Control dimensions, job demands and job satisfaction: does ownership matter?
International Journal of Workplace Health Management
ISSN: 1753-8351
Article publication date: 3 October 2018
Issue publication date: 11 October 2018
Abstract
Purpose
New ownership types in health care of welfare states raise concerns regarding psychosocial work conditions including different control dimensions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how job demands, control over work and control within work (CWW) were related to job satisfaction in publicly administered, private non-profit and private for-profit hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaire data came from employees at three hospitals; a publicly administered (n=774), a private non-profit (n=1,481) and a private for-profit (n=694) hospital. Mean-level analyses and hierarchical regressions with multiple group tests were conducted.
Findings
Demands including workload were significantly lower at the publicly administered hospital while the control dimension CWW was significantly higher. Background factors and their associations with job satisfaction differed slightly between ownership types. Attitudes to privatization were not associated with job satisfaction within any ownership type. Overall, psychosocial work characteristics, including job demands and control, were significantly associated with job satisfaction while their interactions showed no consistent associations with job satisfaction. As for the strength of the associations, no consistent differences emerged between ownership types.
Research limitations/implications
Using self-reports only, the associations between psychosocial work characteristics and job satisfaction seemed comparable across ownership types.
Practical implications
Associations between psychosocial work characteristics and job satisfaction seem comparable across ownership types. This may relate to societal demands on the structuring of costs, work and production efficiency being similar for all.
Originality/value
Contributions include researching different occupations and their attitudes to privatization and two control dimensions considered important for different ownership types.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Thanks to all employees who volunteered for participation. Also thanks to Professor Magnus Sverke for commenting on the manuscript draft. This research was carried out in line with the Helsinki Declaration and with approval from the Data Inspection Board. Niklas Hansen was supported by a PhD position at the Stockholm University Department of Psychology. This research forms part of the Stockholm Stress Center, a center of excellence supported by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare.
Citation
Lindfors, P. and Hansen, N. (2018), "Control dimensions, job demands and job satisfaction: does ownership matter?", International Journal of Workplace Health Management, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 305-318. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-10-2017-0079
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited