Meaning of working for older nurses and nursing assistants in Sweden: A qualitative study.

Meaningful work is related to the motivation to continue to work in older ages and later retirement. This qualitative study addresses calls for further research on the meaning of working for older workers using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach to explore in-depth the dimensions underlying the subjective experience of meaningful work among 27 nurses and nursing assistants aged 55-75 years. The findings show that work was perceived as a primary source of: (1) personal identity (2) purpose and contribution, (3) competence and accomplishment, (4) social contacts and belongingness, (5) activity, routines and purposeful use of time, and (6) economic security and freedom. These qualitative findings may be applied in interventions aiming to encourage extended working lives in key welfare occupations, which are facing significant staff shortages.

Behavioral Reactions to Job Insecurity Climate Perceptions: Exit, Voice, Loyalty, and Neglect.

Past work has extensively documented that job insecurity predicts various work- and health-related outcomes. However, limited research has focused on the potential consequences of perceived job insecurity climate. Our objective was to investigate how the psychological climate about losing a job and valuable job features (quantitative and qualitative job insecurity climate, respectively) relate to employees' exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect behaviors, and whether such climate perceptions explain additional variance in these behaviors over individual job insecurity. Data were collected through an online survey using a convenience sample of employees working in different organizations in Türkiye (N = 245). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that quantitative job insecurity climate was associated with higher levels of loyalty and neglect, while qualitative job insecurity climate was related to higher levels of exit and lower levels of loyalty. Importantly, job insecurity climate explained additional variance over individual job insecurity in exit and loyalty. Our findings underscore the importance of addressing job insecurity in a broader context regarding one's situation and the psychological collective climate. This study contributes to addressing the knowledge gap concerning job insecurity climate, an emerging construct in the organizational behavior literature, and its incremental impact beyond individual job insecurity. The foremost implication is that organizations need to pay attention to the evolving climate perceptions about the future of jobs in the work environment, because such perceptions are related to critical employee behaviors.

Compensation profiles among private sector employees in Sweden: Differences in work-related and health-related outcomes.

How experiences and perceptions of pay and pay setting relate to employees' job performance, willingness to remain in the organization, and health has been the subject of much debate. Previous research has typically used a variable-centered approach to investigate associations between different pay-related factors and such outcomes. In contrast, we used latent profile analysis to explore combinations of compensation characteristics (pay level, perceived horizontal pay dispersion, and procedural quality, i.e., transactional leadership and procedural pay-setting justice), combining relevant theories on the subject. Based on a nationally representative sample of private sector employees in Sweden (N = 1,146), our study identified six compensation profiles. Our key findings show, first, that higher levels of pay were generally associated with better performance, lower turnover intention, better self-rated health, and lower work-related exhaustion, especially when combined with perceptions of high procedural quality. Second, in terms of perceived horizontal pay dispersion, the results indicate that pay compression may be associated with beneficial outcomes, particularly when combined with high procedural quality. Third, procedural quality was generally associated with favorable work-related and health-related outcomes, although such positive effects may be contingent upon pay level and perceived horizontal pay dispersion. In conclusion, while pay level, perceptions of horizontal pay dispersion, and procedural quality may all matter for employee outcomes, it is important to consider their combinations.

Approaching retirement: A qualitative study of older nursing assistants' experiences of work in residential care and late-career planning.

In many countries, eldercare workers are approaching retirement. To remain attractive to older and experienced workers, organizations need to understand how employees nearing retirement think about and experience their work situation. This qualitative study investigated how older nursing assistants within residential care for older people experienced aging at work, their psychosocial work environment, and their late-career planning. Semi-structured interviews with eight nursing assistants (aged 55-61 years) in Sweden were analyzed using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach. The results show that the psychosocial work environment was perceived as stressful and considered a long-term health risk, and that (future) health and work ability were key factors determining nursing assistants' late-career planning. Moreover, personal resources and social support from colleagues seemed protective against job demands. Aspects considered in late-career planning also included personal finances and meaningfulness of work. While these findings may be sample-specific, they still provide insights into the experiences of an important occupational group. This means that the findings can be useful for organizations aiming at promoting successful and sustainable aging-in-workplace and encouraging extended working lives.

Political skill in higher military staff: Measurement properties and latent profile analysis.

