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Contains fulltext : 252388.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) 26 juli 2022

Although the construct of work engagement has been extensively explored, a systematic meta-analysis based on a consistent categorization of engagement antecedents, outcomes, and well-being correlates is still lacking. The results of prior research reporting 533 correlations from 113 independent samples ( k = 94, n = 119,420) were coded using a meta-analytic approach. The effect size for development resources ( r = .45) and personal resources ( r = .48) was higher than for social resources ( r = .36) and for job resources ( r = .37). Among the outcomes and well-being correlates explored, the effect size was highest for job satisfaction ( r = .60) and commitment ( r = .63). Furthermore, moderation analysis showed that (a) concerning the occupational role, work engagement finds a low association with turnover intention among civil servants, volunteer workers, and educators; (b) collectivist cultural environments reported a greater association of feedback with engagement than individualistic environments; (c) the relationship between personal resources and engagement was stronger among workers with university degrees than workers with high school diplomas. Furthermore, the absorption dimension showed a lower effect with all variables under investigation than vigor and dedication.

Safety training promotes safety at work, in particular through the use of engaging methods. This study introduces a newly developed measure of individual engagement in safety training, and aims to analyze the psychometric proprieties of the scale. The safety training engagement scale (STE) consists of five items pertaining to the trainee’s dedication and absorption in a safety training session. Two studies are carried out to analyze the validity of the scale. The first study focuses on the construct (internal) validity, to examine the scale’s internal consistency and dimensional structure. The second study seeks to provide further evidence for construct validity by testing the external validity of the scale. The sample consists of 913 (study 1) and 133 (study 2) participants in safety training programs in the field of the chemical industry who were invited to fill the STE scale after attending a safety training course. The results provide support to affirm the validity and reliability of the scale. The discussion describes the implication and the limitations of using the STE scale in practical safety training programs, and outlines recommendations for research to improve the scale’s robustness.

Aims This study aimed to investigate the association between organizational citizenship behaviour enacted by nurses and the occurrence of adverse nursing-sensitive patient outcomes. Background Managing psychosocial factors (i.e., aspects concerning the work environment) is key to ensure patient safety, to prevent exacerbation of case complexity and to cope with critical shortages in human and financial resources. Methods Self-report measures of nurses' organizational citizenship behaviour were combined with objective data on the incidence of adverse nursing-sensitive outcomes (i.e., pressure ulcers and restraint use) collected through patients' medical records. Participants were 11,345 patients and 1346 nurses across 52 teams working in 14 Italian hospitals. Data were analysed using multilevel binary logistic regression models. Results A negative relationship between nurses' organizational citizenship behaviour and restraint use was identified, with an odds ratio of 0.11. Thus, for a one-unit higher organizational citizenship behaviour score, the odds of using restraints shrink to about one eighth of the previous level. Conclusions Intervention strategies to foster the implementation of organizational citizenship behaviour among nurses may inhibit the occurrence of critical outcomes affecting patients' health and well-being (i.e., using restraint devices). Implications for Nursing Management In health care organizations, shaping a psychosocial environment encouraging organizational citizenship behaviour can mitigate the occurrence of adverse nursing-sensitive outcomes such as restraint use on patients.

Background and objectives The treatment of chronic illnesses requires health care professionals (HCPs) to master several nontechnical skills to meet patient care needs. This article aims to describe the rationale and the inductive process through which a self-assessment tool for the nontechnical skills of hemophilia teams was conceived, developed, and tested. Methods Starting from an explorative analysis of hemophilia HCP work experiences, the process followed 3 phases: an in-depth analysis of hemophilia HCP skills; the questionnaire development; and a pilot study. Results Using the voice of HCPs as a starting point, the tool proved to be able to identify precise cross-professional and intercultural challenges as well as related required and/or acquired skills in the hemophilia field. Conclusion The proposed tool may contribute to providing HCPs with strategic knowledge to successfully perform everyday practices, to improve the effectiveness of hemophilia teams and the care model adopted by their centers, and to implement intercultural research in this field. It may be used to propose ad hoc training courses targeted by challenge, in order to fill the major gaps reported by the teams, or targeted by medical specialty or country (and therefore health care system) specificity.

Background: There is compelling evidence to suggest that leadership behaviour and teamwork are critical success factors in healthcare organisations facing increasingly complex demands and limited resources. Effective teamwork is essential to deliver high-quality care, requiring integrating different professionals in the healthcare sector. Leaders play a significant role in facilitating teamwork by managing conflicts and promoting cooperation among team members. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance of leadership in supporting the mental health and well-being of team members. Methods: A cross-lagged research design was used to examine the relationship between mental health-specific (MHS) leadership and teamwork. Participants were 118 healthcare professionals (76.3% female; 44.9% aged between 45 and 54 years old). Results: A serial mediation model was confirmed, showing an indirect effect of mental health leadership on teamwork through interpersonal conflict and cooperation. Conclusions: Effective (MHS) leadership can positively impact the teamwork of healthcare professionals, particularly during times of crisis.

Safety training of migrant workers in construction has focused on technical skills with limited attention to non-technical skills, which support safety training transfer to the worksite, both immediately after training and in the long term. Using realist evaluation as our theoretical framework, this study explores the transfer of two key non-technical skills to construction sites: communication and decision-making.\ud \ud \ud \ud Trained workers completed questionnaires post-training and after six months. A moderated mediation model found an indirect link through training transfer between communication and decision-making skills immediately post-training and six months later. The results also revealed that high levels of safety self-efficacy moderated the relationship between communication, but not decision-making, safety skills post-training and the extent to which trained workers reported transferring these skills. The study has important practical implications, showing the significance of training transfer of non-technical skills, such as communication and decision-making, to the worksite.

