SRI RAMACHANDRA INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND

RESEARCH(DU)
FACULTY OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES
B.Sc., Applied Psychology- VI Semester
Research Protocol Topics

NAME OF THE STUDENTS: S. PRIYADHARSHINI

FATHIMA ZOHARA
SANJANA V.
S. SIVARANJINI
SONA FATHIMA

ROLL NUMBER: S. PRIYADHARSHINI (A1219001)

FATHIMA ZOHARA (A1219009)
SANJANA V. (A1219020)
S. SIVARANJINI (A1219010)
SONA FATHIMA (A1219008)

GROUP NO & LEAD: GROUP NO – 5

S PRIYADHARSHINI

TOPIC SELECTED:
1. A Comparative Study on Organizational Climate and Work Stress between Public and Private
Petroleum Companies

2. Psychological Domains and Quality of Life Among Working and Non-Working Married Tamil
Women.

3. Comparative Study Among Psychology and Non-Psychology Students on Assertiveness and

Problem-Solving Skills.

SIGNATURE OF THE SUPERVISOR WITH DESIGNATION:

SIGNATURE OF THE STUDENT:

DATE:

PRINCIPAL
HEAD

TOPIC:
A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE AND WORK STRESS
BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PETROLEUM COMPANIES

Submitted by,
S. Priyadharshini
Fathima Zohara
Sanjana V
S. Sivaranjini
Sona Fathima

Name of the guide: Mrs. A. RishiKulya

Introduction

The Organizational climate situated for the employees are different at every sector and companies.
Employees' stress levels range significantly, especially when comparing private and public
(government) organizations. The study here compares and correlates the work environment and stress
factors faced by the employees when working under private companies and government-aided
companies.

Organizational climate is the perception of work environment by the employees working in an

organization. Organizational climate refers to those aspects of environment which are consciously
perceived by organizational members (Schneider et al., 2011). Researchers have been interested in
exploring the link between organizational climate and how it affects the stress level of an individual.
The creation of a positive organizational climate in an organization is very important as it helps in
creating a motivated workforce to achieve organizational goals. It has been argued that a more
desirable work environment will result in improved job satisfaction and less stress.

“Organizational climate is defined as the shared perceptions, feelings and attitudes organizational
members have about the fundamental elements of the organization which reflect the established
norms, values and attitudes of the organization’s culture and influence individuals’ behavior either
positively or negatively” (Moran & Volkwein, 1992 and Gerber, 2003). Organizational climate can
also be defined as the shared meaning organizational members attach to the events, policies, practices,
and procedures they experience and the behaviors they see being rewarded, supported, and expected
(Mark G. Ehrhart, et al., 2013). Occupational stress, in particular, is the inability to cope with
pressures in a job, because of a poor fit between someone ‘s abilities and his/her work requirements
and conditions. It is a mental and physical condition which affect an individual ‘s productivity,
effectiveness, personal health and quality of work (Comish R. & Swindle B. 1994).

The term ‘climate’ refers to the environmental conditions of a region at a specific time such as hot,
humid, cloudy, cold etc. Similarly the ‘climate’ of the organization represents the atmosphere of the
organization which is perceived as real by its employees (Randhawa & Kaur, 2014). According to
Forehand and Gilmer (1964) organizational climate is a set of characteristics that distinguish an
organization from others. Litwin defined organizational climate as “a group of measurable
characteristics that members could perceive directly or indirectly in the work environment.”
Pritchard and Karasick (1973) have found a high positive correlation between organizational climate
and organizational performance. A positive work climate results in motivated employees who enjoy
their work. According to Litwin and Stringer (1968) climate helps managers in understanding the
relationship between prevalent practices at the organization and needs of the employees. By
understanding the link between organizational practices and what stimulate employee behavior,
managers can have a better understanding of employee motivation. It will result in a better
organizational climate which it turn, will result in organizational success.
According to Selye (1956), “any external event or internal drive which threatens to upset the
organismic equilibrium is stress”. From this definition it is clear that stress is a non-specific response
of the body to any demand made upon it. According to Lazarus (1966) “stress refers to physiological,
behavioral and cognitive responses to events appraisal as threatening or exceeding one’s coping
responses and options”.

Organizational Stress refers to the total of the various types of role stresses experienced by employees
in their organizational role, namely, Role Ambiguity, Role Stagnation, Role Overload, Role Erosion,
Role Conflict, Resource Inadequacy and Personal Inadequacy.
Pressure to avoid errors or complete tasks in a limited time, work overload, a demanding and
insensitive boss, and unpleasant co-workers are few examples.
Task demands are aspects of a person's work. They include the job design (autonomy, task diversity,
degree of automation), working environment, and the physical work arrangement for each employee.
Working in a busy area or in a conspicuous place with a lot of noise and interruptions might make you
feel anxious and stressed. Emotional labour is becoming increasingly stressful as customer service
becomes more crucial. Role demands refer to the expectations that are imposed on a person as a result
of the specific role that he or she has in the company. Role conflicts create expectation that may be
hard to reconcile or satisfy. Role overload is experienced when the employee is expected to do more
than time permits. Role ambiguity is created when the role expectations are not clearly understood
and the employee is not sure what he or she is to do. International demands are pressures created by
other employees. Lack of social support from colleagues and poor interpersonal relationship can cause
stress, especially among employees with a high social need.

Organizational climate includes domains such as communication, reward system, career development,
decision making, teamwork and support, quality of service, conflict management, and so on. Indistinct
organization and disputes, individual needs and commitment, influence at work, and work-to-leisure
time interference are all stress-related variables. This study tries to identify factors that contribute to
stress, its impact on employees and organization.

