variables, and forms the basis of the SWB set-point. Thus, if HPMood is an individual difference and it perfuses other homeostatic variables, then HPMood should be responsible for much of the shared variance between such variables. Two comparative samples are involved. One is a group of 171 Hong Kong Chinese recruited through convenience sampling. The other is a group of 343 Australians recruited via a general population survey. Results indicate that both JS and PS predict significant variance in Global Life Satisfaction beyond the existing factors in the homeostatic model. It is also found that, after controlling for the effect of HPMood, the strength of correlations between SWB and other homeostatic variables is significantly diminished. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

How Does Relative Income and Variations in Short-Run Wellbeing Affect Wellbeing in the Long Run? Empirical Evidence From China’s Korean Minority

Cognitively appraised life satisfaction is relatively stable over time and can be considered as reflecting subjective wellbeing in the long run. Affect is transitory and can be considered as reflecting subjective wellbeing in the short run. Using the Personal Wellbeing Index to measure cognitively appraised life satisfaction and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule to measure positive and negative affect we examine how income relative to one’s comparator group and variations in short run wellbeing impact upon wellbeing in the long run. We do so for China’s Korean ethnic minority. We find that affective state has an effect on wellbeing in the long run and that a negative shock to affectivity is more persistent than a positive shock. We also find that relative income, rather than absolute income, matters for wellbeing in the long run and that the results are consistent with a status effect.