The study aimed to extend the current knowledge of the relationship between job insecurity and performance. In line with traditional stress theories, work-family and burnout were hypothesized as serial mediators of the negative link between job insecurity and job performance. Also, the current study hypothesized that the association between job insecurity and the mediators [i.e., Work-family conflict (WFC) and burnout] could be buffered by perceived organizational justice among employees. Therefore, we empirically tested a moderated serial mediation model. Participants were 370 employees of an Italian multiservice social cooperative. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The obtained results indicated that WFC and burnout mediated the association between job insecurity and job performance. Furthermore, perceived organizational justice buffered the relationship between job insecurity and WFC. Concerning job burnout, the association with job insecurity was moderated only among employees perceiving medium and high levels of organizational justice. The moderated serial mediation index provided support to the role of organizational justice in decreasing the association between job insecurity and job performance. This study delves deeper into the variables explaining the relationship between job insecurity and job performance by testing a serial process mechanism that involved WFC and burnout. Additionally, the obtained results provide suggestions to organizations and managers regarding the protective role of organizational justice to sustain employees’ mental health and performance. Practical implications at the organizational and managerial level are provided, along with a focus on the actual impact of the pandemic.

In questo capitolo viene presentata l’indagine condotta dal gruppo di ricerca interdisciplinare di Pedagogia sperimentale e Psicologia del lavoro e delle organizzazioni del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Educazione “G. M. Bertin” dell’Università di Bologna su tre Progetti di Rete realizzati da istituti scolastici dell’Emilia-Romagna per conto dell’Ufficio scolastico regionale della stessa regione negli anni scolatici 2017-18 e 2018-19.

Purpose The association between resources and work engagement has been well-established among different occupational groups. The purpose of this paper is to go one step further through the investigation of the relationship between personal (i.e. hardy personality) and job-related (i.e. opportunity for learning and development) resources and work engagement in the long run. Design/methodology/approach A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted on a sample of healthcare professionals working in a spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation hospital located in northern Italy. Findings The results of cross-lagged structural equation modeling indicated the occurrence of reciprocal causal relationships between the study variables. In particular, personal and job-related resources were related to an increase in work engagement over the course of the study. The level of engagement displayed by participants, in turn, was positively related to their personal and job-related resources over time, thus revealing the occurrence of positive cycles in the workplace. Originality/value On the whole, these findings provide a deeper understanding of the role played by hardy personality as a personal resource able to promote employees’ motivation and, at the same time, they advance the scientific knowledge concerning the construct of positive cycle.

Perceived employability acquires, for university students, growing importanceto deal with occupational uncertainty. This study examines how teaching inuniversity influences perceived employability in a sample of Italian final-yearuniversity students. We draw on Conservation on Resources Theory andCareer self-management model to hypothesise a positive impact of supportfrom teaching staff on students' perceived employability. We also contend thatstudents' self-efficacy mediates the relationship between support from teachingstaff and perceived employability. One hundred fifty-one university studentscompleted a survey three times over 10 months. The results confirm thatsupport from teaching staff enhances students' perceived employabilitydirectly and indirectly by shaping students' self-efficacy. Our findings confirmthe role of university teachers and their didactical practice to equip theirstudents with career resources.

La promozione della qualità della didattica universitaria ha come scopo fondamentale quello di garantire agli studenti un apprendimento significativo ed efficace. Si tratta, in particolare, di assicurare agli studenti l’acquisizione di effettive competenze, intese come entità complesse, nelle quali si integrano molteplici elementi, quali le conoscenze, insieme alle abilità e agli aspetti metacognitivi e alle competenze trasversali strategiche per l’apprendimento e per la vita (Le Boterf, 1990; Pellerey, 1983; 2004). In questo senso, costruire e aumentare il proprio livello di competenza significa essere in grado di mobilizzare (in maniera sempre più efficace) i vari elementi, al fine di utilizzarli in modo pertinente all’interno di specifici contesti. Pellerey (2004 p. 12) parla, in proposito, della competenza come della «…capacità di far fronte ad un compito o a un insieme di compiti, riuscendo a mettere in moto e a orchestrare le proprie risorse interne, cognitive, affettive e volitive e a utilizzare le risorse esterne disponibili in modo coerente e fecondo». Creare le condizioni affinché la didattica universitaria possa efficacemente promuovere competenze è, dunque, un’esigenza di grande importanza per il sistema universitario, in particolare laddove si desideri il più possibile spostare l’asse di equilibrio da una logica improntata sulla mera selezione, verso logiche di promozione di competenze e di innalzamento del livello intellettuale di tutti gli studenti o della maggior parte di essi. Questo contributo presenta, in sintesi, il modello teorico e metodologico che definisce il sistema per l’innovazione della didattica universitaria che l’Università di Bologna sta realizzando. Si tratta di un progetto ampio, orientato dall’idea che la formazione universitaria debba prioritariamente promuovere, per tutti gli studenti e le studentesse, competenze intese come entità complesse, che integrano le conoscenze, le abilità, gli elementi metacognitivi, le competenze trasversali strategiche per l’apprendimento e per la vita. Il progetto attiva un processo circolare che parte dalle competenze didattiche del docente, con la finalità principale di assicurare lo sviluppo delle competenze degli studenti e si propone di incidere su molteplici livelli e dimensioni dei processi di insegnamento-apprendimento, in una prospettiva diacronica. Il progetto prende ispirazione, nella sua cornice teorico-metodologica, dal modello della Formative Educational Evaluation (Scriven, Stufflebeam, Stake, Lincoln, House e Howe in Kellaghan e Stufflebeam, 2003; Bondioli, Ferrari, 2004), in particolare, della Ricerca-Formazione intesa in senso valutativo (Betti, Vannini, 2013; Betti, Davila, Martínez, Vannini, 2015; Asquini, 2018). L’applicazione del modello ai contesti didattici dell’Università di Bologna ha potuto beneficiare di due esperienze pilota di ricerca valutativa realizzate all’interno dell’Ateneo con i docenti dei Corsi di laurea in “Infermieristica” e in “Economics and Finance” (CLEF). Il modello bolognese contempla azioni valutative orientate specificamente in senso formativo (di analisi e progressiva ri-progettazione delle azioni didattiche supportata da interventi formativi ad hoc rivolti ai docenti) che promuovono nei docenti capacità di riflessione e autoanalisi delle proprie prassi didattiche e azioni di formazione alla didattica attraverso metodologie innovative e l’uso delle tecnologie. Tali azioni sono definite su tre linee di intervento: in verticale all’interno del singolo Corso di Studio (in base alle evidenze emerse dai precorsi di Formative Educational Evaluation); attraverso una formazione per specifici target (es. neoassunti), per ruoli (es. coordinatori dei CdS) e diffusa (formazione rivolta a tutta la componente accademica).

