SYSE-812 Human Factors Engg

Dr. Adnan Maqsood

➢ Job Satisfaction
 Topics of the Course SYSE-812
Handout Contents
1 Introduction to HFE
2 Human Centric System Analysis & Design
3 Investigation Techniques in HFE
4 Affective Design in HFE
5 Cognitive & Mental Workload Analysis
6 Physical Workload Assessment
7 Safety in HFE
8 Job Satisfaction
9 Social Implications in HFE
10 Future of HFE

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 Job Motivation and Satisfaction
Why do people work? Why do they do anything at all?
◼ Basic, survival needs motivate us to obtain food, water. Once
physical survival is assured, more complex needs motivate us to
interact with other in groups, achieve social goals, gain higher
status, and so on. Four primary motivations for working:
❑ 1. Coercion: People are forced to work by threat of immediate physical
harm. Unusual in our society, and we do not consider this source of
motivation further
❑ 2. Material Rewards: Work produces income that provides for basic
needs (food, shelter) and sometimes, luxuries (leisure activities, higher
education)
❑ 3. Normative Rewards: People work to gain social or moral approval
(as when they work for social, political, or religious causes). These
rewards are strongly linked to a person’s culture
❑ 4. Intrinsic Rewards: The content of the job is, in itself, satisfying.
These inherent rewards are strongly linked to such factors as personal
abilities, skills, interests, and earlier experiences
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 How Motivation and Behavior is Determined?
◼ Inherited and Acquired (Cultural) characteristics
determine our motivation and behavior

Inherited and acquired

characteristics

Subjective environment:
What a person sees and Motivation to do
Behavior
understands of the something
environment

Thoughts and emotions

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 Basic Human Needs: How many are there
◼ Physical survival and ◼ Social needs
comfort needs ❑ Fear (avoidance of
❑ Breathing threats)
❑ Hunger ❑ Aggression (appropriately
❑ Thirst expressed)
❑ Sexuality ❑ Affiliation
❑ Maternal/Paternal ❑ Power
behavior ❑ Achievement
❑ Harm avoidance ◼ Self-actualization needs
(avoidance of pain, cold, (personal growth)
heat, etc.) ❑ Experience
❑ Elimination of waste ❑ Curiosity (exploration)
❑ Physical activity ❑ Creativity
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 Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy
◼ Needs are satisfied bottom-up!
◼ Sometimes conveyed as a stair case

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 Herzberg: Hygiene factors and Motivation Factors

◼ Fulfillment of hygiene factors avoids job dissatisfaction

but do not cause job satisfaction
❑ Example: High Salary

◼ Only fulfillment of motivation factors can cause job

satisfaction
❑ Example: Opportunity for growth

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 Theory of Herzberg compared to Maslow
◼ Herzberg ◼ Maslow
❑ Motivation Factors
◼ The work itself ◼ Self-actualization needs
◼ Opportunities for achievement
◼ Opportunities for growth
◼ Opportunities to take responsibility
◼ Advancement opportunities ◼ Esteem and status needs
◼ Recognition
◼ Status
❑ Hygiene Factors
◼ Interpersonal relations with supervisors, ◼ Social activity and social
co-workers, and subordinates involvement needs
◼ Technical supervision and support
◼ Company policy and administration ◼ Security needs
◼ Job security
◼ Working conditions ◼ Physical needs
◼ Salary
◼ Effects of work on personal life
 Work Design for Increasing Job Satisfaction
Gustavsen (1969) Inspired by sociotechnical studies at
Tavistock Institute (Coal mining)
◼ 1. Each job should be as varied as possible (including more than one
task)
◼ 2. A job should consist of a pattern of activities meaningful to the worker
◼ 3. The optimum work cycle length should be established (this is the length
of time to complete the sequence of tasks in the job).
◼ 4. The worker should help to, establish the criteria for quantity and quality
of production
◼ 5. The worker should help to establish the criteria for evaluating his or her
job performance
◼ 6. There should be opportunities to include voluntary, additional tasks in
the job (e.g. maintenance or administrative work)
◼ 7. The worker should have a clear idea of the importance of his or her job
to the end result or product
◼ 8. The worker should have opportunities to do tasks that are respected
9 and have status
 Vroom (1964) Work Design for Job Satisfaction

◼ Vroom described a continuous matching process in

the mind of the worker:

◼ The individual compares his or her own needs with the

organization’s goals or needs.