Employee’s perceptions of work environment influence their commitment, satisfaction and stress
level towards their job which will further have an impact on the company's productivity. People who
work in petroleum firms, in particular, may be required to meet deadlines, perform night shifts,
project management issues, lack of resources, high responsibility, multitasking and adapt to new
technology and information. These stressors were cited as most dominant reasons of high work stress
in the work environment of oil/gas industry professionals which can eventually lead to a condition
known as burnout.
Office employees spend most of the time in a sitting position and in enclosed settings. Their work
usually involves psychophysical pressure and eye strain, they are also exposed to risk factors such as
outbreak of fire and electric shock. Health and work ability are important factors for occupational
safety and effectiveness in the organizations.

public sector organization is assumed to

operate in a different way than a private sector
organization. Also Public Administration
scholars tend to assume that
employees across public and private sector
organizations behave significantly in different
ways. It was Murray (1975) who sparked a
true series of studies with
an essay in which he essentially stated that
although separate approaches to
management science have developed in the
public and private sectors, both
sectors are facing similar constraints and
challenges (Murray 1975).Now, the rapid
advances in technology and accelerated
international trade and competition,
have thereby intensified organizational
pressures to maximize profit while
minimizing costs, besides resulted in
increasing demand for higher productivity
and
greater accountability in the public sector,
and greater profitability in the private
sector. The causes of job stress are
important not only for its potential
implications for stress management at public
and private sector organizations among
operational level workers but also for
enhancing an understanding of
strategic human resource management. Lewig
and Dollard (2001) found that public sector
employees are subject to greater work-related
stress than private
sector employees and also workplace
environments in both sectors have been
increasingly characterized by intensified
pressure on employees to perform at
consistently higher levels, with longer hours,
reduced staff numbers, insecure employment
patterns and employer empowerment
(Caulfield, Chang, Dollard, &
Elshaug, 2004; Dollard, 2006; Dollard &
Knott, 2004; Polanyi & Tompa, 2004;
Stebbins, Thatcher, & King, 2005). All
these factors have been identified as
contributing to the creation of a stressful
work environment and increased risk of
psychological problems in both the sectors.
A survey report prepared by
Ricardo et.al (2007) revealed that public
sector workers are significantly more i.e.
64% likely to report stress to be the leading
hazard of concern at work than
workers in the private sector only of 46% of
stress.
In this study the researcher has taken all
the dimensions of the Job Demand Control
model separately i.e. Skill discretion, job
authority and Job demand to
measure their relationship with the job stress,
which is an attempt in this paper to find out
their individual impacts. So, the literature
regarding each pioneer is
discussed as under
public sector organization is assumed to
operate in a different way than a private sector
organization. Also Public Administration
scholars tend to assume that
employees across public and private sector
organizations behave significantly in different
ways. It was Murray (1975) who sparked a
true series of studies with
an essay in which he essentially stated that
although separate approaches to
management science have developed in the
public and private sectors, both
sectors are facing similar constraints and
challenges (Murray 1975).Now, the rapid
advances in technology and accelerated
international trade and competition,
have thereby intensified organizational
pressures to maximize profit while
minimizing costs, besides resulted in
increasing demand for higher productivity
and
greater accountability in the public sector,
and greater profitability in the private
sector. The causes of job stress are
important not only for its potential
implications for stress management at public
and private sector organizations among
operational level workers but also for
enhancing an understanding of
strategic human resource management. Lewig
and Dollard (2001) found that public sector
employees are subject to greater work-related
stress than private
sector employees and also workplace
environments in both sectors have been
increasingly characterized by intensified
pressure on employees to perform at
consistently higher levels, with longer hours,
reduced staff numbers, insecure employment
patterns and employer empowerment
(Caulfield, Chang, Dollard, &
Elshaug, 2004; Dollard, 2006; Dollard &
Knott, 2004; Polanyi & Tompa, 2004;
Stebbins, Thatcher, & King, 2005). All
these factors have been identified as
contributing to the creation of a stressful
work environment and increased risk of
psychological problems in both the sectors.
A survey report prepared by
Ricardo et.al (2007) revealed that public
sector workers are significantly more i.e.
64% likely to report stress to be the leading
hazard of concern at work than
workers in the private sector only of 46% of
stress.
In this study the researcher has taken all
the dimensions of the Job Demand Control
model separately i.e. Skill discretion, job
authority and Job demand to
measure their relationship with the job stress,
which is an attempt in this paper to find out
their individual impacts. So, the literature
regarding each pioneer is
discussed as under
public sector organization is assumed to
operate in a different way than a private sector
organization. Also Public Administration
scholars tend to assume that
employees across public and private sector
organizations behave significantly in different
ways. It was Murray (1975) who sparked a
true series of studies with
an essay in which he essentially stated that
although separate approaches to
management science have developed in the
public and private sectors, both
sectors are facing similar constraints and
challenges (Murray 1975).Now, the rapid
advances in technology and accelerated
international trade and competition,
have thereby intensified organizational
pressures to maximize profit while
minimizing costs, besides resulted in
increasing demand for higher productivity
and
greater accountability in the public sector,
and greater profitability in the private
sector. The causes of job stress are
important not only for its potential
implications for stress management at public
and private sector organizations among
operational level workers but also for
enhancing an understanding of
strategic human resource management. Lewig
and Dollard (2001) found that public sector
employees are subject to greater work-related
stress than private
sector employees and also workplace
environments in both sectors have been
increasingly characterized by intensified
pressure on employees to perform at
consistently higher levels, with longer hours,
reduced staff numbers, insecure employment
patterns and employer empowerment
(Caulfield, Chang, Dollard, &
Elshaug, 2004; Dollard, 2006; Dollard &
Knott, 2004; Polanyi & Tompa, 2004;
Stebbins, Thatcher, & King, 2005). All
these factors have been identified as
contributing to the creation of a stressful
work environment and increased risk of
psychological problems in both the sectors.
A survey report prepared by
Ricardo et.al (2007) revealed that public
sector workers are significantly more i.e.
64% likely to report stress to be the leading
hazard of concern at work than
workers in the private sector only of 46% of
stress.
In this study the researcher has taken all
the dimensions of the Job Demand Control
model separately i.e. Skill discretion, job
authority and Job demand to
measure their relationship with the job stress,
which is an attempt in this paper to find out
their individual impacts. So, the literature
regarding each pioneer is
discussed as under
public sector organization is assumed to
operate in a different way than a private sector
organization. Also Public Administration
scholars tend to assume that
employees across public and private sector
organizations behave significantly in different
ways. It was Murray (1975) who sparked a
true series of studies with
an essay in which he essentially stated that
although separate approaches to
management science have developed in the
public and private sectors, both
sectors are facing similar constraints and
challenges (Murray 1975).Now, the rapid
advances in technology and accelerated
international trade and competition,
have thereby intensified organizational
pressures to maximize profit while
minimizing costs, besides resulted in
increasing demand for higher productivity
and
greater accountability in the public sector,
and greater profitability in the private
sector. The causes of job stress are
important not only for its potential
implications for stress management at public
and private sector organizations among
operational level workers but also for
enhancing an understanding of
strategic human resource management. Lewig
and Dollard (2001) found that public sector
employees are subject to greater work-related
stress than private
sector employees and also workplace
environments in both sectors have been
increasingly characterized by intensified
pressure on employees to perform at
consistently higher levels, with longer hours,
reduced staff numbers, insecure employment
patterns and employer empowerment
(Caulfield, Chang, Dollard, &
Elshaug, 2004; Dollard, 2006; Dollard &
Knott, 2004; Polanyi & Tompa, 2004;
Stebbins, Thatcher, & King, 2005). All
these factors have been identified as
contributing to the creation of a stressful
work environment and increased risk of
psychological problems in both the sectors.
A survey report prepared by
Ricardo et.al (2007) revealed that public
sector workers are significantly more i.e.
64% likely to report stress to be the leading
hazard of concern at work than
workers in the private sector only of 46% of
stress.
In this study the researcher has taken all
the dimensions of the Job Demand Control
model separately i.e. Skill discretion, job
authority and Job demand to
measure their relationship with the job stress,
which is an attempt in this paper to find out
their individual impacts. So, the literature
regarding each pioneer is
discussed as under
A public sector organization is assumed to operate in a different way than a private sector
organization. Also Public Administration scholars tend to assume that employees across public and
private sector organizations behave significantly in different ways. It was Murray (1975) who sparked
a true series of studies with an essay in which he essentially stated that although separate approaches
to management science have developed in the public and private sectors, both sectors are facing
similar constraints and challenges (Murray 1975).Now, the rapid advances in technology and
accelerated international trade and competition, have thereby intensified organizational pressures to
maximize profit while minimizing costs, besides resulted in increasing demand for higher
productivity and greater accountability in the public sector, and greater profitability in the private
sector. The causes of job stress are important not only for its potential implications for stress
management at public and private sector organizations among operational level workers but also for
enhancing an understanding of strategic human resource management.
Lewig and Dollard (2001) found that public sector employees are subject to greater work-related
stress than private sector employees and also workplace environments in both sectors have been
increasingly characterized by intensified pressure on employees to perform at consistently higher
levels, with longer hours, reduced staff numbers, insecure employment patterns and employer
empowerment (Caulfield, Chang, Dollard, & Elshaug, 2004; Dollard, 2006; Dollard & Knott, 2004;
Polanyi & Tompa, 2004; Stebbins, Thatcher, & King, 2005). All these factors have been identified as
contributing to the creation of a stressful work environment and increased risk of psychological
problems in both the sectors. A survey report prepared by Ricardo et.al (2007) revealed that public
sector workers are significantly more i.e. 64% likely to report stress to be the leading hazard of
concern at work than workers in the private sector only of 46% of stress.

