Are Happy Workers More Productive? The Mediating Role of Service-Skill Use

Sleep quality and duration: A key to life satisfaction among military students

Military service is a demanding profession that requires high physical preparedness and mental endurance. At the same time, the demands of military duties often require early rising and shortened sleep duration. Such a reduction in sleep can reduce physical and mental performance, and these changes can be reflected in life satisfaction. For this reason, soldiers' life satisfaction is a crucial variable for their success and long-term service. This study examined the relationship between sleep quality, sleep duration, and life satisfaction in military medical students. The results on 35 military students showed that greater sleep quality corresponded to greater life satisfaction; this relationship was moderate and significant (r = -460, p = .005). Notably, participants (n = 17) who began to wake up without the use of an alarm clock reported an average of 11% higher life satisfaction than the participants who woke to an alarm clock; this difference between participants was statistically significant (p = .011, Cohen's d = .911). Pre- and post-intervention showed that sleep hygiene education could be a suitable solution to prevent sleep deprivation and positively impact life satisfaction. Our findings emphasize the importance of increased sleep hygiene education, especially in preparing future military officers and during military exercises. Prioritizing sleep hygiene in these ways can significantly increase soldiers' life satisfaction.

Work expectations, their fulfillment, and exhaustion among radiologists of all career levels: what can be learned from the example of Germany

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate work expectations of radiologists at different career levels, their fulfillment, prevalence of exhaustion, and exhaustion-associated factors.

METHODS

A standardized digital questionnaire was distributed internationally to radiologists of all career levels in the hospital and in ambulatory care via radiological societies and sent manually to 4500 radiologists of the largest German hospitals between December 2020 and April 2021. Statistics were based on age- and gender-adjusted regression analyses of respondents working in Germany (510 out of 594 total respondents).

RESULTS

The most frequent expectations were "joy at work" (97%) and a "good working atmosphere" (97%), which were considered fulfilled by at least 78%. The expectation of a "structured residency within the regular time interval" (79%) was more frequently judged fulfilled by senior physicians (83%, odds ratio (OR) 4.31 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.95-9.52]), chief physicians (85%, 6.81 [95% CI 1.91-24.29]), and radiologists outside the hospital (88%, 7.59 [95% CI 2.40-24.03]) than by residents (68%). Exhaustion was most common among residents (physical exhaustion: 38%; emotional exhaustion: 36%), in-hospital specialists (29%; 38%), and senior physicians (30%; 29%). In contrast to paid extra hours, unpaid extra hours were associated with physical exhaustion (5-10 extra hours: OR 2.54 [95% CI 1.54-4.19]). Fewer opportunities to shape the work environment were related to a higher probability of physical (2.03 [95% CI 1.32-3.13]) and emotional (2.15 [95% CI 1.39-3.33]) exhaustion.

CONCLUSIONS

While most radiologists enjoy their work, residents wish for more training structure. Ensuring payment of extra hours and employee empowerment may help preventing burnout in high-risk groups.

KEY POINTS

• Most important work expectations of radiologists who work in Germany are "joy at work," a "good working atmosphere," "support for further qualification," and a "structured residency within the regular time interval," with the latter containing potential for improvement according to residents. • Physical and emotional exhaustion are common at all career levels except for chief physicians and for radiologists who work outside the hospital in ambulatory care. • Exhaustion as a major burnout criterion is associated with unpaid extra hours and reduced opportunities to shape the work environment.

Shorted Happiness at Work Scale: Psychometric Proprieties of the Portuguese Version in a Sample of Nurses

In the last decades, happiness at work has been studied due to social changes; increased workload; stress; and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. Happiness at work is considered an umbrella concept as it covers individual and organizational aspects of working life. The aim of this study is to analyze the psychometric properties of the Shorted Happiness at Work Scale (SHAW) in a sample of Portuguese nurses. A cross-sectional study with 113 Portuguese nurses, from one of the islands of the Azores, was selected through a convenience sample. A sociodemographic/professional questionnaire and the SHAW scale were applied. Through the CFA, the SHAW trifactorial model was tested according to its theoretical reference, having obtained a general tolerable adjustment index. After respecification of the model through the correlation of the errors of two items, a better adjustment was obtained, but the RMSEA value remains problematic. Additionally, the values of the coefficient of internal consistency were indicative of good fidelity. The analysis of the psychometric characteristics of the SHAW scale, in the sample of Portuguese nurses, suggests a theoretical adaptation to the model of happiness at work.

Think Happy Be Happy: Salesperson’s Personal Happiness and Flourishing

Although the role of positive emotions is important in sales, personal happiness remains understudied in the selling context. Grounded in broaden-and-build theory, this study aims to examine the relationships among personal happiness, job involvement, job satisfaction and salesperson flourishing. For salespeople, the new demands of a connected world have largely blurred the boundaries between their personal life and work life. It has allowed emotions from their personal life to spill over into their workplace. Data from 137 salespeople in the retail context in India lend support for the proposed serial mediation model. The authors propose that the influence of personal happiness on a salesperson flourishing is mediated by job involvement and job satisfaction. Results of this study shows that personal happiness has a direct influence on the salesperson’s flourishing and is effective only through the mediating influence of job satisfaction and not of job involvement. This study extends the broaden-and-build theory by proposing that personal happiness may influence flourishing at work. The findings illustrate the need for a renewed focus on salesperson’s personal emotions, especially in todays connected workplace where the boundaries between personal and work life are shrinking

Testing a New Protocol of Nature-Based Intervention to Enhance Well-Being: A Randomized Control Trial

This study aims to test the associations of nature contact with multiple dimensions of psychological functioning. A total of 90 university employees were randomly assigned to spend their lunch breaks on (1) a 30-min structured protocol of nature contact and (2) a control group for 10 consecutive weekdays. Psychological distress, psychological well-being, and work-related psychological outcomes were assessed at baseline (T1), the day after the 10-day intervention (T2), and three months after the intervention (T3). Mixed-design analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted. Overall, significant intervention effects were found in the structured protocol of nature contact on psychological distress, well-being outcomes, and work engagement (all p < 0.05), whereas the 3-month post-intervention effects were non-significant. Our study showed that nature-based activities during lunch breaks could enhance office workers’ mental health in general, but the effects could be short-lived, calling for regular nature-based programs in occupational settings.

Happiness at work: A cross-cultural validation of happiness at work scale

The idea of Happiness at Work is drawn from psychology and economic studies. It is often considered as a synonym with 'wellbeing' and defined as a state characterized by a high level of life satisfaction, a high level of positive emotions, and less negative emotions. This research aims to validate the Happiness at Work scale in the Indonesian context. In this study, the researchers conducted cross-cultural adaptation for the Happiness at Work scale following systematic procedures to produce the Scale of Happiness at Work in the Indonesian language. Afterward, the researchers evaluated the content validity with the help of professional judgment and measured the Content Validity Index at the item level and the scale level. Further, to examine the psychometric properties of the Happiness at Work scale, the researchers administer the questionnaire to a sample of 105 (35 male and 70 female) lecturers to conduct exploratory factor analysis to formulate the new dimensionality of the Happiness at Work scale. The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis indicated that Happiness at Work in the Indonesian context could be measured using four dimensions. To confirm that the extracted dimensions measure a single construct, the researchers administered the produced version to a sample of 370 (147 male and 223 female). Afterward, researchers conducted confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the validity and reliability of the measurement model. This research found out that the Indonesian version of Happiness at Work measurement is reliable and valid. Thus, this study may contribute to the happiness at work literature of non-western context. In conclusion, the Indonesian-Happiness at Work scale shows robust psychometric properties that can be used for further research.