| 1. |
- Ohlsson, Alicia, 1979-
(författare)
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Adaptive behaviors and skills in high-level military staff work : Coping with organizational demands, use of smooth power, and political skill
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many organizations operate in fast-paced and collaborative environments. Individuals’ adaptive behavior may play an important role in managing challenges and for meeting organizational goals. Although individual adaptive behavior has previously been identified as important in organization productivity and flexibility, a lesser extent of research has focused on the variety of adaptive behaviors and skills that may aid in this process. The overarching aim of this thesis, addressed in three empirical studies, was to provide an increased understanding of the adaptive behavior and skills used in high-level military staff work. This included investigating what adaptive behaviors leaders used to try to manage demands and challenges and to investigate relevant skills used by leaders and military officers which may contribute to adaptability in military staff work. Study I, which used a qualitative approach, aimed to identify ways that leaders managed organizational demands and challenges and, subsequently, relate these strategies to established organizational theory regarding negative organizational characteristics. An inductive analysis identified five coping strategies: repair work, catching up, reproducing, managing loyalties, and balancing formal and informal processes. These were described as being used to decrease the workload and manage demands and challenges. Results of a deductive analysis indicated a possible relationship between the leaders’ coping strategies and negative organizational characteristics. Study II, which used a qualitative approach, aimed to identify what leadership skills were perceived as important for leaders in gaining adaptability in military staff work. A core variable was identified in the data, the leader’s use of smooth power. This included the use of structural, emotional and relational smoothness, to gain adaptability. Smooth power was interpreted as facilitating adaptive behaviors, including networking and influencing behavior. Study III investigated a specific social effectiveness construct, political skill, in a military staff context. This included the investigation of the 18-item Political Skill Inventory (Ferris et al., 2005). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the original four-dimensional representation of political skill, including networking ability, apparent sincerity, social astuteness, and interpersonal influence. The study also explored whether there were different combinations of the dimensions of political skill through latent profile analyses. Four profiles were identified: 1) weak political skill, 2) weak political skill with strong sincerity, 3) moderate political skill, and 4) strong political skill. Subsequent profile comparisons indicated differences regarding demographics, personality, and performance. The results from the thesis imply that there are a variety of behaviors that individuals perform to manage organizational demands and challenges, including reactive and proactive behaviors in military staff work. These behaviors appear to vary depending on contextual factors. In addition, the results indicate the importance of networking activity in military staff contexts, which appear to contribute positively to organizational outcomes. Taken together, the findings broaden the current understanding of the function and diversity that adaptive behaviors and skills may represent in relation to managing demands and challenges in high-level military staff work.
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| 2. |
- Engelkes, Torbjörn, 1971-
(författare)
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Loyal until death (?) : The nature, measurement and predictors of loyalty in a military context
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis was to broaden the understanding of the concept of loyalty within a military context, by focusing on how the nature of loyalty is experienced, how it can be measured and how it can be predicted. To achieve this, the thesis was structured in three interrelated studies, which initially aimed to examine the content of loyalty within the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF), then to develop and validate a scale to measure loyalty, and finally to examine possible predictors of loyalty.The aim of Study I was to examine how loyalty is experienced within the SAF. To achieve this, Study I examined how high-ranking officers – presumed to have a large influence on professional ethics within the SAF – gave meaning to their experiences of loyalty. The results showed that although the nature of loyalty in the military organization is based on a strong identification with the profession, loyalty is a multifaceted phenomenon which requires the individual to manage competing and sometimes counteracting domains (objects) of loyalty.The aim of Study II was to develop a psychometric scale for measuring loyalty in a military context, based on the findings of Study I. Given the complex and varying nature of loyalty and dealing with different domains of loyalty in the military, the scale was developed to consider several domains for an individual’s loyalty (e.g., workgroup, mission, nation). Additionally, there was a focus on the overall nature of loyalty involving sacrifice and action to protect the domain of loyalty. To achieve this, three independent samples, consisting of military personnel (in training and on overseas mission), were invited to answer a questionnaire based on the results from Study I. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a scale measuring loyalty, denoted the Swedish Military Loyalty Scale (SMiLS). The SMiLS was found to consist of a four-dimensional representation of the willingness to act loyally. The dimensions are sectioned in loyal sacrifice and loyal action, further divided into moderate and extreme loyal sacrifice and loyal action, respectively.The aim of Study III was to examine how individuals’ willingness to act loyally to certain domains (the closest workgroup, the unit, and the unit mission) can be predicted by social identity fusion and developmental leadership. To achieve this, a sample consisting of military personnel serving on an overseas mission in Mali, took part in a survey, using the SMiLS as the dependent variable. Demographic factors, such as rank and gender, were also examined, taking the outcome of loyalty into consideration. The results show that social identity mainly predicted the sacrificial dimensions of loyalty, while developmental leadership predicted all dimensions of loyalty for all domains.In conclusion, the present thesis broadens the understanding of loyalty within a military context. It also contributes with a scale for measuring loyalty and identifies two predictors for loyalty. Further research should focus on a deepened understanding of loyalty within the military and in the context of total defense organizations, further validation of the SMiLS and the examination of additional possible predictors for loyalty.