Because the working population age is increasing, organizations are struggling to find ways to maintain employees’ desire and interest in staying on at work. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to enhance knowledge concerning the role played by personal resources (i.e. work ability) and psychosocial aspects (i.e. older workers stereotypes) in influencing desired retirement age and work engagement in older workers. Data was collected twice, using questionnaires on a sample of 565 older workers working in a public organization in Italy. Specifically, work ability, age stereotypes on older workers and desired retirement age were measured at T1, while work engagement was measured at T2 (eight months later). Using the Preacher and Hayes approach, a moderated mediation analysis was performed controlling for age, self-rated health, expected retirement age, tenure and job position. Results showed that older workers with higher levels of work ability and lower perceptions that in their environment there are age stereotypes, desire to work longer, and in turn stay engaged at work.

Applicants’ self-cognitions toward selection procedures are decisive to produce favorable outcomes. Drawing upon the career self-management model, this study explored the impact of performance feedback after a simulated employment interview on interview self-efficacy (ISE) and outcome expectations. Participants (a sample of recent graduates; N=240) were given timely feedback after the simulated interview with suggestions to improve their performance. The interviewer’s feedback was positively related to participants’ ISE measured after the feedback. A significant relationship between participants’ ISE and outcome expectations emerged. Feedback was related to outcome expectations only indirectly, via ISE. This study contributes to existing knowledge about ISE and provides practitioners with hints to help job seekers to master job search in troubled times. Practitioner notes Interview self-efficacy is a major predictor of performance in the employment interview. We show that performance feedback enhances interview self-efficacy and outcome expectations. Job seekers in training should be given meaningful feedback to raise their interview self-efficacy.

PurposeThis study explores the factors that explain the adoption of innovative teaching practices within schools and how this is determined by the different perceptions of principals and teachers.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use the self-other agreement to measure the difference between the principal and teachers' rating based on the responses of 255 principals and 10,415 teachers, applying polynomial regression with surface analysis to examine the in-agreement/disagreement of self- and other-ratings.FindingsResults indicate that schools where principals and teachers agree on the level of collaborative culture, learning climate, professional development and instructional leadership are associated with higher innovative teaching practices, creating opportunities for stimulating learning environments. In addition, the adoption of innovative professional practices is more likely to result when there is disagreement with teacher over-rating the factors.Practical implicationsIt has practical implications for developing strategies aimed at encouraging the implementation of innovative teaching practices among teachers and it extends the research on teachers' professional practices by using self-other agreement data collection method and surface analysis.Originality/valueThe vast collection of data provide a unique investigation opportunity of the effects of collaborative culture, learning climate, professional development and instructional leadership on innovative teaching in Italy.

As the aging population and workforce constitute a worldwide concern, it is becoming necessary to predict how the dual threat of aging and technology at work increases the job vulnerability of older workers and jeopardizes their employability and permanence in the labor market. The objective of this paper is twofold: (1) to analyze perceptions of artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation in work settings and the expected impact of these technologies on older workers to contextualize this emergent phenomenon; and (2) to propose a general model related to “Aging-and-Tech Job Vulnerability” to explain and predict the combined effect of aging and AI/robotics/automation on job insecurity and additional outcomes among older workers. The propositions of the Age-and-Tech Job Vulnerability model developed in this paper seek to present a first approach for the conceptual advance and research on this emerging phenomenon and entails several theoretical and practical implications for organizational psychology.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between general self-efficacy (GSE), job search self-efficacy (JSSE), extraversion and job search success within a sample of new entrants in the labour market. It is hypothesised that JSSE acts as a mediator between GSE and job search success. Evaluation of the hireability – made by expert interviewers – of new entrants involved in a job interview simulation is proposed as a job search success criterion. Moreover, the moderating role of extraversion on the relationship between JSSE and job search success is explored.Design/methodology/approachData were collected on 177 graduates from an Italian university. Participants were involved in a simulation of an interview conducted by experts of the personnel selection process, who gave an evaluation. Macro PROCESS for SPSS was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsGSE has an indirect effect on job search success via JSSE. Moreover, extraversion has a moderating effect on the JSSE–job search success relationship for more extraverted job seekers.Practical implicationsJob search and counselling practitioners should consider extraversion and personal differences to improve the effectiveness of interventions aimed at fostering new entrants' self-regulatory resources and behaviours during the job search.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing research about the job search process by testing a new and important job search success criterion, showing that GSE could help new graduates in establishing a specific self-efficacy, such as JSSE, and demonstrating that extraversion interacts with JSSE.

Safety motivation is, nowadays, acknowledged as a key determinant of safety performance. The relationship between motivation, work injuries and accidents has been confirmed by numerous studies that found that safety behavior is associated with fewer injuries and accidents and that some safety behavior, voluntary safety behavior (such as safety participation), is largely induced by motivation to work safely. Safety motivation can be considered as a multi-dimensional construct, in which it is possible to distinguish between controlled safety motivation and autonomous safety motivation on the basis of the degree of internalization of safety motivation at the individual level. The aim of this study was to shed some light on the antecedents of safety motivation and, in particular, on the role of safety values (i.e. individual perception of the priority given to safety at work) as a mediator between perceived quality of Personal protective equipment (PPE) and both dimensions of safety motivation: autonomous and controlled. The sample consisted of 426 employees who worked in three process industries. The data was collected by an anonymous questionnaire with validated measures. A statistical mediation model was adopted to analyze the data. The results show that general safety motivation is affected by perceived equipment quality directly and indirectly (via company safety value). Controlled safety motivation is not affected by perceived equipment quality (directly or indirectly). On the contrary, autonomous safety motivation is affected by perceived equipment quality directly and indirectly (via company safety value).The results are essential to define how PPE should be introduced not only to protect the workers but to increase their safety motivation too.