Review of literature

M. Priyadarshini, 2018, conducted a study to assess the Organizational climate and Organizational
role stress of the employees among the information technology and information technology enabled
services industry professionals in Coimbatore. The sample size of the study was 3500 employees from
randomly chosen IT and ITes companies in Coimbatore. The study revealed that, when there is a
higher level of perception towards Organizational Climate, lower was the Organizational Role Stress
and when, there is a low level of perception towards the Organizational Climate, the higher was the
level of Organizational Role Stress.

Dhawan & Nidhi, (2013) conducted a study to find out the degree of stress perceived by the bank
employees working in public sector and private sector banks and to bring out the factors affecting it.
To meet out the objectives in the research study the sample size of 500 employees working with
private and public sector banks in Delhi region in India were considered. It has been found that the
stress level due to role erosion, role isolation, and resource inadequacy is similar for employees
working in the public and private sector banks. When one receives a pressure from environmental or
external forces, then individual response to such forces generally causes a strain (emotional or
physical) and becomes a reason for inducing a stress.

Subramani A. K., (2015) conducted a research focussing on identifying the dimensions of

organizational climate and its impact on employees’ work related attitude. The study covers the
following main objectives are , to assess the influence of demographic variables towards the
perception of the organizational climate and work related attitude by the employees working in IT
companies, Chennai and to develop a model integrating the factors of organizational climate and
portray its relationship with employees’ work related attitude. The primary data were collected
through stratified sampling technique using structured questionnaire from selected top it companies
such as TCS, Infosys, HCL, Wipro, and Tech Mahinda & Mahindra IT Systems. The sample size of
the research is 1000. It concluded that the compassionate organizational climate cultivate the positive
attitudinal outcomes for the employees and overall development for the organizations as well.