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| 3. |
- Huang, Qinghai, 1972-
(författare)
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The Nature of Women’s Career Development : Determinants and Consequences of Career Patterns
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Existing career theories are largely based on a stable working environment and have focused excessively on men and single work roles. In the postindustrial era, however, women’s careers, characterized by the constant negotiation of multiple roles and more frequent job changes, have had implications on the changing nature of careers. The general purpose of this thesis is to increase knowledge about the process of career development of women. The focus is on two aspects: Life Career (characterized by multiple role constellations over the life course) and Occupational Career (characterized by different shapes of occupational movement over the life course). Three sets of questions addressed these two aspects of career: trajectory patterns, interrelationships, and antecedents and consequences. Career biographies covered ages 16 to 43. Antecedents reflecting individual agency (e.g., life role value, aspiration, and early experiences) were investigated. The impact of family context on occupational choice was also examined. Among the consequences examined were midlife work wellness and stress, health, and wellbeing.Results showed that (1) Career patterns were highly diverse, including nine distinct life career patterns and ten occupational career patterns. (2) Occupational and life careers were significantly related, indicating that the paid work career is embedded in the overall life role structure throughout the life course. (3) Individual agency factors predicted life career. Occupational career was related to life career more than family context. (4) Occupational career did matter in work wellbeing. In terms of stress, health, and wellbeing at midlife, there was little difference among life career patterns, but more significant differences among occupational career patterns. The thesis indicates career theory can benefit from taking multiple roles and career development into account. Implications for career counseling, social policy, and organizations are discussed.
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| 4. |
- Richter, Anne, 1982-
(författare)
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Job Insecurity and Its Consequences : Investigating Moderators, Mediators and Gender
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis focuses on the relations between job insecurity and its consequences by addressing several specific research aims. The first research aim focused on expanding the range of job insecurity consequences by studying the relation between job insecurity and work–family conflict over time. In Study 3 it was found that job insecurity affected work–family conflict one year later among men. The second research aim addressed mechanisms involved in the job insecurity–outcome relations, focusing on factors that might make employees more vulnerable to, or buffer against the negative effects of job insecurity. Coping styles were investigated as potential moderating factors in Study 1, where it was found that problem-focused coping did not function as a buffer, nor did devaluation or avoidance coping. Avoidance coping was actually a vulnerability factor for men, and related to more negative reactions to job insecurity in terms of well-being. Two forms of job dependence as potential moderating factors of the relations between job insecurity and its outcomes were investigated in Study 2. It was found that the relative contribution to the household income functioned as a vulnerability factor for men. Higher levels of work centrality combined with either quantitative or qualitative job insecurity were related to higher levels of job satisfaction among women. Finally, in Study 3, workload was investigated as a mediating variable of the relation between job insecurity and its outcomes, where workload linked job insecurity to work–family conflict one year later among men. The third research aim of this thesis addressed gender, where differences between men and women were found in all three studies. Overall men seemed to suffer more from job insecurity. The results of the thesis confirm the negative impact of job insecurity, but also provide information regarding important areas for future research to study, such as the investigation of mechanisms and the role of gender.
