Psychological stress and muscle activity during data entry at visual display units

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether psychological stress causes increased muscle activity, especially static muscle activity, in the trapezius muscles of the neck and shoulder. A pilot and a main study were carried out with 10 males and 20 females, respectively. The subjects performed a VDU data entry task under psychologically stressful and non-stressful conditions. Stress reactions were measured by different methods: heart rate and heart rate variability, hormonal excretion, and subjective ratings of mood and body symptoms. The stress condition caused an increase in heart rate. The low-frequency variability increased and the high-frequency variability decreased. Ratings of motivation and relaxation decreased, and subjects felt more activated. Pain and discomfort from the stomach increased. Adrenaline and noradrenaline in urine were unaffected. The majority of the subjects showed moderately increased static and median EMG levels during the stress condition. The interindividual variation in muscular reactions was large. Statistically significant increases were obtained for the myoelectric activity of the left (resting) trapezius muscle when pooling the two groups. It appears that the increase in muscle activity due to this type of mental stress is small, and factors other than ‘attention-related’ load may be more important. The results indicate that some individuals may be more prone to general muscle tension, making them more likely to develop symptoms and musculoskeletal pain.     

The impact of a participatory organizational intervention on job stress in community health care institutions

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a short-term participatory intervention in health care institutions in Norway on workers' control, other job characteristics, job stress, subjective health and job satisfaction. Participants (including managers and supervisors) were randomly allocated to intervention groups and to a control group. Actions to solve problems based on the employees' own perceptions of the main problems were seen as the key motivators for organizational improvement and increased control at the task and office level in the work situation. The main stressors identified by the participants in this study were lack of information, communication and respect between professions, as well as the need for professional and personal development. The participatory intervention had a positive, but limited effect on work-related stress, job characteristics, learning climate and management style, and seemed to have started a beneficial change process. There were no negative short-term effects on work-related stress and job demands. Organizational interventions may be a potential training ground for acquiring participatory skills and resources, and if sustained after the intervention period, they can have long-term effects on problem solving, job stress and employee satisfaction.     

Responsibility in Home–School Relations — Finnish Parents' Views

Finnish parents' views on responsibility in the home–school relations were explored. Responsibility was here understood as responsibility over education and upbringing. The data consist of semi‐structured interviews with 24 mothers and four fathers. In the home–school discourses, parents and teachers were often referred to as partners, and active parental involvement in school life was seen as a key to children's success. However, in some discourses teachers and parents were seen as polar opposites, e.g. teachers as experts — parents as laymen. Few references were made to children's responsibility.     

L'attitude des employeurs à l'égard des réfugiés: les résultats d'une enquête suédoise

En se fondant sur une enquête auprès des entreprises, menée à grande échelle en Suède, les auteurs concluent à une hétérogénéité importante des attitudes par rapport à la main‐d'?uvre immigrée d'origine réfugiée, au comportement professionnel de ces travailleurs, à leur niveau de salaire et à la discrimination à leur égard, même si une expérience préalable en la matière limite les attitudes négatives. Pour la majorité des entreprises, les salaires minima conventionnels ne constituent pas un obstacle majeur au recrutement de réfugiés. Cependant, celles qui emploient beaucoup de réfugiés estiment que la réduction de ces seuils serait très bénéfique à l'emploi.     

Author Correction: Special Issue on The Scientization of Public Decision-Making Processes – the Relevance for the Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Public Organization Review -     

Early retirement differences between Denmark and The Netherlands: A cross-national comparison of push and pull factors in two small European welfare states

The goal of this study is to give a comprehensive empirical account of push and pull factors, situated at various societal levels, which may influence people's early retirement. Factors in two contrasting European countries have been analysed and compared: Denmark, where the rate of early exit/retirement is relatively low, and The Netherlands, where this rate is relatively high. Our analysis, looking into possible explanations for the difference in rates, includes factors that operate at the macro or institutional level of the labour market and the social security system, at the meso level of firms and companies, and at the micro level of individual workers. In addition, we not only look into the effects of structural, objective factors, which impacts are usually analysed from an incentive perspective, but also into the effects of cultural factors, i.e. of preferences, attitudes and values. Cultural factors related to early exit have not been the object of much international comparison thus far, although their possible significance is readily acknowledged. The differences in retirement behaviour in Denmark and The Netherlands are explained by the fact that Danish workers, at all three levels, are less experiencing structural and cultural factors pushing them out of the labour market, as well as experiencing factors pulling them into retirement, compared to workers in The Netherlands.     

Finite Sample Comparison of Parametric, Semiparametric, and Wavelet Estimators of Fractional Integration

In this paper we compare through Monte Carlo simulations the finite sample properties of estimators of the fractional differencing parameter, d. This involves frequency domain, time domain, and wavelet based approaches, and we consider both parametric and semiparametric estimation methods. The estimators are briefly introduced and compared, and the criteria adopted for measuring finite sample performance are bias and root mean squared error. Most importantly, the simulations reveal that (1) the frequency domain maximum likelihood procedure is superior to the time domain parametric methods, (2) all the estimators are fairly robust to conditionally heteroscedastic errors, (3) the local polynomial Whittle and bias-reduced log-periodogram regression estimators are shown to be more robust to short-run dynamics than other semiparametric (frequency domain and wavelet) estimators and in some cases even outperform the time domain parametric methods, and (4) without sufficient trimming of scales the wavelet-based estimators are heavily biased.