March 2010
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53 Reads
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3 Citations
Abstract 1782 Karasek's demand / control model, emotions and health Branka ZEI-POLLERMANN, PHD, Vox Institute-Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, Pierre Jacot, MA, Centre d'education permanente, Mont-sur-Lausanne,, Switzerland Purpose: to measure the relation between Karasek's demand/control model, the frequency of emotional experiences at work, self-reported psychological well-being and health. Subjects: 1204 civil servants of the Swiss canton Vaud (48.9 % women). Method: The subjects answered Karasek's demand/control questionnaire, 12 questions regarding the frequency of emotional experiences at work (6 positively valeneced and 6 negatively valenced emotions). Respondents rated the frequency of each emotion on a 4-point scale. Internal consistency measured by Cronbach's alpha was 0.82 for positive states and was 0.76 for negative states. A new variable was created by subtracting the sum-score of negatively valenced emotional states from the sum-score of positively valenced emotional states. The resulting distribution ranged from -18 to 18. This variable, called "emotional balance", was normally distributed (Skew = -.217, Kurt. = -.122, Mean = 1.02, SD = 5.05). Participants estimated their psychological well-being at work and their general health on a 5-point scale. Results: Gender, and education level were not related to psychological well-being and physical health. Age had no effect on the psychological well-being but a small negative correlation was found between this variable and health (Spearman's rho = -0.075, p <0.01). Every emotion was significantly correlated with both psychological well-being and physical health. The psychological well-being showed the strongest link with the "emotional balance" (F = 179.3, p < 0.01). Physical health was also significantly correlated with "emotional-balance" (F= 53.97, p < 0.01). The emotional balance indicator was negatively correlated with the psychological demands variable (r = -.18, p < 0.01) and it was positively correlated with the decision latitude (r = .377, p<0.01). Anovas between the decision latitude score, psychological well-being and physical health were significant (F = 21.13 and F = 21.47, both p < 0.01 repectively). The Anovas between psychological demands and the same variables were also significant (F = 11.60 and F = 11.39, both p < 0.01). The emotional balance explained .366 of the psychological well-being variance (adjusted R-square, r = .605).