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| 5. |
- Rostami, Arian, 1973-
(författare)
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Police officers under pressure : sexual and gender-based harassment, stress, and job satisfaction in Sweden
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Police officers encounter challenging and stressful situations at work, which negatively impact their health, job performance, and aspects of their lives. Regarding the gendered structure and competitive work environment of police organizations, women are under extra pressure from the pervasive gendered norms within the police organization. The aim of this dissertation is to study sexual and gender-based harassment and work-related stress as important work environment elements from a gender perspective, and to explore if and how these elements can affect police officers’ job satisfaction in the context of Swedish police work.This thesis is based on three studies: a scoping review, a quantitative study, and a qualitative study, resulting in four articles. In the scoping review study on sexual and gender-based harassment in police work in the European context 16 articles on sexual and gender-based harassment against police employees were studied. Thematic analysis was applied to obtain the main patterns across and within the included studies. In the qualitative study, data collection included one group interview and 12 individual interviews with male and female police officers. Thematic and content analysis were conducted to analyze the interviews. During the quantitative study, data were collected from 152 male and female police officers applying a set of questionnaires including sociodemographic questions, the Police Stress Identification Questionnaire (PSIQ), Sexual and gender-based harassment questions, and Job Descriptive Index (JDI). The scoping review showed that most of the European studies were focused on sexual harassment, while gender-based harassment was often overlooked or mixed with other types of harassment and discrimination. Six main themes were found in the studies; the existence of sexual and gender-based harassment, perpetrators, associated factors, consequences, individual response, and impact of organizational policies. In the mixed methods article, results from the quantitative and qualitative studies on sexual and gender-based harassment indicated that female police officers experienced a statistically significant higher percentage of gender-based harassment compared to male officers. However, there was not any significant gender difference in sexual harassment. “Sexual comments and jokes” and “mocking or telling jokes about the #MeToo campaign” by colleagues were reported as the most frequent sexual harassment and gender-based harassment items. Additionally, police officers identified the presence of toxic jargon and a culture of silence, along with ineffective or negative management styles, as organizational factors that can contribute to the perpetuation of such harassment. Also, the quantitative results on police work stress showed that police officers rated higher on the “impact on significant others” stress and “operational stress” subscales. In addition, female officers reported higher stress in these subscales compared to their male counterparts. The police officers who had experienced sexual harassment reported higher “self-image stress” and “operational stress”. Moreover, in studying job satisfaction among Swedish police officers, both male and female officers reported the highest satisfaction with “people on present job” and the lowest satisfaction with “opportunity for promotion” and then “pay”. No significant gender gap was found in job satisfaction subscales, nor was there a significant association between these subscales and experiences of harassment. However, organizational stress was negatively related to three domains of job satisfaction; “job in general”, “pay” and “supervision”. The research findings revealed that despite substantial changes in the Swedish police organization and work culture during recent decades, the issue of sexual and gender-based harassment remains persistent. This finding highlights the need for more attention to organizational factors (cultural and managerial issues) enabling sexual and gender-based harassment. The findings also underscore the higher levels of work pressure and challenges faced by female officers and the importance of challenging prevailing gender norms affecting both female and male police officers. Moreover, addressing organizational sources of stress can improve the working conditions and job satisfaction of police officers. Finally, the thesis highlights the importance of considering sexual and gender-based harassment along with work stress to create a safer and more productive police work environment.
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| 6. |
- Annell, Stefan, 1970-
(författare)
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Hållbar polisrekrytering : Teoretiska, metodologiska och praktiska perspektiv på rekrytering och urval
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Organisationer behöver kvalificerad personal för att fungera effektivt och därmed blir rekrytering en viktig aktivitet. Det är också angeläget att ny personal anpassar sig väl till arbetsförhållandena. Syftet med denna avhandling var att tydliggöra möjligheterna att genom urval bidra till en långsiktigt hållbar rekrytering för organisation, individ och samhälle.Avhandlingen omfattar tre delstudier och baseras på data från rekrytering av nya poliser i Sverige. En kohort har följts från urvalet av de sökande till polisutbildningen våren 2008 (N = 1 344) över tre uppföljningstillfällen (N = 717–729), nämligen vid slutet av två års polisutbildning, vid slutet av sex månaders aspirantutbildning och vid slutet av det första anställningsåret.Studie I syftade till att undersöka möjligheterna att välja ut de sökande som är mest lämpade att bli poliser genom att kombinera information från flera urvalsmetoder. Vanligtvis används intervjuer för att i slutet av urvalsprocessen välja ut de mest lämpade kandidaterna. Analyser med flera kriterier på framgångsrik rekrytering (prestation, tillfredsställelse med utbildning respektive arbete, vilja att stanna i yrket och hälsa) vid de tre uppföljningstillfällen, visade att ett alternativt förfarande – att kombinera information från urvalsmetoder som i tidigare steg använts för att sålla bort olämpliga sökande – hade högre