Entry requirements
Only open to master’s students in Psychology with specialisation Occupational Health Psychology.
Description
This course focuses on the role of workplace factors in employee health and well-being. Both potential negative consequences, i.e. mental and physical health problems (i.e. burnout, coronary heart disease), and positive consequences (i.e. work engagement, personal growth/learning) will be addressed. A series of lectures introduces students to the most important occupational stress theories (e.g., Person-Environment Fit model, Effort-Reward Imbalance model, Job Demands-Resources model). Empirical research regarding the impact of work factors on mental and physical health is discussed, taking into account methodological issues in this area of research.
After these lectures, sessions will entail presentations prepared by the students themselves on a contemporary issue in the work and stress field. Regarding the topic, students may put forward own suggestions, or choose a topic from an existing list (e.g., bullying, job insecurity, work-life balance, , burnout, ‘flow’). To stimulate active involvement and participation in the discussion, students will read key publications and send in questions based on these publications before each presentation session. Finally, students write a short paper (mini-review) answering a specific question related to their presentation topic.
Course objectives
Upon completion of this course, students will:
have scientific up-to-date knowledge on the impact of work factors on employee health and well-being, and on prominent occupational stress theories;
be able to prepare and give an informative, scientific presentation in English on an occupational stress topic; and
be able to write a short paper (mini-review) answering a specific question regarding an occupational stress topic on the basis of scientific literature.
In their future role as occupational health psychologists they will be able to draw on the key knowledge gathered regarding the relationship between work factors and employee health and well-being. Furthermore, in their professional role they may regularly be asked to provide a concise state-of-the-art perspective on an occupational stress topic to employers. Finally, in both their practical work and their research in the area of occupational health they will benefit from the critical approach to research developed during this course.
Timetable
For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable
Registration
NOTE As of the academic year 2021-2022, you must register for all courses in uSis.
You do this twice a year: once for the courses you want to take in semester 1 and once for the courses you want to take in semester 2.
Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from early August. Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from December. The exact date on which the registration starts will be published on the website of the Student Service Center (SSC)
By registering for a course you are also automatically registered for the Brightspace module. Anyone who is not registered for a course therefore does not have access to the Brightspace module and cannot participate in the first sit of the exam of that course.
Also read the complete registration procedure
Mode of instruction
This course consists of:
Three 3-hour interactive lectures;
Six student presentations and discussion sessions (three 3-hour and three 2-hour sessions);
Individual feedback on draft of presentation and on draft of paper.
Attendance is mandatory for all sessions.
Assessment method
The final grade is based on: the oral presentation (40% of the grade), the individual paper (50% of the grade), and quality of questions sent in (preparation for the presentation sessions) (10% of the grade). Note: both the presentation and the paper should be minimally graded 5.5 to pass the course.
The Institute of Psychology follows the policy of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to systematically check student papers for plagiarism with the help of software. Disciplinary measures will be taken when fraud is detected. Students are expected to be familiar with and understand the implications of this fraud policy.
Reading list
Leka, S. & Houdmont, J. (Eds.) (2010) Occupational Health Psychology. Chichester. UK: Wiley-Blackwell. Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 10 (note: this book will also be used in the course ’Interventions in Occupational Health’)
Ganster, D.C. & Rosen, C.C. (2013). Work stress and employee health: A multidisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 39(5), 1085-1122.
Sonnentag, S. & Frese, M. (2012). Stress in organizations. In I.B. Weiner, N. Schmitt, & S. Highhouse (Eds.), Handbook of Psychology (Vol. 12: Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chapter 21, pp. 560-592). London: Wiley.
Further readings for the presentation sessions will be announced via Brightspace. Exemplary literature includes:
Bakker, A.B., Demerouti, E., & Sanz-Vergel, A.I. (2014). Burnout and Work Engagement: The JD–R Approach. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior 1 (1), 389-411.
De Jonge, J. (2020). What makes a good work break? Off-job and on-job recovery as predictors of employee health. Industrial Health, 58(2), 142–152.
Declercq, F., Meganck, R., Deheegher, J., et al. (2011). Frequency of and subjective response to critical incidents in the prediction of PTSD in emergency personnel. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 24(1), 133-136.
Ferrie, J.E., Kivimaki, M., Shipley, M.J., Davey Smith, G. & Virtanen, M. (2013). Job insecurity and incident coronary heart disease: The Whitehall II prospective cohort study. Atherosclerosis, 227(1), 178-81.
Gohari, A., Wiebe, D., & Ayas, N. (2021) Shift working and cardiovascular health, Chronobiology International
Grandey, A. A., & Sayre, G. M. (2019). Emotional Labor: Regulating Emotions for a Wage. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(2), 131–137.
Nielsen, K., & Cleal, B. (2010). Predicting flow at work: Investigating the activities and job characteristics that predict flow states at work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 15(2), 180–190.
Nielsen, M B, & Einarsen, S. (2012). Outcomes of exposure to workplace bullying: A meta-analytic review. Work and Stress, 26(4), 309-332.
Siegrist, J & Li, J. (2016). Associations of extrinsic and intrinsic components of work stress with health: a systematic review of evidence on the Effort-Reward Imbalance model. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(4), article number 432.
Wepfer, A.G., Allen, T.D., Brauchli, R., Jenny, G.J., & Bauer, G.F. (2018). Work-Life Boundaries and Well-Being: Does Work-to-Life Integration Impair Well-Being through Lack of Recovery? Journal of Business and Psychology, 33(6), 727–740.
Contact information
Dr. Margot van der Doef doef@fsw.leidenuniv.nl