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Occupational Stress and Its Economic Cost in Hong Kong: The Role of Positive Emotions

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  • Oi Ling Siu

    (Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China)

  • Cary L. Cooper

    (Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK)

  • Lara C. Roll

    (Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China
    Department of Work, Organisational and Personnel Psychology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
    Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University (VTC), Vanderbijlpark 1174, South Africa)

  • Carol Lo

    (Occupational Safety and Health Council, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

There has been less research on the costs of occupational stress attributed to certain job stressors in Chinese contexts. This study identified and validated common job stressors and estimated the economic cost in Hong Kong. The role of positive emotions in alleviating the economic costs of job stressors was also examined. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were adopted. The findings obtained from five focus group discussions and a survey validated five common job stressors: Job insecurity; quantitative workload; organizational constraints; interpersonal conflicts; and work/home interface. A total of 2511 employees were surveyed, with 2032 valid questionnaires returned (925 males, 1104 females, and 3 unidentified, whose ages ranged from 18 to 70 years). The economic costs were estimated by combining the costs of absenteeism, presenteeism, and medical expenses. Absenteeism mainly caused by job stressors of the work/home interface, job insecurity, and quantitative workload accounted for an annual economic cost of HK$550 million to HK$860 million. The annual economic cost due to presenteeism mainly caused by job stressors of job insecurity, interpersonal conflict, quantitative workload, and organizational constraints ranged from HK$1.373 billion to HK$2.146 billion. The cost of medical treatments associated with occupational stress was HK$2.889 billion to HK$4.083 billion. Therefore, the total annual economic cost of occupational stress was approximately HK$4.81 billion to HK$7.09 billion. Positive emotions, representing a less explored individual factor in the cost of occupational stress studies, was found to be negatively correlated with presenteeism and buffered the negative impact of job stressors on absenteeism. The theoretical contributions and practical implications of findings are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Oi Ling Siu & Cary L. Cooper & Lara C. Roll & Carol Lo, 2020. "Occupational Stress and Its Economic Cost in Hong Kong: The Role of Positive Emotions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-22, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:22:p:8601-:d:447976
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Oi-ling Siu & S. L. Chow & David R. Phillips & Lin Lin, 2006. "An Exploratory Study of Resilience Among Hong Kong Employees: Ways to Happiness," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Yew-Kwang Ng & Lok Sang Ho (ed.), Happiness and Public Policy, chapter 10, pages 209-220, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Oi Siu & Francis Cheung & Steve Lui, 2015. "Linking Positive Emotions to Work Well-Being and Turnover Intention Among Hong Kong Police Officers: The Role of Psychological Capital," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 367-380, April.
    3. Hansen, Claus D. & Andersen, Johan H., 2008. "Going ill to work - What personal circumstances, attitudes and work-related factors are associated with sickness presenteeism?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 956-964, September.
    4. Koopmanschap, Marc A. & Rutten, Frans F. H. & van Ineveld, B. Martin & van Roijen, Leona, 1995. "The friction cost method for measuring indirect costs of disease," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 171-189, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Elisa Menardo & Donatella Di Marco & Sara Ramos & Margherita Brondino & Alicia Arenas & Patricia Costa & Carlos Vaz de Carvalho & Margherita Pasini, 2022. "Nature and Mindfulness to Cope with Work-Related Stress: A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Lina Vyas & Francis Cheung & Hang-Yue Ngo & Kee-Lee Chou, 2022. "Family-Friendly Policies: Extrapolating A Pathway towards Better Work Attitudes and Work Behaviors in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Juliana Nga Man Lui & Ellie Bostwick Andres & Janice Mary Johnston, 2022. "Does Seasonal Influenza Related Hospital Occupancy Surge Impact Hospital Staff Sickness Presenteeism and Productivity Costs?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Oi-Ling Siu & Qianting Kong & Ting-Kin Ng, 2021. "Psychological Capital and Family Satisfaction among Employees: Do Occupational Stressors Moderate the Relationship?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-12, November.

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