Workstyle in Office Workers: Ergonomic and Psychological Reactivity to Work Demands

Abstract

To investigate whether variation in work demands are related to keyboard force, postural change, cognitive reactivity, physiological arousal, and work output in asymptomatic office workers who varied in workstyle. Eighty asymptomatic office workers prescreened for level of workstyle (high = 39, low = 41) were enrolled in this study. Participants were exposed to a high- and low-demand work task and biomechanical, physiological, and psychological reactivity were measured. Results indicate that the high workstyle group demonstrated elevated keyboard force (F[1, 74] = 3.99, P < 0.05), greater awkward posture (F[1, 69] = 4.80, P < 0.05), more negative mood changes (F[1, 73] = 10.70, P < 0.01), and more negative work-related cognitions (F[1, 73] = 4.99, P < 0.05). Asymptomatic office workers with higher levels of self-reported adverse workstyle responded to a manipulation of work demands with greater psychological and biomechanical strain.