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Recent research suggests that competitive work environments may influence individual's attitudes, behaviors, stress, and performance. Unfortunately, adequate measures of competitive environments are lacking. This article traces the development of a new multidimensional competitive work environment scale. An initial 59-item pool covering five dimensions of a competitive environment was generated and scrutinized. Then, using two independent data samples, the authors psychometrically analyzed, organized, and reduced the items using a combination of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory. The final scale consists of 20 items across five distinct dimensions: competition for tangible rewards, nontangible rewards, recognition, status, and competition influenced by coworkers. Results indicate that the final multidimensional scale maintains strong psychometric properties and provides preliminary evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effects of active workstation designs on speed and error during typing, mouse pointing, and combined type and mouse-use tasks. Background: Office ergonomics has focused on musculoskeletal disorder prevention; however, increasing computer-based work also increases health risks associated with inactivity. Workstations allowing computer users to walk or cycle while performing computer tasks have been shown to demand sufficient energy expenditure to result in significant health benefits. However the performance effects of being active while using a computer have not been documented. Method: Thirty office workers (16 female, 15 touch typists) performed standardized computer tasks in six workstation conditions: sitting, standing, walking at 1.6 km/h and 3.2 km/h, and cycling at 5 and 30 watts. Performance, perceived performance, and heart rate were measured. Results: Computer task performance was lower when walking and slightly lower when cycling, compared with chair sitting. Standing performance was not different from sitting performance. Mouse performance was more affected than typing performance. Performance decrements were equal for females and males and for touch typists and nontouch typists. Conclusion: Performance decrements maybe related to both biomechanical and cognitive processes. Active workstations may be less suitable for mouse-intensive work and susceptible users. Application: Although active workstations may result in some decrement in performance, their ability to increase daily energy expenditure may make them a feasible solution for workplace inactivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research has demonstrated a relationship between happiness and workplace success. For example, compared with their less happy peers, happy people earn more money, display superior performance, and perform more helpful acts. Researchers have often assumed that an employee is happy and satisfied because he or she is successful. In this article, the authors review evidence in support of an alternative hypothesis—namely, that happiness is a source of why particular employees are more successful than others. To this end, the authors consider evidence from three types of studies—cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental—that relate happiness to various work outcomes. Taken together, the evidence suggests that happiness is not only correlated with workplace success but that happiness often precedes measures of success and that induction of positive affect leads to improved workplace outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has clearly shown the relationship between subjective well-being and work performance, even though there is debate over the causality of that relationship (i.e., does subjective well-being cause higher work performance or does greater work performance lead to subjective well-being?). Regardless, researchers and practitioners would agree that having employees who are productive and have high subjective well-being is valuable. The purpose of this article is to review research in this area and to discuss strategies for promoting well-being at the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the occupational stress faced by police officers that affect their work performance physically and psychologically. The workplace problem explanation of stress is concluded to be the token status in an organization and community conditions and lack of support from colleagues and family. In addition to the given reason, token racial, ethical and gender status in the demographic mix of the department could also provide exposition for stress beyond what can be estimated from workplace problems alone.

The article discusses the consequences of job-related stress experienced by men and women during their arduous military training. It is very important to maintain a level of stress in daily schedules and work assignments which guarantees efficiency in performance. Health researches prove that though women experience depression when exposed to higher levels of stress in the male-dominated work environment, it is men who generally become restless and aggressive in similar situations. Media and policymakers are raising objections to the fact that gender of a person is usually not taken into account in the armed forces and military settings.

This article describes an instructional model designed to teach students generic employment adaptability skills. Failure to acclimate to a dynamic work environment has been suggested as a primary reason for job termination, The need to adapt to changes in work environments and maintain acceptable levels of work performance is critical for employment success. The model describes how to teach students to adapt to these changes and includes four major components: (a) decision making, (b) independent performance, (c) self-evaluation, and (d) adjustment. Implications for transitional programming are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]