Date of Award

12-2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Legacy Department

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Committee Chair/Advisor

Sinclair, Robert R

Committee Member

Britt, Thomas

Committee Member

Pury, Cynthia

Committee Member

Moore, Dwayne

Abstract

Given that employee health and well-being represent a significant source of financial costs for organizations, this dissertation seeks to address some of the pathways through which organizational efforts to improve physical and mental health may operate. This study drew from a model of safety climate (Neal & Griffin, 2000) to propose that psychological climate exerts in influence on employee health and well-being through the joint moderators of knowledge/motivation and behaviors. The model also extended beyond the typical climate linking mechanisms to include moderators both individual (behavioral activation & behavioral inhibition systems) and contextual (workplace physical exposure). Using a two-wave prospective design with 564 matched individuals the hypotheses are tested. The results were primarily supportive of the overall model with some key differences in the functioning of health motivation and emotion-focused coping. Turning to the moderating hypotheses, Behavioral Activation System (BAS) did moderate some of the hypothesized relationships within health climate, but not in the expected way, while Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) only moderated one of the four hypothesized paths. Additionally, the moderating effect of workplace physical exposure was tested on the relationship between psychological health climate and health knowledge/motivation although its effect was non-significant. Turning to the stress model, BAS and BIS were not significant moderators of any of the hypothesized relationships. In conclusion, this research found general support for the application of the safety climate framework applied to health and stress reduction climate. Lastly, there was mixed support found for moderators of this relationship.

Included in

Psychology Commons

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