PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

In certain jobs supervisor support can reduce absenteeism

Work hazards usually not to blame for employees’ missing work, research says

2012-03-20
(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON – A supportive supervisor can keep employees in certain hazardous jobs from being absent even when co-workers think it's all right to miss work, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

Researchers explored factors that can influence employee absenteeism and found that a job's level of risk and peer pressure were both negligible compared to the influence of the employee's supervisor. Having peers who think it's OK to miss a lot of work days influenced employees to miss more work only when the employees felt their supervisors were not supportive, the study found. An employee's perception of danger on the job did not itself play a role in determining absenteeism, according to the study published online in APA's Journal of Applied Psychology.

"The findings provide useful guidance for companies and organizations that are dealing with a counterproductive employee subculture that condones missing work," said lead author Michal Biron, PhD, of Israel's University of Haifa and the Netherlands' Tilburg University. "Leadership will do well to provide frontline supervisors with training and resources so that they can be supportive of their employees who deal with tough work environments."

The study involved 508 workers with the transportation authority of a large U.S. municipality that closely monitors employee attendance and enforces a strict absence policy. The sample was 69 percent men and 31 percent women with an average age of 46. Forty-three percent of the workers were employed in the authority's bus division, 48 percent in the station division and 9 percent in the subway division.

Researchers determined the participants' rate of absenteeism from their personnel records over 24 months. To determine perceived job hazards, they randomly selected 34 of the participants to respond to a series of questionnaires about hazards on the job such as electrocution, dangerous chemicals or contaminants, continuous loud noise, extreme temperatures or humidity, and verbal or physical assaults by customers or co-workers.

The entire sample was asked to respond to questions asking how they felt about their co-workers and the degree to which their co-workers viewed 20 possible reasons for absence as "justifiable." Reasons ranged from the individual's own illness symptoms to personal situations such as parental illness or an important event at a child's school.

The participants were also asked to rate their supervisor's supportiveness. Researchers asked the employees to indicate how often during the past month their immediate supervisor assisted them in various ways, such as "talked you through work-related problems, helping you come up with solutions," and "provided you with encouragement about your work." The participants responded using a 5-point scale ranging from 0 for "never" to 4 for "several times a day."

"An employee culture that approves of missing work might result in higher employee absenteeism when coupled with aversive work conditions if a supervisor is considered unsupportive, but it seems to have no effect at all when employees feel their supervisor is supportive," said co-author Peter Bamberger, PhD, of Tel Aviv University and the Smithers Institute of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. "This may be because employees want to reciprocate positive treatment and avoid causing any problems due to their absenteeism that could negatively impact their supervisors."

Demographic and individual differences such as gender, age, tenure, ethnicity and average hours worked per week were included in the analysis to ensure accurate statistical representation.

###The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 154,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.

Article: "Aversive Workplace Conditions and Absenteeism: Taking Referent Group Norms and Supervisor Support Into Account," Michal Biron, PhD, University of Haifa and Tilburg University; Peter Bamberger, PhD, Tel Aviv University and the Smithers Institute of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations; Journal of Applied Psychology, online, March 2012.

Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office and at http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/apl-ofp-biron.pdf


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

NIH researchers highlight progress, path forward for developing TB vaccines

2012-03-20
Since that time, TB researchers have assembled a significant pipeline of vaccine candidates and assessed them in clinical trials. However, to transform the field and help make licensure of new vaccines a reality, the editorial co-authors stress, scientists must investigate remaining fundamental questions, including the following: Why does infection with the TB bacterium cause active disease in some people but not others? Why does the current licensed TB vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guérin, protect children more effectively than adults? What ...

Corcentric to Host "5 Habits of Highly Successful Accounts Payable Departments," a New Webinar for AP Professionals

2012-03-20
Corcentric, a leading provider of Accounts Payable automation solutions, today announced they will be hosting a new Webinar for AP professionals titled "5 Habits of Highly Successful Accounts Payable Departments." This Webinar will take place on Thursday, March 22, 2012 at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT. This Webinar will feature Rob DeVincent, Vice President of Product Marketing for Corcentric, who will discuss which actions leading AP departments are taking to position their organizations for success. The following topics will be covered during the Webinar: - ...

The Six Degrees of (Friends) Separation

2012-03-20
We at MyVoucherCodes.co.uk love Friends (and, let's be honest, who doesn't?) The day that Joey, Rachel and the gang bid their final farewells to Central Perk was a sad day indeed. Whilst watching countless re-runs the other day, we got to thinking; even though the sitcom is no more, Sky customers in reality are never more than a few channels away from their favourite Friends stars. In its 10-series run, the show had more famous pals drop by as guest stars than a party at Elton John's house. So we got to thinking some more; even though the show is no more, can we ever ...