The frequency of conflicts with patients’ families is one of the main contributors to the amount of emotional demands that healthcare professionals must tackle to prevent the occurrence of burnout symptoms. On the other hand, research evidence suggests that hardiness could enable healthcare professionals to handle their responsibilities and problems effectively. Based on the health impairment process of the Job Demands–Resources model, the main goal of this study was to delve deeper into the relationship between conflict with patients’ families, emotional demands, and exhaustion, as well as to test the buffering role of hardiness. Data were collected from a sample of N = 295 healthcare professionals working in a private hospital in Northern Italy. Most of them were women (78.6%) with a mean age of 40.62 years (SD = 9.50). The mediation of emotional demands within the association between conflict with families and emotional exhaustion and the moderating role of hardiness was tested using a bootstrapping approach. In the current sample, emotional demands mediated the association between conflict with families and exhaustion among healthcare professionals. Moreover, this relationship decreased among individuals with higher levels of hardiness. These findings contribute to the current understanding of the negative impact played by conflict with families on healthcare professionals’ psychological well-being. Furthermore, they corroborated the role of hardiness as a personal resource that could prevent the occurrence of burnout symptoms. In addition to manage—and decrease—episodes of conflict with patients and their families, organizations in the healthcare sector should develop interventions aimed at fostering employees’ hardiness and, consequently, tackle job demands ingrained in their profession (i.e., emotional demands).

Refereed/Peer-reviewed The present study provides evidence for a valid and reliable tool, the Academic Quality at Work Tool (AQ@workT), to investigate the quality of life at work in academics within the Italian university sector. The AQ@workT was developed by the QoL@Work research team, namely a group of expert academics in the field of work and organizational psychology affiliated with the Italian Association of Psychologists. The tool is grounded in the job demands-resources model and its psychometric properties were assessed in three studies comprising a wide sample of lecturers, researchers, and professors: a pilot study (N = 120), a calibration study (N = 1084), and a validation study (N = 1481). Reliability and content, construct, and nomological validity were supported, as well as measurement invariance across work role (researchers, associate professors, and full professors) and gender. Evidence from the present study shows that the AQ@workT represents a useful and reliable tool to assist university management to enhance quality of life, to manage work-related stress, and to mitigate the potential for harm to academics, particularly during a pandemic. Future studies, such as longitudinal tests of the AQ@workT, should test predictive validity among the variables in the tool.

Human reliability analysis (HRA) is a major concern for organizations. While various tools, methods, and instruments have been developed by the scientific community to assess human error probability, few of them actually consider human factors impact in their analysis. The active role that workers have in shaping their own performance should be taken into account in order to understand the causal factors that may lead to errors while performing a task and identifying which human factors may prevent errors from occurring. In line with this purpose, the aim of this study is to present a new methodology for the assessment of human reliability. The proposed model relies on well-known HRA methodologies (such as SPAR-H and HEART) and integrates them in a unified framework in which human factors assume the role of safety barriers against human error. A test case of the new method was carried out in a logistics hub of an energy company. Our results indicate that human factors play a significant role in preventing workers from making errors while performing tasks by reducing human error probability. The limits and implications of the study are discussed.

Psychological reactions towards personnel selection are acquiring growing importance, as they significantly impact applicants' performance in the selection process. This study introduces the Multi-dimensional Job Interview Self-efficacy (MJISE) construct and its operationalisation into a sound MJISE measurement. We propose that MJISE consists of five factors related to interviewees' Self-efficacy: self-promoting, managing demanding interaction with the interviewers, dealing with interview-related anxiety, preparing for the contents and the logistics of the job interview. After developing the items for the MJISE measure, we examined its validity. We tested content validity with an independent panel of job interview experts. Subsequently, two studies dealing with Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses revealed that the multi-dimensionality of MIJSE is represented by a bifactor structure (one general factor and five specific factors, orthogonal to the general factor). We evaluated the external (convergent, discriminant, and predictive) validity for establishing the MJISE factors' plausibility over and beyond other interview-related variables, such as personality traits, obtaining mixed results. The discussion describes the implication of using the MJISE scale in practical job search programs and outlines recommendations for research to improve the scale's robustness further.

Questo contributo presenta, in sintesi, il progetto di sistema per l’innovazione della didattica universitaria che l’Università di Bologna sta realizzando. Si tratta di un progetto ampio, orientato dall’idea che la formazione universitaria debba prioritariamente promuovere, per tutti gli studenti e le studentesse, competenze intese come entità complesse, che integrano le conoscenze, le abilità, gli elementi metacognitivi, le competenze trasversali strategiche per l’apprendimento e per la vita. Il progetto pone al centro le competenze didattiche del docente e si propone di incidere su molteplici livelli e dimensioni dei processi di insegnamento-apprendimento, in una prospettiva diacronica. In particolare, il progetto trae la sua cornice teorico-metodologica dal modello della Formative Educational Evaluation (Scriven, Stufflebeam, Stake, Lincoln, House e Howe in Kellaghan e Stufflebeam, 2003; Bondioli, Ferrari, 2004) e, in particolare, della Ricerca-Formazione intesa in senso valutativo (Betti, Vannini, 2013; Betti, Davila, Martínez, Vannini, 2015, Asquini (CRESPI) 2018). L’applicazione del modello ai contesti didattici dell’Università di Bologna ha potuto beneficiare di due esperienze pilota di ricerca valutativa realizzate all’interno dell’Ateneo con i docenti dei Corsi di laurea in “Infermieristica” e in “Economics and Finance” (CLEF); nella logica della formative educational evaluation, il modello bolognese contempla azioni valutative orientate specificamente in senso formativo (di analisi e progressiva ri-progettazione delle azioni didattiche supportata da interventi formativi ad hoc rivolti ai docenti) che promuovano nei docenti capacità di riflessione e autoanalisi delle proprie prassi didattiche, specifiche azioni di formazione alla didattica attraverso metodologie innovative e l’uso delle tecnologie.

