Exposure to Adverse Social Behavior in the Workplace and Sickness Presenteeism among Korean Workers: The Mediating Effects of Musculoskeletal Disorders

Sookja Choi, Yunjeong Yi and Jiyun Kim
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Sookja Choi: Red Cross College of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Korea
Yunjeong Yi: Department of Nursing, Kyung-In Women’s University, Incheon 21041, Korea
Jiyun Kim: School of Nursing, Gachon University, Incheon 21936, Korea

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: Adverse social behavior (ASB) by colleagues or superiors in the workplace is considered highly stressful for workers in South Korea. The authors investigate the mechanism by which ASB reduces productivity (measured in terms of sickness presenteeism (SP)), by examining the potential mediating role of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). All data are derived from the fourth Korean Working Conditions Survey, which investigated a representative sample of the working population. The authors analyze their general characteristics (age, gender, income, and education), work-related factors (job type, occupational ergonomic risk, job resource, employment contract, work schedule, working hour, and job demand), and health-related factors (self-rated health and MSDs). The authors use a two-step regression analysis to estimate the direct effect of ASB on SP and the indirect effect of SP via MSDs. The authors find that MSDs mediate 16.7% of the total effect of ASB on SP. When employment type and job conditions are considered, the role of the mediating variable in the group with a permanent contract, no shift or night work, and high working time is greater than the counterpart of each variable. Various strategies are needed to address MSDs according to the working environment, which might help limit the negative impact of ASB on SP.

Keywords: workplace violence; mediation; musculoskeletal diseases; presenteeism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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