◼ From this comparison workers can more or less

estimate the likelihood that their needs will be satisfied
at work

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 Vroom (1964) Work Design for Job Satisfaction
Individual Needs and
Goals:

For example, Achievement,

Responsibility, Interesting
Work, Opportunity to learn
Comparison of Individual
Needs with Organizational
Needs. This is an
assessment of possible
Needs Satisfaction. It helps
to determine the individuals
motivation level
Organization’s Needs &
Goals:

For example: Productivity,

Quality, Profitability, Safety

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Hackman and Oldman: Job Characteristics Model
CRITICAL
CORE JOB PERSONAL AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL
DIMENSIONS WORK OUTCOMES
STATES

Skill variety Experienced High internal

Task identity meaningfulness work motivation
Task significance of the work

Experienced High quality work

responsibility for performance
Autonomy
outcomes of the
work High satisfaction
with the work
Knowledge of
the actual results Low
Feedback absenteeism and
of the work
activities turnover
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 Martin’s Model for Job Satisfaction
B
A Acquired characteristics: C
Inherited the individual’s Social factors:
Characteristics experiences, knowledge Values and Attitudes
and skills

F
E Expectations of need
D
Characteristics of satisfaction and of the
Need Strength
the work situation work

G
Need Satisfaction

Job Satisfaction
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 Perrow’s Technology Classification
Task Variability

Routine with Few Exceptions High Variety with Many Exceptions

Well Defined

Analyzable
Problem Analyzability

Routine
and

Engineering
Mass production
Ill Defined and
Unanalyzable

Nonroutine
Craft
Research

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 Perrow’s studies have found much support
◼ 1. Routine technologies have few exceptions and are well-
defined. Mass production falls in this category. It is best to use
standardized coordination and control procedures and,
accordingly, a high degree of formalization and centralization.
◼ 2. Non-routine technologies have many exceptions and it is
difficult to analyze problems. Combat aerospace operations is
an example. These technologies require flexibility, and should
be decentralized and have low formalization
◼ 3. Engineering technologies have many exceptions, but can be
handled using well-defined logical processes. Use moderate
centralization, and try to gain flexibility through low formalization
◼ 4. Craft technologies typically involve routine tasks, but problem
solving depends on the experience, judgment, and intuition for
decision. This requires skilled employees working in a
decentralized environment and low formalization
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 Summary
◼ 1. There is no clear relationship between job
satisfaction and productivity
◼ 2. Job satisfaction is determined by the following:
❑ Need strength and Need satisfaction on the job
❑ Expectations about need satisfaction and the work
situation
❑ Characteristics of the work situation
❑ The individual’s experiences
❑ Social factors that determine attitudes about work
❑ Inherited and acquired characteristics of individual
workers
◼ 3. There are three groups of basic needs: physical
needs, social needs and the need for self-actualization
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 Summary
◼ 4. Maslow viewed motivation as a hierarchy of needs with
physical needs at the lowest level and self-actualization at
the highest
◼ 5. Herzberg viewed work motivation as created by
motivation (stay) factors and hygiene (quit) factors
◼ 6. Findings of the Tavistock Institute show that the
technological environment can interfere with efficient
organization of the social environment at work
◼ 7. Gustavsen described eight ways to design work to
increase motivation
◼ 8. Vroom viewed motivation as an ongoing process of
matching the individual worker’s needs with the company’s
requirements. The individual estimates the probability of
satisfying his or her own needs by working at a particular
17 job.
 Job Dissatisfaction & Stress Responses
◼ How can we ask people about job (dis)satisfaction? The
question “How satisfied are you with your current job?” will give
more positive responses than answers to specific domain
questions, e.g.: How much can you decide at work? Do you like
your boss?
◼ At a lower abstraction level of these questions people get more
specific and do more accurate evaluations (Martin’s theory)
◼ A job with high satisfaction will typically have task variety,
autonomy, skill development, good interpersonal relations, fair
pay, and a pleasant physical environment
◼ Job satisfaction is higher in older people than in younger people.
◼ Satisfaction with a particular job increases if no other jobs are
available – if one does not have to consider another job
◼ Positive industrial relations are associated with increased job
satisfaction (Kelloway, Barling, and Shah, 1993)
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 Job Dissatisfaction and Stress Responses
◼ Job dissatisfaction increases absenteeism and turnover. It is
often a component in a general job strain syndrome and burnout
◼ Job satisfaction is positively correlated with satisfaction at home:
A person satisfied at work – will often be satisfied at home
◼ But high job satisfaction can predict life satisfaction only to a
minor degree
◼ A person normally copes with temporary periods of stress by
either altering the situation or controlling his or her own
responses. Problems arise when work conditions are in conflict
with human (employee’s) capacities and expectations over a long
period of time
◼ Tension, boredom, worry, anxiety, and irritability are some of the
first indicators of strain in such situations. Depression and apathy
are later symptoms and indicate a more harsh situation

