ESSAYS IN OCCUPATIONAL F I T N E S S AND A B S E N T E E I S M b y P A T R I C K QUINN L E E B . P . E . . , U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 1978 A T H E S I S SUBMITTED IN P A R T I A L F U L F I L L M E N T OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF P H Y S I C A L EDUCATION i n THE F A C U L T Y OF GRADUATE S T U D I E S S c h o o l o f P h y s i c a l E d u c a t i o n a n d R e c r e a t i o n U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a We a c c e p t t h i s t h e s i s a s c o n f o r m i n g tc j i£ie ^ e c p r r r & d s t a n d a r d THE U N I V E R S I T Y OF B R I T I S H COLUMBIA N o v e m b e r , 1985 C o p y r i g h t : P a t r i c k Q u i n n L e e , 1985 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 DE-6(3/81) i i A b s t r a c t O c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s h a v e e n j o y e d e n o r m o u s p o p u l a r i t y o v e r t h e c o u r s e o f t h e p a s t d e c a d e . T h e i r c o n t i n u i n g p e n e t r a t i o n i n t o a l l s e c t o r s o f t h e b u s i n e s s c o m m u n i t y c o u p l e d w i t h t h e r a p i d g r o w t h o f o r g a n i z a t i o n s s e r v i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l f i t n e s s p e r s o n n e l , s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e i r p r e s e n c e may be p e r m a n e n t . A m a j o r r e a s o n f o r t h e p o p u l a r i t y o f o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s , i s t h e c l a i m t h a t f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s c a n r e d u c e e m p l o y e e a b s e n t e e i s m . Two i m p o r t a n t i s s u e s a t t h i s t i m e a r e : (1 ) t h e r o l e o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s i n m e d i a t i n g s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r , a n d , (2) t h e r o l e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s a s a way o f e n h a n c i n g w o r k e r a t t e n d a n c e m o t i v a t i o n . T h e s e i s s u e s f i t i n w e l l w i t h t h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) P r o c e s s M o d e l , a c o n c e p t u a l f r a m e w o r k w h i c h d e a l s w i t h e m p l o y e e a b s e n t e e i s m f r o m t h e s t a n d p o i n t s o f a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d ( i e . h i g h f i t n e s s ) a n d m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d ( i e . h i g h m o r a l e ) . T h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s t h e o r e t i c a l m o d e l was c h o s e n a s an a p p r o p r i a t e v e h i c l e t o g u i d e t h i s s t u d y . P a r t I r e v i e w e d t h e c l a i m t h a t p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a s a p h y s i o l o g i c a l s t a t e , i s i n v e r s e l y r e l a t e d t o s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e among e m p l o y e e s . T h e l i t e r a t u r e r e v i e w s u g g e s t e d t h a t f i t e m p l o y e e s w o u l d m i s s f e w e r d a y s f r o m work t h a n u n f i t i i i employees. The prediction that physical f i t n e s s and sickness absence w i l l be inversely related, formed the core of the hypotheses generated in Part I. In addition, hypotheses were also developed concerning the possible e f f e c t s of gender, age, length of service and company a f f i l i a t i o n . C o r r e l a t i o n a l analyses were performed on several physiological and absence variables obtained from a sample of employees from the years 1979 through 1984. Modest but s i g n i f i c a n t inverse correlations were found to exist between MVC>2 and a number of d i f f e r e n t absence measures. The magnitude of these correlations disappeared in some cases when the groups were controlled for gender. S i g n i f i c a n t correlations were also found between variables such as length of service and absence or age and absence. Absence patterns for males and females and management and c l a s s i f i e d employees also showed s i g n i f i c a n t group differences. These re s u l t s point to the need to consider these personal and socio c u l t u r a l variables when attempting to describe any relationships between occupational f i t n e s s and absenteeism. i v P a r t I I c h o s e t h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s c o n c e p t o f m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d . B a s e d on t h e r e v i e w o f l i t e r a t u r e , i t was e x p e c t e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e company f i t n e s s p r o g r a m w o u l d r e p o r t p o s i t i v e c h a n g e s i n a number o f a t t i t u d i n a l and p e r s o n a l v a r i a b l e s . A s i m p l e q u e s t i o n n a i r e was d e v e l o p e d t o a s s e s s t h i s c h a n g e , and t h e e n t i r e p o p u l a t i o n o f a v e r y l a r g e (n=1076) c o r p o r a t e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m was p o l l e d . R e s p o n d e n t s i n t h e m a i n , i n d i c a t e d a s i g n i f i c a n t i m p r o v e m e n t i n t h e i r p e r s o n a l p e r c e p t i o n o f a number o f d i f f e r e n t a t t i t u d i n a l v a r i a b l e s . T h e m a g n i t u d e o f t h i s i m p r o v e m e n t was s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d t o t h e l e n g t h o f t i m e t h e y h a v e b e e n members o f t h e p r o g r a m and t h e i r d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e p r o g r a m . S u p e r v i s o r D r . P a t r i c i a V e r t i n s k y N o v e m b e r 1985 V a n c o u v e r , B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a V T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s A b s t r a c t i i L i s t o f T a b l e s i x L i s t o f F i g u r e s x Acknowledgements x i C h a p t e r One E s s a y s i n O c c u p a t i o n a l F i t n e s s and A b s e n t e e i s m 1.10 I n t r o d u c t i o n : I s s u e s i n O c c u p a t i o n a l F i t n e s s 1 1.20 E p i d e m i o l o g i c a l S t u d i e s 4 1.30 P a r t i c i p a t i o n - Adherence S t u d i e s 4 1.40 Purpose o f t h e Study 6 1.50 P h y s i c a l F i t n e s s and A b s e n t e e i s m 6 1.60 F i t n e s s A d h e r e n c e , M o t i v a t i o n and A b s e n t e e i s m 8 C h a p t e r Two A b s e n t e e i s m : A Review o f t h e S t e e r & Rhodes(1978) P r o c e s s Model 2.10 Problems i n Absence R e s e a r c h 9 2.20 V o l u n t a r y and I n v o l u n t a r y Absence 13 2.30 The S t e e r s & Rhodes P r o c e s s Model 15 2.31 A b i l i t y t o A t t e n d Work 16 2.32 M o t i v a t i o n t o A t t e n d Work 18 PART 1 PHYSICAL FITNESS AND ABSENCE FROM WORK C h a p t e r Three A b i l i t y t o A t t e n d : P h y s i c a l F i t n e s s and Absence From Work 3.10 I n t r o d u c t i o n 21 3.20 Review o f the L i t e r a t u r e 21 Hypothes i s 1.1 3.30 Effects of Gender Hypothesis 1.2 Hypothesis 1.3 Hypothesis 1.4 3.40 Effects of Age Hypothesis 1.5 3.50 Length of Service Hypothesis 1.6 3.60 Company A f f i l i a t i o n Hypothesis 1.7 Chapter Four Method 4.10 Research Plan 4.20 Subjects 4.30 Physical Fitness Measurement 4.40 Absence Measurement 4.50 Procedures Chapter Five Results 5.10 Hypotheses 1.1, 1.3 and 1.4 5.11 Total Sample Results 5.12 Gender Differences 5.13 Company A f f i l i a t i o n 5.20 Hypothesis 1.2 and 1.7 5.30 Hypothesis 1.5 and 1.6 5.31 Total Sample Results 5.32 Gender Differences 5.33 Company A f f i l i a t i o n C h a p t e r S i x D i s c u s s i o n 6.10 P h y s i c a l F i t n e s s and A b s e n t e e i s m 54 6.20 E f f e c t s o f Gender 56 6.30 E f f e c t s o f Age and Length o f S e r v i c e 58 6.40 E f f e c t s o f Company A f f i l i a t i o n 60 PART 11 DEGREE OF FITNESS ADHERENCE, MOTIVATION AND ABSENTEEISM C h a p t e r Seven Degree o f F i t n e s s Adherence and I t s R e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h A t t e n d a n c e M o t i v a t i o n 7.10 I n t r o d u c t i o n 63 7.20 M o t i v a t i o n and Absence B e h a v i o r 67 7.30 F a c t o r s A f f e c t i n g S a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h Job S i t u a t i o n 7.31 Job Scope 68 H y p o t h e s i s 2.1 H y p o t h e s i s 2.2 7.32 R o l e S t r e s s 69 H y p o t h e s i s 2.3 7.33 Co-worker R e l a t i o n s 71 H y p o t h e s i s 2.4 7.40 F a c t o r s A f f e c t i n g I n t e r n a l and E x t e r n a l P r e s s u r e s t o A t t e n d 7 3 7.41 I n c e n t i v e Reward System 74 7.42 P e r s o n a l Work E t h i c 74 H y p o t h e s i s 2.5 H y p o t h e s i s 2.6 v i i i C h a p t e r E i g h t Method 8.10 The Q u e s t i o n n a i r e 76 8.11 Assessment o f Degree o f P a r t i c i p a t i o n 76 8.12 Assessment o f A t t i t u d i n a l -Change 77 8.20 The Sample 79 8.30 A d m i n i s t e r i n g t h e Q u e s t i o n n a i r e 79 C h a p t e r N i n e R e s u l t s 9.00 Degree of P a r t i c i p a t i o n 80 9.10 P h y s i c a l W e l l B e i n g : H y p o t h e s i s 2.1 80 9.20 A t t e n d a n c e and P r o d u c t i v i t y : H y p o t h e s i s 2.2 83 9.30 S t r e s s and T e n s i o n : H y p o t h e s i s 2.3 85 9.40 S o c i a l I n t e r a c t i o n : H y p o t h e s i s 2.4 86 9.50 Work A t t i t u d e : H y p o t h e s i s 2.5 87 9.60 S e l f Image: H y p o t h e s i s 2.6 89 C h a p t e r Ten 10.10 D i s c u s s i o n 90 10.20 A t t e n d a n c e and P r o d u c t i v i t y 91 10.30 S t r e s s 93 10.40 S o c i a l I n t e r a c t i o n 94 10.50 Work A t t i t u d e 94 10.60 S e l f Image 95 C h a p t e r E l e v e n C o n c l u s i o n s and I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r F u t u r e R e s e a r c h 11.0 L i m i t a t i o n s o f t h i s s t u d y 96 R e f e r e n c e s 100 A p p e n d i c e s A p p e n d i x A Summary o f major s t u d i e s on p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y and h e a r t d i s e a s e . 108 i x A p p e n d i x B Summary o f major s t u d i e s on 109 p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y and absence from work. A p p e n d i x C Absence and Job S a t i s f a c t i o n R e s e a r c h , 110 C a t e g o r i z e d by methodology. A p p e n d i x D Summary o f s t u d i e s on Absence and Gender. I l l Ap p e n d i x E Q u e s t i o n n a i r e 112 Ap p e n d i x F Program D e s c r i p t i o n 119 L i s t o f T a b l e s Mean A b s e n c e and F i t n e s s D a t a . C o r r e l a t i o n s B e t w e e n M e a s u r e s o f A b s e n c e and MVO2. C o r r e l a t i o n s B e t w e e n M e a s u r e s o f A b s e n c e and A g e . C o r r e l a t i o n s B e t w e e n M e a s u r e s o f A b s e n c e a n d L e n g t h o f S e r v i c e . C o r r e l a t i o n s o f P e r c e i v e d C h a n g e and D e g r e e o f A d h e r e n c e . x i L i s t o f F i g u r e s 1. Schematic R e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f C o n t r a c t u a l R e l a t i o n s h i p s Between the I n d i v i d u a l and the O r g a n i z a t i o n . 12 2. Major I n f l u e n c e s on Employee A t t e n d a n c e . 13 3. MVO2 vs Absences i n Males and Females. 32 4. Assessment o f P e r s o n a l Change Through F i t n e s s P a r t i c i p a t i o n . 78 Acknowledgements x i i I would l i k e t o thank D o c t o r s I l a n and P a t r i c i a V e r t i n s k y f o r t h e i r g u i d a n c e and m o r a l s u p p o r t t h r o u g h t h e c o u r s e o f t h i s m a n u s c r i p t . S p e c i a l t h a n k s t o Dr. M a r t i n C o l l i s and Dr. S t a n l e y Brown f o r t h e i r e d i t o r i a l comments. The s t a t i s t i c a l t r e a t m e n t o f d a t a was made much e a s i e r t h r o u g h the e f f o r t s o f Mr. V i n a y K a n e t k a r and Mr. Kenneth L a s s e s s e n . T h i s p r o j e c t c o u l d n e v e r have been completed w i t h o u t t h e complete s u p p o r t o f Dr. C o l i n H a r d i e , Mr. Bruce S h e a r e r , Ms. Debbie C o l v i n and Ms. Penny B e a r s s o f The B r i t i s h Columbia Telephone Company. F i n a l l y , I would l i k e t o thank my w i f e M a r l e n e , f o r h e r e d i t o r i a l s c r u t i n y , her i n f i n i t e p a t i e n c e and her u n w a v e r i n g s u p p o r t t h r o u g h a d i f f i c u l t and l e n g t h y p r o j e c t . 1 CHAPTER ONE E s s a y s i n O c c u p a t i o n a l F i t n e s s a n d A b s e n t e e i s m 1 . 1 0 I n t r o d u c t i o n T h e p h y s i c a l l y f i t b o d y a n d t h e p u r s u i t o f f i t n e s s t h r o u g h s p o r t a n d e x e r c i s e , h a v e o v e r t h e c e n t u r i e s o c c u p i e d p o s i t i o n s o f i m p o r t a n c e i n many c u l t u r e s . I n N o r t h A m e r i c a , t h e p h y s i c a l e d u c a t i o n movements o f t h e 1 8 8 0 * s a n d e a r l y 1 9 0 0 ' s w e r e d e e p l y r o o t e d i n t h e d o c t r i n e s o f m o r a l a n d s p i r i t u a l d e v e l o p m e n t . T h e r e i s l i t t l e q u e s t i o n t h a t many o f t h e s e b e l i e f s e n d u r e t o t h i s d a y ( K r o l l , 1 9 8 2 ) . A m o r e r e c e n t d e v e l o p m e n t i s t h e w h o l e s a l e a d o p t i o n o f o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s b y m a j o r c o r p o r a t i o n s ( C o l l i s , 1 9 7 7 ; A l l e n 1 9 8 2 ) . A l t h o u g h p i o n e e r s s u c h a s t h e N a t i o n a l C a s h R e g i s t e r Company o f D a y t o n , O h i o i m p l e m e n t e d e m p l o y e e s ' h e a l t h b r e a k s ' a n d d e s i g n a t e d s p e c i f i c e x e r c i s e a r e a s a s e a r l y a s 1 8 9 4 , t h e m a j o r i t y o f o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s h a v e o n l y b e g u n t o a p p e a r o v e r t h e c o u r s e o f t h e l a s t d e c a d e ( J a c o b s , 1 9 8 1 ) . W o r k s i t e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s , a t l e a s t f o r l a r g e c o r p o r a t i o n s a r e r a p i d l y b e c o m m i n g t h e r u l e r a t h e r t h a n t h e e x c e p t i o n . A 1978 e s t i m a t e p l a c e d t h e number o f U . S . c o r p o r a t e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s a t 3 0 0 . By 1 9 8 2 , t h a t f i g u r e h a d m u s h r o o m e d t o 3 , 0 0 0 ( P a l i s a n o , 1 9 8 2 ) . M i r r o r i n g t h i s r a p i d g r o w t h i s t h e m e t e o r i c r i s e i n m e m b e r s h i p o f o r g a n i z a t i o n s 2 s u c h a s t h e A s s o c i a t i o n f o r F i t n e s s i n B u s i n e s s ( A F B ) , w h i c h i s among t h e t h e f a s t e s t g r o w i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s o n t h e c o n t i n e n t ( K i s b y , 1 9 8 3 ; B a r n e s , 1 9 8 3 ) . C u r r e n t i n t e r e s t i n o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s c a n b e l i n k e d i n no s m a l l m e a s u r e t o p o p u l a r c l a i m s t h a t " f i t e m p l o y e e s make b e t t e r e m p l o y e e s " ( M o o r e , 1 9 8 3 ) . T h e b e l i e f t h a t p r o m o t i n g f i t n e s s among e m p l o y e e s c a n h a v e a p o s i t i v e b u s i n e s s i m p a c t g a i n e d w i d e a c c e p t a n c e d u r i n g t h e 1 9 7 0 ' s ( B r e n n a n , 1 9 8 2 ) . T h e i n f l a t i o n a r y s p i r a l o f t h e l a t t e r p a r t o f t h a t d e c a d e saw c o r p o r a t e h e a l t h c a r e c o s t s r i s i n g a t a n e v e r a c c e l e r a t i n g r a t e . M e g a - c o r p o r a t i o n s s u c h a s G e n e r a l M o t o r s a n d F o r d M o t o r Company r e p o r t e d h e a l t h c a r e c o s t s a s t h e i r s i n g l e l a r g e s t e x p e n s e . T h e h e a l t h c a r e c o s t s o f s i m i l a r c o r p o r a t e g i a n t s d o u b l e d a n d e v e n t r e b l e d a s t h e d e c a d e came t o a c l o s e ( J a c o b s , 1 9 8 1 ) . S h e p h a r d ( 1 9 8 2 , p . 795) sums up t h e c u r r e n t s i t u a t i o n s u c c i n c t l y when h e s t a t e s " t h e r e i s t h e r e f o r e a n e c o n o m i c m o t i v e f o r d e t e r m i n i n g w h e t h e r s u c h i n t e r v e n t i o n s a s e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m m e s h a v e a b e n e f i c i a l e f f e c t u p o n w o r k e r p r o d u c t i v i t y " . T h e s e e c o n o m i c m o t i v e s h a v e f u e l e d a c a d e m i c i n t e r e s t i n t h e a r e a o f o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s , t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s a n d i t s e f f e c t s . P e r h a p s no o t h e r i s s u e h a s h a d a more p r o f o u n d e f f e c t o n b o t h t h e r e s e a r c h a n d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s t h a n t h e s u b j e c t o f w o r k e r a b s e n t e e i s m . A p o p u l a r 3 b e l i e f i s t h a t e m p l o y e e a b s e n t e e i s m i s r e l a t e d i n some d e g r e e t o p e r s o n a l f i t n e s s l e v e l s . T h a t i n f a c t f i t t e r e m p l o y e e s a r e l e s s l i k e l y t o b e a b s e n t t h a n u n f i t e m p l o y e e s . S e v e r a l s t u d i e s h a v e i n d i c a t e d t h a t a n i n v e r s e r e l a t i o n s h i p may i n d e e d e x i s t b e t w e e n p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n t e e i s m ( L i n d e n , 1 9 6 9 ; P r a v o s u d o v , 1 9 7 5 ; D o n o g h u e , 1 9 7 7 ; S h e p h a r d , 1 9 7 9 ) . Two c o n s i s t e n t o b s e r v a t i o n s p e r m e a t e t h e l i t e r a t u r e : 1) P h y s i c a l l y f i t e m p l o y e e s t e n d t o b e a b s e n t f e w e r d a y s t h a n u n f i t e m p l o y e e s . 2) R e g u l a r p a r t i c i p a n t s o f company f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s t e n d t o b e a b s e n t f e w e r d a y s t h a n n o n - p a r t i c i p a n t s . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e o r y d e v e l o p m e n t h a s b e e n s l o w a n d i n f o r m a t i o n a s t o t h e p o s s i b l e m e c h a n i s m s b e h i n d t h e s e o b s e r v a t i o n s h a s b e e n v i r t u a l l y n o n - e x i s t e n t ( F i e l d i n g , 1 9 8 2 ) . T h e r e s u l t h a s b e e n a p a u c i t y o f c o n c l u s i v e d a t a t o g u i d e f u t u r e r e s e a r c h . P r e v i o u s s t u d i e s o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n c e f r o m w o r k h a v e u s e d a k a l e i d o s c o p e o f r e s e a r c h d e s i g n s a n d t e c h n i q u e s . T h e s e s t u d i e s c a n b e g r o u p e d i n t o o n e o f two b r o a d t h e m e s i n a n e f f o r t t o g a i n a b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g a s t o t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n c e f r o m w o r k . 4 1 . 2 0 E p i d e m i o l o g i c a l s t u d i e s T h e p i o n e e r i n g w o r k o f M o r r i s (1958 ) a n d P a f f e n b a r g e r ( 1 9 7 0 , 1 9 7 5 ) , r e v e a l e d t h r o u g h l a r g e s c a l e e p i d e m i o l o g i c a l a n a l y s e s , t h a t s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n s e x i s t e d b e t w e e n ' o n - t h e - j o b ' f i t n e s s o r p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y r e q u i r e m e n t s a n d t h e i n c i d e n c e o f c o r o n a r y h e a r t d i s e a s e . T h e s e c l a s s i c s t u d i e s s u g g e s t e d t h a t p h y s i c a l l y f i t e m p l o y e e s p o s s e s s c e r t a i n p h y s i o l o g i c a l q u a l i t i e s w h i c h e i t h e r i n h e r e n t l y o r t h r o u g h c u l t i v a t i o n a l l o w t h e m t o a t t e n d work w i t h f e w e r i n c i d e n c e s o f a b s e n c e . T h i s i n t u i t i v e l y a p p e a l i n g h y p o t h e s i s p o s i t s t h a t p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s somehow i n c r e a s e s an e m p l o y e e s ' r e s i s t a n c e t o d i s e a s e , f a t i g u e , i n j u r y a n d m i n o r i l l n e s s . R e s e a r c h g u i d e d b y t h i s v i e w p o i n t h a s a t t e m p t e d t o show t h a t p h y s i c a l l y f i t e m p l o y e e s a r e a b s e n t l e s s f r e q u e n t l y b e c a u s e o f t h e i r s u p e r i o r l e v e l o f f i t n e s s . 1 . 3 0 P a r t i c i p a t i o n - A d h e r e n c e S t u d i e s A n a l t e r n a t e d i r e c t i o n , p u r s u e d b y S h e p h a r d a n d h i s r e s e a r c h e r s ( 1 9 7 8 , 1 9 7 9 , 1981) a n d B j u r s t r o m & A l e x i o u ( 1 9 7 8 ) , p r o p o s e s t h a t a b s e n t e e i s m may b e i n v e r s e l y r e l a t e d t o d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n a n d a d h e r e n c e t o o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s a c t i v i t i e s . R e s e a r c h d i r e c t e d b y t h i s v i e w p o i n t s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n c e c a n b e b e t t e r d e s c r i b e d i n t e r m s o f a p s y c h o s o c i a l p h e n o m e n o n r a t h e r t h a n a p h y s i o l o g i c a l o n e . 5 S t u d i e s t o d a t e h a v e a t t e m p t e d t o u n c o v e r d i f f e r e n c e s i n a b s e n t e e i s m b e t w e e n r e g u l a r a d h e r e n t s t o t h e company e x e r c i s e p r o g r a m a n d n o n - a d h e r e n t s a n d c o n t r o l s . D u r b e c k (1972) f o r e x a m p l e , r e p o r t e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n v o l v e d i n g r o u p e x e r c i s e a c t i v i t i e s s h o w e d g r e a t e r f i t n e s s a n d a t t i t u d i n a l c h a n g e s t h a n p a r t i c i p a n t s e x e r c i s i n g a l o n e a t h o m e . A s e c o n d i n t u i t i v e l y a p p e a l i n g h y p o t h e s i s p o s i t s t h a t w o r k e r s e n r o l l e d i n e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s a c t i v i t i e s d e r i v e some p s y c h o s o c i a l b e n e f i t f r o m p a r t i c i p a t i o n a n d t h a t t h i s " b o o s t i n m o r a l e " ( S h e p h a r d , 1 9 7 9 ) , a f f e c t s t h e i r w i l l i n g n e s s a n d m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d w o r k . F i t n e s s a c t i v i t y p a r t i c i p a n t s a r e b e t t e r ' a t t e n d e r s ' n o t b e c a u s e t h e y h a v e b e c o m e f i t t e r , b u t b e c a u s e t h e p r o c e s s o f b e c o m i n g f i t h a s i m p r o v e d t h e i r m o r a l e . A s a r e s u l t o f p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n company f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s , e m p l o y e e s f e e l more p o s i t i v e a b o u t t h e company a n d t h e m s e l v e s . T h i s e n h a n c e m e n t i n a t t i t u d e c a n a l s o b e a f f e c t e d b y a n y new s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s d e v e l o p e d t h r o u g h t h e c o u r s e o f t h e g r o u p a c t i v i t i e s . I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o s t a t e t h a t t h e s e two v i s t a s a r e b y no means m u t u a l l y e x c l u s i v e o r a l l e n c o m p a s s i n g . I t i s e n t i r e l y p o s s i b l e t h a t b o t h m e c h a n i s m s ( i e . p h y s i o l o g i c a l and p s y c h o s o c i a l ) a r e o p e r a t i n g t o some d e g r e e i n p a r t i c i p a n t s o f e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s o r a l t e r n a t i v e l y , t h a t n e i t h e r m e c h a n i s m i s o p e r a t i n g a n d t h a t t h e p r e v i o u s o b s e r v a t i o n s m e r e l y r e f l e c t i n a p p r o p r i a t e r e s e a r c h d e s i g n s , 6 m i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o r some o t h e r u n i d e n t i f i e d r e a s o n . 1 . 