Work Psychology

The first chapter is an introductory chapter in which work is defined as 'goal-directed activity performed in a particular context'. Various conceptions of work will be reviewed, different types of work (e.g. paid work, voluntary work, hobbies) will be distinguished, and the most important aspects of the context will be discussed. There will also be a general description of the background of present-day work as a service economy with an intensive use of information and communication technology. The Second chapter will focus on the issue of 'how people work', describing work activity from a cognitive perspective. The theory of activity regulation and its connections with theories of human information processing and motor action (skill acquisition) will be presented. The relevance of this approach for the study of 'new' types of work, i.e. knowledge work will be outlined. This chapter offers the main concepts and models to be used in the rest of the book. Chapter Three will discuss emotion and work. It will describe how work activities and events in the work place can evoke emotions, and how emotions can motivate or otherwise influence work activities. The focus will be on the regulation of emotions and the way in which it affects, e.g. interferes with or supports, task related activities. Recent research findings on "emotion work" and its difficulties will be discussed. Chapter Four deals with motivation to work. Classical motivational theories will be placed in the context of an integrative framework that is organized around the notion of goal striving. The framework describes the interplay of volitional and cognitive processes, and makes a distinction between 'getting motivated' and 'staying motivated' which is highly relevant in everyday work situations. Research findings on goal setting and feedback systems are also dealt with in this context. Some typical motivation problems (procrastination, deferral and loss of motivation over time) and methods for overcoming them will be discussed. Chapter Five will discuss worker attributes as required for work activity. It covers abilities and personality traits, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and 'competences'. While these aspects are normally looked upon from the perspective of differential psychology, this chapter will have a focus on learning processes and the acquisition of competences. Competences are not only seen as determinant of work performance, but also as attributes affected by performance (qualification, de-qualification). Several practical implications of the competences framework will be discussed, such as the relative effectiveness of job design, training and selection. Some ergonomics (human factors) will be entailed as well. Chapter Six will consider work activity from the energetic perspective. Concepts and models relating to work demands, workload, effort investment, work pressure, fatigue, and recovery from work will be presented from a self-regulation perspective. The central idea is that people at work regulate the physical and mental energy that is spent on the work or kept in reserve for later use. Replenishing energy while resting, sleeping, and fulfilling other activities (leisure) is considered to be part of their energetic regulation. Practical issues discussed in this chapter are job design, ergonomic workplace design, workload management and work time-scheduling. Chapter Seven will focus on aspects of work and health. A general framework is presented that shows the role of work among the many other (macro-meso-micro) factors that influence people's health. The possible influences of exposure to the work environment and the fulfilment of work activities are discussed. Illness is made understood as the outcome of failing regulation with regard to energy, emotions or vitality. In discussing the intermediary mechanisms leading to illness the concepts of strain, stress, and burnout are introduced with their respective theoretical frameworks. Health is also considered as a factor that hinders or facilitates work activity. Practical implications relate to coping with stressors, sickness related policies, work time-scheduling, and job design. Chapter Eight will address human tasks, task characteristics and frameworks for job design. The notion of task and its role in activity regulation will be discussed. Theories and views on task and job design, starting with Tayloristic notions up to modern approaches focusing on control and flexibility, will be presented and their differential implications for the working person will be outlined. Also psychological criteria for effective job and task design will be mentioned. This chapter will contain a section on job and task analysis that shows how critical work demands and risk factors can be identified. Chapter Nine will focus on the use of equipment and tools. It will address technology and technological developments, and their influences on work characteristics, work activity, and worker's health. The development from mechanisation, automation and robotics / informatics will be discussed and how they have affected jobs, and job contexts. Some coverage will be given to various types of tools, the demands they pose, and their effects on users. The major approaches to work system design, including the socio-technical design approach, and the ergonomic design of tools will be presented. Chapter Ten will look at the individual's work performance and the various factors determining it. A distinction is made between outcomes that are primarily relevant for the organisation (performance effectiveness, efficiency), for the individual ( satisfaction, fatigue, competence). Evidently 'work performance' is relevant to both, organisation and individual, and the critical issue is to achieve a good balance between the two types of outcomes. The focus of this chapter will be at performance as work activity, its links with various types of outcomes, and the possibility to achieve a good balance by means of regulation. Personal and situational factors affecting performance and outcomes will be discussed as well. Special attention will be given to errors and accidents, as well as ways to prevent them. This chapter will also look at ways to measure performance outcomes and at the practical meaning of performance in 'traditional' production jobs as contrasted with 'modern' service jobs. Chapter Eleven will focus on various contextual aspects of work. The perspective from which they will be looked upon is that of the individual fulfilling different roles at different moments in time. Working hours and work schedules will be reconsidered in connection with roles in the domains of the family, the household, leisure, and travel. Modern patterns in which work activity is no longer confined to a fixed work place (tele-work, virtual work) and becomes interspersed with family or household activities are discussed. Problems of work-family interference and potential solutions will be reviewed. Chapter Twelve focuses on working in teams. It looks at the definition of tasks, the division of work, and the coordinated execution of work activities. Many of the previously discussed aspects return, but now from a collective rather than an individual perspective. It its shown that team work offers possibilities for regulation that go beyond those of the individual, as the team has more resources available and team members can help each other in keeping work pressure, fatigue, emotional strain etc. within safe limits. Implications for overall job design, team composition, division of work, and self-management are also considered.