Thriving from Work: Conceptualization and Measurement

Susan E. Peters, Glorian Sorensen, Jeffrey N. Katz, Daniel A. Gundersen and Gregory R. Wagner
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Susan E. Peters: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Glorian Sorensen: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Jeffrey N. Katz: Departments of Orthopedic Surgery and Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Daniel A. Gundersen: Survey and Qualitative Methods Core, Division of Population Health, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Gregory R. Wagner: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 13, 1-20

Abstract: Work is a major contributor to our health and well-being. Workers’ thriving is directly influenced by their job design, work environment and organization. The purpose of this report is to describe the qualitative methods used to develop the candidate items for a novel measure of Thriving from Work through a multi-step iterative process including: a literature review, workshop, interviews with experts, and cognitive testing of the candidate items. Through this process, we defined Thriving from Work as the state of positive mental, physical, and social functioning in which workers’ experiences of their work and working conditions enable them to thrive in their overall lives, contributing to their ability to achieve their full potential in their work, home, and community. Thriving from Work was conceptualized into 37 attributes across seven dimensions: psychological, emotional, social, work–life integration, basic needs, experience of work, and health. We ultimately identified, developed and/or modified 87 candidate questionnaire items mapped to these attributes that performed well in cognitive testing in demographically and occupationally diverse workers. The Thriving from Work Questionnaire will be subjected to psychometric testing and item reduction in future studies. Individual items demonstrated face validity and good cognitive response properties and may be used independently from the questionnaire.

Keywords: total worker health; healthy work design and well-being; flourishing; questionnaire design; survey design; cognitive interviewing; measurement of well-being; thriving; worker well-being; worker thriving (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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