prognosförmåga. Det handlade om information från begåvningstest, personlighetstest och konditionstest. Ett sådant förfarande kan också vara mer tillförlitligt och resurseffektivt. Vid urval av poliser bör intervjuer däremot främst ses som ett verktyg för att sålla bort olämpliga kandidater.Studie II syftade till att öka förståelsen för hur resultat från begåvningstest ska tolkas och användas vid urval. För de flesta yrken, inklusive polisyrket, har begåvningstest visats vara en av de urvalsmetoder som bäst predicerar prestation. Det har förklarats med effekter av generell begåvning. Resultaten från Studie II visade dock att utöver generell begåvning kan också en verbal och kunskapsladdad komponent antas viktig för att predicera prestation. Samtidigt gav studien stöd för att vid urval använda en samlad totalpoäng från begåvningstest.Studie III syftade till att undersöka den relativa betydelsen av urvalsfaktorer som personlighet och begåvning respektive den psykosociala arbetsmiljön för nya polisers arbetsrelaterade attityder och hälsa efter det första anställningsåret. Studien visade att arbetsmiljöfaktorer, såsom möjligheter till utveckling och återkoppling i arbetet samt rimlig arbetsbelastning, var betydligt viktigare än urvalsfaktorer för nya polisers anpassning till arbetsförhållandena i yrket.Sammanfattningsvis visar föreliggande avhandling att det är meningsfullt att över tid beakta flera kriterier på framgångsrik rekrytering. Den visar också att information från flera urvalsmetoder bör kombineras för att välja ut de mest lämpade kandidaterna. Vidare visar avhandlingen på värdet av att använda verbalt laddade begåvningstest vid urval. Förmågan att predicera framgång i polisyrket med olika urvalsmetoder är dock måttlig. Avhandlingen visar däremot att arbetsförhållandena för ny personal kan ha avgörande betydelse. Det betyder att organisationer som strävar efter hållbar rekrytering bör prioritera både urval och sunda arbetsförhållanden för ny personal. Det gäller inte minst polisorganisationer där kostnaderna för rekrytering är höga.
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| 7. |
- Bernhard-Oettel, Claudia, 1977-
(författare)
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Alternative employment and well-being : Contract heterogeneity and differences among individuals
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The increasing use of temporary and part-time employment in recent decades was initially expected to lead to negative effects for the individual. The empirical evidence, however, has been equivocal and the consequences are therefore still unclear. This thesis adopts a psychological approach to alternative employment by investigating how heterogeneity in employment contracts together with individual differences associate with work attitudes and subjective well-being. It comprises four studies in which questionnaire data is used to study differences among temporary workers (Study I & II) and differences in the alternative workforce (fixed-term, on-call, and part-time workers) compared to permanent full-time workers (Study III & IV), in order to analyze the impact of different types of contracts together with individual differences. Study I found that attitudes, role stress, and health varied across different patterns in individuals’ backgrounds and contract forms. Study II demonstrated that distinct patterns of voluntary and involuntary contract motives and of work involvement associated with differences in reported work-related and general well-being. Study III showed that well-being and organizational attitudes were related to individuals’ job and contract preferences and, to some degree, heterogeneity in contract types. Study IV revealed that individuals’ perceptions of job conditions (control, demands, and job insecurity) predicted well-being, whereas type of employment contract was found to be less important. Employment contract forms, however, interacted with individual diversity in Study III and IV. The thesis concludes that differences among individuals are important for understanding the implications of different types of alternative employment contracts. Future research should focus on these interactive mechanisms to better understand the consequences of alternative employment forms.
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| 8. |
- Eib, Constanze, 1985-
(författare)
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Processes of Organizational Justice : Insights into the perception and enactment of justice
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Well-being at work is of major public interest, and justice at the workplace can be a key factor contributing to employees and managers feeling well. Research has found direct relationships between organizational justice perceptions and work and health outcomes. With research on the justice–health link still emerging, this thesis examines the moderating and mediating processes for the effects of justice perceptions on work outcomes and especially health outcomes. As little is known about those who enact justice, the antecedents and consequences of justice enactment are also studied. In Study I, the relationships between organizational justice and work and health outcomes were in focus, as the moderating role of job characteristics was investigated utilizing the demand–control(–support) model. Organizational justice and job characteristics were associated with work and health outcomes within and across time. The multiplicative effects showed that the organizational justice effects were stronger when perceived job demands were high, job control was low or social support was low. Study II examined the processes through which justice perceptions translate into health outcomes. Building on the allostatic load model, mental preoccupation with work was found to be a relevant mediator of the justice–health relationship, with locus of control moderating the mediated relationships. Study III focused on the actor perspective. Investigating predictions based on the deontic model of justice and ego-depletion theory, moral regard and justice self-efficacy predicted justice enactment positively, and justice enactment had positive effects on feeling professionally recognized but also negative health consequences for the actors themselves. This thesis contributes to advancing the emergent justice–health research stream by providing insights into the processes underlying these aspects, and by incorporating this stream into the actor perspective.
