High Work Stress Research Articles

An Exploratory Study of Police Officers' Perceptions of Health Risk, Work Stress, and Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Outbreak in China.

BackgroundHow do the police officers perceive health risk, psychological distress, and work stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in China? This study explores the health risk perception, work stress, and psychological distress of police officers who worked at the front line to implement lockdown measures.Materials and MethodsWe conducted a large-scale field survey (N = 5,611) with police officers sample in the northwestern part of China from February 29 to March 7, 2020. Independent-sample T-test and ANOVA were used to analyze whether there are differences in health risk perception, work stress, and psychological distress between different groups. The regression analysis was employed to figure out the factors that influence police officers’ psychological distress.ResultsResults showed a gender difference in perceiving work stress among police officers. Also, police officers with chronic disease perceived higher health risks, more psychological distress, and higher work stress. Additionally, police officers above 45 years old significantly perceived higher health risks than young officers did. It also revealed that working hours contribute to police officers’ health risk perception, psychological distress, and work stress. Finally, our results highlight that age, working hours, chronic disease, health risk perception, and work stress significantly contribute to police officers’ psychological distress.ConclusionOur research verifies that there is a gender difference in perceiving work stress among police officers. Police officers with ongoing medical issues and above 45 years old suffer more during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Our research suggests that the government should pay more attention to their physical health and mental health. The heavy workload containing the COVID-19 extends police officers’ working hours, causing higher health risks, work stress, and psychological distress. This study contributes to the psychological distress literature and provides a way forward to other countries struggling to contain the COVID-19.

Estresse Ocupacional, qualidade do sono e obesidade em Policiais Militares - Revisão narrativa

Stress was considered by the United Nations as the disease of the 20th Century, being present in more than 90% of the world population, including military police officers. This group of professionals has been in the front-line of the pandemic caused by the Coronavirus and is exposed to daily situations of high emotional stress and traumatic work events, which can cause several health problems, namely occupational stress, sleep problems and obesity. This study aims to conduct a narrative review of the influence of psychosocial environment on the development of occupational stress and consequences on the military police officer´s health. Two platforms, namely PubMed and Google Scholar were used to search for relevant scientific publications on the topic; 148 publications from 2010 to 2020 were analyzed, 71 of which were included in this review. It is estimated that 25% to 35% of the global burden of disease may be due to environmental factors. The stress prevalence in military police officers is higher than the average in the civilian population worldwide; due to an alternate work schedule that does not always respect the circadian characteristics of each individual, and with direct influence on sleep quality and obesity incidence. Public health policies should be taken in the short term in order to improve life quality of these professionals.

Behaviour models of audit quality reduction associated with auditor’s work stress

The current study’s main aim is to examine a behaviour model of reducing audit quality in relation to auditor work stress. The study was performed in 2020 and the cases in the current research were auditors of the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia (BPK), auditors of the Development Finance Audit Board (BPKP) and public accounting firm (KAP) auditors in South Sulawesi Province. The sample numbers is determined according to the sample size needed via data investigation employing the Partial Least Square approach, using a random sampling method. The data collected by utilizing a questionnaire and questionnaire data, which can be analyzed as many as 97. The output of this study indicate: (1) the long period pressure cause increase auditor working stress; (2) the long period pressure cause the reduction of audit quality behaviour; (3) the long period conflict cause increase auditors’ working stress; (4) the high role conflict cause increasement the audit quality reduction behaviour; (5) external locus of control cause increasement auditors’ working stress; (6) external locus of control will increase audit quality reduction behaviour, and (7) high work stress cause reduction of audit quality behaviour.

Patterns and stratification of stressor exposure among Canadian workers.

This research note identifies patterns of stressor exposure among Canadian workers, their stratification by occupational and socio-demographic factors, and their relationship to high self-reported work stress. Using latent class analysis and data from the Canadian Community Health Survey we examine the intersection of six stressors, identifying five distinct patterns (Few stressors, Multiple stressors, Physical, Monotonous, and Chaotic patterns of stressor exposure). Results show that the patterns of stressor exposure are stratified by gender, education, income, age group, and occupation; as well as give insight on how particular patterns of stressor exposure relate to individual perceptions of high self-reported work stress. The project also provides a research example of using quantitative data to examine qualitative differences in patterns of experience that provide more nuanced insight into complex social phenomena.

Examining Associations With Mental, Well-Being and Faith in Nurses (LIFT).

The aim of this study was to explore the association between religion/spirituality (r/s) and mental health outcomes in hospital-based nursing staff. The relationship between r/s and health has been studied extensively. Most frequently, r/s has been studied in association with mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and distress among patients. However, hospital-based nurses suffer from the mental health effects of working in high-stress work environments. To date, little research has focused on the relationship between r/s and mental health outcomes in nurses. A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 207 nurses from 6 community hospitals. Approximately half of the nurses sampled identified as religious, whereas nearly 75% identified as spiritual. There were significant associations between measures of r/s and mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and mental well-being. This whole-person assessment of nurses may inform future retention and engagement strategies focused on faith-based interventions.

The Interest of Women Medical Students in Urology. The Major Deterrents!

Introduction: The medical profession was formerly a male-dominated one, but over the years, the population of female medical students has risen. The representation of women in surgery and allied specialities has always been a debate accross the world. Like most surgical fields, Urology remains a male dominant profession. A critical component of the advancement of any field is the reqruitment of the brightest medical students of both genders. To improve the distaff workforce, it is important to understand why qualified students would not enter the field. Objectives & Methodology: A total of 218 questionnaires were filled. 94 from final year students, and 124 house officers and postgraduate female doctors. The respondents were asked to choose the most appropriate response and choices among the options listed and were allowed to choose at least one but not more than three options. Results: Out of 218 females, only 26% choose to opt a career in urology, where as 74% females had a clear answer that was NO. Those who wished to join surgery considered stress during the working hours (47.8%), lifestyle and family concerns (45.7%), and interest that developed during the medical graduation (35.7%) as strong determinants. Male dominance in the field (47.8%), “do not want to operate on the genitals” (45.6%), and cultural issues (29.1%) to be the most deterring factors. Discussion: The choice of specialty by medical students is a complex process involving a myriad of variables. Lifestyle and family concerns have been the most important determining factor for choice in any surgical field (urology career 5), 45.7% in our study, which is consistent with other studies across the world, but surprisingly 15.9% of respondents cited lifestyle as a negative factor in choosing the field. The more concerning factors that refrain the final year students to enter the field as compared to house officers and postgraduate residents were lack of interest, poor lifestyle, and high work stress in the field. Adequate clinical exposure to urology enables medical students to build a rational perception of the field. The decision making can be unbiased only when it is not influenced by myths related to urology and other specializations. Conclusion It is important to develop a realistic perception of urological field that includes female urology as well. It should be ensured that medical students have clinical exposure to urology, receiving appropriate mentorship, and develop a curriculam of the specialty during undergraduate program that may substantially facilitate recruitment. Keywords: Female Urology; Women; Clinical practice; Urology

Multitasking behaviors and provider outcomes in emergency department physicians: two consecutive, observational and multi-source studies

BackgroundMultitasking is a key skill for emergency department (ED) providers. Yet, potentially beneficial or debilitating effects for provider functioning and cognition are underexplored. We therefore aimed to investigate the role of multitasking for ED physicians’ work stress and situation awareness (SA).MethodsTwo consecutive, multi-source studies utilizing standardized expert observations in combination with physicians’ self-reports on stress and SA were set out in an academic ED. To control for ED workload, measures of patient acuity, patient counts, and ED staff on duty were included. Regression analyses estimated associations between observed proportion of time spent in multitasking with matched ED physicians’ reports on stress (study 1) and SA (study 2).ResultsED physicians engaged between 18.7% (study 1) and 13.0% (study 2) of their worktime in multitasking. Self-reported as well as expert-observed multitasking were significantly associated. This confirms the internal validity of our observational approach. After controlling for ED workload, we found that physicians who engaged more frequently in multitasking perceived higher work stress (Beta = .02, 95%CI .001–.03; p = .01). In study 2, ED physicians with more frequent multitasking behaviors reported higher SA (B = .08, 95%CI .02–.14; p = .009).ConclusionsMultitasking is often unavoidable in ED care. Our findings suggest that ED physicians’ multitasking increases stress experiences, yet, may facilitate professional’s experiences of situation awareness. Our results warrant further investigation into potentially ambivalent effects of ED providers’ multitasking in effectively sharing time between competing demands while maintaining performance and safety.