Shanker, 2014, researched on Organizational Climate and the intention of the employees to stay in the
organization. The study was conducted among 615 participants in Indian Organizations. A twenty-
item scale was used to measure the organizational climate and four items were used to measure their
intention to stay. Correlation results showed the presence of significant relationship between
Organizational Climate and their intention to stay.

Jegajothi, C and Sudha, S (2015), in their article debated about relationship between Organizational
climate and Employee performance. Organizations have become more challenging today. It is not for
any particular organization but affects all the organization. Organizations are seeking to improve the
performance and many organizations have realized that human resources are of advantage and
sustaining of the organization for a long term. It is significant that work environment plays a positive
role in exerting greater efforts from the employee. Thus positive work environment can be created
with the help of organization climate intervention. Positive organizational climate motives the
employees to perform well and rewards.

Jeyanthi M., 2012, conducted a study on stress dynamics among working women a Study on
Employees of Public Private and Multinational Organizations in Chennai. The researched used a
sample size of ablut 600 employees. The study concluded that the most important causes of stress
among women employees are Management Policies, Performance Evaluation, Goal Achieving, Role
of Women, Benefits from the organization and environmental conditions.

Mohanapriya K.,2018, conducted a research to find out the level of job stress among bank employees
in Erode district of Tamilnadu. The study on the job stress conducted with 880 employees working in
banking sector reveals the impact of various stressors namely workload, family commitments,
shortage of staff, organisation environment and such other factors. The results of the study show the
intensity of work stressors on the coping mechanisms and show light on the behavioral aspects of the
banking employees in the study area. The relationship exhibited between employees, salary and level
of stress may help the banking institutions in designing their training programmes.

Jain et al. (2012) identified stress in the workplace, as one of the major factor for suicide among the
employees, in Public sector. In their study, they found that, about seventy-five percentage of the
respondents stated about stress in the job. Work roles, design of task, environmental conditions,
interpersonal relationships, career concern and social change were found to be the factors for stress,
among the employees.

Singh & Mishra (2011) attempted to find the impact of Organizational Climate on Organizational
Role Stress. The study was made among 402 executives working in I sector, trom Gurgaon. Results
using correlation, revealed the existence of positive relationship between the dimensions of
Organizational Climate and Organizational Role Stress. The impact of independent variable namely,
Organizational Climate on the dependent variable, Organizational Role Stress. was tested using
regression. in which it was found that, the dimensions of Organizational Climate namely, quality of
work life, orientation, problem solving, counselling, goal setting, communication and decision
making, had a strong influence on Organizational Role Stress.

Peter J. Robertson and Sonal J. Seneviratne, 1995, conducted research on Outcomes of Planned
Organizational Change in the Public Sector: A Meta-Analytic Comparison to the Private Sector. Prior
empirical comparisons of intervention success have found that patterns of success are similar in the
two types of organizations. By using meta-analytic procedures, the impact of planned change
interventions on seven categories of organization variables were evaluated. However, they found
differences between the sectors for three variable categories, indicating that it is more difficult to
implement changes in public organization work settings, but that organizational performance can be
improved more readily in public organizations.

Need for the study:

According to the literature review a comparative study has already been conducted on different
sectors like banks and insurance companies. This study is based on petroleum companies where we
can evaluate the work environment and stress occurred due to workload.

Aim:
To study the comparison between public and private petroleum companies on organizational climate
and work stress faced by employees in the organization.

Objective: 

 To assess the organizational climate and work stress in private petroleum companies.
 To assess the organizational climate and work stress in public petroleum companies. 
 To compare organizational climate and work stress between private and public companies.

HYPOTHESIS: 

The general hypothesis for this study is that the organizational climate satisfaction seems to be higher
in public sector because of government subsidies provided to the employees and the stress level may
be significantly high in private sector.

VARIABLES OF THE STUDY

(a) Independent Variables:

Public and private sector employees

(b) Dependent Variable:

Organizational climate and job stress

Methodology:
Research design:
Cross sectional study design

Period of study: Estimated duration for the study is approximately 6 months (January - May 2022)

Sample size to be recruited with justification: we intend to conduct the research on 100 individuals.
50 employees in private sector and 50 employees in public sector

Inclusion criteria:
Employees with desk job.
Employed adults (18 years of age or older)
Employees with at least 12 months of experience in the same organization.

Exclusive criteria:
Immediate recruiters and internship employees.
Employees having physical ailments and Mental health problems

Statistical analysis:
The scores are computer generated. Independent t test and chi square test are used to analyze the data
collection between two groups. The mean, standard deviation and frequency are calculated from the
samples. The scores collected from public and private sectors are later compared.

Tools
The Organizational Climate Questionnaire (OCQ)
The Organizational Climate Questionnaire (OCQ) was developed by Adrian Furnham and Leonard D.
Goodstein in 1997. The questionnaire consists of 108 Likert-scale questions. Fourteen different
climate dimensions are tapped by the instrument: role clarity, respect, communication, reward system,
career development, planning and decision making, innovation, relationships, teamwork and support,
quality of service, conflict management, commitment and morale, training and learning, and direction.
The reliability for the agreement ratings ranges from 0.60 to 0.86 with a mean of 0.77 and for the
importance ratings it ranges from 0.70 to 0.88 with a mean of 0.78. The validity mean on each of the
dimensions exceeded 5.0 (on a seven-point scale).

The work stress questionnaire (revised version)

The WSQ was developed by Holmgren et al., as a self-administered questionnaire with the purpose of
early identification of individuals at risk of being sick-listed due to work-related stress. The WSQ
consists of 21 items covering 4 main themes: Indistinct organization and conflicts, Individual
demands and commitment, Influence at work and Work to leisure time interference. The questions of
the first two themes can be answered Yes, Partly or No. Results from a study indicate that the WSQ is
a reliable and valid questionnaire ranged from 55% to 98% with a median of 77%.