Social effectiveness, including political skill, reflects individuals' ways of handling interpersonal processes at work. Most research has used a variable-oriented approach to investigate associations between political skill and key organizational factors, including performance, in civil settings. Thus, little is known of whether political skill transfers to a military context and whether there are specific profiles of political skill. Combining variable-oriented and person-oriented approaches, this study used self-reports from two samples of military student officers to: (1) investigate measurement properties of the 18-item political skill inventory; (2) explore whether it is possible to identify different profiles of political skill; and (3) investigate whether such profiles differ in demographics, personality, and job performance. Exploratory (sample 1: n = 185) and confirmatory (sample 2: n = 183) factor analyses supported a four-dimensional representation of political skill including networking ability, apparent sincerity, social astuteness, and interpersonal influence. Latent profile analysis (samples 1 and 2: N = 368) identified four distinct combinations of these dimensions, namely: (1) weak political skill; (2) weak political skill with strong sincerity; (3) moderate political skill; and (4) strong political skill. Importantly, profiles differed consistently in networking ability. Subsequent comparisons suggested potentially important differences in demographics, personality, and job performance. Despite needing additional research of how profiles of political skill develop over time, these findings may have practical implications for recruitment and training in organizational settings where social effectiveness is important.

Health- and Age-Related Workplace Factors as Predictors of Preferred, Expected, and Actual Retirement Timing: Findings from a Swedish Cohort Study.

To address the challenges of demographic aging, governments and organizations encourage extended working lives. This study investigates how individual health- and age-related workplace factors contribute to preferred, expected and actual retirement timing, as well as to the congruency between preferences vs. expectations, and preferences vs. actual retirement. We used data from a representative Swedish longitudinal sample comprising 4058 workers aged 50-64, with follow-up data regarding actual retirement timing available for 1164 respondents. Multinomial logistic regression analyses suggest that later preferred, expected, and actual retirement timing were, to different extent, influenced by better health, an age-friendly workplace and feeling positive regarding the future at work. Emotional exhaustion, age-related inequalities at work and experiencing aging as an obstacle increased the likelihood of preferring to retire earlier than one expected to, over retiring at the time one expected to. Those with better health and positive work prospects were less likely to prefer retiring earlier than they expected to, and more likely to being "pulled toward working until 65 and beyond", compared to being "pulled toward early retirement". Experiencing aging as an obstacle decreased the chances of being "pulled toward working until 65 and beyond". The results provide insights on how to facilitate extended working lives.

Just What I See? Implications of Congruence Between Supervisors' and Employees' Perceptions of Pay Justice for Employees' Work-Related Attitudes and Behaviors.

Perceiving a pay system as just has been suggested to be a precondition for individualized pay to have a motivating effect for employees. Supervisors' enacted justice is central for understanding the effects that pay setting can have on employee attitudes and behavior. Yet, enacted justice has received little research attention, in regard to both organizational justice and pay-related topics. This study examines the effects of employees' perceived pay justice and supervisors' enacted justice, as well as the degree of congruence, on employees' work-related attitudes and behaviors. Questionnaire data from employees (N = 566) matched with data from their pay-setting supervisors (N = 208), employed in a Swedish manufacturing company, were analyzed. Results of polynomial regression with response surface analysis show that employees' perceptions of pay justice were important for their work-related attitudes and behaviors and that supervisor-employee congruence regarding pay justice was positively related to employees' attitudes and behavior, particularly when the ratings concerned high levels of justice. The results not only highlight the importance of developing a pay system that is perceived as just by employees but also emphasize the importance of reaching a congruence between supervisors' and employees' perceptions of high fairness, as this has positive implications for employees' attitudes and behaviors.

Do personal resources matter beyond job demands and job resources? Main and interaction effects on health-related outcomes among women working within the welfare sector.

BACKGROUND: Overall, health-related correlates of job demands and job resources are well-known. However, in today's working life, personal resources are considered to be of increasing importance. Beyond general mental ability, knowledge regarding personal resources remains limited. This is particularly so among women working in the welfare sector, a sector mainly employing women and with the work typically involving clients. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the importance of job demands, job resources, and personal resources for health-related outcomes, as well as the mitigating effects of resources, among women working within the Swedish welfare sector. METHODS: Self-reports from 372 women employed within the welfare sector were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: Overall, increasing job demands were associated with poorer health outcomes while increasing job resources and personal resources were associated with better health. Additionally, lower control aggravated the effects of quantitative job demands on health outcomes while lower feedback mitigated the effect of qualitative demands. However, personal resources had no moderating effect. CONCLUSIONS: Job resources seem more pertinent to health than personal resources, at least among women working within the welfare sector in Sweden.

A Meta-Analysis of Job Insecurity and Employee Performance: Testing Temporal Aspects, Rating Source, Welfare Regime, and Union Density as Moderators.

