THE MEASUREMENT OF EMOTIONAL-REACTIONS TO WORK - CONCEPTUAL, METHODOLOGICAL AND RESEARCH ISSUES

This paper offers an overview of the literature on the measurement of emotional reactions to work. The paper opens with discussion of the me aning, definition and assessment of the terms 'work', 'emotion', and ' health/well-being' and then proposes that an understanding of the comp lex relationships among these variables should proceed through the use of ecological and interactional models. It is noted that, although th ere is still some controversy regarding the relationships between emot ions, health and well-being, there is a growing recognition of the fac t that emotions are closely related to the origins and exacerbation of disease and the promotion of health and well-being. Also, as an impor tant context for human activity and development, the workplace can be both a direct and indirect source of negative emotions that are associ ated with severe stress, especially if certain workplace characteristi cs (e.g. quantitative and qualitative overload, poor control, low wage s and poor social supports) are present. The paper summarizes some of the critical issues in the measurement of emotional reactions to work, including gender, age and culture, and lists some of the many instrum ents for this measurement. Lastly, the paper argues that the measureme nt of emotional reactions to work should proceed from a multimethod-mu ltisource-multiemotion research strategy that samples different method s (questionnaires, behavioural observation, biological measures, etc.) , emotions (anger, anxiety, happiness, etc), and sources (e.g. subject , professional, family).