Learned Helplessness at the Workplace and Its Impact on Work Involvement: An Empirical Analysis

In today’s work environment that is characterized by rapid advancements in technology, globalization, liberalization, workforce diversity and increasing national and global competition, workforces face pressure like never before. In a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment, where employees face high work stress, learned helplessness may develop in them, which in turn could have adverse effects on their performance, as well as on organizational outcomes. The purpose is to study the impact of learned helplessness on work involvement. Data were collected from 324 bank employees of Delhi, and 300 responses were considered for analysis. Analysis was done using SPSS 24 and AMOS 24 software. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and hierarchical multiple regression were performed. Our study found that learned helplessness is negatively related to work involvement. After controlling the impact of demographic factors, all the dimensions of learned helplessness were found to be predictors of work involvement, except for the external–global–unstable (EGU) dimension. The researchers found very few researches that studied the variables at the organizational level, most being limited to individual-level studies. Since the constructs of our study have an important influence on organizations, it is important to understand the impact of learned helplessness on employee work involvement. When employees experience helplessness, their work involvement level is negatively impacted; hence, it is important for managers and supervisors to identify the learned helplessness problem. Human resources (HR) practitioners should focus on developing techniques that aim at changing negative employee thought processes to positive ones and help in converting learned helplessness to learned optimism.

The role of perceived work environment and work activities in midlife cognitive change.

Previous research documented positive associations between cognitively stimulating work and levels of cognitive performance, while longitudinal associations are less clear. We used 20-year longitudinal data from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adult Development and Aging (ILSE) to examine the role of perceived work environment (autonomy, innovation, social integration, and stress) and work activities derived from an occupational database (related to information, to people, and manual activities) for trajectories of cognitive abilities (processing speed, fluid and crystallized intelligence). We used data from 374 participants in the ILSE midlife cohort (born 1950-52) who were working at baseline and had valid observations on work characteristics and control variables including education, gender, region (former East vs. West Germany), and personal income (mean age at baseline = 44 years, SD = 1, 44% women). Cognitively stimulating perceived work environments (higher levels of autonomy and innovation), higher levels of work activities related to information and people, and lower levels of manual activity at baseline were related to higher initial levels of cognitive ability. Higher work stress was related to higher baseline fluid ability. These associations were largely not independent of control variables. Higher social integration at work was related to less steep increase in crystallized intelligence and higher work stress was related to less decline in processing speed. In sum, our findings were more in line with selection rather than with enrichment effects, with the caveat that our findings rely on work variables taken at baseline. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying these findings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

TRESSING FACTORS IN WORK AFFECTING THE EFFICIENCY OF WORK OF TAX INDUSTRY

The purpose of this study is the study of stress at work and work efficiency of the tax service officials. Based on the theoretical stress at work and qualitative research the author has identified four factors of stress at work are likely to have a relationship with the results of the work of public servants‟ tax service in the city HCM, including stress from customers (taxpayers), do the job in the role conflict, work overload, stress in relationships with colleagues and superiors 
 Research methodology is performed in two steps - qualitative research and quantitative research. The study results also showed that when the stress is moderate, the result of work and overload of work are correlated in the same direction, but when the level of high stress work results and overloaded at work correlate counterclockwise.Finally, the author presents research implications for managers and the next research direction.