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 Burnout and Sense of Coherence
◼ The construct of burnout was introduced in the mid 1970s to
describe a long-term stress syndrome among professionals in the
health-care sector
◼ Burnout results from a poor match between organizational goals
and persons professional goals.
◼ In evaluating burnout one must consider the mismatch between
personal and organizational competencies
◼ As an effect of burnout, the Sense of Coherence (SOC) decreases.
This refers to a person’s way of perceiving and controlling the
environment. What is going on? What can I do? Symptoms are:
❑ Exhaustion (emotional, intellectual, physical),
❑ Depersonalization (emotional detachment and cynicism),
❑ Lowered professional accomplishment, self-efficacy, and self-esteem
◼ There are analogies with the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
defined by Selye (1956). GAS has three phases: Alarm, Adaptation
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and Exhaustion
 Physiological Responses
◼ Physiological responses were the first category of
stress responses noted in the early research on stress
by Selye (1956). The physiological response pattern
includes the increased production of adrenal
hormones – corticosteroids by adrenal cortex and
catecholamines by the adrenal medulla
◼ Stress is caused by work when there are many
external constraints and the worker has no opportunity
for personal control. Feelings of helplessness
stimulate the excretion of cortisol
◼ After a person has evaluated that the stress exceeds a
person’s coping capacity, these systems are activated
via the neuroendocrine and autonomic nervous
system (Dantzer, 1989)
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Questionnaires and other methods to investigate Job Stress
◼ Many questionnaires are available; some of them have
computer programs for data analysis such as the Occupational
Stress Inventory (OSI), Occupational Stress Questionnaire
(OSQ) and the Stress Profile
◼ Physiological methods can be used for the evaluation of strain
caused both by physically and mentally demanding work.
Measures of heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), blood
pressure (BP), respiratory rate (RR), and electromyography
(EMG) can be made over a continuous time period. These
measures reflect primarily the momentary stress
◼ Biochemical measures of the adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol,
steroids, glucose, uric acid, triglycerides, and lipids can be
obtained from the urine, blood, sweat and saliva. Analysis of
urine is the most popular choice. For minimum disturbance in
the work situation, the collection of saliva and sweat are
recommended.
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 Psychobiological Effects of Stress (Carayon, 1996)

SHORT-TERM
STRESS
RESPONSES:
• Increased BP
• Catecholamines LONG-TERM STRESS
• Neurotransmitters OUTCOMES
PSYCHOSOCIAL • Muscle tension • Coronary Heart and
STRESSORS • Immune Functioning Artery Disease
• Work pressure • Gastrointestinal
• Overload Disorders
• Lack of control • Mental Health
INDIVIDUAL Disorders
CHARACTERISTICS • Cumulative Trauma
Disorders
• Increased Sensitivity
to Pain
• Maladaptive Coping

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 Learning to cope with work stress

