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Burnout and music use in a high-cognitive demand occupation
Abstract
There is stress in the computer information systems industry that affects work performanceand employee wellness [1, 2, 3]. The nature of the business of creating information systems iscompetitive and frequently involves aggressive deadlines. The designers and developers ofthese systems are required to be highly innovative and efficient in the face of constant timepressures. The leading consequence of the stressors is reported as increased frustration which"negatively impacts a job that requires high levels of discipline, focus, and systematicthinking" [1, p. 73].In contrast, evidence from psychological literature suggests that mild positive moodscontribute to creative problem solving in task performance [4]. Increases in positive moodhelped explain the improved work performance of computer information systems developers(CISD) when working with preferred music [5]. In a recent study examining the prevalence ofpersonality type and music use [6] in two different CISD groups, there were twice as manyindividuals with introversion than with extraversion; a trend opposite to the general populationof nearly a two to one ratio of extraverts to introverts. Those with introversion also hadsignificantly greater negative mood than those with extraversion, with possible interference tooptimal work performance. Introverts, more so than extraverts, are reported to make use ofmusic for emotional regulation [7]. Thus, there is a need to account for the way in whichmusic influences these individual differences and consequential work performance.Greater evidence of the beneficial use of music in this high-stress occupation is neededand should be addressed by a) obtaining an objective productivity score, as compared topreviously self-reported productivity measures, and b) accounting for differential musiceffects on productivity for extraversion and introversion, and c) accounting for the effect of atimed music-condition for work performance.Research from organization science is currently emphasizing the role of daily moods injob behaviors, job satisfaction, and work outcomes [8], as well as the importance of enhancingself-adaptation, referred to as "thriving", in the workplace. [9]. Additionally, differences in personality type will determine differential mood and arousal needs and consequential workoutcomes [10]. This article contributes to the research on affect in the organizationalliterature, and, is pioneering in music-organizational literature for music psychology andmusic therapy. Lastly, the findings have practical implications for management of highcognitivedemand, high-stress occupations.
This research examined the effect of music use, personality and prior knowledge on mood and work performance of 62 Systems Analysts. Although the quality of the data modeling task did not appear to be affected by the experimental treatment of 10 minutes of music listening, the level of extraversion, modeling proficiency, and theoretical knowledge related to modeling showed significant effects. Nevertheless, the effects of music were demonstrated on several mood measures. The effect of music on negative and positive affect, along with their subscales, are presented. Finally, changes in the mood of participants who listened to the music are examined in the light of various demographic and personality variables.
This research examined the effect of music use, personality and prior knowledge on mood and work performance of 62 Systems Analysts. Although the quality of the data modeling task did not appear tobe affected by the experimental treatment of 10 minutes of music listening, the level of extraversion, modeling proficiency, and theoretical knowledge related to modeling showed significant effects. Nevertheless, the effects of music were demonstrated on several mood measures. The effect of music on negative and positive affect, along with their subscales, are presented. Finally, changes in the mood of participants who listened to the music are examined in the light of various demographic and personality variables.
Information systems professionals are experiencing workplace stress and loss of productivity during the design and coding phases of systems development. This study focused on the effect of music listening on anxiety and task achievement in a computer programming exercise. Subjects were 72 undergraduate students enrolled in an "Introduction to Programming" course at the University of Windsor in Southern Ontario, Canada. To assess the benefit of music listening on anxiety and task achievement, subjects were assigned to one of three conditions: control, primer or periodic. The primer group received music listening prior to the programming task while the periodic group listened to music prior to and throughout the programming task. One-way ANOVA results indicated a statistically significant difference in anxiety level between control and music groups with the greatest difference following the initial music listening. Repeated measures analysis revealed the least amount of anxiety level across time for the periodic group. There was no significant difference in syntax and logic task achievement between groups. However, the periodic group scored the highest means in both programming tasks.
The study examines the correlates of burnout in systems IS professionals. While there has been little previous research in the area of burnout among IS professionals, anecdotal evidence shows that burnout causes a negative impact on the peiformance of IS employees. These negative impacts can take the form of cynicism, dissatisfaction, and turnover McGee, 1996. In this study we empirically examine the correlations of burnout with several work attributes that are considered to be either antecedents or consequences of burnout. Two role stressors are examined in this study-role ambiguity and role conflict. These variables are theorized to be antecedents of burnout. In addition, two dimensions of organizational commitment-affective and continuance commitment-are examined as possible consequences of burnout. The emotional exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory is used to measure burnout in 312 IS professionals. Both role stressors were found to co "elate positively with burnout. In addition, affective commitment was found to be negatively correlated and continuance commitment positively correlated with burnout.