REFERENCES:

 Moran, E. T. and Volkwein, J. F. (1992), The Cultural Approach to the Formation of

Organizational Climate, Human Relations, 45(1): 19–47.
 Comish R. & Swindle B. (1994). Managing Stress in the Workplace. National Public
Accountant, 39(9), 24-28 pp. 11 Cox, T., et al. (2007). Evaluating organizational-level work
stress interventions: Beyond traditional methods. Work & Stress, 21(4), 348-362.
 Holmgren K, Hensing G, Dahlin-Ivanoff S. Development of a questionnaire assessing work-
related stress in women - identifying individuals who risk being put on sick leave. Disabil
Rehabil. 2009;31(4):284–92
 Shanker, M 2014, 'A Study on Organizational Climate in Relation to Employees' Intention to
Stay, Journal of Psychosocial Research, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 389-397
 Robertson, P. J., & Seneviratne, S. J. (1995). Outcomes of Planned Organizational Change in
the Public Sector: A Meta-Analytic Comparison to the Private Sector. Public Administration
Review, 55(6), 547–558.
 Priyadarshini, M. (2018). A study on organizational climate and organizational role stress
among the information technology and Information Technology Enabled Services Industry
Professionals Coimbatore. A study on organizational climate and organizational role stress
among the information technology and information technology enabled services industry
professionals Coimbatore. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
 Dhawan, Nidhi (2013). A study of organizational stress and coping mechanism in public and
private sector banks. Retrieved December 19, 2021
  Randhawa, G. & Kaur, K. (2014). Organizational climate and its correlates: Review of
literature and a proposed model. Journal of Management Research, 14(1), 25-40
 Forehand, G. A., & Gilmer, B. V. H. (1964). Environmental variations in studies of
organizational behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 62(6), 361-382.
 Litwin, G. H., & Stringer, R. A. (1968). Motivation and organizational climate. Bostan, MA,
Harvard University Press.
 Pritchard, R. D. & Karasick, B.W. (1973). The effects of organizational climate on
managerial job performance and job satisfaction. Organizational Behavior and Human
Performance 9(1), 126-146.
 Schneider, B., Ehrhart M.G. & Macey, W.H. (2011). Perspectives on organizational climate
and culture. APA Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Vol. 1. Building
and Developing the Organization, Washington, DC: American Psychology Association.
 Rakhi. (1970, January 1). Organizational climate employee motivation and job satisfaction in
the industrial sector of Northern India. Organizational climate employee motivation and job
satisfaction in the industrial sector of Northern India. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
 Subramani, A. K.,(2015). A study on organizational climate with special reference to it
industries in Chennai. A study on organizational climate with special reference to it
industries in Chennai. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
 Jegajothi, C, & Sudha, S, “A Study on Organizational Climate and Employee Performance”,
Indian journal of Applied research, Vol 5, No 4, April 2015, Pp 347 - 349.

 M, jeyanthi. (2012). Stress Dynamics among working women a study on employees of public
private and multinational organizations in Chennai. Stress Dynamics Among Working
Women A Study on Employees of Public Private and Multinational Organizations in Chennai.
Retrieved December 19, 2021.

 K, M. (2018). A study on job stress among bank employees with special reference to Erode
District of Tamilnadu. A study on job stress among bank employees with special reference to
Erode district of Tamilnadu. Retrieved December 19, 2021.

ORGANIZATION CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRE

Section A
To what level of agreement does your organization follow the practices given below at the
workplace; please indicate by providing response on the following five-point scale: 1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Disagree(SD) Disagree(D) Neutral(N) Agree (A) Strongly Agree(SA)
Organizational Climate SD D N A S A
1. My organization helps me in developing improved work processes. 1 2 3 4 5
2. My department is adequately informed by management about what is going on in the
organization. 1 2 3 4 5
3. I know what is happening in other parts of my organization. 1 2 3 4 5
4. My organization is sensitive to my individual needs. 1 2 3 4 5
5. My team members help me in performing my role effectively. 1 2 3 4 5
6. My work in team is recognized well. 1 2 3 4 5
7. The people in our team work well together. 1 2 3 4 5
8. All team members like new ways of doing things. 1 2 3 4 5
9. My team leader effectively manages my team. 1 2 3 4 5
10. All the teams at our organization work well together. 1 2 3 4 5
11. I can communicate with senior management effectively regarding my work. 1 2 3 4 5
12. Management has good understanding of what is happening in our team. 1 2 3 4 5
13. I am treated with respect by management. 1 2 3 4 5
14. Management utilizes my skills effectively. 1 2 3 4 5
15. Management takes employees’ suggestions seriously. 1 2 3 4 5
16. I put extra efforts to complete the assigned job. 1 2 3 4 5
17. I proudly tell others that I am part of this organization. 1 2 3 4 5
18. I am loyal to my organization. 1 2 3 4 5
19. I will recommend this organization to others. 1 2 3 4 5
20. I would like lifetime employment with this organization. 1 2 3 4 5
21. My organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me. 1 2 3 4 5
22. I can handle the size of my workload. 1 2 3 4 5
23. I had sufficient skills when I was hired to this job. 1 2 3 4 5
24. After training programmes, employees are given opportunities to try out new methods. 1
2345
25. The staff development programme helped me to add value to my skills. 1 2 3 4 5
26. My organization helps me to enhance my career development. 1 2 3 4 5
27. My organization provides me new challenging opportunities at work. 1 2 3 4 5
28. My organization has a strong grievance handling procedure. 1 2 3 4 5
29. The management of this organization is always sympathetic in dealing with employees’
problems. 1 2 3 4 5
30. The management is always ready to solve complaints of the employees. 1 2 3 4 5
31. Disciplinary procedure is well outlined and communicated to all. 1 2 3 4 5
32. My organization pays much attention to the interests of employees. 1 2 3 4 5
33. My job does not cause unreasonable amount of stress in my life. 1 2 3 4 5
34. I am able to satisfy both my job and family responsibilities. 1 2 3 4 5
35. My organization is fair in its actions towards employees. 1 2 3 4 5
36. The pace of work enables me to do a good job. 1 2 3 4 5

Rakhi, 2016. Indian author, standardized to Indian cultural norms.

