Saúde do trabalhador: analisando artigos

Abstract

The purpose of this text is to analyse how pleasure and suffering at work are discussed in the journal Psicologia, Organizações e Trabalho. This is the journal of the Brazilian Association of Organisational and Work Psychology, whose central theme is human work. We selected a set of seven articles published between 2001 and 2003, when the discussion of 'pleasure and suffering at work' intensified. For each article we tried to identify the theoretical basis, the nature of the research carried out, the research population, the approach adopted and the results obtained. Analysis of the articles indicated that the lack of recognition of the importance of the worker, job insecurity, lack of resources, limited autonomy and overload of activities act as sources of suffering at work, causing frequent use of medication. On the other hand, gratification, relative freedom, collaborative situations and motivation produce pleasure and recognition in the workplace. The direct relationship between the work performed and the need to meet survival needs leads workers to develop defensive strategies as a means of dealing with the tensions and conflicts of work.