4 0 P u r p o s e o f t h e S t u d y T h e p u r p o s e o f t h i s i n q u i r y i s n o t t o o f f e r a c r i t i q u e o f t h e s c i e n t i f i c m e t h o d e m p l o y e d b y p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h e r s , f o r o t h e r a u t h o r s h a v e d o n e s o a l r e a d y ( F o l k i n s & S i m e , 1 9 8 1 ; F i e l d i n g , 1 9 8 2 ) . T h i s p a p e r w i l l e x a m i n e t h e t h e o r e t i c a l b a s e s o f t h e s e two p e r s p e c t i v e s i n t h e f o r m o f two d i s t i n c t b u t i n t e r - r e l a t e d e s s a y s . T h e e s s a y s w i l l a p p r o a c h t h e q u e s t i o n o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n c e f r o m w o r k f r o m t h e s t a n d p o i n t o f a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d w o r k ( h i g h f i t n e s s ) a n d m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d w o r k ( h i g h m o r a l e ) . T h e t h e o r e t i c a l map f o r b o t h a p p r o a c h e s w i l l b e t h e S t e e r s Se R h o d e s (1978) P r o c e s s M o d e l . T h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s M o d e l was c h o s e n b e c a u s e o f i t s s i m p l i c i t y a n d i t s w i d e s p r e a d u s e i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e . I t i s e s p e c i a l l y r e l e v a n t when u s e d a s a t h e o r e t i c a l t e m p l a t e i n w h i c h t o f i t p r e v i o u s s t u d i e s o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n t e e i s m . 1 . 5 0 P h y s i c a l F i t n e s s a n d A b s e n t e e i s m T h e f i r s t e s s a y w i l l d e a l w i t h t h e i s s u e o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n c e due t o s i c k n e s s a n d i n j u r y , f r o m t h e p e r s p e c t i v e o f a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d w o r k ( S t e e r s & R h o d e s , 1 9 7 8 ) . A l t h o u g h p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h h a s f o c u s e d p r i m a r i l y u p o n m e a s u r e s o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d m e a s u r e s o f s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e , t h e y h a v e a l l b u t i g n o r e d t h e w e a l t h o f r e s e a r c h a n d t h e o r y f r o m t h e b e h a v i o r a l a n d s o c i a l s c i e n c e d i s c i p l i n e s . L i t t l e a t t e m p t h a s b e e n made t o i n t e g r a t e f i t n e s s o b s e r v a t i o n s w i t h c o n c e p t s s u c h a s l e a r n e d c u l t u r a l a b s e n c e n o r m s , s o c i a l e x c h a n g e , j o b s a t i s f a c t i o n o r p e r s o n a l v a r i a b l e s . O t h e r v a r i a b l e s s u c h a s a g e , g e n d e r , l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e a n d company a f f i l i a t i o n h a v e u n f o r t u n a t e l y e s c a p e d s c r u t i n y w i t h i n t h e m a j o r i t y o f p u b l i s h e d f i t n e s s s t u d i e s . A n y d i s c u s s i o n s o f a b s e n t e e i s m a s a b e h a v i o r a l p h e n o m e n o n , w h e t h e r p u r e l y p h y s i o l o g i c a l o r o t h e r w i s e w h i c h d o e s n o t a d d r e s s a t l e a s t some o f t h e s e c o n c e p t s , a p p e a r s t o b e g r o s s l y d e f i c i e n t i n s c o p e ( C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & B r o w n , 1 9 8 2 ) . T h e f i r s t e s s a y w i l l e x p l o r e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d e m p l o y e e s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e a g a i n s t t h e b a c k d r o p o f t h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) P r o c e s s M o d e l . T h e m o d e l w i l l a l l o w t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s e v e r a l h y p o t h e s e s c o n c e r n i n g t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n c e , a n d t h e r e l a t i v e e f f e c t s o f o t h e r v a r i a b l e s s u c h a a g e , g e n d e r , l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e a n d company a f f i l i a t i o n . E m p i r i c a l s u p p o r t f o r t h e s e h y p o t h e s e s w i l l b e s o u g h t i t h e f o r m o f a c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y s i s o f d a t a o b t a i n e d f r o m l a r g e e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m f o r t h e y e a r s 1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 4 . 8 1 . 6 0 F i t n e s s A d h e r e n c e , M o t i v a t i o n a n d A b s e n t e e i s m T h e s e c o n d m a j o r c o m p o n e n t o f t h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978 ) P r o c e s s M o d e l c e n t e r s o n m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d w o r k . S t e e r s & R h o d e s s u g g e s t t h a t g i v e n an e m p l o y e e ' s p h y s i c a l a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d w o r k , t h e n e x t m o s t c r i t i c a l f a c t o r a f f e c t i n g a t t e n d a n c e i s t h e e m p l o y e e ' s d e s i r e o r w i l l i n g n e s s t o a t t e n d . S h e p h a r d ' s ( 1 9 7 8 , 1979) work p r o v i d e s e m p i r i c a l s u p p o r t f o r t h e i d e a t h a t a b s e n t e e i s m i s i n v e r s e l y r e l a t e d t o t h e d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n a n d a d h e r e n c e t o a n o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m . H i s w o r k d e f i n i t e l y s u g g e s t s t h a t h i g h f i t n e s s a d h e r e n t s ( i e . e m p l o y e e s who a t t e n d t h e f i t n e s s a c t i v i t i e s o n a f r e q u e n t b a s i s ) h a v e a d i f f e r e n t p a t t e r n o f a b s e n c e t h a n l o w f i t n e s s a d h e r e n t s a n d n o n - p a r t i c i p a n t s . I t i s t h e p u r p o s e o f t h e s e c o n d e s s a y t o r e v i e w t h e t h e o r e t i c a l r a t i o n a l e b e h i n d t h e c l a i m s t h a t d e g r e e o f a d h e r e n c e a n d d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s a f f e c t s m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d w o r k . How p l a u s i b l e i s t h i s c l a i m i n t h e l i g h t o f e x i s t i n g t h e o r y ? T h e S t e e r s Sc R h o d e s (1978 ) P r o c e s s M o d e l , w i l l a g a i n s e r v e a s a t h e o r e t i c a l map i n a n e f f o r t t o g a i n a b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f p r e v i o u s f i t n e s s r e s e a r c h . S e v e r a l h y p o t h e s e s w i l l b e d i s t i l l e d f r o m t h e l i t e r a t u r e a n d t h e s e h y p o t h e s e s w i l l b e t e s t e d u s i n g d a t a o b t a i n e d f r o m a q u e s t i o n n a i r e s a m p l i n g o f a 9 l a r g e e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m . I t i s t h e p u r p o s e o f t h e s e e s s a y s t o a p p r o a c h t h e q u e s t i o n o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n c e f r o m w o r k f r o m b o t h t h e s t a n d p o i n t s o f a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d ( i e . h i g h f i t n e s s ) a n d m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d ( i e . h i g h m o r a l e ) . T h e s e c o n c e p t s h a v e b e e n i d e n t i f i e d a s c r i t i c a l c o m p o n e n t s i n t h e d e c i s i o n t o a t t e n d w o r k a s p u t f o r t h b y t h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) P r o c e s s M o d e l . 10 CHAPTER TWO A B S E N T E E I S M ; A REVIEW OF S T E E R S AND RHODES (1978) PROCESS MODEL 2 . 1 0 P r o b l e m s i n A b s e n c e R e s e a r c h A b s e n t e e i s m , o r a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r , a s i t i s d e s c r i b e d i n t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l l i t e r a t u r e h a s b e e n a n d i s t h e s u b j e c t o f c o n s t a n t r e s e a r c h . W i t h l o s t w o r k i n g d a y s i n t h e U . S . a n d C a n a d a r u n n i n g i n t o t h e h u n d r e d s o f m i l l i o n s a n n u a l l y a n d d i r e c t c o s t i n e x c e s s o f 30 b i l l i o n d o l l a r s ( S t e e r s & R h o d e s , 1 9 8 0 ) , a b s e n t e e i s m i s o f g r e a t c o n c e r n t o a l l members o f s o c i e t y . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , s e v e r a l d e c a d e s o f a b s e n c e r e s e a r c h h a v e y i e l d e d s c a n t i n f o r m a t i o n a s t o t h e c a u s a l d e t e r m i n a n t s o f e m p l o y e e a b s e n t e e i s m . M o s t s t u d i e s h a v e b e e n a b l e t o d e s c r i b e a s e t o f c o n d i t i o n s u n d e r w h i c h a b s e n c e s a r e more o r l e s s l i k e l y t o o c c u r , b u t h a v e b e e n u n a b l e t o e x p l a i n why a b s e n c e s a r e m o r e o r l e s s l i k e l y t o o c c u r . T h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e s t u d i e s c o n s i s t o f b i v a r i a t e c o r r e l a t i o n s o f d i f f e r e n t s e t s o f v a r i a b l e s a n d s u b s e q u e n t a b s e n t e e i s m ( V r o o m , 1 9 6 4 , C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n , & B r o w n , 1 9 7 6 ; M u c h i n s k y 1 9 7 7 ) . T o d a t e o n l y t h r e e s t u d i e s o u t o f t h e many h u n d r e d f o u n d i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e h a v e a t t e m p t e d t o d e v e l o p a t h e o r e t i c a l f r a m e w o r k t o g u i d e f u t u r e r e s e a r c h . T h e s e a r e t h e o r i g i n a l G i b s o n (1966) M o d e l ( f i g u r e 2 . 1 ) , t h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) P r o c e s s M o d e l 11 ( f i g u r e 2 . 2 ) and t h e m o s t r e c e n t p s y c h o - s o c i a l a p p r o a c h e s o f C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n a n d Brown ( 1 9 8 2 ) . O f t h e s e , t h e S t e e r s a n d R h o d e s M o d e l i s , b y f a r , t h e m o s t w i d e l y c i t e d i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e . 12 F I G U R E 2 . 1 — S c h e m a t i c R e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f C o n t r a c t u a l R e l a t i o n s h i p s B e t w e e n t h e I n d i v i d u a l a n d t h e O r g a n i z a t i o n . SOCIETY > 1 \ C O M M O N N E E D S A N D C O M P L E M E N -T A R Y A B I L I T I E S G O A L S Y S T E M B E L I E F -V A L U E S Y S T E M R E S P O N S I -B I L I T Y WORK CONTRACT F O R M A L Q U A S I - C O N T R A C T C O N S E N S U A L D I S C R E T I O N A R Y DUTIES* r-»WORK t RE- « i SATIS-WARDS FACTIONS C A P A C I T I E S A N O C O M -P E T E N C I E S N E E D S Y S T E M B E L I E F -V A L U E S Y S T E M NOTE: ORGANI-ZATIONAL SPACE S O C I E T Y T h e a r r o w s r e p r e s e n t p r e s u m e d r e l a t i o n s h i p s . No a t t e m p t h a s b e e n made t o r e p r e s e n t f e e d b a c k r e l a t i o n s h i p s . S O U R C E : R. O l i v e r G i b s o n . " T o w a r d a C o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n o f A b s e n c e B e h a v i o r i n O r g a n i z a t i o n s " , A d m i n i s t r a t i v e S c i e n c e Q u a r t e r l y , 11 ( J u n e 1 9 6 6 ) , p . 1 1 9 . R e p r i n t e d b y p e r m i s s i o n o f t h e A d m i n i s t r a t i v e S c i e n c e Q u a r t e r l y . C o p y r i g h t 1 9 6 6 , C o r n e l l U n i v e r s i t y . 13 F I G U R E 2 . 2 . — M a j o r I n f l u e n c e s o n E m p l o y e e A t t e n d a n c e ^ 3. Personal C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s /"Education 1 Tenure /Age J Sex VFamily s i z e X Employee Values & Job Expectations 1. Job S i t u a t i o n Job scope Job l e v e l Role s t r e s s Work group s i z e Leader s t y l e Co-worker r e l a t i o n s Opportunity f o r advancement 7. A b i l i t y to Attend I l l n e s s & accidents Family r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s Transportation problems 4. S a t i s f a c t i o n 6. Attendance Motivation t with Job S i t u a t i o n 8. Employee Attendance 5. Pressure to Attend Economic/market conditions Incentive/reward system Work group norms Personal work e t h i c O rganizational commitment t S O U R C E : R i c h a r d M. S t e e r s a n d S u s a n R. R h o d e s . " M a j o r I n f l u e n c e s o n E m p l o y e e A t t e n d a n c e : A P r o c e s s M o d e l " , J o u r n a l o f A p p l i e d P s y c h o l o g y , 63 ( A u g u s t 1 9 7 8 ) , p . 3 9 3 . C o p y r i g h t 1978 b y t h e A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n . 14 Why h a v e t h e o r i e s o f a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r p r o v e d s o d i f f i c u l t t o come b y ? I t may b e u s e f u l a t t h i s t i m e t o b r i e f l y r e v i e w some o f t h e m a j o r p r o b l e m s c o n f r o n t i n g a b s e n c e r e s e a r c h . A f u n d a m e n t a l p r o b l e m c o n c e r n s t h e v e r y n a t u r e o f t h e d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e i t s e l f . What e x a c t l y i s a b s e n t e e i s m ? No u n i f o r m o p e r a t i o n a l d e f i n i t i o n e x i s t s , d e s p i t e t h e l i t e r a l l y h u n d r e d s o f m e a s u r e s r e p o r t e d b y b e h a v i o r a l s c i e n t i s t s ( S t e e r s & R h o d e s , 1 9 7 8 ; ERS S e r v i c e s , 1 9 8 0 , C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & B r o w n , 1 9 8 2 ) . 2 . 2 0 V o l u n t a r y a n d I n v o l u n t a r y A b s e n c e A m a j o r s t u m b l i n g b l o c k i s t h e i n a b i l i t y t o d i s t i n g u i s h b e t w e e n i n v o l u n t a r y a b s e n c e ; d e f i n e d a s i l l n e s s e s , a c c i d e n t s a n d t r a n s p o r t a t i o n a l d i f f i c u l t i e s , a n d v o l u n t a r y a b s e n c e ; d e f i n e d a s a v o l u n t a r y d e c i s i o n n o t t o a t t e n d . F r o m a c o n c e p t u a l f o r m a t , t h e s e c o n s t r u c t s a r e q u i t e d i s t i n c t , one i s b e h a v i o r a l , t h e o t h e r i s n o t , b u t p r o b l e m s a r i s e d u r i n g t h e m e a s u r e m e n t p h a s e . C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & B r o w n (1982) r e p o r t 100 d i f f e r e n t m e a s u r e s o f a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r . M o r e o v e r , i t i s e s t i m a t e d t h a t e v e n t h e m e a s u r e m e n t o f s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e i s l i k e l y h i g h l y c o n t a m i n a t e d b y d a t a f r o m o t h e r a b s e n c e s o u r c e s . ( I n d u s t r i a l S o c i e t y C o n f e r e n c e , 1 9 6 8 ) . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e p r o b l e m o f w h a t t o m e a s u r e , t h e p r o b l e m o f how t o m e a s u r e h a s a l s o h a m p e r e d r e s e a r c h . D e b a t e c o n t i n u e s a s t o t h e r e l a t i v e m e r i t o f u s i n g f r e q u e n c y m e a s u r e s , t o t a l t i m e m e a s u r e s , s e v e r i t y m e a s u r e s o r a c o m b i n a t i o n o f t h e t h r e e . Some h a v e a r g u e d t h a t t o t a l t i m e m e a s u r e s b e s t r e f l e c t c a s e s o f i n v o l u n t a r y o r s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e , w h i l e t h e f r e q u e n c y m e a s u r e s b e s t r e f l e c t b e h a v i o r a l i n d i c e s o f a b s e n t e e i s m ( C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & B r o w n , 1 9 8 2 ) . S e v e r a l o t h e r p r o b l e m s p e c u l i a r t o t h i s a r e a o f i n q u i r y h a v e a l s o h a n d i c a p p e d p r o g r e s s i v e r e s e a r c h . C o r p o r a t i o n s a n d t r a d e u n i o n s h a v e b e e n t r a d i t i o n a l l y u n c o o p e r a t i v e w i t h r e s e a r c h e r s a n d a c c e s s t o g o o d d a t a h a s b e e n v e r y l i m i t e d ( M i c k i l a c h i , 1 9 7 7 ) . C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & Brown (1982) r e p o r t e d some r e l u c t a n c e o n t h e p a r t o f c e r t a i n c o r p o r a t i o n s t o g r a n t a c c e s s t o i n t e r v i e w o r q u e s t i o n e m p l o y e e s . I t i s n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t r e s e a r c h h a s p r o c e e d e d s l o w l y c o n s i d e r i n g t h e m a g n i t u d e o f t h e s e o b s t a c l e s . Two w i d e l y h e l d , y e t u n f o u n d e d a s s u m p t i o n s c o n c e r n i n g a b s e n t e e i s m , h a v e i n t h e o p i n i o n o f m a n y , h i n d e r e d r a t h e r t h a n g u i d e d c u r r e n t r e s e a r c h ( C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & B r o w n , 1 9 7 6 , 1 9 8 2 ; S t e e r s & R h o d e s , 1 9 7 8 ) . 16 I n t h e f i r s t p l a c e , much o f t h e c u r r e n t l i t e r a t u r e a s s u m e s t h a t j o b d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n r e p r e s e n t s a p r i m a r y c a u s e o f a b s e n t e e i s m . R e s e a r c h d o e s n o t p r o v i d e much s u p p o r t f o r t h i s a s s u m p t i o n . C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & B r o w n ( 1 9 7 6 , P . 7 3 4 ) i n r e v i e w i n g 29 s t u d i e s c o n c l u d e d t h a t " a t b e s t , i t seems j o b s a t i s f a c t i o n a n d a b s e n c e f r o m w o r k a r e o n l y t e n u o u s l y r e l a t e d " . S i m i l a r f i n d i n g s w e r e r e p o r t e d i n a n E d u c a t i o n a l R e s e a r c h S e r v i c e s (1980) r e p o r t o f 25 s t u d i e s . S e c o n d l y , much o f t h e c u r r e n t r e s e a r c h i s b a s e d o n t h e p r i n c i p l e t h a t e m p l o y e e s a r e f r e e t o c h o o s e w h e t h e r o r n o t t o a t t e n d w o r k ( i e . v o l u n t a r y a b s e n c e ) . T h i s i s o f t e n n o t t h e c a s e ( H e r m a n , 1 9 7 3 ) , a s s i t u a t i o n a l d e t e r m i n a n t s f r e q u e n t l y s u p e r c e d e t h e e m p l o y e e s v o l u n t a r y c h o i c e . A s S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978 P . 392) e x p l a i n : " a c o m p r e h e n s i v e m o d e l o f a t t e n d a n c e m u s t i n c l u d e n o t o n l y j o b a t t i t u d e s a n d o t h e r i n f l u e n c e s o n a t t e n d a n c e m o t i v a t i o n , b u t a l s o s i t u a t i o n a l c o n s t r a i n t s t h a t i n h i b i t a s t r o n g m o t i v a t i o n - b e h a v i o r r e l a t i o n s h i p " . 2 . 3 0 T h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s P r o c e s s M o d e l T h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) m o d e l i d e n t i f i e s two b r o a d d i m e n s i o n s i n f l u e n c i n g e m p l o y e e a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r . T h e s e a r e : 1) t h e e m p l o y e e ' s a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d w o r k a n d , 2) t h e e m p l o y e e ' s m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d w o r k . 17 2 . 3 1 A b i l i t y t o A t t e n d Work S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) c i t e a s a m a j o r w e a k n e s s i n c u r r e n t a b s e n c e r e s e a r c h , t h e i n a b i l i t y o r f a i l u r e t o a c c o u n t f o r i n v o l u n t a r y a b s e n c e i n t h e s t u d y o f v o l u n t a r y a b s e n c e . T h e y a r g u e s u c c e s s f u l l y t h a t e v e n i n c a s e s w h e r e a n i n d i v i d u a l i s m o t i v a t e d t o come t o w o r k , t h e r e a r e i n s t a n c e s w h e r e a t t e n d a n c e i s j u s t n o t p o s s i b l e . I t i s a r g u e d t h a t i n a t l e a s t t h r e e s e t s o f c o n d i t i o n s , t h e i n d i v i d u a l h a s a t h i s o r h e r d i s p o s a l , v e r y l i t t l e c h o i c e ( H e r m a n , 1 9 7 3 ) . T h e s e c o n d i t i o n s c a n b e i d e n t i f i e d a s : a) i l l n e s s a n d a c c i d e n t s , b ) f a m i l y r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , a n d : c ) t r a n s p o r t a t i o n a l p r o b l e m s . T h e f i r s t two c o n d i t i o n s a r e p a r t i c u l a r l y r e l e v a n t t o t h i s i n q u i r y a n d w i l l b e d i s c u s s e d i n some d e t a i l . T h e t h i r d ( t r a n s p o r t a t i o n a l p r o b l e m s ) i s g e n e r a l l y v i e w e d a s b e i n g l e s s i m p o r t a n t a n d h a s e v e n b e e n d i s c o u n t e d a s b e i n g i n f l u e n t i a l b y some ( N i c h o l s o n & G o o d g e , 1 9 7 6 ) . I l l n e s s a n d A c c i d e n t s P o o r h e a l t h a n d a c c i d e n t a l i n j u r y r e p r e s e n t t h e p r i m a r y c a u s e o f a b s e n t e e i s m ( H e d g e s , 1 9 7 7 ) . I n g e n e r a l , m e a s u r e s o f s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e a r e h i g h l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h m e a s u r e s o f t o t a l a b s e n c e . I t i s t h e r e f o r e r e a s o n a b l e t o s u g g e s t t h a t ' u n h e a l t h y e m p l o y e e s w i l l show g r e a t e r i n c i d e n c e s o f a b s e n c e due t o 18 i l l n e s s t h a n ' h e a l t h y e m p l o y e e s ' . T h i s v i e w p o i n t s u g g e s t s t h a t e m p l o y e e s e n g a g e d i n n o n - h e a l t h e n h a n c i n g b e h a v i o r w i l l show g r e a t e r i n c i d e n c e s o f s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e t h a n more ' h e a l t h y ' c o - w o r k e r s . E x a m p l e s o f t h i s w o u l d b e t h e o b s e r v a t i o n s t h a t s m o k e r s show h i g h e r i n c i d e n c e s o f s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e o v e r n o n - s m o k e r s ( L u c e & S c h w e i t z e r , 1 9 7 8 ) , o r t h a t a l c o h o l i s m a n d d r u g a b u s e a r e r e l a t e d t o a b s e n c e b e h a v i o u r ( Y o l l e s , 1 9 7 5 ) . T h e c o n c e p t t h a t p h y s i o l o g i c a l f i t n e s s i s i m p o r t a n t i n t h i s r e g a r d f i t s w e l l w i t h t h i s a s p e c t o f t h e m o d e l . F a m i l y R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s A s e c o n d p o w e r f u l c o n s t r a i n t o n w o r k a t t e n d a n c e i s t h a t o f f a m i l i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s ( S t e e r s & R h o d e s , 1 9 7 8 ) . A l t h o u g h t h e d e g r e e o f r e s p o n s i b i l i t y may b e d e t e r m i n e d l a r g e l y b y p e r s o n a l v a r i a b l e s s u c h a s a g e , f a m i l y s i z e , m a r i t a l s t a t u s a n d s o c i o - e c o n o m i c s t a t u s , t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r i s g e n d e r . Women a s a g r o u p a r e a b s e n t more t h a n men f o r a l l c a t e g o r i e s o f a b s e n c e ( H e d g e s , 1 9 7 3 ; S y l w e s t e r , 1 9 7 9 ) . T h i s f a c t i s n o t s u r p r i s i n g g i v e n t h e r o l e o f t h e f e m a l e i n t h e t r a d i t i o n a l f a m i l y u n i t . I t i s l i k e l y t h a t t h e w i f e o r m o t h e r w i l l c a r e f o r s i c k c h i l d r e n , n e c e s s i t a t i n g a b s e n c e f r o m w o r k . P e r h a p s i n c r e a s e d e x p o s u r e t o i l l n e s s i n c r e a s e s t h e f e m a l e s ' s u s c e p t i b i l i t y t o f a l l i n g i l l , a l t h o u g h t h i s h a s n o t b e e n w e l l d o c u m e n t e d . 19 S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) n o t e t h a t a s f e m a l e s g e t o l d e r a n d p r o g r e s s i n t h e i r w o r k c a r e e r t h e i n c i d e n c e o f s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e d e c r e a s e s . T h e y s u g g e s t t h a t p e r h a p s t h i s i s d u e t o t h e r e d u c t i o n i n f a m i l i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h y o u n g c h i l d r e n . I n c o n t r a s t m a l e s d e m o n s t r a t e i n c r e a s e d s i c k n e s s a b s e n t e e i s m w i t h a g e ( p r e s u m a b l y d u e t o h e a l t h r e a s o n s ) , w h i l e n o n - s i c k n e s s a b s e n t e e i s m d o e s n o t c h a n g e . 2 . 