As there was no consensus on the measures of the variables so previous studies were
reviewed and mutually exclusive statements were taken to measure the variables. The
respondents were given a questionnaire containing 36 statements on organizational climate.
The responses were recorded on a five-point Likert scale (1= Strongly Disagree; 5= Strongly
Agree) concerning employees’ perception about their organization. Organizational climate
consisted of 36 statements measured by five dimensions: grievance handling, teamwork,
competency, commitment and work-life balance.

REALIBILTY AND VALIDITY

Reliability refers to the consistency of responses (Spector, 2000). It means if the
questionnaire is administered again in a different situation, it should give similar results. To
check reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s Alpha was calculated for each dimension of
the scale. The value of Cronbach’s Alpha ranges from 0 to 1. A higher value indicates higher
reliability of the scale (Santos, 1999). According to Spector (1997), a coefficient of 0.70 is
considered acceptable. All dimensions of our study have reported Cronbach’s Alpha value
above 0.70.
Validity means the questionnaire measures what it is intended to measure (Golafshani, 2003).
Validity is of two types, internal and external. External validity refers to the generalization of
the findings to a wider population. Internal validity refers to the ability of the instrument to
measure what it is intended to measure. It is categorized into three: content validity, criterion
validity and construct validity. Factor analysis was used to measure internal validity of the
scale which resulted in 12 factors. Content validity was established by discussing with peer
researchers and managers through direct communication. Discriminant validity was
established by factor analysis where low factor loadings (less than 0.45) of items of a
construct on other dissimilar constructs was found (Hair et al., 2006).

OPINION TOWARDS ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

Please tick ( ) in the appropriate boxes which express your opinion towards organizational
climate.
SDA – Strongly Disagree; D – Disagree; N – Neither Agree Nor Disagree; A – Agree; SA–
Strongly Agree
S.No Statements SDA DA N A SA
a) Human Relations
1. Management trust people to take work-related decisions without getting permission first -
Autonomy
2. People in different departments are prepared to share information – Integration
3. Management involve people when decisions are made that affect them – Participation
4. The organization focuses on preparing leaders for the future. – Leadership
5. Supervisors here are friendly and easy to approach - supervisory support
6. Employees receive enough training for technical knowledge, soft-skills, team building and
leadership skills.–Training
7. The organization takes care of the employees’ well-being.– Welfare
b) Internal Process Model
8. It is considered extremely important here to follow the rules – formalization
9. The Company offers opportunities for career growth commensurate with core competence.
– career advancement
10. Senior management like to keep to established, traditional ways of doing things –
Tradition
11. Our Management sets high standards of excellence. – Company policies and
administration
12. Mutual confidence and respect exists in my establishment. – Trust and Respect
c) Open Systems
13. Employees are encouraged to experiment with fresh methods and try out creative ideas. -
Innovation
14. Organization is quick to respond according to the changes in the industry.- flexibility
15. This organization is continually looking for new opportunities in the industry - Outward
Focus
16. In this organization, the way people work together is readily changed in order to improve
performance – Reflexivity
17. In this organization, objectives are modified in light of changing circumstances –
Reflexivity
d) Rational Goal
18. Employees are well aware of the long-term plans, vision, mission, and goals of the
organization. – Clarity of organizational goals
19. Proper scheduling and planning often result in completion of the projects before
deadlines. – Efficiency
20. People are prepared to make a special effort to do best project– effort
21. Performance rating reports in our organization are based on objective assessment and
adequate information and not on favouritism.– Performance appraisal
22. People are expected to do too much in a day – Pressure to produce
23. Employees here are under work stress to meet project deadlines - Pressure to produce
24. This company is always looking to achieve the highest standards of quality in order to get
client satisfaction and promote company image.- Quality
25. The administration style of my organization is pro-active, rather than reactive.

Subramani A K, 2015. Indian author, standardized to Indian cultural norms.

The researcher has developed the new survey instrument and also verified the reliability,
validity and content validity of the designed questionnaire after the pilot study and
appropriate changes were made to improve the quality of the survey instrument. Moreover,
the questionnaire to assess organizational climate was framed on the basis of Organizational
Climate Questionnaire (OCQ) developed by Litwin and Stringer (1968) with appropriate
modifications.

Scoring of the Questionnaire

The scale against which the respondents indicated the extent of agreement / disagreement
with reference to the characteristics of his/her organization is defined by the following five
categories as Strongly agree-5, Agree-4, Neither agree Nor Disagree3, Disagree-2 and
Strongly disagree – 1.