WORK STRESS RELATION WITH JOB SATISFACTION NON STAR HOTEL EMPLOYEES IN JAKARTA

The purpose of the research is to acknowledge how much work stress level experienced by the non-star hotel employees and to analyze how the relationship between work stress factors which gave the largest contribution (dominant) to the non-star hotel employees satisfaction. The selected samples in the study consist of 37 local employees and 63 temporary employees from non-star hotel located in Jakarta, For local employees' sample, using senses method, while for temporary employees using proportioned stratified random sampling. To answer the purpose of this research we need to use the analyzes Rank-Superman methods. The hypotheses tested with Critical Ratio method. The veriable used is stress as independent variable which work consist from stress factors which developed by Hellriegel, Slocum, and Woodman, which career development, interpersonal relationship in the organization, and conflict between work and other roles. While dependent variable for this study is Job Descriptive Index. From this result of study data we conclude that The job level experienced by the employees of a non star hotel owned workload, job condition, role conflict, role ambiguity, me job by the government is low, which can be detected from the response of respondents against instruments of questions of work stress, where about 60,3 % respond are not in agreements. This research gave the same result with Robbins' theory which state that one of the stress impact psychologically can lower employees satisfaction. This study show that work stress relation/correlate resulted negatively to job satisfaction with the value Of r= 322 and level significant .001. From the analysis to the factor causing job stress and the relation to the work of the employee resulted in 2 factor causing stress which is work load and role conflict which is unsuccessful to show significant relation with employees jobsatisfaction. While other factors which is job condition, role ambiguity, career development, interpersonal relationship in the organization and conflict between work and other roles proven have significant relation for employees job satisfaction. The factor from most dominant job stress to employees job satisfaction is career development with the rate of = .1840 From the above conclusion, then we advise that company should be warned the work stress causing factors, high level work stress, since this work stress result can increase and decrease job satisfaction for the employees. It is advise that it must be looked on and reevaluate on the performance of employees career development. Since the responses from respondents showed that career development is the most dominant source of stress or biggest contribution in employees job satisfaction.

A hopefulness survey of SWOG members: Relationships among hope, job stress, and burnout.

185 Background: Hope is a cognitive, goal-directed phenomenon that is measurable. It is “a cognitive set that is based on a reciprocally-derived sense of successful agency (goal-directed determination) and pathways (planning to meet goals).” Although hope has been explored in patients, few studies have investigated hope in physicians and other healthcare providers. Low hope has been shown to predict work burnout in other professions. This survey in the SWOG Cancer Research Network tests the relationships among hope, work stress, burnout, and general satisfaction with life. Methods: SWOG members randomly selected and invited to participate by email linked to a 10-minute online survey consisting of the following: The Adult Hope Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, demographic questionnaire, and items assessing burnout, work stress, and general social support. Of 1000 invitees, 226 responded to the survey, including physicians ( n = 77) and RNs ( n = 46). Results: On average, respondents reported relatively high work stress ( M = 3.59 out of 5). Levels of work stress were positively associated with burnout ( r = .58, p < .001), but not with general satisfaction with life ( r = .11, p = .08). Hope levels were negatively associated with burnout ( r = -.21, p = .003) and positively associated with satisfaction with life ( r = .58, p < .001). Consistent with past research showing that people with greater availability of general social support suffer from lower rates of burnout and experience higher levels of psychological well-being, we found that social support was negatively associated with burnout ( r = -.18, p = .007) and positively associated with life satisfaction ( r = .38, p < .001). In addition, we tested a meditational model using Hayes’ bootstrapping approach via the PROCESS macro in SPSS. In this model, hope partially mediated the relationships between social support and both burnout and life satisfaction. In the model, job stress also predicted burnout, but, as in the previous correlational analysis, had no relationship with general life satisfaction. Conclusions: Our cross-sectional results suggest that hope may mitigate the effects of burnout. Our data indicate that the particular combination of social support and hope may prove helpful for reducing job burnout and increasing general satisfaction with life. Single-session hope-enhancement workshops that incorporate both of these elements have been shown to increase hope and psychological well-being in non-medical populations. Such interventions for healthcare professionals warrant further study.

White and minority employee reactions to perceived discrimination at work: evidence of White fragility?

PurposeBuilding on the notion of “White fragility,” this study aims to explore how Whites react and cope with perceived discrimination at work. Specifically, the authors explore whether: (1) Whites react more negatively than minorities when they perceive discrimination at work and (2) Whites are more likely than minorities to restore the status quo by leaving the situation when they perceive discrimination at work.Design/methodology/approachData for this study were obtained from the Professional Worker Career Experience Survey. In total, 527 working professionals from multiple organizations across the central USA participated in the survey.FindingsThe authors find evidence that Whites experience more negative psychological effects (i.e. lower job satisfaction and higher work stress) from perceived discrimination than minority employees and are more likely to act to restore conditions of privilege by leaving their current job and employer. The stronger negative effects of perceived discrimination for Whites (vs minorities) were restricted to work outcomes (job satisfaction, work stress, turnover intentions from one's employer) and were not evident with respect to perceptions of overall well-being (i.e. life satisfaction), suggesting that White fragility may play a particularly influential role in work settings, wherein racial stress may be more readily activated.Originality/valueConsistent with the notion of White fragility, the study’s results demonstrate that the deleterious impact of perceived discrimination on employee work outcomes may, in some cases, be stronger for White than minority employees.

