The Effect of Globalization on Employee Psychological Health and Job Satisfaction in Malaysian Workplaces

Conceptualizing Sexual Pleasure at Home as a Work-Related Stress Recovery Activity

Job stress is pervasive in today's workforce and has negative implications for employees' mental and physical well-being and job performance. Recovery activities outside of work can reduce strain and improve work outcomes; however, little is known about pleasurable intimate recovery experiences and their influence on work outcomes, even though these experiences are important parts of most people's lives outside of work. The present study examined sexual activity that is shared either with a relationship partner or oneself (masturbation) and how pleasure specifically predicts well-being and work outcomes to induce recovery. Results suggest that pleasurable sexual activity, with a partner or alone, is related to perceived recovery from work stress, job satisfaction, work engagement, and life satisfaction. Moreover, perceived recovery from work mediated the relationship between pleasurable sex and work outcomes. Gender moderated this relationship such that pleasurable sex was a stronger predictor of recovery for women (compared to men) in the context of sex within committed relationship partners (but not masturbation). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Are we happy with our work in globalization? Globalization experience, achievement motivation, and job seniority as predictors of work satisfaction in a group of office workers

BACKGROUND

The main aim of this study was to determine whether globalization experience is a predictor of work satisfaction. In addition, we inspected a regression model consisting of globalization experience, job seniority, and goal achievement to determine how much variance in work satisfaction is accounted for by globalization experience. Most the theoretical texts about globalization suggest its negative impact on everyday life. The negative effects are - work-life balance problem, weakening of mechanisms to protect against the fear of death, and uncertainty.

METHOD

250 office workers participated in the study (M_age = 38.37; 145 females and 105 males). They responded to paper-and-pencil anonymous questionnaires measuring globalization experience, achievement goals, and work satisfaction. Respondents were also asked about their job seniority. We used Spearman's rho correlations and multiple linear regression to check the basic linear relation between variables, and hierarchical multiple regression to determine which of them is the strongest predictor of work satisfaction.

RESULTS

The results indicated that globalization experience (R² change = 0.089; p < .05) is a statistically significant negative predictor of work satisfaction and job seniority (R² change = 0.056; p < .05) while achievement goals (R² change = 0.188; p < .001) are positive predictors of work satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

We concluded that further research on globalization experience is necessary because it is the precursory individualistic approach to globalization research and we obtained a statistically significant yet small relation with work satisfaction in correlation and regression analyses. The presented results are also the rationale for promoting mastery approach goals in the workplace to improve work satisfaction as they are statistically significant positive predictors of it.

Working Conditions, Export Decisions, and Firm Constraints-Evidence from Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises

Better working conditions promote employee creativity and loyalty. Meanwhile, a stable and skilled workforce contributes to a firm’s sustainable growth. Therefore, providing favorable working conditions is one of the critical sustainable goals of many countries worldwide. However, some critics are concerned participating in international trade causes worsening employment conditions in developing countries. Driven by these concerns, the relationship between exports and labor conditions is worth illuminating. This study adopts the data from Vietnam’s small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs). The dataset was collected by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and the University of Copenhagen, UNU-WIDER from 2011 to 2015. Unlike previous studies, this study clusters firms by export status, including four groups: non-exporting, consecutive exporting, start-exporting, and exit-exporting. Observing dynamic exports sheds light on the effects of export decisions more thoroughly than the static export. Another contribution, this study focuses on an essential aspect of working conditions: providing fringe benefits. Subsequently, the analysis is upgraded by controlling for firm constraints as interaction variables. A major constraint and financial constraint are adopted to proxy for a firm’s constraints. This work promotes assessments to be more accurate, thereby providing more valuable information to policymakers. Finally, a robustness test is applied to each type of fringe benefit. Instrumental variables are used to solve the problem of endogeneity. The results found that exporting firms provide better working conditions. Additionally, constrained firms have worse working conditions.

The Vagus Nerve Can Predict and Possibly Modulate Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases: Introducing a Neuroimmunological Paradigm to Public Health

Global burden of diseases (GBD) includes non-communicable conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These share important behavioral risk factors (e.g., smoking, diet) and pathophysiological contributing factors (oxidative stress, inflammation and excessive sympathetic activity). This article wishes to introduce to medicine and public health a new paradigm to predict, understand, prevent and possibly treat such diseases based on the science of neuro-immunology and specifically by focusing on vagal neuro-modulation. Vagal nerve activity is related to frontal brain activity which regulates unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Epidemiologically, high vagal activity, indexed by greater heart rate variability (HRV), independently predicts reduced risk of GBD and better prognosis in GBD. Biologically, the vagus nerve inhibits oxidative stress, inflammation and sympathetic activity (and associated hypoxia). Finally, current non-invasive methods exist to activate this nerve for neuro-modulation, and have promising clinical effects. Indeed, preliminary evidence exists for the beneficial effects of vagal nerve activation in diabetes, stroke, myocardial infarction and possibly cancer. Thus, we propose to routinely implement measurement of HRV to predict such GBD in populations, and to test in randomized controlled trials effects of non-invasive vagal nerve activation on prevention and treatment of GBD, reflecting possible neuro-modulation of health.

