Safety and Health at Work

Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (산업안전보건연구원)
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The Factorial Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Persian Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire

  • Babamiri, Mohammad (Research Center for Health Sciences, Department of Ergonomics, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Siegrist, Johannes (Life-Science Centre, University of Dusseldorf) ;
  • Zemestani, Mehdi (Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Kurdistan)
  • Received : 2016.11.23
  • Accepted : 2017.10.08
  • Published : 2018.09.30
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Abstract

Background: With global changes in the current state of work and employment, the role of health-adverse psychosocial work environments has received increasing attention in developed as well as in rapidly developing countries. Thus, there is a need to apply valid measurement tools for monitoring and preventive purposes. This study aims to examine the factorial structure and psychometric properties of the Persian version of the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire, assessing one of the internationally leading concepts of stressful work. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study of a random sample of 202 white collar employees in an industrial company in Iran analyzes the ERI scales by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, aspects of construct and criterion validity are tested. To this end, correlations of ERI scales with subscales of organizational injustice, a complementary work stress model, and also the correlations of ERI scales with a questionnaire assessing psychosomatic symptoms are performed. Results: Internal consistency of the three ERI scales was satisfactoryy (Cronbach ${\alpha}$ effort: 0.76, reward: 0.79, overcommitment: 0.75). Fit indices of confirmatory factor analsis pointed to an adequate representation of the theoretical construct (e.g., adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI): 0.73, goodness of fit index (GFI): 0.78). Negative correlations with subscales of organizational injustice supported the notion of construct validity of the ERI scales, and positive correlations of ERI scales with psychosomatic symptoms indicated preliminary criterion validity. Conclusion: The Persian version of the ERI questionnaire has acceptable psychometric properties and can be used as a valid instrument in research on this topic.

Keywords

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