Andreas Müller

University of Duisburg-Essen | uni-due · Work- and Organizational Psychology

Irritation as defined in this paper is the subjectively perceived emotional and cognitive strain in occupational contexts. The structural equivalence of the Arabic, Dutch, English, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Polish adaptations of the German Irritation Scale is examined. The Irritation Scale is recommended for application partic...

Work ability describes employees' capability to carry out their work with respect to physical and psychological job demands. This study investigated direct and interactive effects of age, job control, and the use of successful aging strategies called selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) in predicting work ability. We assessed SOC strateg...

This study aimed to develop, implement, and evaluate an occupational health intervention that is based on the theoretical model of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC). We conducted a stratified randomized controlled intervention with 70 nurses of a community hospital in Germany (94% women; mean age 43.7 years). Altogether, the training...

This paper aims to explain potential psychological effects of algorithmic management (AM) on human-centered task design and with that also workers' mental well-being. For this, we link research on algorithmic management (AM) with Sociomaterial System Theory and Action Regulation Theory (ART). Our main assumption is that psychological effects of soc...

Staff shortages are a global problem in the nursing profession. Negative beliefs about older workers may have detrimental effects on the development and performance capacity of an aging workforce. To date, little is known about the impact of age stereotypes and potential factors on nurses’ intent to leave (ITL). Therefore, the aim of our study was...

Zusammenfassung Unter Rückgriff auf die Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) trägt unsere Studie zu einem besseren Verständnis der Mechanismen handlungsleitender Bedingungen „gesunder Führung“ bei. Die Unterstützung durch Führungskräfte ist für die erfolgreiche Umsetzung von gesundheitsförderlichen Arbeitsgestaltungsmaßnahmen in Organisationen von ents...

The present diary study investigates the impact of daily effort-reward imbalance (ERI), subjective stress and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) as an objective measure on work engagement of top managers and high-level works council members (N = 45) on three consecutive working days. In the scope of psychosocial risk assessment, we argue that fo...

Background Supervisor–subordinate relationship is high relevant in dealing with work-related stress and providing a compassionate, high-quality, and safe nursing care while meeting the needs of the hospital. Our aim was to identify and compare nurses’ work-related stress and the factors of resilience from the perspective of registered nurses and su...

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges to the workforce, particularly concerning emotional and mental well-being. Given the prolonged periods of work-related stress, unexpected organizational changes, and uncertainties about work faced during the pandemic, it becomes imperative to study occupational health constructs under a dyn...

Background Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital workers faced a tremendous workload. The pandemic led to different and additional strain that negatively affected the well-being of employees. This study aims to explore psychosocial resources and strategies that were used by hospital staff. Methods In the context of an intervention study, emp...

The irritation scale is a widely used and reliable self-report scale for measuring cognitive and emotional strain related to the work environment. It extends existing measures by providing a sensitive assessment for pre-clinical stress at work. Existing normative data are based on convenience samples and are therefore not representative. This study...

Objective Hospitals are frequently associated with poor working conditions that can lead to work stress and increase the risk for reduced employee well-being. Managers can shape and improve working conditions and thereby, the health of their teams. Thus, as a prerequisite, managers need to be aware of their employees’ stress levels. This study had...

Introduction Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teleworking suddenly became a reality for many individuals. Previous research shows that there are contradictory consequences of telework on well-being: while workers have the opportunity for self-directed work, intensified work behavior as well as longer hours being worked might occur at the same time. We...

Socioemotional selectivity theory and models of lifespan development of resources suggest that older workers may particularly benefit from social resources so as to maintain their well-being throughout their work-life span. However, the age-differential effects of social support at work have been rarely investigated. We hypothesised that age modera...

Research indicates that managers’ active support is essential for the successful implementation of mental health-related organizational interventions. However, there is currently little insight into what subjective beliefs and perceptions (=mental models) make leaders support such interventions. To our knowledge, this is the first qualitative syste...