REALIBILITY AND VALIDITY

The questionnaire meant for the respondents was pre-tested with 50 employees from the
selected IT Companies. After pre-testing, necessary modifications were made in the
questionnaire to fit in the track of the present study. Finally, the questionnaire was checked
by the reliability test for the fifty samples. As per the test for reliability, a high scale
reliability alpha = 0.9435 for the section pertaining to employees’ perception towards
organizational climate.
The validity of a questionnaire relies first and foremost on reliability. If the questionnaire
cannot be shown to be reliable, there is no discussion of its validity. Researchers use different
methods of establishing the validity of the instrument which they have developed. They are:
content validity, convergent validity, discriminate validity and nomological validity. In the
present study the content validity was established. It is given in the following section

Content Validity
For the content validity, a thorough review of the literature was conducted. As mentioned
earlier, all items of the constructs have been drawn from well-established studies to ensure
content validity. The questionnaire was also reviewed by a panel of experts i.e. Senior IT
Professionals and Human resource managers working in the IT sector and academicians. The
changes suggested by the panel members were incorporated to improve both the content and
clarity of the questionnaire. The instrument was tested through two stages. In the first stage,
two English faculty members reviewed the instrument to ensure the clarity of items and the
accuracy of the language. In the second stage, a panel of experts was selected to establish
face and content validity of the instrument. The panel of experts consisted of six individuals,
two senior IT Professionals, two human resource managers of the IT companies, who had
earlier participated in the instrument development and two senior academicians

TOPIC:
PSYCHOLOGICAL DOMAINS AND QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG WORKING AND NON-
WORKING MARRIED TAMIL WOMEN

Submitted by,
S. Priyadharshini
Fathima Zohara
Sanjana V
S. Sivaranjini
Sona Fathima

Name of the guide: Mrs. A. RishiKulya

Introduction
A married woman has many roles to play in the society i.e. a wife, mother, and daughter in law etc.
which was really a highly stressful job. With the increase in population throughout the globe the
access to basic needs of life has been limited and it was then the need of modern time that women
work side by side with men in order to run their house, It is often observed that working women and
non-working women are different and as a result they require different kinds of support to enable
them to cope effectively with their chosen roles. Mothers may work in an office for six to eight hours
but their work does not end there. After finishing office, a mother comes home and takes care of her
children, husband, and house. Her office as well as home responsibilities make a very demanding
schedule (Rapaport & Rapaport 1972). Women’s economic well-being is usually enhanced by women
acquiring independent sources of income that begets increased self-esteem and improved conditions
of their households and the overall level of development in their communities.Working women are
often tossed between home and job as compared to non-working women because the double work
pressure affects their family environment, marital satisfaction, sleep cycles, moods, stress, and quality
of life.
Quality of life and psychological factors such as depression, insomnia, marital satisfactions can have a
huge impact on the wellbeing of working and nonworking women.
“Quality of life” relates both to adequacy of material circumstances and to personal feelings about
these circumstances”. It includes overall subjective feelings of wellbeing that are closely related to
morale, happiness and satisfaction (Bennett, Garrad and McDowell, 1987). The APA (American
Psychological Association) has defined Quality of Life as the extent to which a person obtains
satisfaction from life. The following are important for a good quality of life: emotional, material, and
physical well-being; engagement in interpersonal relations; opportunities for personal (e.g., skill)
development; exercising rights and making self-determining lifestyle choices; and participation in
society. Enhancing quality of life is a particular concern for those with chronic disease or
developmental and other disabilities, for those undergoing medical or psychological treatment, and for
the aged.
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts,
behaviour, feelings and sense of well-being. This mood disorder is becoming more common among
middle aged female population, Depression are normal features of our lives. Modernity brought
women education in its wake and she changed the arena of activity. She stepped out of the threshold
of house and joined service like man. Now she got admiration, equality and opportunity. But the
euphoria was ephemeral as she was supposed to take to this job as an additional responsibility. She
not expected to shrink household work. This brought problems like strain and depression. (Pillai and
Sen) (1998).
Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or cause
you to wake up too early and not be able to get back to sleep. You may still feel tired when you wake
up. Insomnia can sap not only your energy level and mood but also your health, work performance
and quality of life. At some point, many adults experience short-term (acute) insomnia, which lasts for
days or weeks. It's usually the result of stress or a traumatic event. But some people have long-term
(chronic) insomnia that lasts for a month or more. Insomnia may be the primary problem, or it may be
associated with other medical conditions or medications, Sleep problems can affect anyone, but
women are more likely to experience insomnia than men. Poor sleep can provoke daytime sleepiness
and contribute to a range of conditions that affect physical and mental health.
Marital satisfaction is a mental state that reflects the perceived benefits and costs of marriage to a
particular person, additionally, how couples choose to manage conflict in their relationship is
associated with individuals’ perceptions of satisfaction within the relationship. One body of research
suggests that frequent conflict in relationships corresponds with lower relational satisfaction (Lloyd
1990) and other research suggests the intensity of the conflict predicts marital satisfaction (Janicki et
al. 2006). Another perspective suggests the effective management of conflict in a relationship can
help to increase the perceived satisfaction in a relationship (Roloff and Ifert 2000). Communication
strategies such as ignoring or avoiding conflict can sometimes bring individuals greater satisfaction in
their relationships (Rands, Levinger, and Mellinger 1981), but patterns of demand and withdrawal can
contribute to decreased marital satisfaction (e.g., Bradbury, Fincham, and Beach 2000). Status of
women in the society has been changing fast due to multiple factors such as increased level of
education, urbanization, and awareness of right industrialization. The occupation is one of the most
important factor, which brings many changes in the life of women; it brings along with it many
expectations, pressures, time demands and commitments that may affect the mental health of women
and this in turn can have a major effect on marital satisfaction.

Review of literature
Hashmi et al. (2007) conducted a study to explore the relationship between marital adjustment, stress,
and depression. Findings showed highly significant relationship between marital adjustment,
depression, and stress. Further, the finding showed that working married women had to face more
problems in their married life as compared to nonworking married women.