Previous research has shown that job insecurity is linked to a range of performance outcomes, but the number of studies exploring this relationship is still limited and the results are somewhat mixed. The first aim of this study was to meta-analytically investigate how job insecurity is related to task performance, contextual performance, counterproductive work behavior, creativity, and safety compliance. The second aim was to test two method-related factors (cross-sectional vs. longitudinal associations and self- vs. supervisor-ratings of performance) and two macro-level indicators of social protection (social welfare regime and union density) as moderators of these associations. The results show that job insecurity was generally associated with impaired employee performance. These findings were generally similar both cross-sectionally and longitudinally and irrespective of rater. Overall, the associations between job insecurity and negative performance outcomes were weaker in welfare regimes characterized by strong social protection, whereas the results concerning union density produced mixed results. A majority of the findings confirmed the negative associations between job insecurity and types of employee performance, but future research is needed to elaborate on the effects of temporal aspects, differences between ratings sources, and further indicators of social protection in different cultural settings in the context of job insecurity.

Development of perceived job insecurity among young workers: a latent class growth analysis.

PURPOSE: Individual differences in the development of perceived job insecurity among young workers may be influenced by characteristics of the first job (contract type and sector) and individual background (education and previous unemployment), and can have implications for subsequent health and well-being. The aim of this study was to investigate the development of perceived job insecurity during the early career, as well as associations between different patterns of development (i.e., trajectories), predictors and outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a latent class growth analysis to identify trajectories of perceived job insecurity and investigated their respective associations with predictors and outcomes across 6 years in a sample of 1711 German labor market entrants. RESULTS: Six trajectories were identified: three showed stable job insecurity perceptions (stable moderate, 36%; stable low, 32%; stable high, 5%), two showed decrease (moderate to low, 12%; high to moderate, 3%), and one showed increasing job insecurity perceptions (low to moderate, 13%). Temporary contracts and previous unemployment predicted trajectories characterized by increasing, higher initial or higher overall levels of perceived job insecurity. In contrast, public sector employees and university graduates were less likely to experience persisting or increasing job insecurity. The trajectories differed in their overall levels of self-rated health and job satisfaction, but not with respect to change in these outcomes. Instead, increasing perceived job insecurity was associated with decreasing life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that an insecure career start and individual risk factors may predispose young workers to an unfavorable development of both job insecurity perceptions and levels of well-being.

Social support at work and mental distress: A three-wave study of normal, reversed, and reciprocal relationships.

OBJECTIVES: This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the causal relationships between social support at work and mental health in terms of mental distress. Despite assuming social support at work to be associated with less mental distress, reversed and reciprocal relationships were investigated as well. METHODS: Self-reports in questionnaires of social support and mental distress were collected longitudinally, with annual measurements over three consecutive years, among 301 office workers (57% women) in Sweden. Cross-lagged structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. RESULTS: The reciprocal causation model was considered the best-fitting model. The results suggest that social support and mental distress influenced each other negatively, but with a delayed effect. Specifically, this involves Time 1 levels of social support being negatively associated with Time 2 levels of mental distress, while Time 2 levels of mental distress were negatively associated with Time 3 levels of support. CONCLUSIONS: The findings partly align with the hypothesis that social support is related to lower levels of mental distress but also suggest that mental distress can reduce levels of social support. While the findings also suggest a mutual interrelation between social support and mental distress, this is not a consistent reciprocal causation. Rather, and due to the variation in reciprocity between time points, it appears to be a cyclical process, which needs further investigation.

A pilot-study of a worksite based participatory intervention program: Its acceptability and short-term effects on work climate and attitudes in human service employees.

BACKGROUND: Psychosocial factors, including job demands and poor resources, have been linked to stress, health problems, and negative job attitudes. However, worksite based interventions and programs targeting psychosocial factors may change employees' perceptions of their work climate and work attitudes. OBJECTIVE: This pilot study describes a newly developed worksite based participatory organizational intervention program that was tested in the social service sector. It is evaluated using participants' perceptions of the intervention to investigate its acceptability as a feature of feasibility and its short-term effects on work climate factors (job demands and resources) and work-related attitudes. METHODS: Forty employees of a Swedish social service unit provided self-reports before, during, and after the intervention. RESULTS: As for effects, quantitative role overload and social support decreased while turnover intention increased. Responses to an open-ended question showed that participants considered the intervention program valuable for addressing issues relating to the psychosocial work climate. CONCLUSIONS: Although the findings are preliminary, it was possible to carry out this worksite based participatory organizational program in this particular setting. Also, the preliminary findings underscore the challenges associated with designing and implementing this type of intervention program, thus adding to the methodological discussion on implementation and evaluation.