Although wide-ranging amendments in health and safety regulations at the European and national level oblige employers to conduct psychosocial risk assessment, it is still under debate how psychosocial hazards can be properly evaluated. For psychosocial hazards, an epidemiological, risk-oriented understanding similar to physical hazards is still mis...

Executive social irresponsibility has received increasing research attention in recent years, following the consensus for a broader stakeholder approach to managerial decision making. Despite the importance of the subject, there remains insufficient research on contextual factors that mold executives’ orientation toward social responsibility. Throu...

The step from hazard analysis to developing risk-mitigating measures is crucial to improving working conditions but has been scarcely researched to date. We qualitatively investigated protocols of analytical workshops in 33 organizational units that followed a prior hazard analysis with the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ, N = 7,257 e...

Objectives Hospitals are psychologically demanding workplaces with a need for context-specific stress-preventive leadership interventions. A stress-preventive interprofessional leadership intervention for middle management has been developed. This phase-II study investigates its feasibility and outcomes, including work-related stress, well-being an...

Work stress is common among health care professionals and this observation also holds true for general practitioners (GPs) and their medical assistance staff in Germany. Therefore, prior studies have examined the work-related intervention needs of medical assistants (MAs). We sought to explore potential interventions that may help to address these...

Aim This study aimed to identify and compare age stereotypes of registered nurses and supervisors in clinical inpatient settings. Design Generic qualitative study using half-standardized interviews. Method Nineteen face-to-face interviews and five focus groups (N = 50) were conducted with nurses of varying levels at a hospital of maximum medical...

Aims and objectives: To test a mediating effect of compassion satisfaction on the relationship between personality traits (Big Five) and intent to leave. Background: Nursing professionals work in high-stress environments and exhibit more emotional distress and mental health disorders than other hospital professionals. This translates to increase...

The present article provides a systematic overview on the relationship between psychosocial work characteristics and musculoskeletal disorders, absenteeism, and workplace accidents. The study identified and reviewed the findings of 24 systematic reviews or meta-analysis and 6 longitudinal studies. Publications were systematically searched in severa...

Objective Mental disorders have been identified as a leading cause for reduced work ability in industrialized countries. Identification of workplace factors that can increase the work ability of employees with depressive symptoms from the Baby Boom generation is, therefore, highly relevant. This study thus aims to investigate whether changes in psy...

PurposeResearch shows that psychosocial factors play a significant role in the emergence of musculoskeletal complaints (MSC). The aim of this study was to determine the long-term effects on unspecific MSC by a combined physiotherapy and coaching intervention compared to physiotherapy alone. The coaching intervention focussed on enabling better stra...

Over the past few decades, substantial work has been carried out by researchers in the field of unethical employee behaviour. While self-interest is a more focused area of research, recent studies have investigated pro-organisational unethical behaviour. Furthermore, it is known that unethical behaviour often occurs beyond the realm of conscious aw...

Working conditions in hospitals are characterized by occupational stressors, which lead to potentially harmful psychosocial stress reactions for medical and nursing staff. Representative surveys showed that almost every second hospital physician or nurse is affected by burnout and that there is a strong association between leadership behavior and e...

Health-oriented supportive leadership behavior is a key factor in reducing work stress and promoting health. Employees in the health sector are subject to a heavy workload, and it has been shown that 40% of them show permanent health problems. A supportive leadership behavior requires the manager’s awareness of the employees’ well-being. However, l...

Background Research indicates that the active support of managers is essential for the sustainable implementation of health-related work design interventions in organizations. However, little is known about managers’ perceptions of such health promotion measures. Objective Our study aims to provide information that help to foster managers active s...

Aims To compare stereotypes towards older workers between hospital staff in Germany and Latvia and to analyse the relationship between those stereotypes and self‐efficacy, subjective work ability and irritation. Design Cross‐sectional study Methods In 2018, hospital staff, including nurses, physicians and other professions, of two German and thre...

Background: Health care employees in Germany and worldwide are exposed to a variety of stressors. However, most of the hospitals in Germany lack a systematic workplace health management. Thus, this study aims at the evaluation of the effects of a behavioural as well as organisational (´complex´) intervention on the mental health and well-being of...