3 2 M o t i v a t i o n t o A t t e n d Work T h e f u n d a m e n t a l p r e m i s e o f t h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) c o n c e p t u a l m o d e l p o s i t s t h a t an e m p l o y e e ' s m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d w o r k r e p r e s e n t s t h e p r i m a r y i n f l u e n c e o n a c t u a l a t t e n d a n c e , a s s u m i n g t h e e m p l o y e e h a s t h e a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d ( H e r m a n , 1 9 7 3 ) . I f t h i s p r e m i s e c a n b e a c c e p t e d ( s e e C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & B r o w n , 1982 f o r a c r i t i q u e ) , t h e n q u e s t i o n s m u s t b e r a i s e d c o n c e r n i n g t h e f a c t o r s w h i c h a r e l i k e l y t o i n f l u e n c e an e m p l o y e e ' s m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d . S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978 ) p r o p o s e t h a t s u c h m o t i v a t i o n i s d e t e r m i n e d l a r g e l y b y : a) a n e m p l o y e e ' s e f f e c t i v e r e s p o n s e s t o t h e j o b s i t u a t i o n a n d , b ) v a r i o u s i n t e r n a l a n d e x t e r n a l p r e s s u r e s t o a t t e n d . P h y s i c a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s h a v e a d d r e s s e d t h e f o r m e r c o n d i t i o n i n a n a t t e m p t t o i m p r o v e b o t h a n e m p l o y e e s j o b s i t u a t i o n a n d h i s / h e r p e r c e p t i o n o f t h a t s i t u a t i o n . I t i s a l s o c o n c e i v a b l e t h a t e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s c a n a f f e c t p r e s s u r e t o a t t e n d b y i n f l u e n c i n g p e r s o n a l w o r k e t h i c s , w o r k 20 group norms and o r g a n i z a t i o n a l commitment. A l t h o u g h t h e S t e e r s & Rhodes (1978) model r e p r e s e n t s a s e r i o u s a t t empt t o i n t e g r a t e many o f t h e o b s e r v a t i o n s found t h r o u g h p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h , i t i s o b v i o u s l y not p e r f e c t . A major c r i t i c i s m i s t h a t by r e d u c i n g absence b e h a v i o r t o t h e l e v e l o f two s i m p l e c o n s t r u c t s : a) a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d and, b) m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d , t h a t an o v e r s i m p l i f i c a t i o n o f t h e p r o c e s s i s p o r t r a y e d (Chadwick-Jones, N i c h o l s o n & Brown, 1982). F u r t h e r m o r e , i t has been argued t h a t t h e S t e e r s & Rhodes model (1978) sheds l i t t l e l i g h t on t h e p r o blem o f l e a r n e d absence norms and t h e whole i s s u e o f i n f l u e n c e by l a b o r u n i o n s . I t i s acknowledged t h a t t h e s e f a c t o r s p r o b a b l y d e t e r m i n e t h e " l e a r n e d absence c u l t u r e " s p e c i f i c t o each o r g a n i z a t i o n o r t y p e o f work. I t i s p l a u s i b l e t h a t i n d i v i d u a l a b i l i t i e s and m o t i v a t i o n s t o a t t e n d a r e i n f l u e n c e d by norms w i t h i n t h e s p e c i f i c work-group and what i s a l l o w e d w i t h i n t h e c o l l e c t i v e agreements. However, t h e s i m p l i c i t y o f t h e S t e e r s & Rhodes (1978) model and i t s p o p u l a r i t y w i t h i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e a l l o w f o r a u s e f u l p o i n t o f d e p a r t u r e f o r t h e e n s u i n g d i s c u s s i o n s on o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s and a b s e n t e e i s m . PART I PHYSICAL FITNESS AND ABSENTEEISM 22 CHAPTER THREE A B I L I T Y TO A T T E N D : P H Y S I C A L F I T N E S S AND ABSENCE FROM WORK 3 . 1 0 INTRODUCTION T h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s m o d e l i d e n t i f i e s t h e a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d w o r k a s b e i n g an i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r i n d e t e r m i n i n g e m p l o y e e a b s e n t e e i s m . S t e e r s a n d R h o d e s (1978) s u g g e s t t h a t a m a j o r w e a k n e s s i n h e r e n t i n much o f t h e a b s e n c e l i t e r a t u r e i s t h e i n a b i l i t y t o p a r t i a l o u t i n v o l u n t a r y a n d v o l u n t a r y a b s e n t e e i s m . T h i s e s s a y w i l l d e a l w i t h t h e q u e s t i o n o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d i n v o l u n t a r y a b s e n c e . T h e b a s i c p r e m i s e b e h i n d t h i s c o n c e p t i s t h a t e v e n i f a n e m p l o y e e w a n t s t o come t o w o r k ( i e . h i g h m o t i v a t i o n ) h e o r s h e may h a v e l i t t l e d i s c r e t i o n i n t h e m a t t e r ( S t e e r s & R h o d e s , 1 9 7 8 ) . 3 . 2 0 R e v i e w o f t h e L i t e r a t u r e A b a s i c t e n e t u n d e r l y i n g t h e p o p u l a r i t y o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s i n N o r t h A m e r i c a n b u s i n e s s a n d i n d u s t r y i s t h e a s s u m p t i o n t h a t a n e m p l o y e e ' s d e g r e e o f a b s e n t e e i s m c a n i n some way b e i n f l u e n c e d b y h i s o r h e r l e v e l o f p e r s o n a l p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s , t h a t i n f a c t , f i t t e r e m p l o y e e s show d i f f e r e n t d e g r e e s o f a b s e n t e e i s m i n r e l a t i o n t o l e s s f i t c o - w o r k e r s i n v o l v e d i n s i m i l a r o c c u p a t i o n a l t a s k s . F i t n e s s i n t h i s c o n t e x t i s d e f i n e d i n t e r m s o f e s t i m a t e d o x y g e n c a r r y i n g c a p a c i t y o r M V O 2 . D o n a g h u e (1977) i n a r e v i e w o f l i t e r a t u r e s u g g e s t s t h a t c o m p e l l i n g e v i d e n c e e x i s t s t o s u p p o r t t h e h y p o t h e s i s t h a t p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n t e e i s m a r e i n v e r s e l y r e l a t e d . T h e a v a i l a b l e r e s e a r c h i m p l i e s t h a t " f i t * e m p l o y e e s t e n d t o b e a b s e n t f e w e r d a y s a n d f o r s h o r t e r d u r a t i o n s t h a n ' u n f i t ' e m p l o y e e s . A b s e n c e i n t h i s c o n t e x t g e n e r a l l y h a s c o n s i s t e d o f s i c k n e s s a n d i n j u r y t i m e o f f w o r k . T h e r e i s g e n e r a l a g r e e m e n t t h a t r e g u l a r e x e r c i s e e l i c i t s c e r t a i n p h y s i o l o g i c a l c h a n g e s w i t h i n t h e b o d y ( D e V r i e s , 1 9 7 2 , A s t r a n d , 1 9 7 7 ) . T h e i s s u e w h i c h i s u n c l e a r a t t h i s t i m e i s i f t h e s e p h y s i o l o g i c a l d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n p h y s i c a l l y f i t e m p l o y e e s a n d p h y s i c a l l y u n f i t e m p l o y e e s a r e c o r r e l a t e d i n a n y way w i t h d e g r e e s o f a b s e n c e o f t h e r e s p e c t i v e g r o u p s . E a r l y e v i d e n c e l i n k i n g p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s w i t h d e c r e a s e d a b s e n c e , f o c u s s e d o n m o r b i d i t y a n d m o r t a l i t y s t a t i s t i c s b e t w e e n w o r k e r s e n g a g e d i n o c c u p a t i o n s r e q u i r i n g r e g u l a r p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y a n d t h o s e e n g a g e d i n o c c u p a t i o n s t h a t w e r e f o r t h e m o s t p a r t , s e d e n t a r y . M o r r i s ( 1 9 5 8 ) , i n a now c l a s s i c s t u d y p u b l i s h e d i n t h e L a n c e t a n d t h e B r i t i s h M e d i c a l J o u r n a l , f o u n d t h a t p o s t m e n a n d b u s c o n d u c t o r s e m p l o y e d i n t h e B r i t i s h C i v i l S e r v i c e , s u f f e r e d 50% f e w e r h e a r t a t t a c k s t h a n t h e i r s e d e n t a r y c o u n t e r p a r t s , t h e p o s t a l c l e r k s a n d b u s d r i v e r s . On t h e b a s i s o f t h e s e a n d o t h e r o b s e r v a t i o n s , a 24 " h y p o t h e s i s was d e v e l o p e d , s t a t i n g " t h a t men i n p h y s i c a l l y a c t i v e j o b s h a v e a l o w e r i n c i d e n c e o f c o r o n a r y ( i s c h a e m i c ) h e a r t d i s e a s e i n m i d d l e a g e t h a n men i n p h y s i c a l l y i n a c t i v e j o b s . M o r e i m p o r t a n t , t h e d i s e a s e i s n o t s o s e v e r e i n p h y s i c a l l y a c t i v e w o r k e r s , t e n d i n g t o p r e s e n t i n them i n r e l a t i v e l y b e n i g n f o r m s " ( M o r r i s , 1 9 5 8 , p . 5 1 1 ) . A d e c a d e l a t e r more s u p p o r t f o r M o r r i s ' h y p o t h e s i s was r e v e a l e d t h r o u g h a l o n g i t u d i n a l s t u d y o n A m e r i c a n l o n g s h o r e m e n . P a f f e n b a r g e r * s ( 1 9 7 0 , 1975) c l a s s i c 22 y e a r l o n g i t u d i n a l s t u d y e x a m i n e d t h e CHD m o r t a l i t y s t a t i s t i c s o f 6351 m a l e s a g e d 35 t o 74 y e a r s o f a g e b e t w e e n t h e y e a r s 1951 t o 1 9 7 3 . W o r k e r s w e r e c l a s s i f i e d o n t h e b a s i s o f ' o n - t h e - j o b ' e n e r g y o u t p u t s ( l i g h t , m o d e r a t e , o r h e a v y ) . P a f f e n b a r g e r f o u n d t h a t t h e a g e a d j u s t e d c o r o n a r y d e a t h r a t e f o r t h e h g i h a c t i v i t y c a t e g o r y was 2 6 . 9 p e r 1 0 , 0 0 0 w o r k y e a r s , c o n t r a s t i n g s h a r p l y w i t h f i g u r e s o f 5 6 . 3 f o r t h e m o d e r a t e a n d 4 9 . 0 f o r t h e l o w a c t i v i t y c a t e g o r y . M o r e s i g n i f i c a n t l y , i t was r e p o r t e d t h a t a p r o t e c t i v e ' t h r e s h h o l d * e f f e c t was s e e n f o r t h e s u d d e n d e a t h s y n d r o m e , i n w h i c h t h e i n c i d e n c e o f m o r t a l i t y f o r t h e h e a v y w o r k e r s was o n l y 5 . 6 a s o p p o s e d t o 1 9 . 9 f o r m o d e r a t e a n d 1 5 . 7 f o r l i g h t . T h e a u t h o r s c o n c l u d e d t h a t " r e p e a t e d b u r s t s o f h i g h e n e r g y o u t p u t e s t a b l i s h e d a p l a t e a u o f p r o t e c t i o n a g a i n s t c o r o n a r y m o r t a l i t y " ( P a f f e n b a r g e r , 1 9 7 5 , p p . 5 4 5 - 5 5 0 ) . S i m i l a r f i n d i n g s h a d b e e n r e p o r t e d b y Z u k e l o n 25 f a r m e r s a n d K a r v o n a n ( D o n a g h u e , 1977) o n l u m b e r j a c k s . T h e s e r e s u l t s a r e g e n e r a l l y c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e w i d e l y h e l d b e l i e f t h a t e x e r c i s e h a s p r e v e n t a t i v e and t h e r a p e u t i c b e n e f i t s i n t h e t r e a t m e n t o f CHD among m i d d l e a g e d m a l e s . T h e e p i d e m i o l o g i c a l work s i t e s t u d i e s d o g e n e r a l l y s u p p o r t t h e h y p o t h e s i s t h a t o n t h e j o b p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h l o w e r d e a t h r a t e s f r o m c o r o n a r y h e a r t d i s e a s e . S e v e r a l a u t h o r s h a v e a t t e m p t e d t o show t h a t a n e m p l o y e e ' s l e v e l o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s c a n b e p r e d i c t i v e i n t h e a s s e s s m e n t o f f u t u r e h e a l t h c a r e u t i l i l z a t i o n ( Q u a s a r 1 9 7 6 : S h e p h a r d , 1 9 8 2 ) . T h e Q u a s a r (1976) s t u d y was a s e r i e s o f l a r g e s a m p l e (n = 2 3 6 ; n = 5 4 6 ; - n = 900 a n d n = 387 c o r r e l a t i o n a n a l y s e s o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a s a s s e s s e d b y s u b m a x i m a l t e s t i n g a n d h e a l t h c a r e s y s t e m u t i l i z a t i o n ( O n t a r i o H e a l t h I n s u r a n c e P l a n ) . T h e r e s e a r c h h y p o t h e s e s w e r e g e n e r a l i z e d f r o m t h e p r e v i o u s work o n m o r b i d i t y / m o r t a l i t y f r o m CHD and s t a t e d b a s i c a l l y t h a t i f p e o p l e t h a t a r e f i t g e n e r a l l y r e c o v e r f r o m i l l n e s s more q u i c k l y t h a n t h o s e who a r e u n f i t , t h e n f i t t e r p e o p l e s h o u l d i n c u r l o w e r c o s t s i n r e c o v e r i n g f r o m i l l n e s s . T h e s e r e d u c e d c o s t s s h o u l d b e m a n i f e s t e d i n t h e h e a l t h c a r e u t i l i z a t i o n r e c o r d . T h e r e s u l t s w e r e somewhat d i s a p p o i n t i n g a s o n l y v e r y m o d e r a t e n e g a t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s w e r e f o u n d b e t w e e n f i t n e s s l e v e l s a n d s u b s e q u e n t m e d i c a l c o s t s . T h e a s s o c i a t i o n s w e r e m o r e s i g n i f i c a n t when e x p e c t e d d i r e c t a n d t o t a l c o s t s f o r c o r o n a r y h e a r t d i s e a s e w e r e a s s e s s e d u s i n g t h e F r a m i n g h a m e q u a t i o n s ; h o w e v e r , e v e n t h e s e d i d n o t e x c e e d t h e m o d e s t l e v e l ( r = - . 4 9 ) . S h e p h a r d (1983) a t t e m p t e d a r e p l i c a t i o n s t u d y u s i n g p a r t i c i p a n t s o f a l a r g e e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m a n d O n t a r i o H e a l t h I n s u r a n c e P l a n r e c o r d s . T h i s s t u d y was t h e f i r s t l o n g i t u d i n a l s t u d y o f t h e e f f e c t s o f an e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m u p o n h e a l t h c a r e c o s t s . S h e p h a r d f o u n d t h a t t h e e m p l o y e e s o f t h e ' f i t n e s s g r o u p ' h a d l o w e r h e a l t h c a r e c o s t s o v e r a ' c o n t r o l g r o u p ' i n a c o n t r o l i n s u r a n c e c o m p a n y . S h e p h a r d ' s s t u d y r e v i e w e d t h e h e a l t h c a r e u t i l i z a t i o n c o s t s o f 94 men a n d 134 women p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n a p i l o t e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m d u r i n g 1977 a n d 1 9 7 8 . S t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t b u t weak c o r r e l a t i o n s w e r e f o u n d : (1) e x e r c i s e h e a r t r a t e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h h o s p i t a l u t i l i z a t i o n . ( 2 ) VO2 max , h i g h e r i n s u b j e c t s w i t h r e d u c e d h e a l t h c a r e c o s t s . T h e s t u d y r e p o r t e d t h a t o n l y v e r y s l e n d e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s c o u l d b e f o u n d b e t w e e n h e a l t h c a r e s a v i n g s a n d e i t h e r g a i n s i n f i t n e s s o r f a v o r a b l e c h a n g e s i n l i f e s t y l e among p r o g r a m p a r t i c i p a n t s . S h e p h a r d (1983 p . 54) c o n c l u d e d t h a t " T h e m o s t p r o b a b l e e x p l a n a t i o n i s t h a t h e a l t h c a r e c o s t s a c c u m u l a t e d b y n o r m a l w o r k i n g e m p l o y e e s r e l a t e d t o m i n o r a i l m e n t s , r e a l o r i m a g i n a r y , w h e r e t h e r e i s l i t t l e r e a s o n t o s u p p o s e t h a t a g a i n o f f i t n e s s w o u l d h a v e a d i r e c t b e n e f i c i a l e f f e c t . " L i k e w i s e , t h e q u e s t i o n s u s e d i n t h e h e a l t h h a z a r d a p p r a i s a l f o c u s m a i n l y u p o n m a j o r i l l n e s s a n d d e a t h r a t h e r t h a n m i n o r a i l m e n t s . S h e p h a r d 1 s p o i n t i s w e l l t a k e n , a s t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e c o r r e l a t i o n a l s t u d i e s h a v e f o u n d i n v e r s e a s s o c i a t i o n s b e t w e e n p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y a n d f i t n e s s w i t h c o r o n a r y h e a r t d i s e a s e , r a t h e r t h a n m i n o r i l l n e s s ( M o r r i s 1 9 5 8 , P a f f e n b a r g e r 1 9 7 0 , Q u a s a r , 1 9 7 6 ) . A w i d e l y q u o t e d p a p e r o n t h e s u b j e c t o f f i t n e s s a n d s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e i s t h a t o f P r a v o s u d o v ( 1 9 7 6 ) . He n o t e s t h a t e p i d e m i o l o g y s t u d i e s p e r f o r m e d i n t h e S o v i e t U n i o n h a v e r e v e a l e d s i g n i f i c a n t a s s o c i a t i o n s b e t w e e n p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d r e d u c e d s i c k n e s s a n d a b s e n c e . T h e R u s s i a n s t u d i e s r e p o r t t h a t r e g u l a r e x e r c i s e r s c o n s u l t e d p h y s i c i a n s o n t h e a v e r a g e f o u r t o f i v e t i m e s l e s s t h a n n o n - e x e r c i s e r s ; t h a t t h e e x e r c i s e r s r e p o r t e d l e s s s e v e r e i l l n e s s ; a n d t h a t t h e i r i m p a i r m e n t f r o m w o r k was g r e a t l y r e d u c e d . T h e s e e f f e c t s w e r e e v e n more p r o n o u n c e d i n e l d e r l y e m p l o y e e s . P r a v o s u d o v (1976 ) i n d i c a t e s t h a t e x e r c i s i n g w o r k e r s a r e l e s s l i k e l y t o d e v e l o p c o m p l i c a t i o n s f r o m t h e f l u a n d c o l d s , r e s u l t i n g i n a r e d u c e d r i s k o f a b s e n t e e i s m due t o c h r o n i c r e s p i r a t o r y i l l n e s s . B j u r s t r o m & A l e x i o u (1978) s t u d i e d t h e p e r s o n a l s i c k l e a v e a b s e n c e s o f 800 e m p l o y e e s o f t h e New Y o r k S t a t e E d u c a t i o n D e p a r t m e n t . T h e i r r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t men a n d women i n v o l v e d i n t h e e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m showed a r e d u c t i o n i n p e r s o n a l s i c k l e a v e o v e r t h e p r e v i o u s y e a r when no p r o g r a m e x i s t e d . E v e n t h o u g h 55% o f t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s s h o w e d a d r o p i n s i c k l e a v e d u r i n g t h e f i t n e s s y e a r , 45% o f t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s showed no c h a n g e o r an i n c r e a s e i n s i c k l e a v e d u r i n g t h e same p e r i o d . L i t t l e r e f e r e n c e h o w e v e r who g i v e n t o t h e d i f f e r e n c e s , i f a n y , b e t w e e n r e g u l a r a d h e r e n t s a n d d r o p o u t s . R e l a t i v e g a i n s i n f i t n e s s v s s i c k l e a v e w e r e n o t m e n t i o n e d a n d no m e n t i o n was made r e g a r d i n g t h e o v e r a l l o r g a n i z a t i o n ' s a b s e n c e a n d s i c k n e s s t r e n d s o f t h e y e a r ' s b e i n g c o m p a r e d . T h e a u t h o r s , h o w e v e r , c o n c l u d e d t h a t " a n e t r e d u c t i o n o f 4 . 7 h o u r s / e m p l o y e e / y e a r was d e m o n s t r a t e d when s i c k l e a v e d a t a f o r a l l p a r t i c i p a t i n g e m p l o y e e s was c o m p a r e d f o r t h e c o n t r o l y e a r v s t h e p r o g r a m y e a r " ( B j u r s t r o m & A l e x i o u , 1 9 7 8 , p . 5 2 6 ) . E v i d e n c e d o e s e x i s t t h e r e f o r e t o s u g g e s t t h a t p e r h a p s p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e maybe i n v e r s e l y a s s o c i a t e d , a n d t h a t t h e b a s i s f o r t h i s a s s o c i a t i o n may b e p h y s i o l o g i c a l ( P a u l e y , 1 9 8 2 ) . L i n d e n ' s (1969) p i o n e e r i n g s t u d y c o m p a r e d t h e p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s o f c u s t o m s o f f i c e r s , f i r e m e n a n d o f f i c e e m p l o y e e s w i t h t h e i r s i c k l e a v e r e c o r d s . L i n d e n ' s r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t a t l e a s t o n e g r o u p (51 c u s t o m s o f f i c e r s ) showed a s i g n i f i c a n t n e g a t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n c e . T h e n e g a t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n s o f t h e o t h e r g r o u p s f a i l e d t o a c h i e v e s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e , a l t h o u g h h i s s a m p l e s i z e s ' w e r e r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l . T h i s s t u d y , was t h e f i r s t p u b l i s h e d s t u d y t o d e m o n s t r a t e a s s o c i a t i o n s b e t w e e n MVO2 a n d s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e . S e v e r a l t r a d e p u b l i c a t i o n s h a v e a l s o o f f e r e d a n e c d o t a l a n d d e s c r i p t i v e e v i d e n c e t o g i v e f u r t h e r c r e d e n c e t o t h e h y p o t h e s i s t h a t p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e a r e i n f a c t i n v e r s e l y r e l a t e d . A n a n a l y s i s o f h e a l t h c a r e c l a i m s b y C o n t r o l D a t a C o r p o r a t i o n r e v e a l e d t h a t e m p l o y e e s n o t e n g a g e d i n r e g u l a r , m o d e r a t e o r v i g o r o u s e x e r c i s e w e r e more l i k e l y t o i n c u r h i g h e r a n n u a l h e a l t h c a r e c o s t s r e l a t i v e t o e m p l o y e e s e n g a g e d i n r e g u l a r e x e r c i s e . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e i n a c t i v e e m p l o y e e s w e r e a v e r a g i n g more h o s p i t a l v i s i t s p e r y e a r ( 0 . 5 7 h o s p i t a l d a y s v s 0 . 3 7 ) ( F i e l d i n g , 1 9 8 2 ) . Low b a c k p a i n a n d l o w e r b a c k i n j u r i e s a c c o u n t f o r a s i g n i f i c a n t p o r t i o n o f s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e s a n d b e n e f i t c a s e a b s e n c e s . I t i s e s t i m a t e d t h a t l o w b a c k i n j u r y i s p r e s e n t i n 30 p e r c e n t o f t h e A m e r i c a n work f o r c e , e v e n e x c l u d i n g c h r o n i c a n d d e g e n e r a t i v e t y p e i n j u r i e s ( F i t n e s s S y s t e m s I n c . , 1 9 8 4 ) . C a d y e t a l ( 1979 ) r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e i n c i d e n c e o f b a c k i n j u r i e s b e t w e e n f i t a n d u n f i t f i r e f i g h t e r s i n t h e L o s A n g e l e s a r e a . T h e g r o u p deemed ' l e a s t f i t ' i n t h i s s t u d y d e m o n s t r a t e d 10 t i m e s more b a c k i n j u r i e s t h a n 30 t h o s e c l a s s i f i e d a s m o s t f i t ' . L o c k h e e d M i s s i l e s a n d S p a c e Company r e p o r t e d t h a t i t h a d s a v e d a n e s t i m a t e d $1 m i l l i o n i n l i f e i n s u r a n c e p r e m i u m s s i n c e t h e i n i t i a t i o n o f i t s e m p l o y e e w e l l n e s s p r o g r a m i n 1978 ( B u j o n , 1 9 8 3 ) . A n i m p o r t a n t p o i n t t o c o n s i d e r when i n t e r p r e t i n g t h i s d a t a i s t h e o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t p e r h a p s a s much a s 36% o f a l l s i c k l e a v e a b s e n c e s a r e ' u n c e r t i f i c a t e d ' , m e a n i n g t h a t a p h s y c i a n s d i a g n o s i s i s n o t r e q u i r e d ( S t r a s s e r , 1 9 8 0 , 1 9 8 1 , C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & B r o w n , 1 9 8 2 ) . T h i s f a c t , c o m b i n e d w i t h t h e f a c t t h a t many p h y s i c i a n s a r e l i k e l y t o g r a n t a c e r t i f i c a t e o n t h e ' p a t i e n t ' s w o r d ' a l o n e , f u r t h e r c o m p o u n d s t h e d i f f i c u l t y i n m e a s u r i n g t h e d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e ( I n d u s t r i a l S o c i e t y C o n f e r e n c e 1 9 6 8 ; S t r a s s e r , 1 9 8 0 , 1 9 8 1 ) . A t t h i s p o i n t , i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o a s s e s s how much o f t h e s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e m e a s u r e d b y p r e v i o u s s t u d i e s i s i n f a c t d u e t o ' l e g i t i m a t e p h y s i o l o g i c a l i l l n e s s ' a n d how much i s due t o r e a s o n s more f u l l y a d d r e s s e d i n C h a p t e r S e v e n . N o t w i t h s t a n d i n g m e t h o d o l o g i c a l a n d m e a s u r e m e n t p r o b l e m s , t h e b u l k o f t h e a v a i l a b l e l i t e r a t u r e seems t o s u p p o r t t h e p r e m i s e t h a t f i t e m p l o y e e s a r e l i k e l y t o show r e d u c e d a b s e n c e o v e r u n f i t e m p l o y e e s . H y p o t h e s i s : 1.1 P h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a s m e a s u r e d b y e s t i m a t e d s u b - m a x i m a l MVO2 w i l l b e n e g a t i v e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h 31 s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e a n d a b s e n c e due t o i n j u r y . P r e v i o u s s t u d i e s o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n t e e i s m h a v e n o t commented o n t h e p o s s i b l e e f f e c t s o f v a r i a b l e s s u c h a s g e n d e r , a g e , l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e o r company a f f i l i a t i o n . F o r t u n a t e l y t h o u g h , much o f t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n i s r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e i n t h e p s y c h o - s o c i a l l i t e r a t u r e o n a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r . I t seems r e l e v a n t t o comment o n t h e p o s s i b l e e f f e c t s o f t h e s e v a r i a b l e s when d i s c u s s i n g t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n t e e i s m . 