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| 9. |
- Göransson, Sara, 1970-
(författare)
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Seeking Individual Health and Organizational Sustainability : The Implications of Change and Mobility
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Extensive changes are taking place in working life and creating new and important areas for research. New knowledge is needed in order for individuals and organizations to be able to maintain long-term development. The aim of this thesis is to increase our understanding of how change and (im)mobility in the labor market are related to employees’ health, wellbeing, and work-related attitudes. The thesis comprises three studies, based on questionnaire data from different samples. Study I examined the potential consequences of downsizing in two organizations that had implemented change in two different ways (proactively and reactively). A proactive approach seems to lessen change-related demands and provide an opportunity for increased participation, which helps lessen the negative effects on employee work attitudes and wellbeing. The descriptive data from a representative sample in Study II revealed that 28 percent of the permanent and 50 percent of the temporary employees did not work in their preferred occupations. The results indicate that those individuals who were involuntarily embedded (locked-in position), especially among the permanent employees, had more health problems and less development at work. Study III utilizes a newly developed construct (work-related health attributions) that focuses on the individual’s perception of the relation between work and health. The results indicate that it seems to be a promising construct for predicting job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention. For employees to have the opportunity to participate in organizational change, as well as the opportunity to exercise mobility and alter their circumstances when the organization, occupation, or job is not contributing to their better health appear to be factors that help improve health and sustainability for both employees and organizations.
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| 10. |
- Hansen, Niklas, 1974-
(författare)
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Arbetsvillkor i privat och offentlig sjukvård : Implikationer för personalens attityder och hälsa
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Omvandlingen av sjukvården mot marknadisering och nya driftsformer har huvudsakligen genomförts utifrån ekonomiska och politiska föresatser om ökad effektivitet och vårdkvalitet. Goda arbetsvillkor för personalen är en viktig förutsättning för förverkligandet av dessa mål. Givet det oklara kunskapsläget kring psykologiska implikationer av omställningen i välfärdssektorns styrning var syftet med avhandlingen att studera olika aspekter av arbetsvillkor samt arbetsrelaterade attityder och hälsa i privat, bolagiserad och förvaltningsdriven sjukvård. Det gjordes genom att undersöka hur krav och resurser i arbetet förhåller sig till uppkomsten och utbredningen av utbrändhet hos sjuksköterskor, betydelsen av kontroll i och över arbetet för de anställdas arbetstrivsel samt hur motivationsbaserade kognitioner av bemyndigande hos vårdpersonal förändras vid privatisering och relaterar till attityder och hälsa. De empiriska studierna inkluderade såväl tvärsnittliga som longitudinella enkätdata från tre svenska akutsjukhus med olika driftsform. Resultaten visade högre nivåer av utbrändhet hos sjuksköterskor i privat jämfört med förvaltningsdrivet sjukhus. För arbetstrivsel fanns ingen nivåskillnad mellan de tre driftsformerna. Krav i arbetet hängde samman med högre utbrändhetsnivåer och lägre arbetstrivsel. Flera resurser var förenade med lägre grad av utbrändhet medan kontroll hängde samman med högre trivsel. Vid en förändring från bolagiserad till privat driftsform var vårdpersonalens bemyndigande relativt stabilt. Dock fanns efter privatiseringen en tendens till standardisering då graden av bemyndigande blev mer lika. Likaså skedde en statusmässig differentiering i bemyndigande mellan yrkesgrupperna genom att flera med låg status fick mindre bemyndigande. Sammantaget pekar avhandlingen på fler likheter än skillnader mellan driftsformerna vilket antyder att driftsform tycks ha mindre betydelse för såväl nivå som betydelse av arbetsvillkor för personalens attityder och hälsa.
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