La construction du sujet souffrant au travail au travers des instruments scientifiques de mesure

Following a Foucaldian perspective, this research aims to decipher the traits and characteristics of the subject that are constructed by the scientific scales designed to measure psychological distress at work. We rely on a qualitative approach and analyze seven self-reported measures of psychological distress widely used in management science. The analysis shows that 1/ these measures, along with other measures used in human resources management (Townley, 1993; Pezet, 2007), convey the idea of a calculable and accountable subject. Our results show that ‘calculability' here means that 1/ the individual is able to record and evaluate the events that affect him and 2/ his/her relationships with others and the world are, for the most part, instrumental. Finally, our research demonstrates that psychological distress is not important in it-self but only in so far as it may reduce the activity level of the suffering subject. The scientific measures of psychological distress construct a subject that, while rational, has no influence on his work environment. Our research that investigates the way scientific measures see the suffering subject complement works which, adopting a critical perspective on health, have researched the ‘blind spots' in orthodox studies. It details the traits of the accountable subject underlined by previous studies. These traits are to be contrasted with those of the free self-entrepreneur subject constructed by managerial discourses (Rose, 1999). We discuss the methodological, theoretical and managerial contributions of the research.