Intervention Mechanism of Stress Control

1. Coping training Modify perceptions or behavior

2. Cognitive / Behavioral Modify perceptions and behavior

3. Relaxation Modify physiological reactions through biofeedback

4. Debriefing Cognitive restructuring

5. Lifestyle change Modify behavior

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Psychophysiological Responses to Short Term Stress
◼ Psychophysiological measures can be used to assess
changes in the operator physiology that are
associated with short term stress
◼ As task demands change and the operator adjusts the
level of mental activity associated with task
performance, there are associated changes in the
operator’s physiological systems
◼ Heart rate for example can be used to study driving
under different levels of difficulty (Helander, 1975)
◼ The variability of heart rate has been suggested as a
measure of mental effort (Mulder, 1988). Laboratory
studies show that variability decreases under
conditions of increased stress
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 Autonomic Nervous System – The AI of the body
◼ Such as the heart, stomach and intestines, are regulated
by a part of the nervous system called the Autonomic
Nervous System (ANS)
◼ The ANS is part of the peripheral nervous system and it
controls many organs and muscles within the body. In most
situations, we are unaware of the workings of the ANS. It
functions in an involuntary, reflexive manner (autonomous).
For example, we do not notice when blood vessels change
size or when our heart beats faster. However, some people
can be trained to control some functions of the ANS such
as heart rate or blood pressure.
◼ The ANS is most important in two situations:
❑ In emergencies that cause stress and require us to “fight” and “flight”
(run away) and
❑ In non-emergencies that allow us to “rest” and “digest”
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 Autonomic Nervous System

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 The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)
◼ It is a nice day – you are taking a walk in the park. Suddenly,
an angry bear appears. Do you stay and fight or do you turn
and run away? Fight or Flight? In this situation, your
sympathetic nervous system is called into action – it uses
energy – your blood pressure increases, your heart beats
faster and digestion slows down
◼ Notice in the picture that the sympathetic nervous system
originates in the spinal cord. Specifically, the cell bodies of the
first neuron (the preganglionic neuron) are located in the
thoracic and lumbar spinal cord. Axons from these neurons
project to a chain of ganglia located near the spinal cord
◼ Two more facts about the sympathetic nervous system: the
synapse in the sympathetic ganglion uses acetylcholine as a
neurotransmitter; the synapse of the post-ganglionic neuron
with the target organ uses the neurotransmitter called
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norepinephrine.
 The Parasympathetic Nervous System (PSNS)
◼ It is a nice day…you are taking a walk in the park. This
time you decide to relax in a comfortable chair that
you brought along
◼ This calls for “Rest and Digest” responses. Now is the
time for the parasympathetic nervous to work to save
energy – your blood pressure decreases, your heart
beat slows and digestion can start
◼ Notice in the picture that the cell bodies of the PSNS
are located in the spinal cord (sacral region) and in the
medulla
◼ Below is a summary of some of the effects of
sympathetic and parasympathetic stimulation. Notice
that effects are generally in opposition to each other
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 The Autonomic Nervous System
Structure Sympathetic Stimulation
Fight and Flight
Iris (eye muscle) Pupil dilation increases with
task demand and interest
Salivary Glands Saliva production reduced
Oral / Nasal Mucosa Mucus production reduced
Heart Heart rate and force
increased
Lung Bronchial muscle relaxed
Stomach Peristalsis reduced
Small Intestine Motility (Movement) reduced
Large Intestine Motility reduced
Liver Increased conversion of
glycogen to glucose
Kidney Decreased urine secretion
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Parasympathetic
Stimulation Rest and
Digest
Pupil Constriction
Saliva Production increased
Mucus production increased
Heart rate and force decreased
Bronchial muscle contracted
Gastric juice secreted; Motility
increased
Digestion increased
Secretions and Motility
increased
Increased Urine Secretion
 Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability
◼ Now we can understand
the complex enervation
of the heart by both the
SNS and the PSNS –
by both physical and
mental activities
◼ Heart rate is also
affected by the
breathing rate –
particularly at rest
◼ When activities increase
(physical as well as
mental) the HRV
decreases
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 Galvanic Skin Response
◼ The electrical conductivity of the certain sweat glands
is momentarily increased by stressful situations. The
bear in the park will cause the fight or flight syndrome!
◼ These glands are primarily found on the inside of the
hands and on the soles of the feet. Electrodes are
attached to measure the conductivity.
◼ Nerve signals take about 1.5 s to travel from the brain
to the hand