Studies on women participation in the workforce show inequalities and distinguish vertical and horizontal segregation. Despite their progress in education and training, the gender pay gap and glass ceiling phenomenon persist. Women’s labour force participation rates have increased in the last decade, but nevertheless women earn less than men and are more likely to work part-time than men and to obtain career advancement and representation in political and business leadership positions. Unequal distribution of family duties could hindrance female presence in labour market leading to situations of work-family conflict (WFC), which represents one of the main psychosocial risk factors leading to poorer health and reduced psychological well-being. Considering the increase in the studies that confirm the health implications of work-family conflict, it is important to shift attention to the positive side of work-family relationship. Work and family could benefit from each other rather than being conceptualized as conflicting. In order to promote good work-family role conciliation, scholars and practitioners could purpose interventions both at individual and organizational levels.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the factors that can influence the transfer process of training in open skills, i.e. non-technical skills (NTS). Specifically, according to the model of the transfer process, the aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of both personal (e.g. self-efficacy) and work environment (e.g. safety leadership styles) antecedents of intention to transfer. Design/methodology/approach A total of 88 workers belonging to two different plants of the same chemical company filled in a questionnaire at the beginning (T1) and at the end (T2) of the training intervention. The majority of the sample was composed of men (95.5 per cent), with the mean age being 45.19 years old, and they had worked in the same company for an average of 17.2 years. Personal (self-efficacy) and organizational (transformational and passive leadership) factors were measured at T1, while intention to transfer was measured at T2. To investigate the combined effect of both personal and environmental characteristics on the transfer process, a moderation analysis was conducted following the Preacher and Hayes approach. Findings Results showed that all the antecedents investigated (except for passive leadership) impacted on the intention to transfer. Furthermore, high levels of self-efficacy combined with higher levels of transformational leadership resulted in higher levels of intention to transfer. Research limitations/implications The sample size is quite small, and effective transfer of NTS has not been measured. Practical implications Results suggest that organizations should focus on fostering self-efficacy of the trainees and transformational leadership of the supervisors so as to facilitate the transfer process of NTS. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which has considered both individual and contextual characteristics to analyse the transfer process of NTS.

The current study was aimed at assessing the extent that job-seeking networking may explain the positive association between career planning and self-perceived employability. In addition, the moderator role of political skill in strengthening the relationship between career planning and job-seeking behavior was explored. A sample of N = 2,561 students and graduates searching for jobs from one of the largest Italian universities filled out an online questionnaire. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Results showed that the positive relationship between career planning and self-perceived employability was mediated by job-seeking networking. Furthermore, the association between career planning and job-seeking networking appeared to be stronger for people who possessed greater political skill. This study may advance the comprehension of the added value of proactive career behaviors within the process that links career planning and self-perceived employability. In addition, primary intervention aimed at maximizing graduates’ possibilities of attaining employment was suggested.

Although there has been growing attention to clients' expectations of career counseling, more research is necessary to clarify the role of these expectations in shaping client satisfaction at the end of the intervention. On the basis of expectation confirmation theory, this study examined the indirect effect of clients' initial expectations on overall satisfaction through the perceived performance and final confirmation of expectations. We also explored whether this indirect effect is dependent on counselors' initial expectations. Longitudinal data were collected on 83 counselor-client dyads involved in a career counseling intervention in northeast Italy. Results confirmed that clients' initial expectations predicted overall satisfaction with the intervention through the subsequent mediation of perceived performance and confirmation of clients' expectations. The moderating role of the counselors' initial expectations was not confirmed. These findings imply that career counselors should invest their efforts in managing clients' expectations.

Academic literature has recognized teaching as a particularly stressful occupation, specifically, the research confirmed the central role of emotional dissonance in the experience of emotional exhaustion. Albeit previous studies confirm the existence of circular dynamics involving job demands and individual&rsquo, s well-being, studies focusing on the long-term relationships between job demands, need for recovery, and emotional exhaustion are still lacking. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore how emotional dissonance, need for recovery, and emotional exhaustion are related over time. By using the general framework of the health impairment process of the Job Demands-Resources model, these paths were investigated by means of a three-wave longitudinal design (n = 107 schoolteachers). Results of structural equation modeling analyses generally supported our hypotheses. Specifically, it was found that the model with reciprocal relationships between emotional dissonance and exhaustion on the one hand, and between need for recovery and exhaustion on the other, exhibited the best fit with the data.

The present study aimed to explore the mediating role of hostile customer relations in the association between emotional dissonance and workers&rsquo, mental health. Moreover, the moderating role of proactive personality as a buffer against hostile customer relations was assessed. Emotional demands become crucial within professions that involve a direct relationship with clients and, if poorly managed, can negatively affect workers&rsquo, health and performance. Accordingly, data were collected on a sample of n = 918 mass-retail employees working for one of the leading Italian supermarket companies. Most participants were women (62.7%) with a mean age = 40.38 (SD = 7.68). The results of a moderated mediation analysis revealed that emotional dissonance was related to more hostile customer relations that, in turn, were associated with higher rates of mental health symptoms. Proactive personality emerged as a protecting factor that prevented the onset of conflicts with clients, particularly among workers experiencing high levels of emotional dissonance. The identification of resources enabling management of emotional demands could suggest suitable adaptive strategies for customer-facing roles, thus preventing the occurrence of adverse mental health symptoms.