Work stress, family stress, and suicide ideation: A cross-sectional survey among working women in Shenzhen, China

BackgroundThis study aimed to explore the associations of work characteristics, work stress, and family stress with suicide ideation among working women, further to detect potential joint effects between different types of stress. MethodsFrom March to June in 2015, a cross-sectional survey on working women were conducted in Shenzhen, China. Demographic and work characteristics, work stress, family stress, and suicide ideation were collected. Multivariate logistic regression models were applied to assess possible associations by calculating the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confident intervals (CI). ResultsTotally 968 working women were included with a mean age of 31.62 (standard deviation: 7.43) years. The prevalence of suicide ideation was 19.4%. We found that night shift work, sickness absence, work stress, and family stress were positively associated with suicide ideation, after adjusting for age, education level, marital status, and occupation type. None joint effect on multiplicative or additive scale of work stress and family stress on suicide ideation was found (P for multiplicative and additive interaction: 0.736 and 0.595, respectively), however, women with both high work stress and high family stress appeared more than five-time odds of suicide ideation (OR: 5.253, 95%CI: 2.982∼9.252). LimitationsWe did not collect information on other psychosocial profiles and failed to explore potential mediated effects within current associations. ConclusionsThis study lends support to suicide prevention that immediate relief allocated to working women with both high level of work stress and family stress is warranted of necessity.

Estresse ocupacional e fatores associados: um estudo em professores

O objetivo deste trabalho é estimar a frequência de estresse entre professores e verificar sua associação com variáveis sociodemográficas, características de trabalho e estado nutricional. Trata-se de estudo transversal com 84 professores da área de Ciências Humanas e Naturais, através dos instrumentos: IPAQ abreviado, escala demanda-controle de Karasek e Theorel e Job Stress Scale. O estado nutricional foi definido pelo Índice de Massa Corporal (IMC), o estado de saúde e as características de trabalho foram autorreferidas. Observou-se que 64,3% dos docentes apresentaram baixos níveis de estresse. Embora a prevalência encontrada seja menor do que em outros estudos, 35,7% mostraram alto estresse e trabalho passivo (n = 30). Dentre os estressores, destacam-se os deveres administrativos (p = 0,012) e o tempo exercendo o cargo administrativo (p = 0,024). O excesso de peso predominou na amostra. Diante disso, é fundamental repensar o modelo de gestão dessas instituições de modo a não prejudicar a saúde e atuação do profissional do ensino superior.

The Correlation between Gender and Work Stress with the Fatigue of Lecturers

Introduction: Lecturers are workers who are actively involved in educational, research and community service activities at a college. Many duties and responsibilities of lecturers in their work can cause fatigue which is the body's response as a defense mechanism when the work exceeds its capacity. Different capacities can be assessed based on gender which also allows differences in response to the problem. The inability to cope with a problem or job produces a feeling of depression which can also be called as stress. The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between gender and work stress with fatigue at a faculty lecturers at a university in Surabaya. Method: This research was an analytical descriptive study in a faculty lecturers at a university in Surabaya. The study design was cross-sectional. Data were obtained through the results of a questionnaire distributed to lecturers who have met the criteria, as many as 43 respondents. Results: The study showed that 16 female respondents (57.2%) experienced moderate fatigue. About 19 respondents (63.3%) had mild stress and experienced mild fatigue. The correlation value between gender and fatigue was 0.816 and the strong correlation between work stress and fatigue was 0.000. This value indicated that there was no correlation between gender and fatigue, but there was a strong and direct correlation between work stress and fatigue. Conclusion: The occurrence of fatigue is not influenced by gender and high fatigue can be influenced by the high work stress felt by them.Keywords:fatigue, gender, lecturer, work stress

Factors that affect the health status of health care providers-A cross-sectional design.