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 Physiological Responses in Driving

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 Average Brake Pressure vs. GSR
◼ Rank orders for Average BRAKE Pressure and GSR
during Driving on Rural Roads
No. Traffic Event No. of Events Brake GSR
1 Cyclist or pedestrian+MOC 28 1 1
2 Other car emerges in front 47 2 2
3 Multiple events 163 3 3
R 4 Leading car diverges 207 4 5
excluding 5 Cyclist or pedestrian 839 5 7
Events 13
6 Own car passes other car+CF 126 6 6
and 15 =
7 Cyclist or pedestrian+CF 65 7 10
0.95
8 Car following + MOC 353 8 12
9 Meeting Other Car (MOC) 1,535 9 9
10 Car Following (CF) 13,049 10 11
11 Parked Car 742 11 15
12 No event 112,630 12 13
13 Other car passes own car 157 13 8
14 Parked Car + Car Following 64 14 14
34 15 Own car passes other car 3,590 15 4
 Event Related Brain Potential – P 300
◼ 300 msec after the stimulation there is a change in
brain wave potential. This can be a reaction from a
visual or an auditory stimuli
◼ This can also be
used for evaluation in
Human Factors.
Some studies
analyzed the
understandability of
symbolic signs using
P300. Better
comprehension of a
symbolic sign leads
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to larger amplitude
 Pupil Size
◼ The pupil size becomes larger when mental effort is
increased and the pupil expands as a result of positive
affect. Changes are in the order of 1/10th mm. Must be
used in a light controlled environment
◼ A drop of the drug bella donna (Italian for beautiful
lady) in the eyes was used by women to enhance their
beauty. Hess, 1973 demonstrated that a picture of a
pretty girl with artificially enlarged pupils is judged
prettier by men than the same picture with “normal”
diameter pupils. But the men will not be able to tell
why! The secret is kept!

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 Critical Flicker Fusion – CFF; Measure of Central Fatigue
◼ Also called Flicker Frequency Fusion. Typically
subjects look into a device and they can set a
flickering light, so that they no longer see the flickering
◼ For a rested person about 40 Hz.
◼ For a fatigued person about 38 Hz.

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 Intelligence – Is it Important?
◼ The issue of individual differences in information processing is
linked to whether there exists a general intelligence factor
(Hunt, 1974). If such a factor can be shown to account for most
of the differences in performance across a variety of
information processing tasks, then it would be easy to base all
design decisions on the effects of this one dimension
◼ However, many decades of scientific research have not
isolated the dimension of general intelligence – one that could
be used as an overall measure of information processing
capabilities (Gardnes, 1983; Anderson, 1990)
◼ For example, tests such as the Stanford-Binet, the Wechsier
Adult Intelligence Scale, and the Raven Progressive Matrices
Test result in a single score that is supposed to be measure of
general intelligence. However, research has shown that the
performance of these tests is a good predictor of little else than
future performance of similar tests (Anderson, 1990)
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 Factors of Intelligence
◼ Among the first ◼ Since Thurstone, many
researchers was different factors have been
Thurstone (1950’s). His proposed
method specified seven ◼ Gardner (1983) has a
relatively independent different list of seven forms
factors of mental ability: of intelligence
❑ Verbal comprehension ❑ Spatial
❑ Word fluency ❑ Logical-Mathematical
❑ Numerical fluency ❑ Bodily-Kinesthetic
❑ Spatial visualization ❑ Language
❑ Associative memory ❑ Music
❑ Perceptual speed, and ❑ Awareness of self
reasoning
❑ Awareness of the culture
ETS kit of Cognitive Tests (Ekstrom et al., 1976)
◼ Visual memory ◼ Anderson (1990) lists
◼ Flexibility of use three major factors on
◼ Induction which significant
individual differences
◼ Spatial scanning have been observed:
◼ Spatial Orientation ❑ Reasoning ability
◼ Verbal Comprehension ❑ Verbal ability, and
◼ Memory span ❑ Spatial ability
◼ Associative memory
◼ General reasoning
◼ Logical reasoning
 Spatial vs. Verbal Skills?