Job satisfaction (JS) is an indicator of individual psychosocial health. Consistent evidence showed that voluntary extra-role behavior in organizations, namely organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), can also contribute to individual psychological health. JS has been found to positively influence employees’ OCB, and both JS and OCB have been found to predict employees’ task performance (TP). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether employees’ OCB mediates the relationship of JS with TP, taking into consideration gender as a potential moderator, and other sociodemographic and work-related characteristics as confounding variables. A total of 518 employees, 54.6% women, aged 19–66 years with a mean age of about 36 years, completed measures of JS, OCB, and TP. Results showed a partial mediation of OCB in the JS-TP relationship, which was invariant across gender. A potential practical implication of findings is that human resource managers and practitioners might ultimately benefit male and female employees’ well-being as well as the organizations’ productivity by developing targeted individual- and group-level trainings and interventions to enhance JS and OCB.

The construction sector is known as a high-risk sector with many safety challenges. It is also characterised by a large number of migrant workers and these workers report higher accident rates than native workers. This paper presents the design of the CSTP (Construction Safety Training Programme). The CSTP is a theory-based training program aimed at improving safety behaviours in construction sites acknowledging the particular challenges migrant workers face. Based on second and third generational models of training, we developed a training program that addresses the challenges faced by migrant workers in the construction industry, namely language and cultural barriers, times pressures, difficult living conditions and separation between native and migrant workers, all of which may have a detrimental impact on a shared safety culture and joint understanding of the importance of safety performance. The CSTP consists of five modules, both face-to-face and online teaching to facilitate sensemaking and social learning. A crucial underlying element of the CSTP is the importance of not only technical skills, but also non-technical skills such as communication, teamwork, decision making, situational awareness and management of stress and fatigue. We propose that the strong theoretical learning principles embedded in the training program are likely to increase transfer of training that could help the construction sector develop safe working cultures.

Questo studio contribuisce alla validazione di due scale, potenzialmente utilizzabili in modo congiunto, incentrate sulle quattro componenti del Capitale Psicologico (speranza, resilienza, autoefficacia e ottimismo) e quattro dimensioni del Career Decision-Making Process (ansia verso la scelta, percezione di importanza della scuola, autoefficacia nel processo decisionale, pianificazione del futuro). Basandosi su due campioni di studenti della scuola secondaria di primo grado, l’analisi fattoriale esplorativa e confermativa hanno fornito supporto alla ipotesi che le scale denominate PsyCap e CDMP rappresentino misure di auto-valutazione valide nella rilevazione delle risorse in grado di facilitare il processo decisionale della carriera. The current study was aimed to validate two scales, potentially jointly used, focused on the four dimensions of Psychological Capital (i.e., hope, resilience, self-efficacy and optimism) and the four facets of Career Decision-Making Process (i.e., career choice anxiety, perceived instrumentality of education, career decision-making self-efficacy and career planning attitude) among middle school students. In Study 1 the PsyCap and CDMP scales were developed and evaluated through a principal component analysis (N = 602). In Study 2 a confirmatory factor analysis (N = 989) was performed in order to validate the four-dimensional structure of the scales. The obtained results provided evidence for two theoretically grounded 16-item scales composed of four factors each: the PsyCap and the CDMP scales. The PsyCap and the CDMP scales are valid self-report measures assessing the key dimensions of psychological capital and the resources able to ease the career decision-making process.

L’articolo intende evidenziare come la conoscenza delle caratteristiche degli studenti universitari sia fondamentale per progettare una didattica innovativa. Il progetto dell’Ateneo bolognese si inserisce all’interno di un modello di Formative Educational Evaluation, ponendo al centro le competenze didattiche del docente e proponendosi di incidere su molteplici livelli e dimensioni dei processi di insegnamento-apprendimento, in una prospettiva diacronica. L’applicazione del modello ai contesti didattici dell’Università di Bologna ha potuto beneficiare di due esperienze pilota di ricerca valutativa realizzate con i docenti dei Corsi di laurea in “Infermieristica” e in “Economics and Finance” (CLEF). Il modello bolognese contempla azioni valutative orientate specificamente in senso formativo (di analisi e progressiva ri-progettazione delle azioni didattiche supportata da interventi formativi ad hoc rivolti ai docenti) che promuovano nei docenti capacità di riflessione, autoanalisi delle proprie prassi didattiche e specifiche azioni di formazione alla didattica attraverso metodologie innovative.

Work environments characterized by inadequate work conditions have been widely recognized as being particularly prone to the occurrence and exacerbation of bullying behavior. Accordingly, this longitudinal study aimed to explore whether the impact of effort–reward imbalance (ERI) on workplace bullying was mediated by a lower perception of organizational justice, and whether the association between ERI and perceptions of justice was moderated by organizational identification. In the current study, a sample of N = 195 Spanish employees from different occupational sectors filled in an online questionnaire at two different times with a time lag of 8 months. In line with the hypothesized moderated mediation model, results showed that organizational justice mediated the impact of ERI on workplace bullying. Moreover, the effect of perceived ERI on organizational justice was stronger for employees with low organizational identification. Overall, this study can contribute to better understanding how and when ERI boosts the risk of workplace bullying. Accordingly, early intervention designed to buffer the negative effects of ERI should focus on increasing individual levels of organizational identification.

