The stability of job and family involvement: Applying the multi-wave,multi-variable technique to longitudinal data

The main aim of the study was to examine the stability of job and family involvement, applying multi-wave, multi-variable modelling within the framework of LISREL models. The abbreviated job and family involvement scales based on Kanungo's (1979, 1982) motivational model were examined on the basis of 3-year longitudinal data. The study was carried out by means of questionnaires, which were filled in by Finnish employees (n = 109) on three occasions. The results show that both job and family involvement remained relatively stable during the follow-up period. Further, the scales showed reasonable unidimensionality across time. In addition, the item reliability of the scales was found to be adequate. Of the demographic characteristics studied (i.e. gender, age, socioeconomic status, presence of children at home, age of the youngest child) only gender had a significant effect on involvement: men were found to be more involved with their jobs than were women.     

Structural invariance and stability of sense of coherence: A longitudinal analysis of two groups with different employment experiences

This 5-year follow-up study investigated the structure and the factorial invariance of the 13-item sense of coherence (SOC) scale (Antonovsky, 1987a) in two employment groups (unemployment/lay-off experiences vs. continuous full-time employment) and across two measurement times. In addition, the stability of SOC between these two employment groups was compared. The postal questionnaire data was collected twice, in 1992 and in 1997. The participants were Finnish technical designers (N=352) aged between 25 and 40 years in 1992. A total of 51% of the investigated participants had been employed full-time during the 5-year follow-up period and 49% had been unemployed and/or laid off for a total period of at least one month during the follow-up. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the SOC scale measured one general second-order SOC factor consisting of three, first-order factors of meaningfulness, comprehensibility, and manageability. The results also indicated that the scale was best used as an 11-item measure. The factorial invariance of the scale across time and across the two employment groups was supported by the data. Unexpectedly, the stability of SOC did not differ between the two employment groups. However, those participants who had experienced unemployment and/or been laid off during the follow-up period had a weaker SOC at both measurement times than those who had been employed throughout the follow-up.     

The Transformation of Gendered Work: Dualistic Stereotypes and Paradoxical Reality

The article focuses on the paradoxes of gender stereotypes: how they need to be understood in order to make sense of the situation and how at the same time and for the same reason they need to be dissolved. Three stories derived from an ethnographic study of a Swedish housing company provide insights into both the absurdity and necessity of gender stereotypes. The process of men entering traditionally female work was neither the same nor the reverse process as women entering male arenas. Totally different patterns emerged when men entered traditionally female work arenas from when women entered traditionally male ones. Also, in this transformation process, traditional dualistic gender stereotypes were present and absent, being the very ground and dissolved at the same time. The stories challenge traditional dichotomous views of gender; to highlight this, three genders are introduced. Through this narrative device of creating three genders, a paradoxical process of resistance to change and real change becomes clearer. This article regards gender stereotypes as an invisible interpretive screen enabling theoretical sense-making; such a screen is both real and not real, functioning as resistance to change and allowing change to occur at the same time. Through this paradoxical complexity, the stories become as easy to understand as they actually are from a more practical, ethnographic perspective.     

Work-home interaction from a work psychological perspective: Development and validation of a new questionnaire,the SWING

Abstract

This paper reports upon an investigative study of stress in the Ambulance Service. The aims of the research were in part methodological and in part substantive. Methodologically, the study sought to validate as measurable constructs the perceptions of sources of stress reported by ambulance staff in response to questionnaire items. Substantively, it sought to identify these possible sources of stress and to measure the relationship between their perceived importance and such moderating variables as personality characteristics, length of service, and urban or rural location of operation and rank. Both aspects of the study are reported.     

Long-term patterns of effort-reward imbalance and over-commitment: Investigating occupational well-being and recovery experiences as outcomes

The aim of this study was, first, to identify long-term patterns of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and over-commitment (OVC), and, second, to examine how occupational well-being (burnout, work engagement) and recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery and control) differ in these patterns. The study was based on follow-up data with three measurement points (2006, 2008, 2010) collected from Finnish managers (N=298). Latent Profile Analysis resulted in five long-term ERI-OVC patterns: a high-risk pattern (high ERI, high OVC), found in 20% of the participants; a low-risk pattern (low ERI, low OVC), found in 24% of participants; a relatively low-risk pattern (low ERI, moderate OVC), found in 47% of participants; a favourable change pattern (decreasing ERI and OVC), in 7%; and an unfavourable change pattern (high ERI with increasing linear trend, OVC with curvilinear trend) in 2%. The results showed, in line with the ERI model, that managers in the high-risk pattern showed higher burnout scores and poorer recovery experiences compared to those in the low-risk patterns. However, no differences were found in work engagement between the high and low-risk patterns. Thus, the ERI model seemed better to explain stress-related indicators of occupational well-being than motivational indicators.     

Teacher stress during an autumn term in Finland: Four types of stress processes

This Finnish study examines teachers' stress in order to clarify how stress manifests itself and to describe any observed differences in the teachers' background, personality and coping variables. The research design was longitudinal. One hundred and fifty-three teachers made repeated assessments (six in all) of the indicators of stress (subjective mood ratings) by means of questionnaires during the autumn term of 1983. The background variables were based on questionnaire responses gathered in the autumn of 1983. Four different teacher groups emerged according to the type of stress reported: (1) teachers who were exhausted throughout the term; (2) those who recovered from stress on the first weekends of the term but not later on; (3) those not at all stressed, and (4) teachers feeling tired and anxious at the beginning and at the end of the term. The four teacher groups differed with regard to their personality characteristics and coping strategies.     

The longitudinal development of employee well-being: a systematic review

This article reports a systematic review of findings on the long-term development of employee well-being, taking into account the effects of time lag, age, and job change. High-quality quantitative empirical studies focusing on employee affective well-being based on the circumplex model and utilizing measurements at more than two points in time were searched from eight databases. The systematic analysis of the 40 studies revealed that the level of employee well-being was generally high but not fixed – instead changes in mean levels over time were typical. In addition, the stability of well-being was found to be relatively low, as the explained variances were below 50%. Age and change of job were the major factors influencing stability: younger employees and job changers tended to display larger across time changes in well-being than older employees and job stayers, both at the mean level and in terms of their position relative to others. The findings of this review suggest that the indicators of employee affective well-being studied here (i.e. burnout, engagement, and job satisfaction) can meaningfully be applied in future research in measuring changes in employees’ well-being. In conclusion, based on the designs, methodologies, and main findings of the reviewed studies, seven avenues for future longitudinal research on employee well-being are proposed.