The effect of job insecurity on employee health complaints: A within-person analysis of the explanatory role of threats to the manifest and latent benefits of work.

The current study contributes to the literature on job insecurity by highlighting threat to the benefits of work as an explanation of the effect of job insecurity on health complaints. Building on the latent deprivation model, we predicted that threats to both manifest (i.e., financial income) and latent benefits of work (i.e., collective purpose, social contacts, status, time structure, activity) mediate the relationships from job insecurity to subsequent mental and physical health complaints. In addition, in line with the conservation of resources theory, we proposed that financial resources buffer the indirect effect of job insecurity on health complaints through threat to the manifest benefit. Hypotheses were tested using a multilevel design, in which 3 measurements (time lag of 6 months between subsequent measurements) were clustered within 1,994 employees (in Flanders, Belgium). This allowed for the investigation of within-person processes, while controlling for variance at the between-person level. The results demonstrate that job insecurity was related to subsequent threats to both manifest and latent benefits, and that these threats in turn were related to subsequent health complaints (with an exception for threat to the manifest benefit that did not predict mental health complaints). Three significant indirect effects were found: threat to the latent benefits mediated the relationships between job insecurity and both mental and physical health complaints, and threat to the manifest benefit mediated the relationship between job insecurity and physical health complaints. Unexpectedly, the latter indirect effect was exacerbated by financial resources.

Purchases of Prescription Antidepressants in the Swedish Population in Relation to Major Workplace Downsizing.

Organizational downsizing may be a risk factor for morbidity among both the displaced and those who remain in work. However, the knowledge is limited regarding its impact on clinically relevant mental health problems. Our objective was to investigate purchases of prescription antidepressants across 5 years in relation to workplace downsizing. We studied all Swedish residents 2004 throughout 2010, 22-54 years old in 2006, gainfully employed, and with a stable labor market position up to 2006. People primarily employed at a workplace with ≥18% staff reduction were considered exposed to major downsizing (in 2006-2007, 2007-2008, or 2008-2009). We applied repeated measures regression analyses through generalized estimating equations, calculating odds of any purchase of prescription antidepressants (inferred from the prescribed drug register) within five 12-month periods from 2 years before to 2 years after the period of major downsizing and compared the trends for newly exposed (n = 632,500) and unexposed (n = 1,021,759) to major downsizing. The odds of purchasing prescription antidepressants for exposed increased more than for nonexposed, mainly peridownsizing (1 year before to 1 year after), and postdownsizing (1 year after to 2 years after) for survivors (odds ratio 1.24 vs. 1.14 peridownsizing and 1.12 vs. 1.00 postdownsizing) and those changing workplace (odds ratio 1.22 vs. 1.14 peridownsizing and 1.10 vs. 1.00 postdownsizing) with no previous sickness absence or disability pension (≥7% more than unexposed peri- and postdownsizing). This large-scale study indicates that downsizing is associated with a slight increase in the odds of purchasing prescription antidepressants among people without previous sickness absence or disability pension.

Job insecurity and work-family conflict in teachers in Sweden: Examining their relations with longitudinal cross-lagged modeling.

Job insecurity and work-family conflict are increasingly prevalent in contemporary working life and numerous studies have documented their antecedents and negative consequences. The present study used longitudinal questionnaire data collected among teachers in Sweden to test the direction of the relation between job insecurity and work-family conflict using cross-lagged modeling. Multiple-group comparisons were conducted to account for the skewed gender composition in the teachers' group. After controlling for baseline levels of job insecurity, work-family conflict, and four potential confounders (age, children under 12 living at home, university education, and relationship status), we found that the reciprocal relationship between job insecurity and work-family conflict over a 1-year time period fitted the data best for the men. For women, however, only the auto regression coefficients were significant. The results provide some empirical support for gender differences in the relation between job insecurity and work-family conflict. Moreover, this study partially supports theoretical assumptions suggesting that job insecurity and work-family conflict influence each other.