Background: Understaffing in hospitals is a serious problem in healthcare work since it jeopardizes efficiency, reliability and quality of care as well as the work life of the healthcare professionals. However, estimates on the associations of understaffing and cardiovascular health in healthcare professionals are lacking. Further shortcomings ref...

Medical assistants’ (MAs) working conditions have been characterized as precarious, and workplace-related intervention needs have been identified. However, strategies to change the MAs adverse working conditions are mostly seen on an individual level, including leaving the employer or even the profession. Since such intentions are antecedents of ac...

Background: In outpatient care in Germany, medical assistants (MAs) are the contact persons for patients' concerns and their working conditions are relevant to their own health and the provided quality of care. MAs working conditions have been described as precarious leading to high levels of work stress. Consequently, we aimed to examine MAs' nee...

Purpose Due to the increased need for retention of older workforce caused by demographic changes in industrialized countries, support of healthy aging in occupational settings is of increasing relevance. This study examines the relationship between leucocyte telomere length (LTL), a potential biomarker for biological aging, and selection, optimizat...

This study set out to explore the effects of accumulating work experience on the association between job decision latitude and its interaction with job demands and work engagement. Our ten-year longitudinal study followed 333 junior physicians in postgraduate training at baseline. We used self-report measures in four assessment waves, and we conduc...

Background The relevance of work participation of older persons is steadily increasing due to demographic changes; however, older workers are often confronted with negative age stereotypes such as being less flexible, adaptable and productive. Objective Against this background this systematic review summarizes research evidence on individual conse...

Purpose Regarding the increased need for the retention of older employees in the workforce, this study investigates whether there are main and interactive longitudinal effects of selection, optimization, compensation and working conditions according to the job demand–control model on work ability in older employees. Methods Longitudinal data of co...

Background An increasing number of persons continue to work after retirement age. This decision is often different between men and women as well as working histories, sectors and hierarchical positions; however, whether gender differences in working conditions and occupational well-being also exist in paid employment after retirement (PEAR) has not...

Background: Numerous epidemiological studies among health care staff have documented associations of adverse psychosocial working conditions with poorer health-related outcomes, a reduced quality of patient care and intentions to leave the profession. The evidence for physician assistants in Germany remains limited though. Methods: We surveyed a...

Purpose: We aim to extend current knowledge on associations between stressful work and sickness absence, first, by studying associations between ERI and sickness absence among full-time employees from various occupations, and second, by investigating if associations vary by age. Methods: We use data from four waves of the German socio-economic p...

Zusammenfassung. Die Erfassung psychosozialer Belastung bei der Arbeit im Rahmen der Gefährdungsbeurteilung psychischer Belastung (GBU) verfolgt das Ziel, arbeitsbedingte psychische Belastungen zu messen und mögliche Gefährdungen zu verringern oder gänzlich zu vermeiden. Gängige Verfahren der GBU sind allerdings noch nicht an das veränderte Arbeits...

Selective optimization with compensation (SOC) is regarded as a powerful action strategy to cope with age-related changes in resources. Occupational interventions based on SOC might therefore make an important contribution to successful aging at work. However, SOC interventions at work are scarce. Against this background we investigated (a) whether...

Objective This multicentre, randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a small-group intervention promoting successful ageing at work in older nurses (aged ≥45). Method A sample of 115 nurses aged ≥45 from 4 trial sites in Germany were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (IG), that received a small-group int...

Study protocol–English. (PDF)

Data with replaced missing values. (XLSX)

Study protocol original–German. (PDF)

Data with missing values. (XLSX)

Objectives: Fundamental changes in ways of working due to the use of digital technology in manufacturing (“smart factory”, “Industry 4.0”) and in many other sectors require new approaches to the process of psychological risk assessment (PRA). The DYNAMIK 4.0 collaborative research project is backed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research...

