This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the collection. Adults spend over one-third of their waking hours at work. Work can enhance or diminish well-being. Well-being is an umbrella concept including happiness, satisfaction, positive affect and flourishing among others. Stress at work is a major factor influencing well-being. Workplace stress exerts a high financial cost to societies, thus well-being is important for both individuals and organizations. Sources of stress that have received research attention include long work hours, autocratic leadership, bias and discrimination, sexual harassment, low levels of job security, and unsafe work environments. The goal for organizations then is to create more psychologically healthy and positive workplaces. Factors associated with such workplaces include types of leadership (transformational, servant), levels of job security, reasonable workloads, opportunities to increase person–job fit, training and development opportunities, high levels of job civility and fairness, investments in developing human capital in all employees, and fun at work. Organizational case studies of psychologically healthy workplaces are offered.
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Front Matter
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PART I: INTRODUCTION: WHY WELL-BEING MATTERS
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PART II: WORK AND WELL-BEING: THE BAD NEWS
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PART III: AN ANALYSIS OF WORK AND HEALTH IN SOME OCCUPATIONS
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PART IV: WORK AND WELL-BEING: THE GOOD NEWS
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PART V: INTERVENTIONS ADDRESSING THE WORK–WELL-BEING RELATIONSHIP