While the academic literature acknowledges that workaholism may result from individual characteristics as well as from environmental factors, little is known about the joint impact of these two kinds of antecedents. The present study explores whether the interaction between the perception of an overwork climate in the workplace and person characteristics (i.e., achievement motivation, perfectionism, conscientiousness, self-efficacy) may foster workaholism. Data were collected on a sample of 333 Dutch employees. The results of moderated regression analyses fully supported our hypotheses and showed that the interaction between an overwork climate and person characteristics is related to workaholism. More specifically, our results revealed a significant increase in workaholism when employees both possessed person characteristics that predispose them toward workaholism and perceived an overwork climate in their workplaces. In addition, conscientiousness and self-efficacy were related to workaholism, but only in interaction with the presence of an overwork climate. These results contribute to the ongoing conceptualization of workaholism by demonstrating empirically that a work environment characterized by an overwork climate may foster workaholism, especially for those high in achievement motivation, perfectionism, conscientiousness, and self-efficacy.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the positive association between job resources, i.e. autonomy and co-workers support, and psychological capital (PsyCap). In addition, it is aimed to assess the mediational role of PsyCap in the relationship between job resources, on the one hand, and work engagement and psychological distress on the other hand. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 235 employees working in a large-scale retail company completed a structured questionnaire. To test the hypotheses, the collected data were analyzed with structural equation modeling. Findings The results fully supported the hypotheses and showed that autonomy and co-workers’ support were positively associated with PsyCap. In addition, PsyCap fully mediated the effect of job resources on work engagement and psychological distress. Research limitations/implications The results indicate that a greater degree of autonomy allowed to employees in performing their work, and social support from co-workers may significantly contribute to building employees’ personal resources such as PsyCap. This positive association between job resources and PsyCap, in turn, leads employees to feel more engaged in their work and prevents them from harmful outcomes such as symptoms of psychological distress. Originality/value This study extends prior research on the motivational process of the job demands-resources model. Furthermore, it develops the notion of resources caravans postulated by the conservation of resources theory in its attempt to examine PsyCap as a mediator in the association between job resources and different individual outcomes.

L’obiettivo della presente ricerca e quello di investigare il ruolo della mindfulness ? «una consapevolezza che emerge facendo attenzione intenzionalmente, nel momento presente e in modo non giudicante allo schiudersi dell’esperienza momento per momento (Kabat-Zinn, 2003)» ? sul benessere lavorativo, considerandola come risorsa personale nel modello Job Demands - Resources. E stato ipotizzato che la mindfulness moderi l’effetto della richiesta lavorativa di surface acting sull’esaurimento emotivo. Inoltre e stato ipotizzato che la mindfulness possa esercitare un effetto negativo indiretto sull’esaurimento emotivo riducendo la percezione di richiesta di surface acting e un effetto positivo e indiretto sul work engagement, incrementando la percezione di supporto ricevuto da parte dei colleghi e dei superiori. I risultati dello studio, condotto su un campione di 316 persone impiegate in una catena di supermercati, hanno confermato le ipotesi. Sono discusse implicazioni per la ricerca futura. I risultati suggeriscono l’importanza di sviluppare la mindfulness nelle organizzazioni per promuovere il benessere delle persone al lavoro, perche permette loro di fare fronte alle richieste lavorative e di incrementare le risorse lavorative, che a loro volta possono migliorare la motivazione.

Aim To test the effort–reward imbalance model among older nurses, expanding it to include the moderation of overcommitment and age in the stress–health complaints relationship, mediated by organisational injustice. Background The theoretical framework included the effort–reward imbalance, the uncertainty management and the socio-emotional selectivity models. Method Employing a two-wave design, the participants were 255 nurses aged 45 years and over, recruited from four large hospitals in Spain (Madrid and Basque Country). Results The direct effect of imbalance on health complaints was supported: it was significant when overcommitment was low but not when it was high. Organisational injustice mediated the influence of effort–reward imbalance on health complaints. The conditional effect of the mediation of organisational injustice was significant in three of the overcommitment/age conditions but it weakened, becoming non-significant, when the level of overcommitment was low and age was high. Conclusions The study tested the model in nursing populations and expanded it to the settings of occupational health and safety at work. Implications for nursing management The results of this study highlight the importance of effort–reward imbalance and organisational justice for creating healthy work environments.

The current study aims to test a moderated-mediation model in which occupational self-efficacy determines the indirect effect of negative stereotypes about older workers in the organization both on psychological engagement in the work domain and on attitudes toward development opportunities through identification with the company. The survey involved 1,501 Italian subjects aged over 50 who were employed by a major large-scale retailer. Consistently with the Social Identity Theory and the Social Exchange Theory, results showed that the perception of negative stereotypes about older workers in the organization is associated with low identification with the company and, subsequently, with poor psychological engagement in the work domain and with attitudes indicating very little interest in development opportunities. In addition, this association was found to be stronger in older workers with higher and medium levels of occupational self-efficacy. These findings suggest that organizations should discourage the dissemination of negative stereotypes about older workers in the workplace because they may lead to older workers’ disengagement from the work domain and their loss of interest in development opportunities.

This research is aimed at developing a questionnaire for the self-assessment of non-technical skills (NTS) leading to safety in the chemical sector and at analysing the properties of its scales in terms of construct validity. The research involved 269 Italian employees from three chemical plants of an international company, who occupied low&ndash, medium levels in the organizational hierarchy. Results showed a good level of validity and reliability of the instrument and suggested that communication, situational awareness, decision-making, and fatigue/stress management are the four most important NTS for safety in the chemical sector.

Research recognizes the shared perceptions of the priority attributed to safety in comparison to other organizational goals (i.e., safety climate) as a potential antecedent of safety behavior among construction workers. This type of climate can dismantle barriers to the promotion of effective strategies to mitigate workplace hazards. On the other hand, the current understanding of the underlying process that links the perception of a safety climate to the implementation of safety behavior is far from being exhaustive. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore the role of risk perception and safety knowledge in explaining the positive impact of safety climate before attending a training course (Time 0) and safety behavior after the training completion (Time 1). Data were collected at two time-points on a sample of N = 278 construction workers taking part in different safety training courses promoted by a vocational training organization in Northern Italy. The hypothesized relationships were tested using a serial mediation model bootstrapping approach. The obtained results indicated that the perception of a safety climate at Time 0 (T0) among construction workers is associated with higher risk perception and safety knowledge that, in turn, resulted in a higher implementation of safety behavior at Time 1 (T1). These findings contribute to the understanding of those factors that constitute a fertile ground for preventing injuries and accidents in the construction sector.

