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, and positive consequences, i.e. engagement, personal growth/learning, will be addressed. A series of lectures introduces students to the most important occupational stress models (e.g., Job-Demand-Control-Support model, Effort-Reward Imbalance model). Empirical research regarding the impact of work factors on mental and physical health is discussed.
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. work-family conflict, burnout, ‘flow’, bullying). In order to ensure active involvement and participation in the discussion, students will read key publications before each presentation session. Finally, students write a short paper 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 theoretical occupational stress models;
be able to prepare and give a presentation in English on an occupational stress topic; and
be able to write a short paper answering a specific question regarding an occupational stress topic on the basis of scientific literature.
Timetable
For the timetables of your lectures, work groups and exams, please select your study programme in:
Psychology timetables
Registration
Course
Students need to enroll for lectures and work group sessions.
Master’s course registration
Examination
Students are not automatically enrolled for an examination. They can register via uSis from 100 to 10 calendar days before the date. Students who are not registered will not be permitted to take the examination.
Registering for exams
Mode of instruction
Three 3-hour lectures, student presentations and discussion sessions (three 3-hour and three 2-hour sessions), individual feedback on draft of presentation and draft of paper. Attendance is mandatory.
Assessment method
The final grade is based on: the oral presentation (40% of the grade), the individual paper (50% of the grade), and active participation/quality of input to discussions (10% of the grade). Note: both the presentation and the paper should be minimally graded 6 to pass the course.
The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences has instituted that instructors use a software programme for the systematic detection of plagiarism in students’ written work. In case of fraud disciplinary actions will be taken. Please see the information concerning fraud.
Reading list
Leka, S. & Houdmont, J. (Eds.) (2010) Occupational Health Psychology. Chichester. UK: Wiley-Blackwell. (note: this book will also be used in the course ’Interventions in Occupational Health’)
Further readings will be announced via Blackboard. Exemplary literature includes:
Bakker, A.B., Schaufeli, W.B., Leiter, M.P., & Taris, T.W. (2008). Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. Work and Stress, 22, 187-200.
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.
Ganster, D.C. & Rosen, C.C. (2013). Work stress and employee health: A multidisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 39(5), 1085-1122.
Maslach, C. (2008). Early predictors of job burnout and engagement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(3), 498.
Nielsen, M B, & Einarsen, S. (2012). Outcomes of exposure to workplace bullying: A meta-analytic review. Work and Stress, 26(4), 309-332.
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.
Zijlstra, F. & Sonnentag, S. (2006). After work is done: Psychological perspectives on recovery from work. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 15(2), 129-138.
Contact information
Dr. Margot van der Doef
doef@fsw.leidenuniv.nl