Workplace mental health: An international review of guidelines

The aim of this systematic review was to determine the quality and comprehensiveness of guidelines developed for employers to detect, prevent, and manage mental health problems in the workplace. An integrated approach that combined expertise from medicine, psychology, public health, management, and occupational health and safety was identified as a best practice framework to assess guideline comprehensiveness. An iterative search strategy of the grey literature was used plus consultation with experts in psychology, public health, and mental health promotion. Inclusion criteria were documents published in English and developed specifically for employers to detect, prevent, and manage mental health problems in the workplace. A total of 20 guidelines met these criteria and were reviewed. Development documents were included to inform quality assessment. This was performed using the AGREE II rating system. Our results indicated that low scores were often due to a lack of focus on prevention and rather a focus on the detection and treatment of mental health problems in the workplace. When prevention recommendations were included they were often individually focused and did not include practical tools or advice to implement. An inconsistency in language, lack of consultation with relevant population groups in the development process and a failure to outline and differentiate between the legal/minimum requirements of a region were also observed. The findings from this systematic review will inform translation of scientific evidence into practical recommendations to prevent mental health problems within the workplace. It will also direct employers, clinicians, and policy-makers towards examples of best-practice guidelines.

Marginalization: A Revisitation With Integration of Scholarship on Globalization, Intersectionality, Privilege, Microaggressions, and Implicit Biases

In 1994, the concept of marginalization was explored in an article in Advances in Nursing Science. This is a revisitation of the concept incorporating new scholarship. This update is founded on feminism, postcolonialism, critical race theory, and discourse deconstruction, all viewpoints that have been explicated in nursing. The purpose of this analysis is to look at new scholarship and concepts useful to applying marginalization in nursing knowledge development from the standpoint of Bourdieu's macro, meso, and micro levels. New scholarship includes globalization, intersectionality, privilege, microaggressions, and implicit bias. Implications for decreasing health disparities through this new scholarship are discussed.

Depression among physicians working in public healthcare in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

PURPOSE

Prevalence of depressive disorders has been reported among physicians in a number of different settings. The aim of the present study is to assess the prevalence of self-reported depression and its associated factors among physicians working in the public healthcare system of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state, Brazil.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 2009 to investigate individual and occupational dimensions of depressive disorders in a group of physicians working at several municipal healthcare units. The percentage of physicians that self-reported a confirmed diagnosis of depression by another physician was used as the prevalence proportion; the Poisson regression univariate and multivariate models were applied to study factors associated with depression.

RESULTS

The response rate was 81.2 %, of which 12.0 % reported depression confirmed by another physician. Reports of RSI/WMSD (p < 0.001) and passive work (p < 0.05) were positively and independently associated with the outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data bring valuable information that may help guide interventions and health-promoting activities for physicians by indicating concrete measures to change working conditions that affect mental health.

Condições de trabalho nos ônibus e os transtornos mentais comuns em motoristas e cobradores: Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil, 2012

A prevalência de transtornos mentais comuns (TMC) contribui para a carga mundial de doenças. O objetivo foi descrever a prevalência de TMC numa amostra de motoristas e cobradores da Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil, e verificar se as condições do trânsito e as condições internas aos ônibus estavam associadas ao desfecho. Os respondentes foram 1.607 trabalhadores. A amostra não probabilística foi estimada de acordo com as quotas do efetivo distribuído nas empresas de ônibus (n = 17.470). As entrevistas face a face utilizaram o questionário digital. Trânsito ruim perdeu significância estatística na análise multivariável; renda mais elevada e condições de trabalho e de segurança inadequadas mantiveram-se associadas ao desfecho. Comportamentos nocivos e situação vulnerável de saúde foram associados com TMC. Abordar a saúde dos trabalhadores dos ônibus urbanos é uma rara contribuição que pode amparar a elaboração de políticas públicas dirigidas às populações metropolitanas.

Tabagismo e estressores ocupacionais em bombeiros, 2011

OBJETIVO Analisar a prevalência de hábito tabagista em bombeiros e os fatores associados. MÉTODOS Estudo transversal com 711 bombeiros de Belo Horizonte, MG, em 2011. As informações foram obtidas por meio de questionário estruturado autoaplicado, incluindo características sociodemográficas, estressores de origem ocupacional, situação de saúde e eventos adversos na vida. O tabagismo foi analisado como variável dicotômica (regressão logística múltipla). RESULTADOS A prevalência de tabagismo entre bombeiros foi de 7,6%. O hábito atual de fumar foi positivamente associado à baixa escolaridade, faixa intermediária de renda mensal, presença de problemas psiquiátricos no passado, alta exposição a eventos traumáticos na vida, discriminação social, estressores operacionais e baixa demanda de trabalho. CONCLUSÕES A baixa prevalência de tabagismo indica a relevância das condições de emprego na explicação de hábitos nocivos e saúde. Estressores organizacionais e operacionais contribuem independentemente para explicar o hábito de fumar na população estudada.