3 . 3 0 E f f e c t s o f G e n d e r - F e m a l e s - F e m a l e s a r e t r a d i t i o n a l l y a b s e n t a b o u t t w i c e a s o f t e n a s men e n g a g e d i n s i m i l a r o c c u p a t i o n a l t a s k s ( H e d g e s , 1 9 7 3 ; S y l w e s t e r , 1 9 7 9 ) . T h i s i s s u e w i l l b e d i s c u s s e d a t g r e a t e r l e n g t h i n t h e s e c o n d e s s a y . F e m a l e s g e n e r a l l y h a v e l o w e r v a l u e s o f MVO2 e v e n when c o r r e c t e d f o r b o d y mass ( A s t r a n d , 1 9 7 7 ) . T h e s e two v a r i a b l e s a n d g e n d e r , c a n w o r k i n t a n d e m t o p r o d u c e a s i g n i f i c a n t i n v e r s e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n t e e i s m w h e r e o n e d o e s n o t e x i s t . A n e x a m p l e o f t h i s w o u l d b e t o c o m b i n e b o t h m a l e a n d f e m a l e MVO2 d a t a a n d a t t e m p t t o i n t e r p r e t a n y c o r r e l a t i o n s w h i c h may b e p r e s e n t . ( F i g u r e 3 . 1 ) 32 F IGURE 3 .1 M V 0 2 VS A B S E N C E S IN MALES AND FEMALES M M M M M M MVO2 M M M F F F F M F F F M F F F F 0 A b s e n c e s T h e s c a t t e r p l o t shows t h a t a l t h o u g h t h e r e may b e no c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n t e e i s m when g e n d e r i s p a r t i a l l e d o u t , b y c o m b i n i n g t h e d a t a i t i s v e r y l i k e l y t h a t a n i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n w i l l b e f o u n d . T h i s c o r r e l a t i o n i s d u e s o l e l y t o t h e g e n d e r d i f f e r e n c e s i n M V 0 2 a n d a b s e n c e s c o r e s o f t h e two g r o u p s . H y p o t h e s i s ; 1 .2 F e m a l e s a s a g r o u p w i l l show g r e a t e r a b s e n c e t h a n m a l e s . H y p o t h e s i s : 1 . 3 M V 0 2 a n d a b s e n c e s c o r e s w i l l h a v e n e g a t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n , a f t e r e f f e c t o f s e x a n d w e i g h t h a s b e e n r e m o v e d . H y p o t h e s i s t 1 . 4 T h e s t r e n g t h o f t h e i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n t e e i s m ( i f i t e x i s t s ) w i l l d e c r e a s e when t h e two g r o u p s a r e a n a l y z e d s e p a r a t e l y . 3 . 4 0 E f f e c t s o f A g e - I n t h e g e n e r a l p o p u l a t i o n p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s d e c l i n e s w i t h i n c r e a s i n g a g e ( D e v r i e s , 1 9 7 2 ) . I t i s n o t e x a c t l y c l e a r w h i c h v a r i a b l e s a r e m o r e i m p o r t a n t i n 33 d e t e r m i n i n g t h i s d e c l i n e i e . t h e a g i n g p r o c e s s i t s e l f o r g e n e r a l l a c k o f p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y . T h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n a b s e n c e a n d a g e h a s a l s o r e c e i v e d some a t t e n t i o n i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e . H e d g e s (1973) h a s s u m m a r i z e d n a t i o n a l d a t a o f A m e r i c a n n o n f a r m w o r k e r s . H e d g e s ' d a t a shows t h a t i n t h e c a s e o f p a r t - t i m e w o r k e r s , a b s e n c e s d e c r e a s e w i t h a g e , w h i l e i n t h e f u l l - t i m e w o r k e r s , a b s e n c e s i n c r e a s e w i t h a g e . Some s t u d i e s h a v e f o u n d a c u r v i l i n e a r r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n a b s e n c e a n d a g e , w i t h m i d d l e a g e d w o r k e r s h a v i n g t h e l o w e s t a b s e n c e s ( J a c k s o n , 1 9 4 4 ; T a y l o r , 1 9 7 9 ) . N i c h o l s o n , B r o w n a n d C h a d w i c k - J o n e s (1977) i n a r e v i e w o f 29 s t u d i e s c o n c l u d e d t h a t : 1) V o l u n t a r y a b s e n c e s a r e o f t e n i n v e r s e l y r e l a t e d t o a g e w i t h t h e e f f e c t more p r o n o u n c e d i n m a l e s . 2) T h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n i n v o l u n t a r y a b s e n c e ( C h a p t e r 2 , p . 1 0 ) a n d age i s n o t c l e a r . R e s u l t s may b e n e g a t i v e , p o s i t i v e o r c u r v i l i n e a r . M u c h i n s k y a n d G a r r i s s o n (1977) a n d B e r n a r d i n (1977) n o t e d n e g a t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n u n p a i d a b s e n c e s a n d a g e . I l g e n & H o l l e n b a c k (1977) a l s o r e p o r t e d n e g a t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n s b e t w e e n u n p a i d a b s e n c e s a n d a g e . T h e s e r e s u l t s seem t o s u g g e s t t h a t a s a n e m p l o y e e g e t s o l d e r , t h e y a r e l e s s l i k e l y t o t a k e o f f u n p a i d s i c k d a y s . H y p o t h e s i s 1 . 5 U n p a i d a b s e n c e s ( s i c k n e s s a n d i n j u r y ) w i l l b e 34 i n v e r s e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h a g e . T h i s e f f e c t may b e more p r o n o u n c e d i n m a l e e m p l o y e e s . 3 . 5 0 L e n g t h o f S e r v i c e - T h e r e i s no c o n c l u s i v e e v i d e n c e i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e r e g a r d i n g a s s o c i a t i o n s b e t w e e n a b s e n c e a n d l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e . Some s t u d i e s h a v e r e p o r t e d n e g a t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n s ( J a c k s o n , 1944) w h i l e o t h e r s h a v e r e p o r t e d p o s i t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n s ( M a r t i n , 1 9 7 1 ) . T h e n a t u r e a n d d e g r e e o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s a p p e a r t o b e s p e c i f i c t o t h e p o p u l a t i o n b e i n g s t u d i e s , w i t h w h i t e c o l l a r a n d b l u e c o l l a r w o r k e r s s h o w i n g d i f f e r e n t t r e n d s ( M e t z n e r & M a n n , 1 9 5 3 ) . G a r r i s o n a n d M u c h i n s k y ( 1 9 7 7 ) , h o w e v e r , n o t e d a n i n t e r e s t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e a n d t h e d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n p a i d a n d u n p a i d a b s e n c e s . T h e y f o u n d u s i n g a s a m p l e o f w h i t e c o l l a r w o r k e r s , t h a t a l t h o u g h a p o s i t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n e x i s t e d b e t w e e n l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e a n d p a i d a b s e n c e s , a n e g a t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n e x i s t e d b e t w e e n l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e a n d u n p a i d a b s e n c e s . T h e y h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t l o n g s e r v i c e e m p l o y e e s a r e more l i k e l y t o h a v e e l i g i b i l i t y f o r p a i d a b s e n c e s w h e r e new e m p l o y e e s d o n o t h a v e t h a t o p t i o n and m u s t t a k e t i m e o f f i n t h e f o r m o f u n p a i d a b s e n c e s . S i n c e age i s l i k e l y h i g h l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e , i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o a s s e s s t h e e f f e c t s o f t h e s e two v a r i a b l e s i n d e p e n d e n t l y . B e r n a r d i n (1977) p a r t i a l l e d o u t a g e 35 e f f e c t s and found a n e g a t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n between l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e and absence. H y p o t h e s i s 1.6 Unpaid absences w i l l be i n v e r s e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e . 3.60 Company A f f i l i a t i o n - The r e c e n t work o f Chadwick-Jones, N i c h o l s o n and Brown (1982) s u p p o r t s t h e p r e m i s e t h a t s u p e r v i s o r s and r e g u l a r l i n e employees w i l l show d i f f e r e n t d egrees o f absence based l a r g e l y on t h e i r r e l a t i v e p o s i t i o n s w i t h i n t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e . I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o c o n s i d e r t h e f o l l o w i n g p o i n t s when i n t e r p r e t i n g t h e f i t n e s s and absence r e s u l t s : 1) S u p e r v i s o r s as a group a r e o f t e n g i v e n s p e c i a l p r i v i l e g e s , and have g r e a t e r t a s k f e l x i b i l i t y t h a n r e g u l a r l i n e w o r k e r s . T h e i r absences a r e l e s s l i k e l y t o be n o t i c e d and t h e y may be a b l e t o i n c o r p o r a t e ' p e r s o n a l c h o r e s ' i n t o t h e i r work day w i t h o u t h a v i n g t o d e c l a r e f o r m a l absences. 2) Absences a r e p r i m a r i l y a b l u e - c o l l a r phenomenon. (Chadwick -J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & Brown, 1982). H y p o t h e s i s 1.7 C l a s s i f i e d p e r s o n n e l as a group w i l l have h i g h e r absences t h a n management p e r s o n n e l f o r a l l c a t e g o r i e s o f absence. 36 CHAPTER FOUR METHODS 4.10 Research P l a n - The d a t a t o be used f o r t h i s s t u d y c o n s i s t e d o f p e r s o n a l f i t n e s s assessments o f 294 r e g u l a r f u l l - t i m e employees o f a l a r g e Canadian u t i l i t y company. T h i s d a t a was c o l l e c t e d f o r t h e y e a r s 1979 t h r o u g h 1984 w i t h a p p r o x i m a t e l y e q u a l numbers o f s u b j e c t s t e s t e d e v e r y y e a r . S i n c e t h i s s t u d y i s not an e x p e r i m e n t a l s t u d y , b u t i s an e x p l o r a t o r y one i n n a t u r e . The c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y s e s do n o t i m p l y c a u s a t i o n o r d i r e c t i o n b u t o n l y p o i n t t o p o s s i b l e a s s o c i a t i o n s between t h e v a r i a b l e s under a n a l y s i s . I t i s hoped however, t h a t an e x p l o r a t o r y c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y s i s o f d a t a w i l l i n d i c a t e new a r e a s f o r f u t u r e e x p e r i m e n t a l r e s e a r c h . 4.20 S u b j e c t s - S u b j e c t s f o r t h i s s t u d y c o n s i s t e d o f a sample o f u n s o l i c i t e d employees who v o l u n t a r i l y r e q u e s t e d a sub-maximal t e s t o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s d u r i n g t h e y e a r s 1979 t h r o u g h 1984. S u b j e c t s were encouraged t o r e t u r n f o r a r e - t e s t f o l l o w i n g 4 - 6 months, a l t h o u g h r e - t e s t d a t a was not used i n t h i s s t u d y . The t o t a l sample s i z e f o r t h i s s t u d y was n = 294. T h i s r e p r e s e n t e d a l l employees v o l u n t e e r i n g f o r a sub-maximal t e s t o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s f o r t h e 5 y e a r p e r i o d . A p p r o x i m a t e l y e q u a l numbers were t e s t e d each y e a r . 37 O f t h e 294 e m p l o y e e s t e s t e d , 173 w e r e m a l e , r e p r e s e n t i n g 58 .8% o f t h e t o t a l s a m p l e . T h e r e w e r e 121 f e m a l e s , r e p r e s e n t i n g 41.2% o f t h e t o t a l s a m p l e . O f t h e 294 e m p l o y e e s t e s t e d , 135 w e r e management o r s u p e r v i s o r y p e r s o n n e l . T h e g r o u p a c c o u n t e d f o r 45 .9% o f t h e t o t a l s a m p l e . T h e r e m a i n i n g 159 e m p l o y e e s w e r e u n i o n o r " c l a s s i f i e d " p e r s o n n e l . T h i s g r o u p a c c o u n t e d f o r 54 .1% o f t h e t o t a l s a m p l e . A l l s u b j e c t s i n t h e s a m p l e c o m p l e t e d t h e p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s e v a l u a t i o n i n i t s e n t i r e t y . I t i s a c k n o w l e d g e d t h a t t h e s e c a t e g o r i e s o f a b s e n c e a r e n o t t o t a l l y e x c l u s i v e a n d t h a t some o v e r l a p may o c c u r b e t w e e n t h e d i f f e r e n t c a t e g o r i e s . I t i s a s s u m e d h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e r e c o r d o f a b s e n c e s r e p r e s e n t s a r e a s o n a b l e a c c o u n t o f t h e e v e n t s a s t h e y o c c u r r e d i n n a t u r e . O r g a n i z a t i o n a l p e r m i t t e d b e h a v i o r s s u c h a s p e r s o n a l l e a v e t i m e a n d a n n u a l v a c a t i o n a b s e n c e s w e r e n o t deemed r e l e v a n t f o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f t h i s s t u d y and w e r e t h e r e f o r e e x c l u d e d . 4 . 3 0 P h y s i c a l F i t n e s s M e a s u r e m e n t - T h e p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s o f t h e s u b j e c t s was a s s e s s e d u s i n g s u b - m a x i m a l b i c y c l e e r g o m e t r y ( A s t r a n d P r o t o c o l ) a n d a n a g e - s e x c o r r e c t e d nomogram ( A s t r a n d , 1 9 7 7 ) . - S k i n f o l d m e a s u r e m e n t s w e r e c o l l e c t e d a t f o u r b o d y s i t e s ( D u r n i n & W o r m e r s l e y , 1974) a n d p e r c e n t b o d y f a t was c a l c u l a t e d . 38 - S u b j e c t s a g e s w e r e o b t a i n e d t h r o u g h s e l f r e p o r t . - S u b j e c t s w e r e w e i g h e d o n a m e d i c a l t y p e s c a l e i n s h o r t s a n d s t o c k i n g s . 4 . 4 0 A b s e n c e M e a s u r e m e n t - M u l t i p l e m e a s u r e s o f a b s e n t e e i s m w e r e c o m p u t e d f o r e a c h e m p l o y e e . A b s e n c e f r e q u e n c y was n o t c a l c u l a t e d a s i t was n o t a v a i l a b l e f o r s t u d y . T o t a l d a y s a b s e n t was d e f i n e d a s t h e sum o f t h e t o t a l d a y s a b s e n t f o r e a c h c a t e g o r y u s e d . F o r t h e p u r p o s e o f t h i s s t u d y , o n l y t h o s e c a t e g o r i e s o f a b s e n c e p e r t a i n i n g d i r e c t l y t o s i c k n e s s o r i n j u r y r e l a t e d a b s e n c e w e r e u s e d . F o u r g r o u p s o f s i c k n e s s a n d i n j u r y a b s e n c e w e r e d e f i n e d . GROUP I - T o t a l A b s e n c e ( A l l c a t e g o r i e s c o m b i n e d ) GROUP I I - S i c k n e s s ( u n p a i d ) 1) AS S i c k n e s s A b s e n t U n p a i d 2) AU M i s c e l l a n e o u s A b s e n t U n p a i d GROUP I I I - S i c k n e s s ( p a i d ) 1) PS S i c k n e s s a b s e n t P a i d 2) A E E x c u s e d a b s e n t P a i d GROUP I V - I n j u r y ( p a i d ) 1) A l A b s e n c e i n j u r y P a i d 2) BC B e n e f i t c o n t i n u a t i o n P a i d E a c h c a t e g o r y was e x p r e s s e d i n t e r m s o f d a y s l o s t p e r e m p l o y e e . A t y p i c a l a b s e n c e r e c o r d f o r a s u b j e c t i s e x p r e s s e d a s f o l l o w s : 3 9 Sex O c c u p a t i o n Age Annual Absence Data S u b j e c t 1 Male Management 46 Y r . AE AU AS PS BC A l TOTAL DAYS 4.50 P r o c e d u r e s The S t a t i s t i c a l A n a l y s i s System (SAS) was used t o a n a l y z e t h e p h s y c i a l f i t n e s s and absence d a t a . A n a l y s i s c o n s i s t e d o f P e a r s o n P r o d u c t Moment C o r r e l a t i o n . CHAPTER FIVE R e s u l t s The S t e e r s & Rhodes (1978) P r o c e s s Model p o s t u l a t e s t h a t an i n d i v i d u a l ' s a t t e n d a n c e and absence b e h a v i o r i s a f f e c t e d by the " a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d " . T h i s n o t i o n s u g g e s t s t h a t p e r s o n s w i t h i n f e r i o r h e a l t h o r w i t h a c t u a l p h y s i c a l problems g e t t i n g t o work w i l l show g r e a t e r degrees of a b s e n t e e i s m . C o n v e r s e l y , the e p i d e m i o l o g i c a l and p h y s i o l o g i c a l w o r k s i t e s t u d i e s p o s t u l a t e t h a t i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h s u p e r i o r h e a l t h l e v e l s s h o u l d demonstrate reduced absence b e h a v i o r . The purpose of P a r t I i s t o f i n d s u p p o r t f o r t h e s e hypotheses i n the form of d a t a o b t a i n e d from a s p e c i f i c employee p o p u l a t i o n . The d a t a f o r t h i s s t u d y used f i v e groups based on gender and j o b c l a s s i f i c a t i o n . Group I i s comprised of a l l s u b j e c t s t e s t e d i n t h i s s t u d y w i t h no d i s t i n c t i o n made between gender o r j o b c l a s s i f i c a t i o n . Groups 2 and 3 c o n s i s t e d o f male and female groups. Groups 4 and 5 c o n s i s t e d o f management and c l a s s i f i e d ( u nion) p e r s o n n e l . Means and s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n s f o r the p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s and absence v a r i a b l e s are p r e s e n t e d i n T a b l e 5.00. F i t n e s s as measured by MVO2 i s e x p r e s s e d i n terms of m i l l i l i t e r s o f oxygen p e r u n i t o f body w e i g h t . Age of s u b j e c t s i s e x p r e s s e d i n y e a r s . The s u b j e c t ' s body w e i g h t 41 i s e x p r e s s e d i n k i l o g r a m s and b o d y f a t i s e x p r e s s e d i n t e r m s o f a p e r c e n t a g e o f o v e r a l l b o d y m a s s . L e n g t h o f s e r v i c e i s e x p r e s e d i n t e r m s o f y e a r s o f s e r v i c e w i t h t h e p r e s e n t e m p l o y e r . 5 . 1 0 H y p o t h e s e s 1 . 1 , 1 .3 and 1 .4 H y p o t h e s i s 1.1 s t a t e s t h a t p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s ( m e a s u r e d by e s t i m a t e d s u b m a x i m a l MVO2) w i l l be i n v e r s e l y c o r r e l a t e d t o s i c k n e s s a n d i n j u r y a b s e n c e . T h i s was t e s t e d u s i n g P e a r s o n P r o d u c t Moment C o r r e l a t i o n ( P P M C ) . C o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s f o r MVO2 and m e a s u r e s o f a b s e n c e a r e p r e s e n t e d f o r t h e f i v e r e s p e c t i v e g r o u p s i n T a b l e 5 . 1 0 . 42 T a b l e 5 . 0 0 MEAN A B S E N C E AMD F I T N E S S DATA F i t n e s s V a r i a b l e s A b s e n c e V a r i a b l e s L e n g t h o f M V 0 2 W e i g h t % F a t A g e S e r v i c e AS AU PS A E A l B C T O T A L G r o u p 1 MEAN 3 7 . 4 0 (n=294 ) S . D . 8 . 4 0 G r o u p 2 MEAN 3 7 . 5 0 (n=173) S . D . 8 . 6 0 G r o u p 3 MEAN 3 7 . 2 1 (n=121 ) S . D . 8 . 2 4 G r o u p 4 MEAN 3 8 . 1 3 (n=135 ) S . D . 8 . 6 0 G r o u p 5 MEAN 3 6 . 6 9 (n=158 ) S . D . 8 . 2 7 6 7 . 9 5 2 0 . 2 0 3 3 . 1 0 1 4 . 0 3 6 . 8 0 9 . 0 0 7 4 . 9 5 1 9 . 6 0 3 4 . 3 3 1 0 . 6 2 5 . 1 0 8 . 8 0 5 7 . 8 8 2 1 . 0 5 3 1 . 2 6 7 . 9 3 3 . 7 4 9 . 0 1 6 9 . 8 3 1 9 . 7 0 3 4 . 3 8 1 2 . 0 4 4 . 6 2 7 . 5 0 6 6 . 3 5 2 0 . 6 4 3 2 . 0 0 1 3 . 1 5 4 . 6 6 1 0 . 0 0 6 . 8 0 0 . 7 6 0 . 1 6 3 . 3 3 6 . 7 0 1 . 3 4 0 . 9 6 3 . 5 8 7 . 6 2 0 . 5 3 0 . 0 8 2 . 7 9 7 . 6 2 1 . 1 3 0 . 4 3 3 . 3 5 5 . 6 9 1 . 0 8 0 . 2 8 4 . 0 9 4 . 9 8 1 . 5 5 1 . 4 0 3 . 7 9 8 . 1 5 0 . 0 8 0 . 0 1 2 . 7 6 7 . 5 6 0 . 4 5 0 . 1 1 3 . 1 0 5 . 7 1 1 . 3 3 0 . 2 9 3 . 8 0 5 . 7 0 1 . 5 6 1 . 2 9 3 . 9 0 0 . 9 3 0 . 3 3 0 . 0 7 5 . 9 3 1 . 4 4 1 . 2 2 1 . 0 5 6 . 6 9 0 . 7 1 0 . 2 4 0 . 0 0 4 . 6 0 1 . 0 9 1 . 0 8 0 . 0 0 5 . 3 0 1 . 2 6 0 . 4 7 0 . 1 8 7 . 8 4 1 . 7 9 1 . 4 0 1 . 6 4 7 . 9 1 0 . 8 1 0 . 1 2 0 . 0 0 3 . 9 1 1 .33 0 . 7 4 0 . 0 0 4 . 1 6 1 . 0 4 0 . 5 2 0 . 1 4 7 . 6 5 1 .53 1 . 5 0 1 . 4 3 7 . 8 7 T a b l e 5 . 1 0 C o r r e l a t i o n s Betwwn M e a s u r e s o f A b s e n c e and HVO? A b s e n c e V a r i a b l e s G r o u p 1 ( c o m b i n e d ) U n p a i d S i c k n e s s AS AU P a i d S i c k n e s s A E PS P a i d I n j u r y A l BC T o t a l A b s e n c e n s n s ns - 0 . 1 0 - 0 . 1 4 - 0 . 1 0 - 0 . 1 1 G r o u p 2 ( m a l e s ) ns n s ns - 0 . 1 2 - 0 . 1 1 ns - 0 . 1 1 G r o u p 3 G r o u p 4 G r o u p 5 ( f e m a l e s ) ( m a n a g e m e n t ) ( c l a s s i f i e d ) n s ns ns ns - 0 . 1 9 * - 0 . 1 6 - 0 . 1 4 0 . 1 8 * 0 . 1 8 * n s n s n s n s n s n s n s n s ns - 0 . 1 7 * - 0 . 1 3 - 0 . 1 4 * p < 0 . 0 5 * * p < 0 . 0 1 C o r r e l a t i o n s l e s s t h a n 0 . 1 0 w e r e n o t r e p o r t e d . 44 5.11 Total Sample Results - the Steers & Rhodes Model suggests that subjects with low f i t n e s s ( i e . lower a b i l i t y to attend) w i l l demonstrate greater absences. The fi t n e s s worksite studies suggest that subjects with high f i t n e s s w i l l show fewer absences. There appears to be posi t i v e support for t h i s proposition, within very narrow l i m i t s . It was observed that MVO2 i s inversely correlated to Total Absence (r = -12, p<0.05). The c o r r e l a t i o n i s s i g n i f i c a n t but very modest in s i z e . No other measures of absence i n d i v i d u a l l y , were s i g n i f i c a n t l y correlated with M V 0 2 . 5.12 Gender Differences (Groups 2 and 3) For the male sample, none of the correlations between MVO2 and measures of absence were d i f f e r e n t than zero. Males generally are absent only about half as often as females. In sedentary, white c o l l a r occupations they would appear to form a very select group and i t would be unlikely to find s i g n i f i c a n t correlations betweenfitness and absence (Linden, 1969). The female group however exhibited a greater degree of absence behavior. S i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n was found between MVO2 and a measure of Paid Injury Absence ( A l ) , (r = -0.19, p<0.05). A second measure of Paid Injury Absence (BC), just f a i l e d to reach significance (r = -0.16). No further correlations between MVO2 and 45 measures of absence were found to be s i g n i f i c a n t . The Quasar Systems (1976) study a l s o found s i g n i f i c a n t i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n s between MVO2 and h e a l t h care u t i l i z a t i o n (a measure of i l l n e s s ) only i n t h e i r female group. Hypotheses 1.3 and 1.4 s t a t e t h at as e f f e c t s of gender are accounted f o r , s t r e n g t h of i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n s between MVO2 and absence w i l l decrease. T h i s p o i n t was brought up i n Chapter 3, where i t was noted t h a t males on average have hig h e r MVO2 s c o r e s and lower absences. Conversely, females on average have lower MVO2 scores than males, and g r e a t e r absences. T h i s gender f a c t o r could have the e f f e c t of producing s i g n i f i c a n t i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n s between MVO2 and absence i f these two groups are analyzed t o g e t h e r i n s t e a d of s e p a r a t e l y . Support was found f o r these hypotheses as the s i g n i f i c a n t i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n between MVO2 and T o t a l Days Absent disappeared when the groups were analyzed s e p a r a t e l y . 5.13 Company A f f i l i a t i o n (Groups 4 and 5) Since p r e v i o u s l i t e r a t u r e on f i t n e s s and absence has not commented on any p o s s i b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p s between job c l a s s i f i c a t i o n and the v a r i a b l e s under c o n s i d e r a t i o n , t h i s study proposed the management and c l a s s i f i e d workers. The above l i t e r a t u r e i n d i c a t e s t h a t s u p e r v i s o r s or management personnel g e n e r a l l y show low l e v e l s of absence. A s d i s c u s s e d e a r l i e r , a b s e n t e e i s m i s a c l a s s r e l a t e d p h e n o m e n o n ( C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n & B r o w n , 1 9 8 2 ) . One w o u l d e x p e c t t h a t s i n c e management p e r s o n n e l f o r m a s e l e c t " l o w a b s e n c e " g r o u p , t h a t t h e r e p r o b a b l y w i l l b e no s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n MVO2 a n d a b s e n t e e i s m i n t h i s g r o u p . T h i s was s u p p o r t e d b y t h e c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y s i s o f t h e management o n l y d a t a . No s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n s e x i s t e d i n t h i s g r o u p b e t w e e n MVO2 a n d m e a s u r e s o f T o t a l A b s e n c e , P a i d S i c k n e s s A b s e n c e o r P a i d I n j u r y A b s e n c e . M V 0 2 h o w e v e r was s i g n i f i c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h U n p a i d S i c k n e s s A b s e n c e ; AS ( r = 0 . 