Psyc 2220- Industrial – Organizational PsychologyEssay Preview: Psyc 2220- Industrial – Organizational PsychologyReport this essayPSYC 2220- Industrial/Organizational PsychologyHomework 10Article Review: “Work–school conflict and health outcomes: Beneficial resources for working college students.”The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between work and school for students who work while taking classes. The article aims to describe their research process that specifically examines health as an outcome variable and share their findings in order to offer literature on this underrepresented topic. When it comes to work-school conflict, the article argues that negative experiences at work such as undermining a student’s ability or energy leads to poorer academic outcomes. This hypothesis stems from role theory, which states that each person has a specific set of duties and expectations that they are expected to follow and fulfill.         Prior to conducting any investigations themselves, the authors of the article expected work-school conflict to be a stressor for students which then leads to a negative correlation with psychological health and a positive correlation with physical health. This means that with more conflict between work and school, there is expected to be better physical health, but worse psychological health. After their investigation, the authors found WSC is not significantly predict physical health, however it did significantly predict psychological health.
The article goes on to explain that resources provided from the school serve as moderating factors, and hypothesizes that they weaken the negative relationship between WSC and psychological health. The investigation revealed that work-school support does in fact moderate the relationship between WSC and psychological health. The results had a correlation of .82, which is strong and positive.         Overall, the authors’ findings matched some of their hypotheses. The investigation proved to be consistent with their prediction that WSC is negatively correlated with psychological health. However, their investigation did not significantly predict physical health, so that prediction wasn’t able to be supported nor rejected. The findings on work-school support as a moderator did in fact support their hypothesis since the negative relationship between WSC and psychological health was weakened.         Based on the findings from this article I would recommend schools offer more support for students who are simultaneously working and studying. The findings prove that support from the school can moderate the negative effects of work, therefore making students less stressed and less likely to be negatively affected from conflicts between work and school. This can be done by offering workshops for students about how to balance school and work, and also to let them meet with other people in similar situations. Another way to improve student health could be to use an emotion focused approach. By trying to make students happier through fun activities and social opportunities, the psychological health of students can be improved and thus decrease WSC since they have a negative relationship.
I found another report in my local school board, that a teacher (in the local district) expressed her dissatisfaction with their lack of support and asked: “So what about your children?” It is true that children are a sensitive and fragile group, and need support and education. I would encourage teachers to look into all their kids and not just those on the outside. But the parents can work more for their kids before they give more and that is what my children need and deserve, I believe. Unfortunately, parents don’t talk to their children about how well they can handle working and learning, instead of asking them specific questions, and that is what they tell themselves. The results were not convincing and were not followed up by other schools. Unfortunately, these results and more might be helpful to young people like me as we look to change the attitudes of parents that are giving up on a child in need just like I did during this story. I have a very strong opinion on all aspects of the education system and that I will share my work with you. Your advice and concerns should be taken to an educational authority as they could help us change the current policies or help me expand our campaign in the area, too.
If you are interested in learning more about WSC, you can check back regularly as I update this page with all our new findings on the topic. All of this work is provided online for a living or by the use of commercial services without any express or implied compensation for the views expressed in the article.