ORIGINAL PAPER
Relationships between occupational functioning and stress among radio journalists – Assessment by means of the psychosocial risk scale
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Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland (Department of Health and Work Psychology)
Corresponding author
Anna Najder
Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Department of Health and Work Psychology, św. Teresy 8, 91-348 Łódź, Poland
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2016;29(1):85-100
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ABSTRACT
Objectives: Job characteristics and the consequences of everyday stress among radio journalists who are not exposed to
traumatic events have not been studied sufficiently before. We aimed at determining the most common job characteristics
and their stressfulness; relationships between stress exposure, health and occupational functioning; differences between
radio journalists and other journalists, and also the psychosocial risk for health and functioning in this group. Material and Methods: The studied group involved 208 journalists, 134 of whom worked in radio stations. The respondents filled in
the Psychosocial Risks Scale (PRS) developed by the Department of Health and Work Psychology of the Nofer Institute of
Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland. Results: Requirement of mental effort and readiness to response quickly for most
of the time as well as limited possibilities for promotion were the most frequent journalists’ complaints. We confirmed
that higher levels of stress resulted in worse functioning – the radio journalists who experienced lower stress assessed their
health status and ability to work better, were more satisfied with particular aspects of their work, and were more involved
in their work. They also presented a significantly lower turnover intention. Moreover, the radio journalists were more
involved in their work than other journalists, but experienced lower satisfaction, took more sick leaves and had more days
of absence. Conclusions: Well-known relationships between stress level, satisfaction and occupational functioning were
confirmed. The most important conclusion refers to the fact that psychosocial risks and stress analysis should be based on
the understanding of specificity of each occupation or even position. It is so, because the same job characteristic may pose
a challenge for one person, while for another – it can result in extreme discomfort and anxiety – such an attitude broadens
understanding of the phenomenon. We also confirmed that the PRS is a well-designed method, appropriate to investigate
an individual perception of job environment and its stressfulness. Future research on causal relationships between the variables
is recommended.