1 8 , p< 0 . 0 5 ) a n d AU ( r = 0 . 1 8 , p< 0 . 0 5 ) . T h i s c o r r e l a t i o n was u n e x p e c t e d b e c a u s e i t was a p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n ( i e . f i t t e r management p e r s o n n e l t e n d t o h a v e more u n p a i d d a y s ) . F i t t e r m a n a g e r s may b e more i n c l i n e d t o t a k e u n p a i d d a y s t o a t t e n d l e i s u r e a n d s p o r t i n g a c t i v i t i e s . T h e r e i s some e v i d e n c e t o s u g g e s t t h a t s o c i o e c o n o m i c l e v e l i s r e l a t e d t o p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n l e i s u r e s p o r t s ( M o n t o y e , 1 9 7 5 ) . T h e a b s e n c e l i t e r a t u r e i n d i c a t e d t h a t c l a s s i f i e d o r u n i o n p e r s o n n e l s h o u l d show g r e a t e r a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r t h a n m a n a g e r s . One w o u l d e x p e c t t h e n t h a t c o r r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n MVO2 a n d a b s e n c e w i l l b e g r e a t e r i n t h i s g r o u p t h a n i n t h e p r e v i o u s g r o u p . T h e r e s u l t s d i d n o t s u p p o r t t h i s 47 v i e w p o i n t . MVO2 was i n v e r s e l y c o r r e l a t e d t o P a i d I n j u r y Absence A l ( r = -0.17, p<0.05). No s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n s e x i s t e d between MVO2 and measures o f T o t a l Absence, P a i d S i c k n e s s Absence and Unpaid S i c k n e s s Absence. To summarize t h i s s e c t i o n , the r e s u l t s o f the c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y s i s appears t o s u p p o r t the h y p o t h e s i s t h a t MVO2 and s i c k n e s s absences are i n v e r s e l y r e l a t e d . I n the t o t a l group sample a modest c o r r e l a t i o n was found between MVO2 and T o t a l Absence. The c o r r e l a t i o n d i s a p p e a r s c o m p l e t e l y i n the male o n l y sample. I n females MVO2 i s i n v e r s e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h p a i d i n j u r y absence. A g a i n i t s h o u l d be s t a t e d t h a t the c o r r e l a t i o n s a re s m a l l . I n the management d a t a , MVO2 i s s i g n i f i c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h measures o f Unpaid S i c k n e s s Absence. The d i r e c t i o n o f t h i s c o r r e l a t i o n i s p o s i t i v e , i n d i c a t i n g t h a t f i t t e r managers t a k e o f f more u n p a i d absence days. I n c l a s s i f i e d employees MVO2 appears t o be i n v e r s e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h P a i d I n j u r y Absence. These r e s u l t s s u p p o r t the premise t h a t a t l e a s t i n s e d e n t a r y o f f i c e w o r k e r s , MVO2 i s v e r y w e a k l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h b e t t e r a t t e n d a n c e and reduced absence. 5.20 Hypotheses 1.2 and 1.7 A major c r i t i c i s m o f f i t n e s s and absence s t u d i e s i n g e n e r a l i s t h e i r f a i l u r e t o account f o r d i f f e r e n c e s i n the p o p u l a t i o n s b e i n g s t u d i e d . The absence l i t e r a t u r e s u p p o r t s 48 t h e v i e w t h a t f e m a l e s a r e a b s e n t more t h a n m a l e s ( i e . g e n d e r e f f e c t ) and t h e v i e w t h a t c l a s s i f i e d p e r s o n n e l a r e more a b s e n t t h a n management p e r s o n n e l ( i e . company a f f i l i a t i o n e f f e c t ) . S i n c e t h i s t h e s i s a r g u e s t h a t t h e s e e f f e c t s s h o u l d be c o n s i d e r e d when r e s u l t s a r e i n t e r p r e t e d , i t was i m p o r t a n t t o t e s t i f t h e o b s e r v a t i o n s i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e w e r e s u p p o r t e d by t h i s d a t a . A s e r i e s o f T - t e s t s were p e r f o r m e d on t h e m a l e - f e m a l e and m a n a g e m e n t - c l a s s i f i e d d a t a t o a s c e r t a i n i f t h e d i f f e r e n c e s i n a b s e n c e means b e t w e e n t h e g r o u p s was i n f a c t s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t . A s i n g l e m u l t i v a r i a t e m e a s u r e ( H o t e l l i n g s T 2 ) was u s e d t o a s c e r t a i n i f t h e means o f t h e t h r e e s u b - m e a s u r e s o f T o t a l A b s e n c e ( i e . U n p a i d S i c k n e s s , P a i d S i c k n e s s and P a i d I n j u r y ) were i n f a c t d i f f e r e n t i n m a l e s and f e m a l e s and management and c l a s s i f i e d . M a l e s showed a mean T o t a l A b s e n c e o f 4 . 5 9 d a y s p e r y e a r w h i l e f e m a l e s showed a mean t o t a l a b s e n c e o f 7 . 8 4 d a y s p e r y e a r . T h i s d i f f e r e n c e was s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t (p< 0 . 0 0 0 1 , T = 3 . 9 3 ) . Management e m p l o y e e s showed a mean T o t a l A b s e n c e o f 7 . 6 5 d a y s p e r y e a r . T h i s d i f f e r e n c e was s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t (p< 0 . 0 0 0 1 , T = 5 . 2 0 ) . H o t e l l i n g s T 2 r e v e a l e d F ( 3 , 2 9 0 ) = 2 0 . 4 6 f o r t h e m a n a g e m e n t - c l a s s i f i e d g r o u p s . T h e s e d i f f e r e n c e s were s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t ( p < 0 . 0 0 0 1 ) . S u p p o r t f o r h y p o t h e s e s 1 .2 and 1 .7 i n d i c a t e 49 t h a t absences means between male-female and m a n a g e m e n t - c l a s s i f i e d p o p u l a t i o n s a r e p o t e n t i a l l y d i f f e r e n t , n e c e s s i t a t i n g s e p a r a t e t r e a t m e n t of the d a t a . 5.30 Hypotheses 1.5 and 1.6 The r e v i e w o f l i t e r a t u r e s u g g e sted t h a t age and l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e would be c o r r e l a t e d w i t h absence b e h a v i o r . As employees g e t o l d e r o r i n c r e a s e t h e i r t e n u r e w i t h the company, the i n c i d e n c e of them t a k i n g u n p a i d absences d e c r e a s e . The r e a s o n i s v e r y s i m p l e . As employees i n c r e a s e t h e i r l e n g t h o f t e n u r e , they a re o f t e n a l l o w e d more p a i d time o f f i n the form o f p e r s o n a l l e a v e d a y s , i n c r e a s e d v a c a t i o n e t c . Long s e r v i c e employees have the o p t i o n o f u s i n g p a i d days f o r t h e i r a bsences, whereas new employees do not g e n e r a l l y have t h i s freedom. O l d e r employees may a l s o t a k e t h e i r j o b s more s e r i o u s l y and be l e s s l i k e l y t o t a k e " u n c e r t i f i e d " days o f f . Age and l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e , because they a r e h i g h l y i n t e r c o r r e l a t e d s h o u l d t h e r e f o r e be i n v e r s e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h u n p a i d absences. T h i s was t e s t e d u s i n g Pearson P r o d u c t Moment C o r r e l a t i o n . C o r r e l a t i o n a l c o e f f i c i e n t s f o r Age-Length o f S e r v i c e and measures o f absence f o r the r e s p e c t i v e d a t a groups are p r e s e n t e d i n T a b l e s 5.20 and 5.30. 5 0 T a b l e 5 . 2 0 C o r r e l a t i o n s Be tween M e a s u r e s o f A b s e n c e and Age A b s e n c e V a r i a b l e s G r o u p 1 G r o u p 2 G r o u p 3 G r o u p 4 G r o u p 5 U n p a i d S i c k n e s s AS AU P a i d S i c k n e s s A E PS P a i d I n j u r y A l BC T o t a l A b s e n c e - 0 . 2 2 * * - 0 . 3 0 * * * n s - 0 . 1 2 ns ns ns 0 . 1 1 ns ns ns - 0 . 1 4 ns - 0 . 1 6 * ns ns ns n s ns 0 . 1 9 * n s - 0 . 1 9 * * - 0 . 1 9 * * ns ns ns n s ns n s n s ns ns ns ns ns * p < 0 . 0 5 * * p < 0 . 0 0 2 * * * p < 0 .0001 T a b l e 5 . 3 0 C o r r e l a t i o n s Be tween M e a s u r e s o f A b s e n c e and L e n g t h o f S e r v i c e A b s e n c e V a r i a b l e s G r o u p 1 G r o u p 2 G r o u p 3 G r o u p 4 G r o u p 5 U n p a i d S i c k n e s s AS - 0 . 2 5 * * * - 0 . 2 8 * * * - 0 . 1 8 - 0 . 1 2 - 0 . 2 7 * * * AU ns ns n s n s ns P a i d S i c k n e s s AE ns ns ns ns ns PS ns ns 0 . 2 3 * * ns - 0 . 2 3 * * P a i d I n j u r y A l ns - 0 . 1 2 0 . 1 3 ns ns BC ns ns 0 . 1 4 ns 0 . 1 1 T o t a l A b s e n c e ns ns 0 . 1 7 ns ns * p < 0 . 0 5 « * p < 0 . 0 0 2 * * * p < 0 .0001 T a b l e 5 . 3 0 C o r r e l a t i o n s B e t w e e n M e a s u r e s o f A b s e n c e and L e n g t h o f S e r v i c e A b s e n c e V a r i a b l e s G r o u p 1 G r o u p 2 G r o u p 3 G r o u p 4 G r o u p U n p a i d S i c k n e s s AS - 0 . 2 5 * * * - 0 . 2 8 * * * - 0 . 1 8 - 0 . 1 2 - 0 . 2 7 AU ns ns ns n s ns P a i d S i c k n e s s A E ns ns ns ns ns PS ns ns 0 . 2 3 * * ns - 0 . 2 3 P a i d I n j u r y A l ns - 0 . 1 2 0 . 1 3 ns n s BC ns ns 0 . 1 4 n s 0 . 1 1 T o t a l A b s e n c e ns ns 0 . 1 7 ns ns * p < 0 . 0 5 * * p < 0 . 0 0 2 * * * p < 0 . 0001 52 5 . 3 2 G e n d e r D i f f e r e n c e s ( G r o u p s 2 a n d 3 ) . H y p o t h e s e s 1 .5 a n d 1 . 6 p r e d i c t e d s t r o n g e r c o r r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n u n p a i d a b s e n c e s a n d a g e - l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e i n m a l e s t h a n i n f e m a l e s ( B e r n a r d i n , 1 9 7 7 ) . N i c h o l s o n , B r o w n a n d C h a d w i c k - J o n e s (1977) f o u n d t h a t i n m a l e s , a f a i r l y d i s t i n c t p a t t e r n o f f e w e r b u t l o n g e r a b s e n c e s o c c u r r i n g a s a g e i n c r e a s e s . C o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y s i s f o r a g e a n d m e a s u r e s o f a b s e n c e i n d i c a t e t h a t i n t h e m a l e s a m p l e , a g e i s i n v e r s e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h a t l e a s t o n e m e a s u r e o f u n p a i d a b s e n c e ( A S ; r = - 0 . 3 0 , p< 0 . 0 0 0 1 ) a n d t h e m e a s u r e o f T o t a l A b s e n c e ( r = - 0 . 1 6 , p< 0 . 0 5 ) . I n t h e m a l e s a m p l e , l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e a p p e a r s t o b e a l s o i n v e r s e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h u n p a i d s i c k n e s s a b s e n c e ( A S ; r = - 0 . 2 8 , p< 0 . 0 0 0 2 ) . I n t h e f e m a l e s a m p l e t h e c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n a g e a n d u n p a i d a b s e n c e was n o t s i g n i f i c a n t . A g e h o w e v e r was i n v e r s e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h u n p a i d a b s e n c e ( A S ; r = - 0 . 1 8 , p< 0 . 0 5 ) . I n t h e f e m a l e s a m p l e a g e showed a s i g n i f i c a n t p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h a m e a s u r e o f p a i d i n j u r y a b s e n c e ( B C ; r = 0 . 1 9 , p< 0 . 0 5 ) . In f e m a l e s , l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e was p o s i t i v e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h a m e a s u r e o f p a i d s i c k n e s s ( P S ; r = 0 . 2 3 , p< 0 . 0 1 ) . In f e m a l e s , a g e a n d l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e a p p e a r t o show n e g a t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h m e a s u r e s o f u n p a i d a b s e n c e b u t seem t o b e p o s i t i v e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h m e a s u r e s o f p a i d a b s e n c e . 53 5.33 Company A f f i l i a t i o n (Groups 4 and 5) The results of th i s study suggest that age-length of service i s inversely correlated with measures of unpaid absence in both groups of employees. This i s l o g i c a l as both management and c l a s s i f i e d are l i k e l y to receive more available paid time off as t h e i r length of service increases. In the management group, length of service was not s i g n i f i c a n t l y correlated with unpaid absence. In c l a s s i f i e d employees length of service was inversely correlated with unpaid absence (AS; = -0.27, p < 0.0002). 54 CHAPTER SIX DISCUSSION 6.10 P h y s i c a l F i t n e s s and A b s e n t e e i s m The r e s u l t s o f t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y p r o v i d e d o n l y m i n i m a l s u p p o r t f o r t h e p o p u l a r c l a i m t h a t p h y s i c a l l y f i t employees show a r e d u c t i o n i n s i c k n e s s and i n j u r y absence o v e r u n f i t employees (Donaghue, 1977). C a u t i o n however s h o u l d be implemented when i n t e r p r e t i n g t h e s e r e s u l t s . The a n a l y s i s o f Group 1 (combined male and f e m a l e d a t a ) d i d s u p p o r t t h e p r e m i s e t h a t f i t t e r employees have l e s s absence, b u t t h e i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n s , however s i g n i f i c a n t , a r e r e a l i s t i c a l l y v e r y modest. Most i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n s between MVO2 and s i c k n e s s absence a r e s u p p o r t e d by p r e v i o u s s t u d i e s o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s and absence ( L i n d e n , 1969; Cady, 1979). These c o r r e l a t i o n s a l l b u t d i s s a p p e a r e d when t h e e f f e c t s o f gender were t a k e n i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n . The a n a l y s i s o f t h e male d a t a d i d not produce any s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n s . Only i n t h e f e m a l e group was an i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n between MVO2 and P a i d I n j u r y Absence, m o d e s t l y s i g n i f i c a n t . These r e s u l t s were somewhat d i s a p p o i n t i n g i n l i g h t o f p o p u l a r c l a i m s and l i t e r a t u r e . As d i s c u s s e d e a r l i e r i n C h a p t e r 5, o f f i c e w o r k e r s , e s p e c i a l l y male w h i t e c o l l a r 55 w o r k e r s a r e a v e r y s e l e c t p o p u l a t i o n . S h e p h a r d ( 1 9 8 1 ) , d i s c o u n t s t h e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t i n c r e a s e s i n c a r d i o - r e s p i r a t o r y f i t n e s s c a n a f f e c t f a t i g u e a n d t h e a b i l i t y t o w o r k t h r o u g h m i n o r i l l n e s s e s a s b e i n g s i g n i f i c a n t i n o f f i c e w o r k e r s . I t i s m o r e p r o b a b l e t h a t t h e s e d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n f i t a n d u n f i t e m p l o y e e s s h o u l d show g r e a t e r m a n i f e s t a t i o n s i n t h e a b s e n c e d a t a o f b l u e c o l l a r p o p u l a t i o n s r e q u i r i n g h i g h e r l e v e l s o f e n e r g y o u t p u t . T h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s ( 1978 ) c o n c e p t o f " a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d " a p p e a r s t o b e m o r e r e l e v a n t t o o c c u p a t i o n s r e q u i r i n g a h i g h m i n i m a l f i t n e s s a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d , r a t h e r t h a n s e d e n t a r y p o p u l a t i o n s . T h i s t h e r e f o r e i s a m a j o r f a u l t o f t h e p r e s e n t a n d p a s t s t u d i e s o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s a n d a b s e n c e f r o m w o r k . T h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s c o n c e p t o f " a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d " a l s o a p p e a r s t o b e m o r e o f a " g a t e k e e p i n g f a c t o r " r a t h e r t h a n a f a c t o r t h a t a c t i v e l y s h a p e s a t t e n d a n c e o r a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r u n d e r n o r m a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s . E m p l o y e e s h a v i n g a p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s l e v e l much g r e a t e r t h a n t h e "min imum r e q u i r e m e n t " f o r a t t e n d a n c e ( w h a t e v e r l e v e l t h a t may b e ) w i l l n o t b e a n y b e t t e r a t t e n d e r s t h a n t h e min imum f i t n e s s e m p l o y e e s . B y t h e S t e e r s & R h o d e s m o d e l , o n l y e m p l o y e e s w i t h v e r y r e d u c e d c a p a b i l i t i e s t o a t t e n d s h o u l d show g r e a t e r i n c i d e n c e s o f a b s e n t e e i s m . T h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n 56 a p p e a r s t o c o n t r a d i c t t h e n o t i o n t h a t f i t t e r employees a r e b e t t e r a t t e n d e r s (Donoghue, 1977). I n a normal w h i t e c o l l a r s e d e n t a r y p o p u l a t i o n , t h e r e s h o u l d be no r e a s o n why f i t employees a r e b e t t e r a t t e n d e r s t h a n t h e r e s t o f t h e i r c o - w o r k e r s . 6.20 E f f e c t s o f Gender Hypotheses 1.3 and 1.4 s u g g e s t e d t h a t some i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n between MVO2 and absence would be p r e s e n t o n l y i n f e m a l e s . Some s u p p o r t f o r t h i s o b s e r v a t i o n can be found i n t h e r e s u l t s o f t h e Quasar Systems (1976) s t u d y o f MVO2 and subsequent O n t a r i o H e a l t h I n s u r a n c e P l a n m e d i c a l c o s t s . Of t h e 9 groups sampled, o n l y t h e female age 50-65 y e a r group showed s i g n i f i c a n t i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n between MVO2 and m e d i c a l c o s t s ( r = -0.35, p< 0.05). A g a i n t h e p r o b l e m h e r e may be one o f s e n s i t i v i t y . M a l e s t r a d i t i o n a l l y a r e a b s e n t about h a l f as much as f e m a l e s ( E d u c a t i o n R e s e a r c h S e r v i c e s , 1982). Male o f f i c e w o r k e r s a r e a b s e n t about h a l f as o f t e n as males engaged i n manual l a b o r o c c u p a t i o n s . I t i s e n t i r e l y p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e p r e s e n t sample o f male o f f i c e employees (mean absence 4_ 59 days a n n u a l l y ) d i d n o t show enough absence f o r t h e d i f f e r e n c e i n MVO2 t o be m e a n i n g f u l . The female group (mean absence 7.84 days a n n u a l l y ) because o f t h e i r l a r g e r a n n u a l absences a l l o w e d f o r a more s e n s i t i v e a n a l y s i s . I n 57 l i g h t o f t h e s e r e s u l t s , f u t u r e r e s e a r c h may b e more f r u i t f u l i f d i r e c t e d a t " b l u e c o l l a r " o r m a n u a l o c c u p a t i o n s o n l y . T r a d i t i o n a l l y , t h i s h a s n o t b e e n t h e c a s e , a s " w h i t e c o l l a r " o f f i c e s a m p l e s h a v e b e e n more c o n v e n i e n t t o s t u d y . T h e p r e s e n t s t u d y i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e a b s e n c e s o f m a l e s a n d f e m a l e s a r e t h e p r o d u c t s o f v e r y d i f f e r e n t g r o u p s w i t h i n t h e e m p l o y e e p o p u l a t i o n . M a l e s a r e g e n e r a l l y a b s e n t much l e s s a n d t h e i r a b s e n c e s a r e m a n i f e s t e d d i f f e r e n t l y t h a n f e m a l e s . I t i s l i k e l y t h a t t h e s e d i f f e r e n c e s i n a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r a r e n o t d u e a s much t o t h e f a c t t h a t o n e g r o u p i s m a l e a n d t h e o t h e r f e m a l e , b u t r a t h e r t o t h e s o c i o e c o n o m i c a n d c u l t u r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f e a c h g r o u p . I f h i g h e r f i t n e s s l e v e l s a r e r e a l l y b e n e f i c i a l i n i m p r o v i n g a t t e n d a n c e b e h a v i o r i n h i g h a b s e n c e p o p u l a t i o n s , w o u l d o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s n o t b e b e t t e r d i r e c t e d a t f e m a l e b l u e c o l l a r p o p u l a t i o n s r a t h e r t h a n t h e p r e s e n t m a l e w h i t e c o l l a r o r i e n t a t i o n ? I s l o w f i t n e s s a p h y s i o l o g i c a l p r o b l e m ( S t e e r s & R h o d e s A b i l i t y t o A t t e n d ) i n b l u e c o l l a r f e m a l e p o p u l a t i o n s , o r a r e o t h e r f a c t o r s more i m p o r t a n t i n d e t e r m i n i n g a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r ? I t i s i m p o r t a n t t h a t a n s w e r s b e f o u n d t o t h e s e q u e s t i o n s i n o r d e r t o g a i n a more t h o r o u g h u n d e r s t a n d i n g i n t o t h e r o l e o f o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s . 58 6 . 3 0 A g e a n d L e n g t h o f S e r v i c e a n d A b s e n c e B e h a v i o r T h e r e s u l t s o f t h i s s t u d y s u p p o r t t h e h y p o t h e s e s 1 . 5 a n d 1 . 6 w h i c h p r e d i c t e d a d e c r e a s e i n t h e i n c i d e n c e o f u n p a i d a b s e n c e a s a n e m p l o y e e b e c o m e s m o r e s e n i o r , b o t h i n t h e c a s e s o f a b s o l u t e s e n i o r i t y ( a g e ) a n d r e l a t i v e s e n i o r i t y ( l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e ) . T h e l i t e r a t u r e seems t o s u p p o r t t h e n o t i o n t h a t l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e i s p r o b a b l y a more i m p o r t a n t v a r i a b l e i n d e t e r m i n i n g u n p a i d a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r t h a n a g e , s i n c e t h e two a r e h i g h l y i n t e r c o r r e l a t e d ( B e r n a r d i n , 1 9 7 7 ; A r a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n a n d B r o w n , 1 9 8 2 ) . T h i s d o e s n o t h o w e v e r d i s c o u n t t h e e f f e c t s o f a g e . O l d e r e m p l o y e e s t e n d t o show f e w e r a b s e n c e s , b u t t h e n a t u r e o f t h e a b s e n c e s a r e u s u a l l y l o n g e r , r e f l e c t i n g m o r e s e r i o u s h e a l t h p r o b l e m s ( C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n a n d B r o w n , 1 9 8 2 ) . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e e a r l i e r h y p o t h e s i s t h a t o l d e r a n d more s e n i o r e m p l o y e e s h a v e more a c c e s s t o p a i d a b s e n c e s a n d w i l l t h e r e f o r e show a r e d u c t i o n i n u n p a i d a b s e n c e s , a number o f o t h e r f a c t o r s c o u l d h y p o t h e t i c a l l y a f f e c t t h e s e r e l a t i o n s h i p s . C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n a n d Brown (1982) h a v e s u g g e s t e d t h a t u n p a i d a b s e n c e s a r e u s u a l l y c o n s i d e r e d v o l u n t a r y , c o n t r o l l a b l e o r u n c e r t i f i e d . I n management t e r m s , t h e s e a r e u n s a n c t i o n e d a b s e n c e s . Y o u n g e m p l o y e e s 59 may b e m o r e a c t i v e i n r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s a n d may w e l c o m e " s t e a l i n g " a d a y o r two t o g o s k i i n g o r t o g o t o t h e b e a c h . I n o l d e r e m p l o y e e s t h i s t e n d e n c y i s p r o b a b l y n o t a s s t r o n g . Y o u n g e r m a l e s may b e m o r e i n c l i n e d t o e x h i b i t t h i s b e h a v i o r t h a n y o u n g e r f e m a l e s f o r a h o s t o f c u l t u r a l a n d s o c i o e c o n o m i c r e a s o n s . L o n g s e r v i c e e m p l o y e e s may a l s o c o n s t i t u t e a s e l e c t g r o u p o f i n d i v i d u a l s , p o s s e s s i n g a h i g h e r d e g r e e o f a l l e g i a n c e a n d l o y a l t y t o t h e c o m p a n y . S h o r t e r t e r m e m p l o y e e s may n o t f e e l s u c h a s t r o n g s e n s e o f l o y a l t y a n d may b e more i n c l i n e d t o show a g r e a t e r f r e q u e n c y o f u n p a i d a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r . C o n v e r s e l y , t h i s e f f e c t c o u l d w o r k i n r e v e r s e . E m p l o y e e s t h a t show g o o d a t t e n d a n c e p a t t e r n s a r e r e w a r d e d a n d e v e n t u a l l y g o o n t o b e c o m e l o n g t e r m e m p l o y e e s . P o o r a t t e n d e r s a r e n o t g i v e n s u c h i n c e n t i v e s a n d e v e n t u a l l y q u i t o r a r e t e r m i n a t e d . T h i s p r o d u c e s a s i t u a t i o n w h e r e t h e l o n g t e r m e m p l o y e e s a r e t h e o n e s w i t h t h e b e t t e r a t t e n d a n c e r e c o r d s t o b e g i n w i t h ( M a r t i n , 1 9 7 1 ) . D a t a o n t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n age a n d a b s e n c e i n f e m a l e e m p l o y e e s i s o f t e n c o n f l i c t i n g a n d a m b i g u o u s ( E R S , 1 9 8 0 ) . S o c i o e c o n o m i c s t a t u s , c h o i c e o f o c c u p a t i o n , f a m i l y s t a t u s a n d m a r i t a l s t a t u s a l l seem t o b e more i m p o r t a n t m e d i a t i n g v a r i a b l e s i n f e m a l e s t h a n i n m a l e s . T h i s s t u d y d i d n o t f i n d a n i n v e r s e c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n a g e a n d u n p a i d a b s e n c e i n f e m a l e s . T h i s was u n e x p e c t e d i n l i g h t o f t h e s i g n i f i c a n t i n v e r s e 60 c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n l e n g t h o f s e r v i c e a n d u n p a i d a b s e n c e i n t h e f e m a l e g r o u p . I n management t e r m s , u n p a i d a b s e n c e s a r e o f t e n c l a s s i f i e d a s v o l u n t a r y o r u n s a n c t i o n e d a b s e n c e s . I n m o s t l a b o r c o n t r a c t s , " p e r m i s s i o n " o r c e r t i f i c a t i o n f r o m a p h y s i c i a n m u s t b e o b t a i n e d b e f o r e t h e e m p l o y e e i s e n t i t l e d t o r e c e i v e p a i d a b s e n c e b e n e f i t s , h e n c e u n p a i d a b s e n c e s a r e o f t e n r e g a r d e d a s " u n n e c e s s a r y " . F e m a l e s show l e s s " u n s a n c t i o n e d " a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r f o r a number o f r e a s o n s . F i r s t l y , t h e y a r e p r o b a b l y l e s s a b l e t o a f f o r d t o t a k e t h e d a y o f f w i t h o u t p a y t h a n m a l e s . T h e y p r o b a b l y r e c e i v e a l o w e r i n c o m e a n d t h e y may h a v e g r e a t e r f a m i l y r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , t h e r e f o r e t h e i r a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r i s l e s s " f r i v o l o u s " . S e c o n d l y f r o m a s o c i o c u l t u r a l s t a n d p o i n t , i f u n s a n c t i o n e d a b s e n c e s a r e a f o r m o f n e g a t i v e e x c h a n g e a g a i n s t t h e e m p l o y e r , f e m a l e s a r e p r o b a b l y l e s s l i k e l y t o e x h i b i t t h i s k i n d o f a n t i - e s t a b l i s h m e n t b e h a v i o r ( C h a d w i c k - J o n e s , N i c h o l s o n a n d B r o w n , 1982) 6 . 4 0 Company A f f i l i a t i o n H y p o t h e s e s 1 .7 p r e d i c t e d t h a t u n i o n o r c l a s s i f i e d w o r k e r s a s a g r o u p w o u l d show g r e a t e r a b s e n c e t h a n m a n a g e r s . T h e f a c t , i n t h i s s a m p l e , t h a t t h e h y p o t h e s e s s h o u l d b e s u p p o r t e d comes a s no g r e a t s u r p r i s e . M a n a g e r s a n d u n i o n w o r k e r s a r e o f t e n s e p a r a t e d b y d i f f e r e n t s e t s o f r u l e s a n d 61 p r i v i l e g e s . T h e f o r m e r g r o u p i s o f t e n g i v e n some d i s c r e t i o n a s t o " t a k i n g d a y s o f f " f o r i l l n e s s , e r r a n d s o r p e r s o n a l b u s i n e s s . T h e l a t t e r g r o u p i s u s u a l l y g i v e n no s u c h d i s c r e t i o n . A s s u c h , i t i s p r o b a b l y e a s i e r t o g e t a " t r u e " c o u n t o f a b s e n c e s f o r c l a s s i f i e d e m p l o y e e s t h a n f o r m a n a g e r s . T h e f a c t t h a t u n i o n a n d management e m p l o y e e s show d i f f e r e n t d e g r e e s o f a b s e n c e b e h a v i o r k e e p i n g a l l o t h e r v a r i a b l e s c o n s t a n t , s h o u l d b e e n o u g h r e a s o n t o t r e a t t h e m a s d i s t i n c t s a m p l e s o f d a t a when f u t u r e r e s e a r c h i s c o n t e m p l a t e d . PART I I DEGREE OF F I T N E S S A D H E R E N C E , MOTIVATION AND A B S E N T E E I S M 63 CHAPTER SEVEN DEGREE OF F I T N E S S ADHERENCE AND I T S R E L A T I O N S H I P WITH MOTIVATION TO ATTEND WORK 7 . 1 0 I n t r o d u c t i o n The S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) p r o c e s s m o d e l i d e n t i f i e s ' m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d w o r k ' a s a p o w e r f u l f a c t o r i n t h e a b s e n t e e i s m p i c t u r e . I t i s l o g i c a l t o a s s u m e t h a t g i v e n a p e r s o n ' s a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d w o r k , t h e n e x t m o s t i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r i s m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d . A l t h o u g h t h e r o l e o f e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s i n t h i s p r o c e s s i s s t i l l f a r f r o m c o m p l e t e l y u n d e r s t o o d , r e s e a r c h h a s s u g g e s t e d t h a t e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s maybe i n f l u e n t i a l i n e n h a n c i n g m o t i v a t i o n . S h e p h a r d ' s (1981) s t u d y o f 1200 e x e r c i s i n g e m p l o y e e s o f a l a r g e C a n a d i a n i n s u r a n c e company a t t e m p t e d t o show e x p e r i m e n t a l l y t h a t d i f f e r e n c e s i n a b s e n t e e i s m c o u l d be f o u n d b e t w e e n p a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e company e x e r c i s e p r o g r a m . E v e n t h o u g h s h e p h a r d ' s s t u d y r e c e i v e d some c r i t i c i s m i n r e s p e c t t o m e t h o d o l o g i c a l f l a w s ( F i e l d i n g , 1 9 8 2 ) , i t r e p r e s e n t e d a s i g n i f i c a n t s t e p i n t h e s t u d y o f f i t n e s s p r o g r a m p a r t i c i p a t i o n and a b s e n t e e i s m u n d e r e x p e r i m e n t a l - l i k e c o n d i t i o n s , i n a n a t u r a l i s t i c s e t t i n g . S h e p h a r d f o u n d , u s i n g s i m p l e C h i s q u a r e a n a l y s i s t h a t 64 h i g h p r o g r a m a d h e r e n t s w e r e a b s e n t s i g n i f i c a n t l y l e s s f r e q u e n t l y t h a n low p r o g r a m a d h e r e n t s and c o n t r o l s . H i g h a d h e r e n t s ( a t t e n d i n g two o r more s e s s i o n s p e r week) w e r e on a v e r a g e , a b s e n t 2 . 5 d a y s l e s s p e r e m p l o y e e t h a n n o n - p a r t i c i p a n t s . T h i s r e p r e s e n t e d a 22% a d v a n t a g e o v e r t h e r e m a i n d e r o f t h e t e s t company and a 42% a d v a n t a g e o v e r t h e same p e r i o d when c o m p a r e d t o p r e - i n t e r v e n t i o n d a t a . A n a l y s i s o f v a r i a n c e u s i n g e a c h s u b j e c t a s h i s own c o n t r o l , a l t h o u g h r e v e a l i n g a s i m i l a r t r e n d , c o u l d no l o n g e r m a i n t a i n s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e . S i m i l a r l y t h e B j u r s t r o m and A l e x i o u (1978) s t u d y r e p o r t e d t h a t m a l e and f e m a l e p a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m showed a s i g n i f i c a n t r e d u c t i o n i n p e r s o n a l s i c k l e a v e o v e r t h e p r e v i o u s y e a r when no p r o g r a m e x i s t e d . A s d i s c u s s e d i n C h a p t e r 3 , t h i s s t u d y p r o v i d e s l i t t l e a d d i t i o n a l i n s i g h t a s no r e f e r e n c e i s made t o d i f f e r e n c e s , i f a n y , b e t w e e n h i g h and low a d h e r e n t s . R e l a t i v e g a i n s i n f i t n e s s v e r s u s s i c k l e a v e were n o t r e p o r t e d and no m e n t i o n was made w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n ' s o v e r a l l a b s e n c e and s i c k n e s s t r e n d s i m m e d i a t e l y b e f o r e and a f t e r t h e y e a r b e i n g t e s t e d . T h e B j u r s t r o m and A l e x i o u (1978) s t u d y d o e s r e p o r t an a v e r a g e a b s e n c e r e d u c t i o n o f a p p r o x i m a t e l y 3 . 3 d a y s p e r e m p l o y e e o v e r t h e p r e v i o u s y e a r . S e v e r a l s i m i l a r r e p o r t s h a v e a p p e a r e d i n t h e t r a d e l i t e r a t u r e . B a t t e l l e L a b o r a t o r i e s r e p o r t e d t h a t p h y s i c a l l y a c t i v e employees were apt t o be absent about 3 days l e s s than l e s s a c t i v e employees. They go on t o r e p o r t t h a t the employee f i t n e s s program i s s a v i n g the company $150,000 p e r y e a r t h r o u g h reduced a b s e n t e e i s m ( M c K e n d r i c k , 1982). A r e c e n t r e p o r t by the D a l l a s based A e r o b i c s I n s t i t u t e a l s o s u g g ested t h a t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n employee f i t n e s s programs can reduce a b s e n t e e i s m . 7400 t e a c h e r s i n D a l l a s p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h i s s t u d y . 50% were a s s i g n e d t o a f i t n e s s group and 50% were d e s i g n a t e d as n o n - p a r t i c i p a t i n g c o n t r o l s . On t h e a v e r a g e , the t e a c h e r s i n the f i t n e s s group took 3 fewer s i c k days o f f per y e a r , prompting o f f i c i a l s t o e s t i m a t e a s a v i n g s o f $452,000 i n s u b s t i t u t e pay a l o n e . A l t h o u g h i t i s h i g h l y p r o b a b l e t h a t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n employee f i t n e s s programs does have a v e r y r e a l e f f e c t on w o r k e r s ' m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d work, i t i s v i r t u a l l y i m p o s s i b l e t o draw any r e a l c o n c l u s i o n s a t t h i s t i m e . Problems i n h e r e n t i n the c u r r e n t r e s e a r c h i n c l u d e ; 1) Many o f the r e p o r t s a re a n e c d o t a l i n n a t u r e . E x p e r i m e n t a l s t u d i e s a re r a r e , t r u e e x p e r i m e n t a l s t u d i e s a re r a r e r s t i l l . ( F o l k i n s and Sime, 1981) 2) M e t h o d o l o g i c a l f l a w s abound. R i g o r o u s s t a t i s t i c a l t r e a t m e n t o f d a t a i s u n u s u a l . ( F i e l d i n g , 1982). 3) Measurement v e h i c l e s a re inad e q u a t e a t t h i s t i m e , w i t h r e s p e c t t o measuring absence ( S t e e r s and Rhodes, 1978) and w i t h r e s p e c t t o measuring p s y c h o l o g i c a l components o f m o t i v a t i o n . I d e a l l y , t h e s e problems s h o u l d be t a c k l e d p r i o r t o f u t u r e r e s e a r c h a t t e m p t s . However, many o f the concerns a r e i n t r i n s i c t o the s t u d y o f human b e h a v i o r and the s e problems a r e compounded when a p p l i e d t o a n a t u r a l i s t i c s e t t i n g . I t i t h i s a u t h o r ' s b e l i e f t h a t v a l u a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n can s t i l l be produced i n s p i t e of tremendous m e t h o d o l o g i c a l b a r r i e r s . 67 7 . 2 0 M o t i v a t i o n and A b s e n c e B e h a v i o r The S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) m o d e l s u g g e s t s t h a t m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d work i s l a r g e l y d e t e r m i n e d by t h e c o m b i n a t i o n o f a ) t h e e m p l o y e e s a f f e c t i v e r e s p o n s e s t o t h e j o b s i t u a t i o n a n d b) t h e v a r i o u s i n t e r n a l and e x t e r n a l p r e s s u r e s t o a t t e n d . The p r e v a l e n t b e l i e f i s t h a t i f an e m p l o y e e e n j o y s t h e work e n v i r o n m e n t and t h e t a s k s t h a t c h a r a c t e r i z e h i s o r h e r j o b s i t u a t i o n , t h e n i t c a n be e x p e c t e d t h a t t h e e m p l o y e e w i l l h a v e a s t r o n g d e s i r e t o a t t e n d work (Hackman & L a w l e r , 1 9 7 1 ; S t e e r s & R h o d e s , 1 9 7 8 ) . 7 . 3 0 F a c t o r s A f f e c t i n g S a t i s f a c t i o n W i t h J o b S i t u a t i o n The S t e e r s & R h o d e s m o d e l i d e n t i f i e s s e v e r a l f a c t o r s a s i n s t r u m e n t a l i n t h e j o b s a t i s f a c t i o n p r o c e s s . T h e s e i n c l u d e : (a ) j o b s c o p e (b) j o b l e v e l ( c ) r o l e s t r e s s (d) work g r o u p s i z e (e ) l e a d e r s t y l e ( f ) c o - w o r k e r r e l a t i o n s I t i s n o t e n t i r e l y c l e a r w h e r e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s w o u l d f i t i n t o t h e j o b s a t i s f a c t i o n p r o c e s s b u t some e v i d e n c e e x i s t s t o s u g g e s t t h a t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n f i t n e s s a c t i v i t i e s c a n a f f e c t many o f t h e a b o v e v a r i a b l e s . 68 7.31 Job Scope Workers appear t o e n j o y w o r k i n g i n an e n r i c h e d j o b environment ( N i c h o l s o n , W a l l & L i s c h e r o n ; 1977) and i n an environment which f o s t e r s a sense o f achievement. E x p e r i m e n t a l i n t e r v e n t i o n s o r f i e l d e x p e r i m e n t s which have improved o r e n r i c h e d the employee's j o b , have shown s u b s t a n t i a l d e c r e a s e s i n a b s e n t e e i s m . (Beer & Huse, 1972; Copenhaver, 1973). A l t h o u g h the degree o f j o b s a t i s f a c t i o n i s l i k e l y t a s k s p e c i f i c , ( i e . e n r i c h i n g the o v e r a l l 'work environment' may not be as s a t i s f y i n g t o the worker as e n r i c h i n g h i s / h e r s p e c i f i c j o b ) i t may be f a i r t o suggest t h a t h a v i n g an employee f i t n e s s program on company p r e m i s e s , can make the o v e r a l l j o b e x p e r i e n c e more e n j o y a b l e . E x e r c i s e breaks f o r example, seem t o reduce t h e i n c i d e n c e o f e r r o r s and improve o u t p u t ( F o l k i n s & Sime, 1981). Durbeck e t a l (1972) i n a l o n g i t u d i n a l s t u d y i n v o l v i n g NASA employees r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t a t t i t u d i n a l changes toward 'the j o b ' f o l l o w i n g p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the company e x e r c i s e program. Durbeck suggested t h a t a r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t e d between p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the program and v a r i a b l e s such as p e r c e i v e d j o b performance and j o b a t t i t u d e . " P a r t i c i p a n t s r e p o r t e d t h a t t hey c o u l d work h a r d e r m e n t a l l y and p h y s i c a l l y , e n j o y e d t h e i r j o b s more and found t h e i r normal work r o u t i n e l e s s b o r i n g . " (Durbeck, 1972, p. 788). 69 M o r e o v e r , t h e s e r e p o r t e d p o s i t i v e r e s u l t s c o r r e l a t e d w e l l w i t h p r o g r a m a t t e n d a n c e r e c o r d s , w i t h h i g h p r o g r a m a d h e r e n t s r e p o r t i n g t h e g r e a t e s t e f f e c t s . Some a t t e m p t was made t o a s s e s s t h e v a l i d i t y o f t h e s e l f r e p o r t d a t a t h r o u g h c o m p a r i s o n s w i t h a c t u a l r e c o r d s . I t was f o u n d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s who r e p o r t e d b e t t e r s t a m i n a d i d i m p r o v e MVO2 l e v e l s , t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s who r e p o r t e d w e i g h t l o s s h a d a c t u a l l y l o s t w e i g h t a n d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s who r e p o r t e d b e t t e r a t t e n d a n c e w e r e i n f a c t , a b s e n t f e w e r t i m e s . T h e a u t h o r s c o n c l u d e d t h a t s e l f r e p o r t d a t a i s i n f a c t , v a l i d t o some d e g r e e . T h e same o p i n i o n s w e r e v o i c e d b y W r i g h t ( 1982 ) f o l o w i n g a s t u d y o f e x e r c i s i n g e m p l o y e e s a t X e r o x . H y p o t h e s i s ; 2 . 1 E m p l o y e e s p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n a company e x e r c i s e p r o g r a m w i l l r e p o r t i m p r o v e d p h y s i c a l w e l l b e i n g . T h i s r e s p o n s e may b e r e l a t e d t o d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . H y p o t h e s i s : 2 . 2 E m p l o y e e s p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n a company e x e r c i s e p r o g r a m w i l l r e p o r t i m p r o v e d a t t e n d a n c e a n d p r o d u c t i v i t y . T h i s r e s p o n s e may b e r e l a t e d t o d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . 7 . 3 2 R o l e S t r e s s J o b s t r e s s h a s b e e n c i t e d a s a p r i m a r y c o n t r i b u t e r t o b o t h v o l u n t a r y a n d i n v o l u n t a r y a b s e n c e ( R o s c h , 1 9 8 1 ) , T h e e v i d e n c e s u p p o r t i n g t h e c o n t e n t i o n t h a t s t r e s s a n d a n x i e t y i n c r e a s e e m p l o y e e a b s e n t e e i s m h a s b e e n c o n s t a n t i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e . E a r l y s t u d i e s b y J a c k s o n (1944) a n d B r o d m a n (1945) i n d i c a t e d t h a t p r i m a r y c a u s e s o f a b s e n c e s 70 among workers were poor work h a b i t s , p e r s o n a l m a l a d j u s t m e n t , d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n and i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . S i n h a (1963) showed t h a t i n d u s t r i a l w orkers w i t h h i g h l e v e l s o f a n x i e t y a l s o had h i g h r a t e s o f absence. S i m i l a r r e s u l t s have been r e p o r t e d by Cummings & Manring (1977), and B e r n a r d i n (1977). The B e r n a r d i n s t u d y examined the case o f w h i t e c o l l a r w o r k ers w h i l e most p r e v i o u s s t u d i e s have o n l y l o o k e d a t b l u e c o l l a r employees. Douglas (1976) s t u d y i n g t e a c h e r s , r e p o r t e d t h a t much of the absence a t t r i b u t e d t o p h y s i c a l i l l n e s s was due i n f a c t t o p e r s o n a l and e n v i r o n m e n t a l s t r e s s . Teachers s c o r i n g h i g h on s t r e s s and a n x i e t y p r o f i l e s were a l s o most l i k e l y t o be " e x c e s s i v e l y " a b s e n t . A p o s s i b l e mechanism beh i n d the s t r e s s - a b s e n c e r e l a t i o n s h i p has been advanced by Holmes & Rahe (1967). T h e i r S o c i a l Adjustment S c a l e p u r p o r t s t o p r e d i c t the l i k l i h o o d o f g e t t i n g s e r i o u s l y i l l depending on the number of s t r e s s f u l e v e n t s t h a t a p e r s o n e n c o u n t e r s . S y l w e s t e r (1979) use the Holmes & Rahe s c a l e t o s u c c e s s f u l l y p r e d i c t the degree of absence i n Oregon s c h o o l t e a c h e r s . The r o l e of p h y s i c a l e x e r c i s e i n the m o d e r a t i o n o f s t r e s s and a n x i e t y has a l s o been the f o c u s o f much r e s e a r c h . A c c o r d i n g t o Dishman's (1983) e x t e n s i v e r e v i e w o f l i t e r a t u r e , the d e s i r a b l e a l t e r a t i o n s i n h e a l t h - r e l a t e d moods f o l l o w i n g v i g o r o u s p h y s i c a l e x e r c i s e i s one of the few c o n s i s t e n t f i n d i n g s i n contempary s p o r t p s y c h o l o g y . G e i s t e t a l (1979) showed t h a t r u n n i n g c o u l d be used s u c c e s s f u l l y t o t r e a t d e p r e s s i o n . Morgan (1979) found t h a t a n x i e t y was lower f o l l o w i n g v i g o r o u s p h y s i c a l e x e r c i s e . S i m i l a r l y mood s t a t e s o f m i d d l e aged males were improved f o l l o w i n g p h y s i c a l e x e r c i s e ( F o l k i n s , Lynch & Gardner, 1972). P a r t i c i p a n t s i n r e g u l a r e x e r c i s e programs g e n e r a l l y r e p o r t f e e l i n g s o f reduced s t r e s s and t e n s i o n . T h i s appears t o be a m o t i v a t i n g f a c t o r i n c o n t i n u e d e x e r c i s e adherence (Heinzlemann & B a g l e y , 1970; Long, 1983). Shephard's (1981) s t u d y r e v e a l e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n the company e x e r c i s e program r e p o r t e d i n c r e a s e d p a t i e n c e , r e l a x a t i o n and w e l l - b e i n g . S i m i l a r r e s u l t s have been r e p o r t e d by p a r t i c i p a n t s i n o t h e r o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s programs (Durbeck, 1972; H a s k e l l & B l a i r , 1980). A l t h o u g h s p e c u l a t i o n c o n t i n u e s about the e x a c t mechanisms b e h i n d the p o s i t i v e e f f e c t s o f p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y , i t appears t h a t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n an o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s program can improve mood and c o n t r o l s t r e s s . H y p o t h e s i s : 2.3 P a r t i c i p a n t s i n an o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s program w i l l g e n e r a l l y r e p o r t reduced s t r e s s and t e n s i o n . T h i s e f f e c t may be r e l a t e d t o how o f t e n they p a r t i c i p a t e . 7.33 Co-Worker R e l a t i o n s The S t e e r s & Rhodes model s u g g e s t s t h a t s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h c o - w o r k e r r e l a t i o n s w i l l be an i m p o r t a n t d e t e r m i n a n t o f o v e r a l l j o b s a t i s f a c t i o n and t h e r e f o r e be r e l a t e d t o a t t e n d a n c e m o t i v a t i o n . The e v i d e n c e s u p p o r t i n g t h i s p r o p o s i t i o n h o w e v e r , h a s b e e n l e s s t h a n o v e r w h e l m i n g . S t e e r s & R h o d e s (1978) i d e n t i f i e d o n l y two o u t o f e i g h t s t u d i e s w h i c h r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n c o - w o r k e r r e l a t i o n s and a b s e n t e e i s m ( M e t z n e r & M a n n , 1 9 5 3 ; N i c h o l s o n , W a l l & L i s c h e r s o n , 1 9 7 7 ) . T h e y do c o n c l u d e h o w e v e r , t h a t c o - w o r k e r r e l a t i o n s h a v e g e n e r a l l y b e e n f o u n d t o be s t r o n g l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h g e n e r a l j o b s a t i s f a c t i o n ( V r o o m , 1 9 6 4 ) . P a r t i c i p a n t s o f f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s g e n e r a l l y r e p o r t i n c r e a s e s i n s o c i a b i l i t y ( H e i n z l e m a n n & B a g l e y , 1 9 7 0 ) . S h e p h a r d ' s (1981) s t u d y r e p o r t e d t h a t e x e r c i s e p a r t i c i p a n t s f e l t t h a t t h e y had d e v e l o p e d a b e t t e r r a p p o r t w i t h t h e i r s u p e r v i s o r s a n d t h e i r c o - w o r k e r s . G r e e n b e r g (1976) f o u n d t h a t i n d i v i d u a l s a s s i g n e d t o f i t n e s s t r a i n i n g d i d b e t t e r o n d i s c r i m i n a t i o n o f i n t e r p e r s o n a l s k i l l s and on c o m m u n i c a t i o n o v e r a n o n - t r a i n i n g c o n t r o l g r o u p . The s o c i a l a s p e c t s o f e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s a r e t h e b e s t l i k e d p a r t f o r many p a r t i c i p a n t s . H e i n z e l m a n n & B a g l e y (1970) r e p o r t e d t h a t o v e r one f o u r t h o f a l l r e s p o n d e n t s t o t h e i r s u r v e y l i s t e d s o c i a l a s p e c t s o f t h e f i t n e s s a c t i v i t i e s among t h e b e s t l i k e d f e a t u r e s . T h i s f e a t u r e seemed t o 73 i n c r e a s e a d h e r e n c e t o t h e p r o g r a m . T h e a u t h o r s b e l i e v e t h a t p e r s o n s e x e r c i s i n g i n g r o u p s , t e n d t o e n j o y t h e e x p e r i e n c e m o r e and f e e l a s e n s e o f p e r s o n a l c o m m i t t m e n t t o c o n t i n u e . I t i s q u i t e p o s s i b l e t h a t s o c i a l c o n t a c t s made d u r i n g e x e r c i s e c l a s s w i l l c o n t i n u e b a c k a t t h e w o r k s t a t i o n . T h e s o c i a l a s p e c t o f e x e r c i s e a n d f i t n e s s a c t i v i t i e s c o n c e i v a b l y c a n e n h a n c e r e l a t i o n s w i t h f e l l o w w o r k e r s a n d t h e r e b y i n c r e a s e s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h t h e j o b s i t u a t i o n a n d s u b s e q u e n t a t t e n d a n c e b e h a v i o r . H y p o t h e s i s : 2 . 4 P a r t i c i p a n t s o f e m p l o y e e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s w i l l r e p o r t a n e n h a n c e m e n t o f s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n among c o - w o r k e r s . T h i s e f f e c t may b e r e l a t e d t o how o f t e n t h e y p a r t i c i p a t e . 