Psychosocial features of work: stressors and positive factors

Abstract

Until recently, in most sectors of the economy, care for employees' health was limited to reducing the risk of accidents or equipping employees with personal protection if they worked in an environment directly threatening health. Today, the role of the so-called psychosocial features of work in shaping the health and well-being of employees and more and more often measures are being taken to improve working conditions in this area. Psychosocial features of work can be divided into two main categories: traits, work conditions positively related to health (salutogenic) and so-called psychosocial stressors / threats. What are psychosocial stressors / threats? Simply put, it is any type of stimulus or any situation which, through psychophysiological processes, can lead to harm in the form of deterioration of well-being, good functioning and / or health. So basically a psychosocial threat is anything that worsens well-being or hinders proper, effective action. This is a very broad category and you can intuitively sense that, in principle, infinitely many situations fit into the description cited.