Psychosocial demands at work How many dimensions should we use? An analysis based on the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ)

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Psychosocial demands at work How many dimensions
should we use ?
An analysis based on the Copenhagen Psychosocial
Questionnaire (COPSOQ)
Tage S. Kristensen Harald Hannerz Karl B.
Christensen Vilhelm Borg NIOH, Copenhagen
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The National Danish Psychosocial Work Environment
Study
A representative sample of the adult (20-60 y)
working population
2/3 mailed questionnaire 1/3 telephone
interview Response rate 62 49 women N 1,858
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Main question
How many scales for psychosocial demands at work
should we have ? And which ?
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5 demand scales
No. of items Alpha
Quantitative demands 7 0.80
Cognitive demands 8 0.86
Emotional demands 3 0.87
Demands for hiding emotions 2 0.59
Sensorial demands 5 0.70
One scale for demands related to decisions and
responsibility (executive demands) was not
confirmed. The two scales for emotions were
not intended but appeared in the analyses.
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Correlations between demand scales were modest
Range 0.12 0.46
Highest correlations 0.45 Emotional and
cognitive 0.46 Emotional and hiding
emotions Lowest correlations 0.12 Quantitative
and sensorial 0.12 Emotional and sensorial
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Associations with stress, fatigue and self-rated
health
Quantitative Negative
Emotional Negative
Hiding emotions Negative
Cognitive Positive
Sensorial No clear picture
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Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire Quantitative
demands
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Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire Cognitive
demands
9
Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire Emotional
demands
10
Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire Demands for
hiding emotions
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Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire Sensorial
demands
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Social class and quantitative demands at work
Danish Psychosocial Work Environment Study
Score
55.4
44.8
42.4
37.3
p lt 0.0001 N 1,684
Social Class
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Social class and emotional demands at work
Danish Psychosocial Work Environment Study
Score
Women
46.6
45.6
40.5
36.4
42.1
Men
37.8
24.7
23.4
Plt0.0001 for both genders N 849 women and 835
men
Social Class
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Distribution of jobs according to emotional
demands and demands for hiding emotions
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Work with clients/patients
Teachers
Doctors nurses
60
Social workers
50
Work with customers/personnel
Emotional demands
Restaurant workers
Managers
40
Traffic ass.
Financial personnel
Work with things
Office workers
Machine fitters
Sales workers
Building caretakers
30
Machine operators
Transportation workers
Electro-mechanical workers
Farmers
20
Building workers
10
50
40
30
20
10
Hiding emotions
15
Social class and developmental work
Danish Psychosocial Work Environment Study
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Development and growth
High
2
Cognitive demands
Stagnationand passivity
3
4
Low
Low Possibilities for development High
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