7 . 4 F a c t o r s A f f e c t i n g I n t e r n a l a n d E x t e r n a l P r e s s u r e s t o A t t e n d T h e s e c o n d s e t o f f a c t o r s i n t h e S t e e r s a n d R h o d e s m o t i v a t i o n m o d e l d e a l s w i t h p r e s s u r e s t o a t t e n d w o r k . T h e s e p r e s s u r e s may o c c u r i n t h e f o r m o f i n t e r n a l a n d p e r s o n a l a t t i t u d e p r e s s u r e s a n d e x t e r n a l p r e s s u r e s f o s t e r e d b y g r o u p norms o r e c o n o m i c a n d m a r k e t c o n d i t i o n s ( S t e e r s & R h o d e s , 1 9 7 8 ) . T h e S t e e r s a n d R h o d e s m o d e l i d e n t i f i e s f i v e m a j o r p r e s s u r e s r e l e v a n t t o t h e - m o t i v a t i o n i s s u e : a ) e c o n o m i c a n d m a r k e t c o n d i t i o n s b ) i n c e n t i v e / r e w a r d s y s t e m c ) w o r k g r o u p norms 74 d) p e r s o n a l work e t h i c e) o r g a n i z a t i o n a l committment 7.41 I n c e n t i v e / R e w a r d System A p r i m a r y f a c t o r t h a t i s c a p a b l e o f i n f l u e n c i n g a t t e n d a n c e m o t i v a t i o n i s of co u r s e the n a t u r e o f the i n c e n t i v e o r reward system used by the employer. ( S t e e r s & Rhodes, 1978). These r e w a r d s , a l t h o u g h u s u a l l y o c c u r r i n g i n the form o f pay and o t h e r ' m a t e r i a l * i n c e n t i v e s need not e x c l u s i v e l y be l i m i t e d t o t h e s e forms. I t i s c o n c e i v a b l e t h a t employees c o u l d view d a i l y use o f the employee f i t n e s s and r e c r e a t i o n a l f a c i l i t i e s as b e i n g an ' i n c e n t i v e ' t o a t t e n d work. T h i s i n c e n t i v e v a l u e c o u l d be a c o m p e l l i n g a t t e n d a n c e m o t i v a t o r e s p e c i a l l y i f the a c t i v i t i e s were c o n s i d e r e d e n j o y a b l e . 7.42 P e r s o n a l Work E t h i c S t e e r s & Rhodes i d e n t i f y p e r s o n a l work e t h i c as an i n f l u e n c e on a t t e n d a n c e m o t i v a t i o n . They note t h a t many peopl e f e e l m o r a l l y o b l i g e d t o come t o work and t h a t t h e r e i s a d i r e c t r e l a t i o n s h i p between a s t r o n g work e t h i c and the p r o p e n s i t y t o a t t e n d work. (Feldman, 1974). A l t h o u g h l i t t l e d i r e c t e v i d e n c e e x i s t s t o l i n k f i t n e s s p a r t i c i p a t i o n w i t h the enhancement o f work e t h i c , ' c h a r a c t e r b u i l d i n g ' has t r a d i t i o n a l l y been a p r o p o r t e d b e n e f i t o f s p o r t s and f i t n e s s p a r t i c i p a t i o n ( K r o l l , 1982). A l t h o u g h i t i s e x t r e m e l y d i f f i c u l t t o measure 'work e t h i c ' , some 75 i m p l i c a t i o n s may be drawn from a t t i t u d e s towards work and the work s i t u a t i o n . T y p i c a l comments o f f i t n e s s a c t i v i t y p a r t i c i p a n t s a r e t h a t they have a g r e a t e r c a p a c i t y t o work h a r d e r , b o t h m e n t a l l y and p h y s i c a l l y o r t h a t they have improved c o n c e n t r a t i o n and d e c i s i o n making a b i l i t i e s (Heinzlemann & B a g l e y , 1970). F o l k i n s and Sime (1981) r e p o r t e d t h a t workers p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n f i t n e s s programs g e n e r a l l y r e p o r t improvements i n work a t t i t u d e . Somewhat r e l a t e d t o p e r s o n a l work e t h i c may be the e f f e c t o f f i t n e s s p a r t i c i p a t i o n on s e l f - i m a g e and s e l f - c o n c e p t . E x t e n s i v e r e v i e w s by Layman (1974) and Sonstrom (1983) i n d i c a t e t h a t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n f i t n e s s and e x e r c i s e programs enhances s e l f - i m a g e and s e l f - e s t e e m . Some of the agents b e h i n d t h i s enhancement i n s e l f - e s t e e m as i d e n t i f i e d by Sonstrom, i n c l u d e g o a l achievement and a sense o f competence, mastery o r c o n t r o l . These agents c o u l d p o s s i b l y r e i n f o r c e a p e r s o n a l work e t h i c . H y p o t h e s i s ; 2.5 P a r t i c i p a n t s i n an employee f i t n e s s program w i l l r e p o r t a more p o s i t i v e work a t t i t u d e . T h i s response may be r e l a t e d t o how o f t e n they p a r t i c i p a t e . H y p o t h e s i s : 2.6 P a r t i c i p a n t s i n an employee f i t n e s s program w i l l r e p o r t p o s i t i v e changes i n s e l f - i m a g e . T h i s response may be r e l a t e d t o how o f t e n they p a r t i c i p a t e . 76 CHAPTER EIGHT METHOD 8.10 The Q u e s t i o n n a i r e The q u e s t i o n n a i r e used i n t h i s s t u d y was d e s i g n e d t o as s e s s p a r t i c i p a t i o n and a t t i t u d i n a l b e h a v i o r o f p a r t i c i p a n t s i n a l a r g e o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s program. S i n c e e x i s t i n g a t t i t u d i n a l i n v e n t o r i e s such as T a y l o r , (1953), the C o r n e l l M e d i c a l I n v e n t o r y (Brodman, 1956) and Kenyon (1968) were deemed t o o be t o o time consuming f o r p a r t i c i p a n t s t o f i l l o u t , a l e s s time consuming assessment was de v e l o p e d f o r the purposes o f t h i s s t u d y . 8.11 Assessment o f Degree o f P a r t i c i p a t i o n A p r i m a r y aim o f t h i s s t u d y was t o e s t a b l i s h a p r o f i l e o f the degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f members e n r o l l e d i n an e x i s t i n g o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s program. To a c c o m p l i s h t h i s , i t was n e c e s s a r y t o c o n s t r u c t a f r e q u e n c y s c o r e , i n d i c a t i n g how o f t e n a member a c t u a l l y p a r t i c i p a t e d i n the program's a c t i v i t i e s . F i g u r e 8.0 i n d i c a t e s the method t h a t was employed t o a s s e s s degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . The computer was programmed t o "count" the number o f v i s i t s a p a r t i c i p a n t made t o the c e n t r e and t o note the time o f day t h a t t h e s e v i s i t s were made. The t o t a l number o f v i s i t s p e r week was used t o as s e s s degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f each s u b j e c t . I n a d d i t i o n t o f r e q u e n c y o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n , a second measure l e n g t h o f membership was a l s o employed. 77 8.12 Assessment of A t t i t u d i n a l Change The second v a r i a b l e , r e l e v a n t t o the purposes of t h i s s t u d y was degree o f a a t t i t u d i n a l change. Based on p r e v i o u s l i t e r a t u r e and the S t e e r s and Rhodes (1978) P r o c e s s Model, s i x hypotheses were g e n e r a t e d i n C h a p t e r Seven t o g u i d e t h i s s t u d y . The f o l l o w i n g v a r i a b l e s were deemed r e l e v a n t t o measure: a) g e n e r a l a t t i t u d e towards j o b b) p e r c e i v e d improvement o f h e a l t h c) p e r c e i v e d r a t e change i n a b s e n t e e i s m d) p e r c e i v e d r a t e change i n p r o d u c t i v i t y e) p e r c e i v e d r e d u c t i o n i n s t r e s s and t e n s i o n f ) p e r c e p t i o n s o f w e i g h t l o s s g) improvement i n p e r c e i v e d s e l f - i m a g e h) enhanced s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s ( i e new f r i e n d s ) S u b j e c t s were asked t o r a t e the degree o f change i n the m s e l v e s caused by the Employee F i t n e s s Program. The c h o i c e s ranged from a v a l u e o f 1 f o r "no change" t o a maximum v a l u e o f 5 f o r " g r e a t change" ( F i g u r e 8.1). 78 F i g u r e 8.1 Assessment o f P e r s o n a l Change Through F i t n e s s P a r t i c i p a t i o n P a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e Employee F i t n e s s Program has caused the f o l l o w i n g changes i n m y s e l f : Legend 1 = No change 2 = L i t t l e change 3 = N o t i c e a b l e change 4 = S i g n i f i c a n t change 5 = G r e a t Change 1 2 3 4 5 a) more p o s i t i v e work a t t i t u d e _ _ _ _ _ b) b e t t e r h e a l t h - - - - -c) lowered a b s e n t e e i s m - - - - -d) i n c r e a s e d p r o d u c t i v i t y - - - - -e) lowered s t r e s s and t e n s i o n _ _ _ _ _ f ) w e i g h t l o s s - - - - -g) improved s e l f - i m a g e _ _ _ _ _ h) g a i n e d new f r i e n d s _ _ _ _ _ 79 8 . 2 0 T h e S a m p l e T h e s u b j e c t s f o r t h i s q u e s t i o n n a i r e s a m p l e w e r e f u l l t i m e e m p l o y e e s o f a l a r g e C a n a d i a n t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s u t i l i t y , who w e r e e n r o l l e d a s p a y i n g members i n t h e c o r p o r a t i o n ' s o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m . T h e s u b j e c t s r a n g e d i n age f r o m 20 t o 6 0 . A p p r o x i m a t e l y 39% o f t h e s a m p l e w e r e m a l e s ( n = 2 7 7 ) , a n d 61% o f t h e s a m p l e w e r e f e m a l e s ( n = 4 3 5 ) . 8 . 3 0 A d m i n i s t e r i n g t h e Q u e s t i o n n a i r e T h e e n t i r e m e m b e r s h i p o f t h e c o r p o r a t e o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m was s a m p l e d . 1076 q u e s t i o n n a i r e s w e r e m a i l e d t o t h e w o r k l o c a t i o n s o f e a c h s u b j e c t . T h i s r e p r e s e n t e d a p p r o x i m a t e l y 50% o f t h e e n t i r e e m p l o y e e p o p u l a t i o n a t t h e c o m p a n y ' s h e a d q u a r t e r s o f f i c e . S u b j e c t s w e r e a s k e d t o f i l l o u t t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e c o m p l e t e l y a n d t o r e t u r n i t v i a t h e c o m p a n y ' s i n t e r n a l m a i l s e r v i c e . T h i s p r o c e d u r e e n s u r e d t h a t t h e s u b j e c t s w o u l d f a c e m i n i m a l " h a s s l e " t o r e t u r n t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s . S u b j e c t s w e r e a l l o w e d a p p r o x i m a t e l y 10 w o r k i n g d a y s t o r e t u r n t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s . O f t h e 1076 q u e s t i o n n a i r e s t h a t w e r e i n i t i a l l y m a i l e d o u t , 712 w e r e r e t u r n e d w i t h i n t h e r e q u i r e d t i m e p e r i o d . T i m e a n d b u d g e t r e s t r i c t i o n s p r e c l u d e d a s e c o n d m a i l i n g . A s s u c h , a r e s p o n s e r a t e o f 66% was c a l c u l a t e d f o r t h i s s t u d y . E a c h q u e s t i o n n a i r e was m a n u a l l y c o d e d i n t o t h e c o m p u t e r . O p t i c a l s c a n n i n g was n o t u s e d a s t h e r e s e a r c h e r w a n t e d t o v i s u a l l y i n s p e c t t h e i n t e g r i t y o f t h e r e s p o n s e s . 80 C h a p t e r N i n e R e s u l t s 9.00 Degree o f P a r t i c i p a t i o n A p p r o x i m a t e l y 78% o f the r e s p o n d e n t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t they p a r t i c i p a t e d i n the employee f i t n e s s program a t l e a s t once p e r week, w i t h the l a r g e s t group of p a r t i c i p a n t s (48%) i n d i c a t i n g t h a t they used the program 5 days p e r week. Age and gender were not f a c t o r s i n d e t e r m i n i n g how o f t e n a p a r t i c i p a n t used the f i t n e s s program. 9.10 P h y s i c a l W e l l B e i n g H y p o t h e s i s 2.1 p r e d i c t e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n a company e x e r c i s e program would r e p o r t improved p h y s i c a l w e l l b e i n g and t h a t the degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n would be r e l a t e d t o the r e p o r t s o f w e l l b e i n g . I n t h i s s t u d y , p h y s i c a l w e l l b e i n g was a s s e s s e d by v a r i a b l e s (a) "improvement of h e a l t h " and (b) "weight l o s s " . The i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n between t h e s e two v a r i a b l e s was r = 0.60, p< 0.0001, h i g h e r than w i t h any o t h e r g i v e n v a r i a b l e , a) Improvement o f H e a l t h 84% o f a l l r e s p o n d e n t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e y had n o t i c e d a t l e a s t " n o t i c e a b l e change" as a r e s u l t o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the f i t n e s s program. A p p r o x i m a t e l y 32% r e p o r t e d n o t i c e a b l e change, 32% r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t change and 20% r e p o r t e d g r e a t change. 12% r e p o r t e d l i t t l e change and o n l y 4% r e p o r t e d no change. Degree o f r e p o r t e d change i n h e a l t h was a l s o r e l a t e d t o 81 b o t h a d h e r e n c e v a r i a b l e s (1) l e n g t h o f m e m b e r s h i p a n d (2) d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . T A B L E 9 . 1 0 C o r r e l a t i o n s o f P e r c e i v e d C h a n g e a n d D e g r e e o f A d h e r e n c e L e n g t h o f D e g r e e o f P e r c e p t i o n s M e m b e r s h i p A d h e r e n c e 1 . I m p r o v e d H e a l t h 0 . 1 6 * 0 . 2 1 * * 2 . W e i g h t L o s s n s 0 . 2 1 * * 3 . R e d u c e d A b s e n t e e i s m 0 . 1 4 * 0 . 1 8 * * 4 . I n c r e a s e d P r o d u c t i v i t y 0 . 1 2 * 0 . 1 6 * * 5 . R e d u c e d S t r e s s 0 . 1 2 * 0 . 1 9 * * 6 . New F r i e n d s 0 . 1 7 * * 0 . 1 5 * 7 . I m p r o v e d Work A t t i t u d e 0 . 1 4 * 0 . 2 1 * * 8 I m p r o v e d S e l f Image n s 0 . 2 0 * * * p < 0 . 0 0 1 * * p < 0 . 0 0 0 1 b ) W e i g h t L o s s 52% o f a l l r e s p o n d e n t s i n d i c a t e d some d e g r e e o f w e i g h t l o s s a s a r e s u l t o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e f i t n e s s p r o g r a m . A p p r o x i m a t e l y 32% r e p o r t e d n o t i c e a b l e c h a n g e , 13% r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t c h a n g e and 7% r e p o r t e d g r e a t c h a n g e . 30% r e p o r t e d l i t t l e c h a n g e a n d 18% r e p o r t e d no c h a n g e . D e g r e e o f r e p o r t e d c h a n g e was n o t r e l a t e d t o (1) l e n g t h o f m e m b e r s h i p , b u t was s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d t o (2 ) d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n 82 These r e s u l t s appear t o be c o n s i s t e n t w i t h those o f p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h e r s measuring changes i n p e r c e p t i o n of p e r s o n a l h e a l t h as a r e s u l t o f p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n an employee f i t n e s s program (Heinzlemann & B a g l e y , 1970; M o r r i s & Husman, 1978 ; Shephard, 1981; P a u l e y , 1982; W r i g h t , 1982) . The absence o f a c o n t r o l group i n t h i s s t u d y makes i t d i f f i c u l t t o say i f n o n - p a r t i c i p a n t s would have r e p o r t e d s i m i l a r changes, but t h a t p o s s i b i l i t y i s d o u b t f u l . Heinzlemann & Ba g l e y (1970) and Durbeck (1972) r e p o r t e d t h a t n o n - p a r t i c i p a n t s r e p o r t e d no changes i n s e l f p e r c e p t i o n s of b e t t e r h e a l t h o r we i g h t l o s s . There i s l i t t l e argument t h a t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s programs has a b e n e f i c i a l e f f e c t b o th on p e r c e i v e d h e a l t h l e v e l and a c t u a l p h y s i o l o g i c a l changes i n the body (Cooper, 1976) . The r e s u l t s o f the p r e s e n t s t u d y s u g g e s t s t h a t even among p a r t i c i p a n t s , p e r c e p t i o n s o f h e a l t h improvements i s c o r r e l a t e d t o degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . High a d h e r e n t s and l o n g term a d h e r e n t s tend t o r e p o r t g r e a t e r improvement i s c o r r e l a t e d t o degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . High a d h e r e n t s and l o n g term a d h e r e n t s t e n d t o r e p o r t g r e a t e r improvements i n p e r s o n a l w e l l b e i n g . The s m a l l magnitude of the c o r r e l a t i o n s however s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e r e i s p r o b a b l y an upper l i m i t t o t h i s e f f e c t . Persons e x e r c i s i n g t e n t i m e s per week are p r o b a b l y not any more l i k e l y t o r e p o r t improvements t o t h e i r h e a l t h than p e r s o n s e x e r c i s i n g t h r e e t i m e s p e r week. 83 H y p o t h e s i s 2.2 A t t e n d a n c e and P r o d u c t i v i t y Based on the b u l k of p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s and absence l i t e r a t u r e , H y p o t h e s i s 2.2 p r e d i c t e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n a company e x e r c i s e program would r e p o r t reduced a b s e n t e e i s m and improved p r o d u c t i v i t y (Shephard, 1981). I n t h i s s t u d y one v a r i a b l e was used t o a s s e s s a b s e n t e e i s m and one v a r i a b l e was used t o a s s e s s p r o d u c t i v i t y . I n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s between t h e s e two v a r i a b l e s was r = 0.72, p< 0.0001. a) A b s e n t e e i s m 41% o f a l l r e s p o n d e n t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t t hey had r e c o g n i z e d a t l e a s t a " n o t i c e a b l e " d e c l i n e i n a b s e n t e e s , as a r e s u l t o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the program. 16% r e p o r t e d n o t i c e a b l e change, 12% r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t change and 13% r e p o r t e d g r e a t change. The l a r g e s t group, 33% r e p o r t e d no change and 26% r e p o r t e d l i t t l e change. Degree of r e p o r t e d r e d u c t i o n s i n a b s e n t e e i s m was c o r r e l a t e d t o both adherence v a r i a b l e s (1) l e n g t h o f membership and (2) degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n . The r e s u l t s o f t h i s s t u d y i n d i c a t e t h a t a l t h o u g h some p a r t i c i p a n t s r e p o r t e d reduced absences and i n c r e a s e d p r o d u c t i v i t y as a r e s u l t o f the f i t n e s s program, the m a j o r i t y o f p a r t i c i p a n t s d i d n o t . There are s e v e r a l p o s s i b l e r e a s o n s why t h i s s h o u l d be so. The most p r o b a b l e r e a s o n s i s t h a t no change i n de f a c t o absence b e h a v i o r o c c u r r e d as a r e s u l t of p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the program. The r e s u l t s o f P a r t I s u g g e s t s 84 that white c o l l a r o f f i c e workers have lower absences that corresponding blue c o l l a r employees. It i s also l i k e l y that participants in the f i t n e s s program form an even more select group within t h i s group of r e l a t i v e l y low absence personnel (Fi e l d i n g , 1982). As such, i t would be unusual to expect th i s group to d r a s t i c a l l y lower an already low absence rate Participants of occupational f i t n e s s programs also tend to perceive differnces in personal behavior more readily i f these changes in behavior were o r i g i n a l reasons for p a r t i c i p a t i o n (Heinzlemann & Bagley, 1970). There i s l i k e l y a high c o r r e l a t i o n between reasons why a person started an exercise program and the degree of improvement in that behavior. Few people report that they begin a fi t n e s s program to reduce absenteeism and increase productivity (Shephard, 1985). Perceptions of change was also s i g n i f i c a n t l y correlated to length of membership within the program and to degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n , although the correlations are very modest. Participants who are highly active in the program do not report greatly increased perceptions of change over more moderate pa r t i c i p a n t s , b) Productivity 56% of a l l respondents reported at least a "noticeable" improvement in productivity as a r e s u l t of p a r t i c i p a t i n g in the f i t n e s s program. 29% reported noticeable change, 19% reported s i g n i f i c a n t change and 9% reported great change. 85 29% r e p o r t e d l i t t l e change and 15% r e p o r t e d no change whatsoever. Degree o f improvements i n p r o d u c t i v i t y was c o r r e l a t e d t o both measures of adherence (1) l e n g t h o f membership and (2) degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . H y p o t h e s i s 2.3 S t r e s s and T e n s i o n H y p o t h e s i s 2.3 p r e d i c t e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n a company f i t n e s s program would r e p o r t reduced s t r e s s and t e n s i o n and t h a t t h e degree o f change would be r e l a t e d t o degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the program. I n t h i s s t u d y s t r e s s was a s s e s s e d by v a r i a b l e a) l o w e r i n g o f s t r e s s and t e n s i o n . T h i s v a r i a b l e was i n t e r c o r r e l a t e d h i g h l y w i t h "improvement o f h e a l t h " r = 0.61, p< 0.0001. a) S t r e s s R e d u c t i o n 82% o f a l l r e s p o n d e n t s i n d i c a t e d a t l e a s t a n o t i c e a b l e r e d u c t i o n i n s t r e s s and t e n s i o n as a r e s u l t o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the f i t n e s s program. A p p r o x i m a t e l y 30% r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t change and 22% r e p o r t e d g r e a t change. 12% r e p o r t e d l i t t l e change and o n l y 6% r e p o r t e d no change. Degree o f r e p o r t e d r e d u c t i o n i n s t r e s s and t e n s i o n was a l s o r e l a t e d t o both measurers o f adherence (1) l e n g t h o f membership and (2) degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . S t r e s s r e d u c t i o n was next i n p o p u l a r i t y o n l y t o " b e t t e r h e a l t h " as a r e p o r t e d e f f e c t o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the program. The f a c t t h a t o n l y 18% o f p a r t i c i p a n t s i n d i c a t e d 86 l i t t l e o r no change, came as l i t t l e s u r p r i s e . The preponderance of l i t e r a t u r e a t t e s t t o the b e n e f i c i a l v a l u e of e x e r c i s e as a s t r e s s r e d u c t i o n v e h i c h l e ( P a u l e y , 1982; Seamonds, 1982; Long, 1983). These r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e t h a t the p a r t i c i p a n t s o f t h i s o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s program a l s o f e e l t h a t e x e r c i s e has been e f f e c t i v e i n r e d u c i n g s t r e s s f o r them. Degree o f s t r e s s r e d u c t i o n was o n l y m o d e s t l y r e l a t e d t o measures o f adherence. These r e s u l t s would i n d i c a t e t h a t a t l e a s t w i t h i n t h i s sample o f w h i t e c o l l a r employees, degree of p e r c e i v e d s t r e s s r e d u c t i o n i s not h i g h l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h degree of adherence. C a s u a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the program i s a l l t h a t i s n e c e s s a r y t o evoke f e e l i n g s o f reduced s t r e s s . T h i s seems t o s u p p o r t the v i e w p o i n t t h a t h i g h p h y s i o l o g i c a l f i t n e s s i s not as i m p o r t a n t i n d e t e r m i n i n g r e d u c t i o n s i n s t r e s s as t h e p s y c h o s o c i a l e f f e c t s o f m e r e l y p a r t i c i p a t i n g w i t h i n one's own l i m i t s ( L o n g , 1983). H y p o t h e s i s 2.4 S o c i a l I n t e r a c t i o n H y p o t h e s i s 2.4 p r e d i c t e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n a company f i t n e s s program would r e p o r t enhanced s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n i n the way o f new f r i e n d s . (Heinzlemann & B a g l e y , 1970). The degree of s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n would a l s o be r e l a t e d t o adherence and degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the program. In t h i s s t u d y , s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n s was a s s e s s e d by v a r i a b l e (a) new f r i e n d s . T h i s v a r i a b l e was not h i g h l y 87 i n t e r c o r r e l a t e d w i t h any o f t h e o t h e r s ( h i g h e s t r = 0.40, p< 0.0001) i n d i c a t i n g t h a t i t p r o b a b l y measured an independent c o n s t r u c t . (a) New F r i e n d s 49% o f a l l r e s p o n d e n t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e y had d e v e l o p e d new f r i e n d s h i p s t h r o u g h t h e c o u r s e of p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n the f i t n e s s program. A p p r o x i m a t e l y 28% r e p o r t e d n o t i c e a b l e change, 15% r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t change and 7% r e p o r t e d g r e a t change. 