A holistic approach to stress and wellbeing at work: Part 5: what makes a good job?

摘要

Previous research had no clear conceptual background and often failed to distinguish between the absence of negative effects and the presence of positive ones. Such studies identified the multi-factorial nature of wellbeing concepts but were largely cross-sectional and rarely controlled for other influential factors (such as job and individual characteristics)rnSecondary analyses of existing data revealed strong, independent associations between positive and negative job characteristics and wellbeing, although the nature of these associations variedrnAt an individual level, negative coping and attributional behaviours are associated with high levels of depression and anxiety, and low job satisfaction. Positive coping and attributional behaviours are significantly associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety, and high job satisfactionrnA major new data collection, which involved a cross-sectional study of established workers, demonstrated the appropriateness of a'process'model that distinguished job characteristics, appraisals of their impact, and health outcomesrnA multi-factorial, combined-effects approach best describes the association between work and wellbeingrnA'good job score', reflecting the presence of positive and absence of negative job characteristics and appraisals, is a very good predictor of reported positive and negative mental health and also physical health.