Irfan, M., Kaur, N., Thind, H. S (2012), Conducted a study to find out whether the anxiety level has
any significant impact on life satisfaction of the working and non-working married women, They
found out that women who are working and married, are low on anxiety with higher life satisfaction
in comparison to the non-working married women, They perceived their life as challenging and
secure. Whereas, the non-working married women are less satisfied with their lives and their anxiety
level is also higher than the anxiety level of working women.
Siddiqui (2014) investigated the level of emotional state and life satisfaction in working and non-
working females. The sample size was 200 working and 200 non-working and the age bracket of the
sample was 25-45 years. The scales used in this study were Life Satisfaction Scale and the Trait- State
Questionnaire that measures emotional states like anxiety, stress, depression, regression, fatigue, guilt,
extraversion, and arousal. The results showed that working females showed high levels of anxiety,
regression, extraversion and arousal as compared to non-working females. Working females had
shown low levels of stress, depression, fatigue and guilt as compared to the other category of females.
Furthermore, working females had shown high levels of life satisfaction too as compared to non-
working females. Marital-satisfaction being a dimension of life-satisfaction was seen high in working
women than in non-working women.

Eunhee Hwang et al, (2021), conducted a study on the effect of sleep quality and depression on
married female nurses, the results showed that married nurses were found to have shorter sleep
duration and sleep latency compared to single nurses, and high job stress not only hindered their
family life but also caused sleep problems.

Hine AH, et al., (2006), conducted the study on marital adjustment, stress and depression among
working and nonworking women, the results of the study showed that working women faced extra
problems in their marriages as compared to non-working married women.

Susan C Bolge et al(,2009), conducted a study on the association of insomnia with quality of life,
work productivity, and activity impairment, the results showed that insomnia is significantly
associated with poorer physical and mental quality of life and work productivity loss and activity
impairment.
Singh (2014) studied on life satisfaction and stress among working and non-working women. A
sample of 200 women (100 working & 100 non-working) was drawn randomly from the population.
Life Satisfaction Scale by Alam & Srivastava (1996) and stress scale by Singh (2004) were used for
data collection. Mean, standard deviation, „t‟ test and correlation were the statistics calculated. The
results indicated that there was significant difference regarding life satisfaction and stress between
working and non-working women. Results revealed that working and non-working women differed
significantly on their life satisfaction (t=5.52). Working women were more satisfied with their life, on
stress scale non-working women have higher level stress as compared to working women. A
significant negative relationship was found between life satisfaction and stress.

Rogers and May (2003) reported that working class women are generally more satisfied with their
lives than non-working women.

Agarwal (2001) studied life satisfaction among working and non-working women and results revealed
significant difference in the life satisfaction of working and non-working women. Life-satisfaction
was found to be higher among non-working women.

Reddy et al. (2010) studied on work–life balance among married women employees and found that
Family - work conflict (FWC) and work–family conflict (WFC) are more likely to exert negative
influences in the family domain, resulting in lower life satisfaction and greater internal conflict within
the family.

Need for study

According to review of literature, Studies have been previously conducted on various countries and
cultures, this study primarily focuses on Tamil women, this present study works on finding the
Quality of life, marital satisfaction, depression, and insomnia among working and nonworking
married Tamil women.
Aim
To evaluate the psychological domains and quality of life among working and non-working married
Tamil women.
Objectives
To find out if working women or nonworking women have better quality of life and marital
satisfaction.
To evaluate the significance of insomnia among working and nonworking Tamil women
To evaluate the significance of depression among the working and nonworking Tamil women
Hypothesis
Married working women are more susceptible to insomnia and depression, whereas non-working
married women may have higher marital satisfaction and quality of life.
Variables of the study
(a) Independent Variables:
Working and nonworking married women
(b) Dependent Variables:
Quality of life, marital satisfaction, Depression, Insomnia
Methodology
Research design
Cross sectional study design
Period of study
Estimated duration for the study is approximately 6 months (January – May 2022)

Sample size to be recruited with justification: we intend to conduct the research on 80 individuals.
40working married women and 40 nonworking married
Inclusion criteria
Married women who are Tamil
Women between the ages of 21-35
Exclusion criteria
Unmarried women
Illiterate individuals
Individuals with a history of mental illness and disabilities
Wives of alcoholics
People who were not to give consent
Statistical analysis
The scores are computer generated, independent t test and chi square test are used to analyze the data
collection between two groups. The mean, standard deviation and frequency are calculated from the
samples. The scores collected from working and nonworking married women are later compared.
Tools
BECKS DEPRESSSION INVENTORY ; BDI (Beck, et al., 1961), The BDI test includes a 21 item
self-report measure, using a four-point scale ranging from 0 (symptom not present) to 3 (symptom
very intense). The BDI test is widely known and has been tested for content, concurrent, and construct
validity.

WHOQOL-BREF; THE WHOQOL GROUP (1996), it’s a 26 item study that encompasses 4 spheres:
physical, psychological, social and environmental sphere. It is a 5 Likert scale WHOQOL-BREF
domain scores demonstrated good discriminant validity, content validity, internal consistency and
test–retest reliability

ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale: (Fowers, B. J., & Olson, D. H. (1993) The EMS Scale is a 15-
item scale comprising the Idealistic Distortion (5 items) and Marital Satisfaction scales (10 items).
Each of the 10 Marital Satisfaction items represents one of the areas of the marital relationship
assessed by the full-length ENRICH Inventory. It correlates highly with other scales that measure
marital conventionalization and has an alpha coefficient of 0.92 and a 4-week test-retest reliability of
0.92 

INSOMNIA SEVERITY INDEX (ISI) (Charles M. Morin, et al (2000) The Insomnia Severity Index
(ISI), developed by Morin, is currently one of the most used PRO insomnia questionnaires. The ISI is
a brief seven item self-rated instrument, increasingly used to assess insomnia based on criteria from
the International Classification of Sleep Disorders.

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