Work and Sleep--A Prospective Study of Psychosocial Work Factors, Physical Work Factors, and Work Scheduling.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: There is limited knowledge about the prospective relationship between major work characteristics (psychosocial, physical, scheduling) and disturbed sleep. The current study sought to provide such knowledge. DESIGN: Prospective cohort, with measurements on two occasions (T1 and T2) separated by two years. SETTING: Naturalistic study, Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: There were 4,827 participants forming a representative sample of the working population. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Questionnaire data on work factors obtained on two occasions were analyzed with structural equation modeling. Competing models were compared in order to investigate temporal relationships. A reciprocal model was found to fit the data best. Sleep disturbances at T2 were predicted by higher work demands at T1 and by lower perceived stress at T1. In addition, sleep disturbances at T1 predicted subsequent higher perception of stress, higher work demands, lower degree of control, and less social support at work at T2. A cross-sectional mediation analysis showed that (higher) perceived stress mediated the relationship between (higher) work demands and sleep disturbances; however, no such association was found longitudinally. CONCLUSIONS: Higher work demands predicted disturbed sleep, whereas physical work characteristics, shift work, and overtime did not. In addition, disturbed sleep predicted subsequent higher work demands, perceived stress, less social support, and lower degree of control. The results suggest that remedial interventions against sleep disturbances should focus on psychosocial factors, and that such remedial interventions may improve the psychosocial work situation in the long run.

Threats of dismissal and symptoms of major depression: a study using repeat measures in the Swedish working population.

BACKGROUND: Job insecurity is considered a profound work stressor. While previous research has indicated that job insecurity represents a substantial mental health burden, few studies have examined its relationship with symptoms of major depression. The aim of this study was to assess whether episodic and repeated self-reported threats of dismissal increase the risk of subsequent symptoms of major depression and whether symptoms of major depression are related to subsequent experience of threats of dismissal. METHODS: The study is based on the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) study, a cohort study with multiple repeated measurements. The sample consisted of 6275 participants who were in regular paid employment and who provided data in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Severity of depression was assessed with a brief Symptom Checklist scale and categorised according to symptoms of major depression or not. RESULTS: Results based on generalised estimating equations logit models showed that prior threats of dismissal predicted symptoms of major depression OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.81) after adjustment for prior depression and major confounders. Especially related threats increased the risk of major depression symptoms (OR 1.74 CI 1.09 to 2.78). Major depression symptoms also increased the odds of subsequent threats of dismissal (OR 1.52, CI 1.17 to 1.98). CONCLUSIONS: These findings support a prospective association between threats of dismissal and symptoms of major depression, in particular repeated exposure to threats of dismissal. The results also indicate that threats of dismissal are more likely to be reported by workers with symptoms of major depression.

Use and interpretation of test scores from limited cognitive test batteries: how g + Gc can equal g.

Single scores from limited and unbalanced test batteries of cognitive ability can be ambiguous to interpret theoretically. In this study, a limited verbally and knowledge-loaded cognitive test battery, from applicants to the Swedish police academies (N = 1,344), was examined to provide foundations for the use and interpretation of test scores. Three measurement models were compared: one single factor model and two bifactor models, which decomposed the variance of the battery into orthogonal components. The models were evaluated by fit indices and omega coefficients, and then applied to the prediction of academic performance. The overall prediction of all models was similar, although specific abilities also were found to provide substantial predictive validity over and above general intelligence (g). The findings provide support for the use of single scores in applied settings (selection), but suggest that it may be more appropriate to interpret such scores as composites of substantive components, and not just as measures of g.

Work-home interference and burnout: a study based on Swedish twins.

OBJECTIVE: This study sets out to investigate the impact of work-home interference on burnout in women and men, while taking genetic and family environmental factors into account. METHODS: A total of 4446 Swedish twins were included in the study. The effects of work-home conflict (WHC) and home-work conflict (HWC) on burnout between and within pairs were analyzed with co-twin control analyses. RESULTS: Both WHC and HWC were significantly associated with burnout. Genetic factors may be involved in the association between HWC and burnout in women. Familial factors were not involved for WHC and burnout, neither for women nor for men. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows the importance to encounter WHC per se to prevent burnout. Because of genetic confounding in HWC and burnout in women, preventive efforts may also take into account individual characteristics.

Using individual differences to predict job performance: correcting for direct and indirect restriction of range.

The present study investigates the relationship between individual differences, indicated by personality (FFM) and general mental ability (GMA), and job performance applying two different methods of correction for range restriction. The results, derived by analyzing meta-analytic correlations, show that the more accurate method of correcting for indirect range restriction increased the operational validity of individual differences in predicting job performance and that this increase primarily was due to general mental ability being a stronger predictor than any of the personality traits. The estimates for single traits can be applied in practice to maximize prediction of job performance. Further, differences in the relative importance of general mental ability in relation to overall personality assessment methods was substantive and the estimates provided enables practitioners to perform a correct utility analysis of their overall selection procedure.