Psychological Health in Companies. An investigation into the relationships between work characteristics, job roles and psychological health in companies.

Abstract

The research literature contains a significant amount of information on the psychological health of managers, however, relatively little has been written about the psychological health of workers. There has been a long held assumption that there is little difference in the psychological health of workers and managers. This study challenges that assumption and investigates differences in psychological health that appertain to job role and job characteristics determined by job role. This study tested two related hypotheses, firstly, that `managers have significantly better psychological health than workers¿; secondly, that `that better psychological health was largely due to the increased self esteem that comes from having a more socially desirable role¿. Initial analyses of the data indicated that hypothesis 1 was upheld, but when split by sex hypothesis 1 was only upheld for females and not males; similarly hypothesis 2 was only upheld for females. This result was attributed to the influence of two variables, the `attribution of blame¿ and `need for external validation¿, and the different moderator and mediator roles they play for males and females. The study contradicts the assertion that the psychological health of workers and managers is similar, if not the same, and uses the differences found to explain why research in this field has often produced conflicting results. Areas of potential future research are indicated.