HostPapa Green Web Hosting is now a Google Apps Authorized Reseller

2012-03-20
HostPapa 100% Green Web Hosting today announced it has become an authorized reseller of the Google Apps for Business suite of communication and collaboration tools. HostPapa offers its customers Google Apps expert consultation, setup and deployment, training, and around-the-clock support services. "HostPapa Support Services for Google Apps will help customers take full advantage of this powerful cloud office suite, by offering HostPapa's enhanced customer support and other service options," says Sylvain Patry, Senior Vice-President of Business Development ...

Brick Marketing Creates 2012 Updated Version of Popular SEO Checklist Guide

2012-03-20
Brick Marketing has released an updated version of its popular SEO checklist guide. The original SEO whitepaper checklist guide was released in 2011 and received thousands of downloads. The updated version for 2012 includes information about recent changes to the industry that affect an SEO campaign. The Brick Marketing SEO checklist guide breaks the SEO process down into two phases which each include a number of steps. The first phase includes Pre-SEO tips, site structure recommendations, SEO best practice guidelines, SEO content writing advice, an outline of keyword ...

PawnUp.com Online Pawn Shop Reveals Some of Their Business Statistics

PawnUp.com Online Pawn Shop Reveals Some of Their Business Statistics
2012-03-20
Being at the forefront of the online pawn shop industry since its launch in the middle of 2011, PawnUp.com has been accepting a wide range of valuables either for purchase or for collateral for a secured loan. Almost every month PawnUp.com has been extending the list of the items they accept, and, today, they revealed some facts about the types of items that their customers are using most often for a pawn loan or to simply sell. The list of items that PawnUp.com's customers use (and usually get the most money for) is topped with luxury watches. Next on the list is jewelry: ...

MFI-Miami Announces Launch Of Its MFI-Miami-Canada and MFI-Miami-UK Websites

2012-03-20
The websites are designed to assist people from Canada and the UK who bought vacation homes or investment properties in the United States during the real estate boom and who are now facing the prospect of losing those properties to nefarious lending and/or foreclosure practices. "Since June of 2011, MFI-Miami has had a 300% increase in the number of emails and phone calls from people in these two countries inquiring on how to navigate the lending and foreclosure process in places like Florida, Michigan and New York," explained MFI-Miami President Steve Dibert, ...

World's First Triple Isotope CO2 Analyzer Measures delta-13C, delta-17O, delta-18O, and CO2 Mole Fraction

2012-03-20
Los Gatos Research (LGR), the leader in precision trace gas and isotope analyzers, has introduced the world's first instrument to simultaneously and continuously provide all three stable isotope ratios (delta-13C, delta-17O, and delta-18O) for CO2, directly from ambient air samples with no pre-concentration required. With data sampling rates as fast as 10 Hz, the Triple Isotope CO2 Analyzer provides a real-time and field-portable alternative to traditional, lab-bound isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). And unlike competitive instruments that use first-generation CRDS ...

New Pop/Jazz Star Naomi LaViolette Rises To Critical Acclaim In The Pacific Northwest

2012-03-19
On the heels of a standing room only album-release show held at Portland's premier jazz club Jimmy Mak's, Naomi LaViolette prepares for the iTunes launch of her self-titled debut album, set for March 13, 2012. The album finds an acoustic niche between the worlds of folk singer-songwriter and jazz soulstress with ten original songs and fresh arrangements of George Gershwin's "Our Love Is Here to Stay" and Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now". Oregon Music News wrote, "LaViolette takes a classical jazz core and braids it together with lightly poppy ...

Dallas SEO i-rank-u.com Supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

2012-03-19
The Dallas SEO Company, i-rank-u.com, launches "Link and Breathe" effective immediately. The i-rank-u company owner/founder, David M Daniels, hatched the idea in February 2012 and it will become effective March 18, 2012. David saw a need to raise awareness and money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in light of the exciting news from Vertex Pharmaceuticals regarding the success of VX-770 in FDA stage 3 testing. "After the FDA approved the Vertex VX-770 in late January of this year, I saw a way to help people with Cystic Fibrosis by donating money ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] In certain jobs supervisor support can reduce absenteeism
Work hazards usually not to blame for employees’ missing work, research says