Working long hours, rushing to meet unrealistic deadlines, struggling to keep up with ever-advancing technology and ever-changing user demands – these are just some of the conditions that make a career in IT stressful. Fortunately for IT professionals, work-related stress can be effectively managed and thereby mitigated. Identifying the sources of stress on the job is a major step in its management and reduction.
This research examines personality type, trait mood, and use of music listening by 32 professional computer information systems developers CISD from two different IT environments in south Florida. Improved quality-of-work via use of individually preferred music listening has previously been reported in CISD. Music listening, offering an opportunity for improved positive mood, has been shown in the psychological literature to improve workplace task problem-solving and cooperative behaviors. Prevalence of basic personality type preferences was measured with the Myers-Briggs type inventory MBTI. Trait mood, also known as individuals' emotional dispositions, was measured with the multiple affect adjective check list MAACL. Results from this exploratory pilot survey indicate a significant prevalence of introversion, thinking, and judging types in CISD with greater negative trait mood for introversion and feeling types. Music listening trends by type are reported, including findings such as extraverts listen to music twice as much than introverts, and feeling types twice as much as thinking types. The findings and recommendations have important implications for managers of computer information systems developers and, as well, may be generalized to similar work contexts.
This study explores whether organizations can employ job design strategies to relieve organizational stress for information technology IT professionals. The effect of flexible work schedule, employee support and training, and telecommuting as potential coping resources to relieve stress were studied. Perceived workload, role ambiguity, work facilitation, and decision latitude were drawn from previous studies as potential stressors of IT professionals. Perceived stress was measured by two commonly used measures: work exhaustion and depressed mood. The results suggest that removing role ambiguity and improving work-facilitation ease work-related stress. Allowing employees to have flexible work schedules was also found to ease their perceptions of workload. Employee support and training strategies were found to influence decision latitude and role ambiguity. Telecommuting did not have any effect on the stressors. Results also indicate that the association between work exhaustion and depressed mood was stronger for males than females.
Burnout is an experience relevant not only to psychosocial professions, but also to technical work. It is predicted that in a technical profession work stressors are related to burnout and that this relationship is moderated by control at work, task requirements, and the quality of team interaction. In a sample of 180 software professionals from 29 software development projects, stressors were found to be positively related to burnout measures. Control at work, complexity at work, and openness to criticism within the team were all found to be significantly negatively related to lack of identification. Moderated regression analyses revealed that high cognitive requirements, high learning requirements, and low competition within the team enhanced the relationship between stressors and burnout.
The effect of preferred music listening on stress levels of 33 air traffic controllers (31 males, mean age = 34) was examined. A stratified random sample was employed to evenly represent Extraversion-Introversion and Low-High-Trait Anxiety in the experimental conditions. The control condition was sitting in silence, while the experimental condition was preferred music listening. Dependent variables included heart rate, mean arterial pressure, state anxiety, and perceived air traffic activity. Results indicated that in both the control and experimental conditions state anxiety levels significantly decreased over time (p < .05), with no difference in decrease between the conditions. There were no significant differences in physiological measures found between or within groups. However, a significant interaction effect revealed that the group with High-Trait Anxiety and Introversion experienced no decrease in state anxiety over time. This same personality combination also perceived significantly higher air traffic activity than the three other personality combination types. Self-reports of degree of liking the music and effectiveness in stress reduction indicate a positive report of music in reducing work stress for air traffic controllers. This study contributes to the development of a model that aspires to elucidate music and workplace interactions; as well, it has implications for music therapy practice in organizations.
This study tests predictions derived from a theoretical model of affect and decision making that identifies the effects of affect's two primary dimensions, Pleasantness and Arousal, on decision strategy selection. The model hypothesizes (i) a congruency between pleasantness and selected decision strategy and (ii) an arousal-induced restriction in attentional capacity. It was predicted that people under distress (evoked by an imminent in-class presentation) will employ simpler decision strategies and will form more polarized judgments. In Experiments 1 and 2, when forming person impressions, presenting subjects provided lower evaluations, employed simpler decision rules, and were more polarized in their evaluations. In both experiments, presenting subjects did not make lower retrieval-based evaluations of public and personal products. In Experiment 2, presenting subjects were willing to pay more for lottery tickets than nonpresenting subjects; they were also more likely than control subjects to choose a “sure” thing over a gamble of equal or lower expected value.