To explore the factors that affect the health status of health care providers. There is a lack of studies that address the stress, resilience, social support and health status of health care providers. Using a cross-sectional study design, 500 participants were recruited from three hospitals which were operated by one entity in southern Taiwan. Data were collected with structured questionnaires. A logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the factors that might affect the health status of health care providers. Among the 500 health care providers, 345 were healthy and 155 were unhealthy. Health status was not significantly correlated with any demographic characteristics, but was significantly correlated with work stress, resilience and social support, with work stress being an important factor influencing the health status of health care providers. Health care providers with health issues had higher work stress, less resilience and less social support than did healthy medical personnel. Moreover, work stress was the main factor affecting the health of health care providers. Hospital administrators should conduct a series of health management programmes to identify high-risk employees who might need assistance. Such programmes promoting healthy workplaces are necessary, as well as studies that examine the effectiveness of such strategies.

PERAN MEDIASI STRES KERJA PADA PENGARUH KONFLIK PEKERJAAN- KELUARGA TERHADAP KEPUASAN KERJA KARYAWAN

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of family work conflict and work stress on employee job satisfaction. This research was conducted at the Puri Saron Hotel Company in Denpasar. The number of samples taken was 40 employees, using the saturated sample method. Data collection is done through interviews and observations. The analysis technique used is path analysis, classic assumption test and multiple test. The results showed that work-family conflict had a positive and significant effect on job stress in Puri Saron Hotel Denpasar, work stress had a negative and significant effect on job satisfaction, work-family conflict had a negative and significant effect on job satisfaction and significantly job stress was able to mediate the effect work-family conflict with job satisfaction. Efforts to improve employee job satisfaction, leaders should be able to pay attention to the ability of employees to solve problems at work so as not to cause conflicts between work-family and employees and pay attention to the work load on employees so as not to cause fatigue at work so as to cause high work stress.
 Keywords: work-family conflict, job stress, job satisfaction

Stress Kerja dan Konflik Kerja Mempengaruhi Kinerja Perawat

This study aims to determine the relationship between work stress and work conflict on nurses' performance in the inpatient ward of the Kepahiang Regional General Hospital. This type of research is descriptive-analytic research with a cross-sectional approach. Statistical test results from 80 respondents: as many as 39 respondents (48.8%) have low work stress, and 41 (52.1%) respondents have high work stress. as many as 43 respondents (53.8%) stated there was no conflict, and 37 (46.2%) respondents stated that there was a conflict, the results of continuity correction for work stress (P) = 0,000 <α = 0.05 and continuity work conflict correction (P) = 0.000 <α = 0.05. In conclusion, there is a significant influence between work stress and work conflict on the performance of nurses in the inpatient room of the Kepahiang Regional General Hospital.
 
 Keywords: Nurse Performance, Work Conflict, Work Stress

Organizational change and work stress, attitudes, and cognitive load utilization: a natural experiment in a university restructuring

PurposeThe authors present a quantitative analysis of the effect that organizational change has on work stress, work attitudes and perceptions, and cognitive utilization in a task.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the authors study the role organizational change has on work stress, attitudes and perceptions, including the role of attitudes toward change. The authors do so by examining differences across employees who are and are not undergoing change, as well as across two change phases. Second, the authors take advantage of the ongoing organizational change to study how people's anxiety about such change affects their cognitive utilization. They use an innovative approach to measure attention disengagement in a cognitive utilization task – a proxy for task-related performance – through a letter detection exercise. Third, the authors examine the role of work stress and change-related anxiety on attention disengagement among employees undergoing change. For this test, they use two organizational change-related texts to function as an anxiety-inducing and a calming-inducing prime.FindingsOrganization change is associated with higher work stress, lower job satisfaction and perceptions of institutional effectiveness and support. Further, organizational change-related anxiety adversely affects cognitive utilization, showing that employees undergoing change have higher attention disengagement relative to those not experiencing change. Among employees undergoing change, those receiving an anxiety-inducing prime show better cognitive utilization (lower attention disengagement) than those receiving the calming-inducing prime.Originality/valueThe rare merger of two public universities provides a natural experiment and a source of exogenous variation to examine the effects of radical organizational change on employees' attitudes, perceptions and task performance.