Objectives There is now convincing evidence that psychosocial work stressors are linked to depression. Few studies, however, have tested if individual resources can buffer the longitudinal effects of psychosocial work stressors on depressive symptoms. This study investigates how two types of resources (internal and external resources) affect the as...

Background: Individuals’ behavioral strategies like selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) contribute to efficient use of available resources. In the work context, previous studies revealed positive associations between employees’ SOC use and favorable individual outcomes, like engagement and job performance. However, the social implicatio...

Objective: We identified associations between age, psychosocial work characteristics, occupational well-being, and-as a measure of biological age-leukocyte telomere length in geriatric care professionals. Methods: This is a multisource study of self-reports on psychosocial work characteristics, standardized physician's evaluations of health, and...

Purpose: Research shows that psychosocial factors play a significant role on the emergence of musculoskeletal complaints (MSC). The aim of this study was to determine whether a coaching intervention which was focussed on enabling better strategies for coping with work stressors is superior to physiotherapy alone in the reduction of MSC. Methods: 6...

Selective optimization with compensation (SOC) is an effective behavioral strategy for coping with age-related changes across the work lifespan. However, the role of work-related determinants as well as their interplay with employees’ SOC use and health over time is yet unclear. Our two-wave panel study among N = 335 nurses investigated job autonom...

This study aimed to investigate long-term stability and variability of diurnal cortisol and alpha-amylase patterns. Diurnal cortisol and alpha-amylase secretion patterns were assessed on a single workday with three waves of measurement across a total time period of 24 months in 189 participants. Separate hierarchical linear models were analyzed, wi...

Aim: The aim of this article is to present the current state of research from the perspective of occupational medicine and psychology on possible new types of stressors that are becoming particularly relevant in the course of change in the world of industrial work. These stressors are related to three themes: (1) on-screen control activities, (2) h...

So far there is no comprehensive overview on the effects of participatory organizational interventions (POI) on mental wellbeing of employees. On the basis of four systematic reviews a total of 20 studies on 19 controlled POI were identified. Six studies (32%) reported consistently positive effects. Six studies observed no effects. Seven studies (3...

Background: Although psychosocial risk evaluation (PRE) is legally required, implementation is often suboptimal. Occupational health specialists face various challenges in implementing a systematic PRE process. Aims: To evaluate if a checklist strengthens the competencies of occupational physicians in PRE design and implementation. Methods: A...

Purpose: Somatic complaints (SC) are highly prevalent in working populations and cause suffering and extensive health-care utilization. Adverse psychosocial working conditions as conceptualized in the Job Demand-Control-Support Model (JDC-S) and adverse working time characteristics (WTC) are potential risk factors. This combination is particularly...

Background: Demographic change is challenging health care. In Europe, shortfalls in nursing numbers already exist due to low retention rates. The development of prevention programs addressing nursing staff aged 45 and older and aiming to enable older nursing staff to remain healthy until retirement age is needed. Objective: The development and eval...

Work stress as measured by the work stress models of job strain, effort–reward imbalance, or injustice increases the risk for mental, psychosomatic, and cardiovascular disorders. On an individual level, interventions based on the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy are most effective and improve mental health outcomes immediately after the i...

Objective: To examine the main and interactive effects of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) strategy on depressive symptoms among the working population in the City of Kumning, China. Methods: We assessed the separate and combined effects of low versus high ERI and good versus poor SOC strategy on...

AimsThe aim of this study was to investigate whether selective optimization with compensation constitutes an individualized action strategy for nurses wanting to maintain job performance under high workload. Background High workload is a major threat to healthcare quality and performance. Selective optimization with compensation is considered to en...

"The life-span model of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) provides a valuable theoretical framework for understanding organizational behaviour related to coping with age-related changes. Although previous research has demonstrated that SOC strategies at work contribute positively to individual outcomes, the role of workplace character...

Background: Workflow interruptions, multitasking and workload demands are inherent to emergency departments (ED) work systems. Potential effects of ED providers' work on care quality and patient safety have, however, been rarely addressed. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and associations of ED staff's workflow interruptions, multitasking an...