The article aims to highlight how the knowledge of university students' characteristics is a key-point for planning innovative teaching. The Bologna University Project refers to a Formative Educational Evaluation model, which is focused on higher education teaching skills and aims to have an impact on teaching and learning processes' multiple levels and dimensions, in a diachronic perspective. The application of the model to different academic contexts of the University of Bologna was carried on by two evaluation research pilot studies with "Nursing" and "Economics and Finance" (CLEF) Degree teachers. This model includes evaluation actions specifically oriented in the formative sense (analysis and progressive re-planning of teaching actions supported by ad hoc higher education teachers training interventions) in order to promote teachers' capacity for reflection, self-analysis of their teaching practices and specific training actions based on innovative methodologies

The current study examined the mediating effect of presenteeism and moderating effect of managerial support in the relation between workaholism and work-family conflict. A sample of 1065 white-collar employees from an Italian company filled in an online survey and hypotheses were tested using a bootstrapping procedure. Results showed that presenteeism mediated the association between workaholism and work-family conflict. Moreover, the mediating effect of presenteeism was moderated by managerial support: for employees reporting lower levels of support workaholism was stronger related to presenteeism than for those experiencing higher support. Presenteeism, in turn, was related to greater levels of work-family conflict. The present study sheds light into the protective role played by managerial support in preventing workaholic employees from forcing themselves to attend work also when feeling sick. Accordingly, early intervention aimed at buffering the negative association between workaholism and work-family conflict should focus on training managers to develop supportive leadership skills. ispartof: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY vol:54 issue:2 pages:174-179 ispartof: location:England status: published

According to the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development, even though there are numerous challenges within the current labor market, it is possible to establish meaningful lives and meaningful work experiences through optimizing the use of personal resources and regenerating them. In line with this assumption, the present study aims to test the moderation effect of the type of worker contracts on the relationship between psychological capital, perceived employability, and job insecurity. Participants were N = 190 Italian young workers (self-employed, permanent employees, or temporary employees). Results showed that perceived employability mediated the relationship between psychological capital and job insecurity, and that this relationship was moderated by the workers&rsquo, type of contract. Specifically, a higher level of psychological capital corresponded to a higher perception of employability, and consequently a lower job insecurity for temporary and self-employed workers, but not for permanent ones. These findings are in line with the assumptions of the psychology of sustainability, and encourage preventive interventions aimed to foster personal resources in order to reduce job insecurity, especially in cases of non-standard employment.

The present study aims to explore the mediational role of organizational identification and work engagement in the relationship between professional development and job satisfaction, using the motivational process of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. Data were collected on a sample of 202 Italian teachers working in primary and secondary schools. Results of a bootstrapping model with multiple mediators operating in serial supported the hypothesis that opportunities for professional development enhance job satisfaction in teachers. In addition, we contributed to the extension of the JD-R model by adding the role of organizational identification as a mediator within the motivational process.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare how the dimension of attitudes toward future that consists in perception of dynamic future may be affected by desirable goals (desired job flexibility) and probable events (probable job flexibility) in a group of permanent vs temporary employees. Moreover the aim is to explore the gender differences in respect to variables studied. Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected using self-report questionnaires on a sample of 710 employees, of which 63 percent women, 57.2 percent permanent employees, and 42.8 percent fixed-term employees. Findings – The results showed that probable job flexibility mediated the relationship between desired job flexibility and the perception of a dynamic professional future. In addition, the type of contract moderated the interaction effect of job mastery on the relationship between desired and probable flexibility. Job mastery, however, has a direct effect on probable flexibility only on women in fixed-term employment. Research limitations/implications – The study presented some limitations: the data derived from the self-report questionnaires, respondents participated on a voluntary basis, and the research design was cross-sectional. Practical implications – The results of this study could be used to influence guidance practitioners’ decisions on the role of antecedents of future orientation (desired flexibility, probable flexibility, and job mastery) in designing programs and interventions for career management that also take gender into account. Originality/value – Overall, these results provided some insight into the relationship between specific guidance actions and goal-oriented career planning.

Organizational safety is not only influenced by technological aspects and technical skills, but also by such factors, as regulatory and business pressures, job demands, workers’ behaviours and skill. However, a need to consider Non-Technical Skills (NTS), that can contribute to a safer and more efficient task performance should be considered. A research group of the University of Bologna developed an organizational intervention named “NoTeS – Non-Technical Skills for Safety”, which aims to give an effective answer to companies that want to enhance safety in their own work environment. The paper describes the four phases of this intervention. In addition, safety interventions in chemical plants are analysed. Finally, the first positive outcome of improving safety in chemical plants based on participants’ reactions, behaviour and interesting perspectives is discussed.

Purpose. To investigate how psychosocial factors (such as job demands and work–family con ict) produce absen- teeism in the workplace, using the health impairment pro- cess of the job demands–resources model. According to this model, job demands lead to burnout (often measured with the emotional exhaustion component), which in turn could lead to outcomes (such as absenteeism). Work–fam- ily con ict (WFC) was also studied, because of contradic- tory results collected in the existing literature on absentee- ism in the workplace, regarding the role of WFC in causing absenteeism. Methods. Data were collected on 245 workers using both subjective (questionnaire on psychological risk factors and work-related health) and objective data (sickness leave fre- quency records). To test the hypothesis that job demands and WFC contribute to absenteeism in the workplace, a subsequent mediation analysis was used, which analysed both (a) the subsequent mediation of WFC and emotional exhaustion and (b) the separate roles played by the media- tors proposed (WFC and emotional exhaustion). Results. Job demands affect absenteeism through the sub- sequent mediation of WFC and emotional exhaustion. In addition, emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between job demands and absenteeism, while WFC does not. Conclusion. In conclusion, subsequent mediation high- lights the role of emotional exhaustion in causing absen- teeism; in fact, when emotional exhaustion is included in the analysis, job demands are associated with higher levels of absenteeism. The results of this study suggest that with- out the concurrent contribution of emotional exhaustion, WFC does not in uence absenteeism in the workplace. Our ndings are useful for organizations that aim to reduce absenteeism.