◼ Cooper (1982, 1983) showed significant individual

differences in spatial ability

◼ Anderson (1990) indicated that most often subjects

who test well on spatial ability tasks do poorly on
verbal tests, and vice-versa

◼ MacLeod et al. (1978) showed that subjects with high

verbal ability did indeed perform poorly on spatial
ability tests

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 Psycho-Motor Proficiency Factors (1)
◼ Control Precision: The ability to make fine, highly controlled
muscular movements. Examples: Rotary Pursuit Test; Operate a
control stick to steer an aircraft
◼ Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of a
number of limbs simultaneously. Examples: Complex coordination
test; Operate a bulldozer
◼ Response Orientation: This factor is general to visual discrimination
tasks. Example: Flip different switches in response to different
colored lights appearing on display panel
◼ Reaction Time: The speed with which an individual can make a
gross, discrete arm movement where accuracy is minimized.
Example: Move a series of control levers to new positions in rapid
succession
◼ Rate Control: Involves the timing of continuous anticipatory motor
adjustments relative to changes in speed. Example: Track a moving
42 target
 Psycho-Motor Proficiency Factors (2)
◼ Manual Dexterity: The ability to make skillful, well directed arm-
hand movements. Examples: Use hand tools to assemble an
aircraft engine
◼ Finger Dexterity: The ability to make skillful, controlled
manipulations of objects small enough to be handled with the
fingers. Examples: Assemble peg, washer, and collar units and
insert them in small holes
◼ Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to make precise arm-hand
positioning movements in which strength and speed are
minimized. Examples: Perform retinal surgery
◼ Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make rapid pendular (back
and forth) or rotary wrist movements in which accuracy is not
critical. Example: Tapping test
◼ Aiming: The ability to make highly accurate, restricted hand
movements requiring precise eye-hand coordination. Example:
43 Make a dot in a series of very small circles on a printed test
 Physical Proficiency Factors (1)
◼ Extent Flexibility: The ability to extend or stretch the body.
Example: Twist as far around as possible, touching the
scale on the wall
◼ Dynamic Flexibility: Common to tasks that require rapid and
repeated turn and/or limb movements. Example: Without
moving your feet, bend and touch a spot on the floor
◼ Explosive Strength: For tasks that require expenditure of a
maximum of energy in one or a series of explosive acts.
Example: Without moving your feet, bend and touch a spot
on the floor
◼ Static Strength: Tasks that require the exertion of maximum
strength against a fairly immovable external object.
Example: lift heavy objects

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 Physical Proficiency Factors (2)
◼ Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscular force
repeatedly or continuously over time. Example: Pull-ups
◼ Trunk Strength: Dynamic strength factor specific to the
abdominal muscles. Example: Sit-ups
◼ Gross Body Coordination: The ability to perform movements
simultaneously that involve the entire body. Example: Rope
skipping
◼ Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to maintain or regain
body balance. Example: Walk a narrow rail without falling off
◼ Stamina (Cardiovascular Endurance): The ability to exert
sustained physical effort involving the cardiovascular
system. Example: Run a mile

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 Age Related Changes
◼ Some age related differences in information processing
have also been observed
◼ The evidence indicates that with increasing age (especially
beyond the age of 65) there is a general slowing down in
processing. Beyond the reduced capacity (of short term
memory span) and speed of channels, or perhaps because
of them, there seems to be some changes in such aspects
as strategies used (Botwinick, 1984; Belmore, 1981)
◼ The exact nature of age related changes are not yet fully
understood, the impact of age is not likely to be a smooth
continuous function. For example: Short-term memory
capacity is fairly stable across most of adulthood, and
starts to decline only after about 60 or so (Botwinick, 1984)

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