Admission requirements
Master’s students Occupational Health Psychology
Description
This course focuses on the role of workplace factors in employee health and well-being. Both the potential negative consequences, i.e. mental and physical health problems, and the positive consequences, i.e. engagement, personal growth/learning, will be addressed.
A series of introductory lectures introduces students to the most important psychosocial stress models (e.g., Job-Demand-Control-Support model, Effort-Reward Imbalance model, Person-Environment fit model). Empirical research regarding the impact of work factors on mental and physical health (e.g. burnout, cardiovascular disease) is discussed.
After these lectures, sessions will be dedicated to presentations on a contemporary issue in the work and stress field prepared by the students themselves. Regarding the topic of the presentation, students may put forward own suggestions, or choose a topic from an existing list (e.g. work-family conflict, impact of shift work on health, determinants of burnout, the experience of ‘flow’). In order to ensure active involvement and participation in the presentations and ensuing discussion, all students will read provided key publications on the topics at hand before each presentation session.
At the end of the course students will write a short paper related to the topic of their presentation.
Course objectives
Students will
acquire scientific up-to-date knowledge on the area of occupational stress
be familiar with the most prominent occupational stress models
be able to prepare and give a presentation in English on an occupational stress topic
be able to write a short paper on an occupational stress topic based on up-to-date scientific literature
Timetable
Work and Stress (2011-2012):
Mode of instruction
Four lectures
student presentations and discussion (6 sessions)
individual feedback on draft of presentation and paper
Full attendance is mandatory.
Assessment method
Assessment is based on: oral presentation (40% of the grade), individual paper (50% of the grade), attendance and active participation (10% of the grade). Note: both the presentation and the paper should be minimally graded 6 to pass the course.
From January 1, 2006 the Faculty of Social Sciences has instituted the Ephorus system to be used by instructors for the systematic detection of plagiarism in students’ written work. Please see the information concerning fraud .
Blackboard
Information on blackboard.leidenuniv.nl
Reading list
Readings available via ‘Blackboard’. Exemplary literature includes:
Sonnentag, S. & Frese, M. (2003). Stress in organizations. In W.C. Borman, D.R. Ilgen, & R.J. Klimoski (Eds.), Handbook of Psychology (Vol. 12: Industrial and Organizational Psychology, pp. 453-491). London: Wiley.
Shirom, A. (2003). The effects of work stress on health. In M.J. Schabracq, J.A.M. Winnubst, & C.L. Cooper (Eds), The Handbook of Work and Health Psychology (pp. 63-82). London: Wiley.
Chandola, T., Britton, A., Brunner, E., Hemingway, H., Malik, M., Kumari, M., Badrick, E., Kivimaki, M., & Marmot, M. (2008). Work stress and coronary heart disease: what are the mechanisms? European Heart Journal, 29, 640-648.
Taris, T.W., de Lange, A.H., & Kompier, M.A.J. (2010). Research methods in Occupational Health Psychology. In S. Leka & J. Houdmont (Eds.), Occupational Health Psychology (pp. 269-297). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
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.
Elovainio, M, Kivimaki, M, & Vahtera, J. (2002). Organizational justice: Evidence of a new psychosocial predictor of health. American Journal of Public Health, 92, 105-108.
Salin, D. (2003). Ways of explaining workplace bullying: A review of enabling, motivating and precipitating structures and processes in the work environment. Human Relations, 56, 1213-1232.
Muecke, S. (2005). Effects of rotating night shifts: Literature review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 50, 433-439.
Van Steenbergen, E., & Ellemers, N. (2009). Is managing the work-family interface worthwhile? Benefits for employee health and performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30, 617-642.
Master’s introduction and enrolment day
Make a reservation in your agenda so you will not miss any information that you will need during your master’s programme MSc in Psychology. Please consult the Agenda master meetings
Contact information
Dr. M. van der Doef
Room 2B34
Tel.: +31 (0)71 527 3987
E-Mail: doef@fsw.leidenuniv.nl