31% r e p o r t e d o n l y l i t t l e change and 20% r e p o r t e d no change. Degree o f r e p o r t e d change i n new f r i e n d s h i p s was a l s o s i g n i f i c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d t o both measures o f adherence (1) l e n g t h of membership and (2) degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . H y p o t h e s i s 2.5 Work A t t i t u d e H y p o t h e s i s 2.5 p r e d i c t e d t h a t p a r t i c p a n t s i n a company f i t n e s s program would r e p o r t an improvement i n j o b a t t i t u d e and t h a t t h i s degree i n improvement would be r e l a t e d t o degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n and adherence. I n t h i s s t u d y , j o b a t t i t u d e was a s s e s s e d by v a r i a b l e (a) more p o s i t i v e work a t t i t u d e . P o s i t i v e work a t t i t u d e was h i g h l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h improvements i n p r o d u c t i v i t y r = 0.71, p< 0.0001. a) Improvement i n Work A t t i t u d e A p p r o x i m a t e l y 65% o f the r e s p o n d e n t s r e p o r t e d a t l e a s t a n o t i c e a b l e improvement i n work a t t i t u d e as a r e s u l t of p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n the f i t n e s s program. 35% r e p o r t e d n o t i c e a b l e improvement, 21% r e p o r t e d 88 s i g n i f i c a n t improvement and 9% r e p o r t e d g r e a t improvement. 22% r e p o r t e d l i t t l e change and 13% r e p o r t e d no change a t a l l . Degree of improvement i n work a t t i t u d e was r e l a t e d t o b o th adherence v a r i a b l e s (1) l e n g t h o f membership and (2) degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n . The r e s u l t s o f t h i s s t u d y s u p p o r t the work of p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h e r s t h a t f i n d p e r c e p t i o n s o f improved work a t t i t u d e as a p r o d u c t o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n an o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s program (Durbeck, 1972; W r i g h t , 1982) . Only a m i n o r i t y o f t h e sample (30%) r e p o r t e d a s i g n i f i c a n t o r g r e a t improvement i n work a t t i t u d e . A g a i n t h i s i s not s u r p r i s i n g , as imnprovement i n work a t t i t u d e i s not common r e a s o n t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s g i v e f o r p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n an o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s prgram. One would e x p e c t t h a t because of t h i s , changes i n work a t t i t u d e , changes i n a b s e n t e e i s m and p r o d u c t i v i t y would not be r e p o r t e d as o f t e n as changes i n p e r s o n a l w e l l b e i n g . P e r c e p t i o n s o f improvements i n work a t t i t u d e were p o s i t i v e l y c o r r e l a t e d t o both l e n g t h o f membership and degree of adherence. Both c o r r e l a t i o n s were h i g h l y s i g n i f i c a n t but t h e magnitude of the c o r r e l a t i o n s was v e r y modest. T h i s s u g g e s t s t h a t p e r s o n s e x e r c i s i n g v e r y r e g u l a r l y w i l l p r o b a b l y r e p o r t no g r e a t e r changes i n work a t t i t u d e than c a s u a l e x e r c i s e r s . A g a i n t h i s i m p l i e s t h a t the p o s i t i v e e f f e c t s p r o b a b l y more p s y c h o s o c i a l and t h a t a t h r e s h o l d e f f e c t may be 89 o p e r a t i n g . P ersons e x c e r c i s i n g o n l y once o r t w i c e p e r week a r e l i k e l y t o e x p e r i e n c e a p o s i t i v e change i n work a t t i t u d e . 9.60 H y p o t h e s i s 2.6 S e l f - i m a g e H y p o t h e s i s 2.6 p r e d i c t e d an improvement i n s e l f - i m a g e among p a r t i c i p a n t s o f a company f i t n e s s program and t h a t the degree o f change would be r e l a t e d t o degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n and adherence. I n t h i s s t u d y , s e l f - i m a g e was a s s e s s e d by v a r i a b l e (a) improved s e l f - i m a g e . S e l f - i m a g e was most s i g n i f i c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h "improvements o f h e a l t h " , r - 0.60, p< 0.0001. a) Improvement i n S e l f - i m a g e A p p r o x i m a t e l y 76% o f a l l r e s p o n d e n t s r e p o r t e d a t l e a s t a n o t i c e a b l e improvement i n s e l f - i m a g e as a r e s u l t of p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n the f i t n e s s program. 36% r e p o r t e d a n o t i c e a b l e change, 26% r e p o r t e d a s i g n i f i c a n t change and 14% r e p o r t e d g r e a t change. 17% r e p o r t e d l i t t l e improvement and 7% r e p o r t e d no change whatsoever. Degree o f improvement o f s e l f - i m a g e was not r e l a t e d t o (1) l e n g t h o f membership, but was r e l a t e d t o (2) degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n . C h a p t e r Ten 10.10 D i s c u s s i o n The S t e e r s & Rhodes (1978) P r o c e s s Model s u g g e s t s t h a t m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d work i s a most i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r when one i s a t t e m p t i n g t o d e s c r i b e b o t h i n v o l u n t a r y and v o l u n t a r y absence b e h a v i o r . The purpose of t h i s s t u d y was t o e x p l o r e the r o l e t h a t o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s programs c o u l d p l a y i n m e d i a t i n g t h i s m o t i v a t i o n f a c t o r . The S t e e r s & Rhodes Model a l l o w e d the f o r m u l a t i o n o f s i x hypotheses which were s u b s e q u e n t l y t e s t e d w i t h d a t a from an e x i s t i n g employee f i t n e s s program. P h y s i c a l W e l l B e i n g There was l i t t l e q u e s t i o n t h a t the m a j o r i t y o f r e s p o n d e n t s t o the q u e s t i o n n a i r e p e r c e i v e d an improvement i n t h e i r h e a l t h . T h i s f a c t c o u l d c o n c e i v a b l y a f f e c t a t t e n d a n c e by both e nhancing a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d and enhancing m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d . P e rsons e n r o l l e d i n the program f o r a l o n g e r p e r i o d o f t ime were more l i k e l y t o r e p o r t improvements i n h e a l t h . T h i s c o r r e l a t i o n was s i g n i f i c a n t , but v e r y s m a l l . I t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t new r e c r u i t s n o t i c e improvement i n t h e i r h e a l t h a t the b e g i n n i n g s t a g e s o f the program, but a f t e r the f i r s t y e a r o r two, the magnitude o f t h e s e changes becomes more d i f f i c u l t t o d e t e c t . Improvements t o h e a l t h may l e v e l o f f v e r y q u i c k l y . L i k e w i s e , degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n a l s o was s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d t o r e p o r t s o f improved h e a l t h ( r = 0.21, p< 0.0001). 91 T h i s c o r r e l a t i o n i s a l s o modest, s u g g e s t i n g t h a t perhaps o n l y a m i n i m a l t h r e s h o l d l e v e l of p a r t i c i p a t i o n i s n e c e s s a r y t o produce p e r c e p t i o n s o f b e t t e r h e a l t h . I t i s a l s o l i k e l y t h a t t h e r e i s an " o p t i m a l " f r e q u e n c y o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n terms of b e t t e r h e a l t h . Weight l o s s was r e p o r t e d by a m a j o r i t y o f the p a r t i c i p a n t s and t h i s was a l s o c o r r e l a t e d m o d e s t l y t o degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n r = 0.20, p< 0.0001. 10.20 A t t e n d a n c e and P r o d u c t i v i t y The c e n t r a l i s s u e i n both e s s a y s concerned the r e l a t i o n s h i p between o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s and a b s e n t e e i s m . S i n c e the l i t e r a t u r e had s u g g e s t e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n employee f i t n e s s programs i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h reduced a b s e n t e e i s m , h y p o t h e s i s 2.2 p r e d i c t e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s would r e p o r t the same. Moreover, shephard's (1981) s t u d y showed t h a t r e d u c t i o n s i n a b s e n t e e i s m may be g r e a t e r i n h i g h a d h e r e n t s . T h i s s t u d y r e v e a l e d t h a t a l t h o u g h a l a r g e p e r c e n t a g e (41%) of the p a r t i c i p a n t s i n d i c a t e d some r e d u c t i o n i n a b s e n t e e i s m , o n l y 12% r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t change and o n l y 13% r e p o r t e d g r e a t change. The p a t t e r n was s i m i l a r f o r p r o d u c t i v i t y a l t h o u g h g r e a t e r numbers r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t change. As a l l u d e d t o i n C h a p t e r S i x , changes i n a b s e n t e e i s m and p r o d u c t i v i t y w i t h i n "white c o l l a r " p o p u l a t i o n s may be more d i f f i c u l t t o measure than i n t r a d i t i o n a l " b l u e c o l l a r " 92 o c c u p a t i o n s . P a r t i c i p a n t s o f o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s may be a l r e a d y a s e l e c t g r o u p o f " g o o d a t t e n d e r s " . C h a n g e s w i t h i n s u c h a g r o u p may be more d i f f i c u l t t o m e a s u r e . F u t u r e s t u d i e s may be b e t t e r d i r e c t e d a t b l u e c o l l a r p o p u l a t i o n s o r g r o u p s o f h i g h a b s e n t e e e m p l o y e e s . H y p o t h e s i s 2 . 2 p o s t u l a t e d t h a t r e p o r t s o f a b s e n c e r e d u c t i o n a n d p r o d u c t i v i t y i m p r o v e m e n t w o u l d be r e l a t e d t o d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n and a d h e r e n c e . L o n g t e r m a d h e r e n t s d i d r e p o r t r e d u c e d a b s e n c e and i n c r e a s e d p r o d u c t i v i t y b u t t h e d e g r e e o f c o r r e l a t i o n t o a d h e r e n c e was v e r y m o d e s t r = 0 . 1 2 a n d r = 0 . 1 4 , p< 0 . 0 0 1 . A g a i n a s i n t h e c a s e o f p h y s i c a l w e l l b e i n g , a t h r e s h o l d e f f e c t may be o p e r a t i n g . P e r c e p t i o n s i n a t t e n d a n c e and p r o d u c t i v i t y may be r e l a t e d t o t h e f i r s t few m o n t h s o r y e a r s o f j o i n g t h e p r o g r a m , b u t t h i s s o o n l e v e l s o f f . S o n g (1982) i n a r e v i e w o f S h e p h a r d ' s (1981) d a t a n o t e d t h a t " p e r s i s t e n t h i g h a d h e r e n t s " showed a p r o g r e s s i v e t r e n d o f i m p r o v e d a t t e n d a n c e t h r o u g h t h e f i r s t y e a r o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n , w i t h an u p s w i n g a f t e r t h e f i r s t y e a r . F i e l d i n g (1982) h a s s u g g e s t e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n f i t n e s s p r o g r a m s a r e p r o b a b l y b e t t e r a t t e n d e r s a s a s e l f s e l e c t e d g r o u p . T h i s s t u d y s u g g e s t s t h a t e v e n among t h i s " s e l e c t g r o u p " , a p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n e x i s t s b e t w e e n p e r c e p t i o n s o f a b s e n c e i m p r o v e m e n t and p r o d u c t i v i t y i m p r o v e m e n t and de f a c t o d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . 93 10.30 S t r e s s The S t e e r s & Rhodes Model i d e n t i f i e s s t r e s s as a p r i m a r y c o n t r i b u t o r t o a b s e n t e e i s m . A l t h o u g h the e x a c t mechanism beh i n d t h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n has not been e l u c i d a t e d i n t h e i r model, ( S t e e r s & Rhodes, 1978), s t r e s s may a f f e c t m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d work by (1) r e d u c i n g d e s i r e t o come t o work, r e d u c i n g s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h the j o b s i t u a t i o n and by (2) i n c r e a s i n g the l i k l i h o o d o f p h y s i o l o g i c a l i l l n e s s (Holmes & Rahe, 1967). T h i s s t u d y h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s programs would r e p o r t r e d u c t i o n s i n s t r e s s and t h a t the degree o f r e d u c t i o n would be r e l a t e d t o degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n . A v e r y h i g h number of the r e s p o n d e n t s r e p o r t e d a t l e a s t a n o t i c e a b l e r e d u c t i o n i n s t r e s s (82%) w i t h 52% o f the r e s p o n d e n t s r e p o r t i n g s i g n i f i c a n t o r g r e a t change. T h i s was h i g h e r t h a n f o r any o t h e r s i n g l e c a t e g o r y i n terms o f s i g n i f i c a n t o r g r e a t change. Degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n and adherence d i d seem t o be s i g n i f i c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h r e p o r t s o f s t r e s s r e d u c t i o n , but the c o r r e l a t i o n s were v e r y modest i n s i z e . T h i s may s u g g e s t t h a t even c a s u a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s program can s i g n i f i c a n t l y reduce p e r c e p t i o n s o f s t r e s s and a n x i e t y . Long (1983) f o r one, s u g g e s t s t h a t the p s y c h o s o c i a l a s p e c t o f t h e f i t n e s s program may be as i m p o r t a n t as the a c t u a l e x e r c i s e s t h e m s e l v e s . These f i n d i n g s a r e c ongruent w i t h t h a t v i e w - p o i n t . 94 10.40 S o c i a l I n t e r a c t i o n The S t e e r s & Rhodes (1978) Model i d e n t i f i e s "co-worker r e l a t i o n s " as p o s s i b l y b e i n g i n f l u e n t i a l i n enhancing o r d e t r a c t i n g from an employee's s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h t h e i r work s i t u a t i o n . The p r e s e n t s t u d y h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s programs would r e p o r t an i n c r e a s e i n t h e number of "new f r i e n d s " and t h a t t h i s c o u l d be r e l a t e d t o degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n o r adherence. A l t h o u g h 49% o f r e s p o n d e n t s r e p o r t e d a t l e a s t a n o t i c e a b l e change i n the number of new f r i e n d s , o n l y a m i n o r i t y (22%) r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t o r g r e a t change. T h i s appears t o be s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d t o l e n g t h o f membership i n the program and degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n , a l t h o u g h the s i z e o f t h e c o r r e l a t i o n s i s modest. Enhanced s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n may be s i g n i f i c a n t p e r c e p t i o n f o r some p a r t i c i p a n t s , but not f o r a l l . 10.50 Work A t t i t u d e S t e e r s & Rhodes i d e n t i f y a s t r o n g p e r s o n a l work e t h i c as b e i n g a p o w e r f u l i n f l u e n c e t o come t o work. T h i s s t u d y p o s t u l a t e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s program c o u l d a f f e c t p e r s o n a l work a t t i t u d e s . 65% o f the r e s p o n d e n t s i n t h i s s t u d y r e p o r t e d a t l e a s t a n o t i c e a b l e improvement i n work a t t i t u d e as a r e s u l t of the f i t n e s s program. A t l e a s t 30% o f the sample r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t t o g r e a t change, i n d i c a t i n g t h a t a t l e a s t f o r 95 some employees, p a r t i c i p a t i o n in the f i t n e s s program could be very b e n e f i c i a l for ind i v i d u a l attitudes towards the job. The degree of improvement appears to show some positi v e c o r r e l a t i o n with length of membership and degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n , although the magnitude of the correlations are modest. 10.60 Self Image A majority of the respondents in t h i s sample reported at least a noticeable improvement in t h e i r s e l f image as a re s u l t of p a r t i c i p a t i n g in the program (76%), with a sizeable percentage (40%) indicating s i g n i f i c a n t or great change. This would support the work of Layman (1974) and Sonstrom (1983), both of whom found evidence that f i t n e s s p a r t i c i p a t i o n enhances s e l f image and s e l f esteem. In t h i s study, degree of change was not related to length of membership but was s i g n i f i c a n t l y related with degree of p a r t i c i p a t i o n . Longer term members did not report greater increases in s e l f image but high participants did, although the magnitude of the c o r r e l a t i o n i s small. CHAPTER ELEVEN C o n c l u s i o n s and I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r F u t u r e Research 11.0 L i m i t a t i o n s o f t h i s Study The measurement o f human b e h a v i o r i n a n a t u r a l i s t i c s e t t i n g i s i n e v i t a b l y f r a u g h t w i t h m e t h o d o g i c a l p i t f a l l s . Even the b e s t c o n c e i v e d " e m p i r i c a l " s t u d i e s have met w i t h c r i t i c i s m on th e s e grounds a l o n e (Shephard 1981, F i e l d i n g , 1982). The p r e s e n t s t u d y f o c u s e d on the p o s s i b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p between o c c u p a t i o n a l f i t n e s s and two a s p e c t s o f absence b e h a v i o r as d i r e c t e d by the t h e o r e t i c a l model o f S t e e r s & Rhodes (1978). T h i s s t u d y was not d e s i g n e d t o be an e x p e r i m e n t a l s t u d y but r a t h e r t o be one o f e x p l o r a t i o n , t o p o i n t t o p o s s i b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p s between v a r i a b l e s as viewed from a d i f f e r e n t c o n c e p t u a l l e n s . I n l i g h t o f the p a u c i t y o f t h e o r y and r e s e a r c h i n the f i e l d o f f i t n e s s and a b s e n t e e i s m , e x p l o r a t o r y r e s e a r c h p r o v i d e s c l u e s as t o p o s s i b l e avenues f o r f u t u r e , d i r e c t e d r e s e a r c h . P a r t I attem p t e d t o d e s c r i b e any r e l a t i o n s h i p between a measure o f p h y s i o l o g i c a l f i t n e s s (MVO2) and m u l t i p l e measures o f s i c k n e s s absence. C o n c l u s i o n s a re d i f f i c u l t as t h i s was a c o r r e l a t i o n a l a n a l y s i s o f d a t a and not an e x p e r i m e n t a l one. However, the s m a l l magnitude o f the 97 c o r r e l a t i o n s a l t h o u g h h i g h l y s i g n i f i c a n t i n some c a s e s , i n d i c a t e s t h a t a d i r e c t r e l a t i o n s h i p between h i g h p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s and low absence i s p r o b a b l y n o n - e x i s t e n t a t l e a s t i n w h i t e c o l l a r , s e d e n t a r y p o p u l a t i o n s . T h i s i s not t o say t h a t more p o w e r f u l r e l a t i o n s h i p s may e x i s t w i t h i n e i t h e r h i g h absence p o p u l a t i o n s o r p o p u l a t i o n s engaged i n t a s k s r e q u i r i n g h i g h e r l e v e l s o f f i t n e s s . The d i f f e r e n c e s i n absence r a t e s between males and f e m a l e s , c l a s s i f i e d and management and o l d and new employees p o i n t s t o the d i f f i c u l t y i n i n t e r p r e t i n g d a t a from non-homogeneous d a t a g r o u p s . I n the f u t u r e , r e s e a r c h e r s would be a d v i s e d t o c o n s i d e r such v a r i a b l e s when d e s i g n i n g e x p e r i m e n t a l p l a n s . T h i s has not been the case i n t h e p a s t . An i n t e r e s t i n g r e s u l t o f the s t u d y i n P a r t I p r o v i d e s s u p p o r t f o r the "gate k e e p i n g " f u n c t i o n o f p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s i n the S t e e r s & Rhodes n o t i o n o f a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d . Employees w i t h v e r y low f i t n e s s o r v e r y poor h e a l t h may indeed be s i c k and absent more o f t e n , but i t may be u n r e a s o n a b l e t o ex p e c t v e r y f i t o r v e r y u n h e a l t h y employees t o be away any l e s s o f t e n than the avera g e . "Very h e a l t h y employees may not n e c e s s a r i l y a t t e n d work because o t h e r f a c t o r s may have a g r e a t e r e f f e c t on the a t t e n d a n c e d e c i s i o n " ( S t e e r s & Rhodes, 1978, p.p. 401-402). 98 P a r t I I approached the f i t n e s s and absence r e l a t i o n s h i p from the second p a r t o f the S t e e r s & Rhodes Model, m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d * The hypotheses d e v e l o p e d i n t h i s s e c t i o n of the s t u d y p r e d i c t e d changes i n p e r c e p t i o n among a number of p e r s o n a l a t t i t u d e and h e a l t h v a r i a b l e s (Shephard, 1985). The S t e e r s & Rhodes c o n c e p t u a l framework p r e d i c t e d t h a t enhancement of t h e s e a t t i t u d e s c o u l d a f f e c t m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d work. T h i s mechanism has been s u g g e s t e d by Shephard (1981) as p o s s i b l y b e i n g i n f l u e n t i a l i n e x p l a i n i n g d i f f e r e n c e s i n absence b e h a v i o r between " h i g h a d h e r e r s " t o the f i t n e s s program and o t h e r groups w i t h i n the company. The q u e s t i o n n a i r e employed i n t h i s s t u d y was v e r y s i m p l i s t i c and cannot be used as a g u i d e t o a c c u r a t e l y judge a t t i t u d i n a l change. Many o f the a t t i t u d e v a r i a b l e s used i n t h i s q u e s t i o n n a i r e were i n t e r c o r r e l a t e d w i t h each o t h e r , i n d i c a t i n g , t h a t a l t h o u g h some p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n d i d e x i s t between adherence b e h a v i o r and a t t i t u d e change, i t was i m p o s s i b l e t o say w i t h any degree o f c e r t a i n t y what changed and by what amount. A g a i n i t must be s t a t e d t h a t P a r t I I was a l s o e x p l o r a t o r y . The l i t e r a t u r e has not p r o v i d e d overwhelming i n f o r m a t i o n as t o the p o s s i b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p s between f i t n e s s p a r t i c i p a t i o n and a t t i t u d i n a l v a r i a b l e s . L i k e w i s e , few s t u d i e s have examined degree o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n w i t h i n s e l f s e l e c t e d e x e r c i s e groups and i t s r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h p e r c e p t i o n s o f 99 change. The r e s u l t s o f P a r t I I suggest t h a t a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a t i o n even a t t h e moderate l e v e l can e l i c i t s i g n i f i c a n t changes i n p e r s o n a l p e r c e p t i o n s about s e l f , j o b , h e a l t h and f r i e n d s . One o r a l l o f t h e s e v a r i a b l e s have been i d e n t i f i e d as b e i n g i m p o r t a n t i n the S t e e r s & Rhodes Model o f m o t i v a t i o n t o a t t e n d work. F u t u r e s t u d i e s may want t o use more c o n v e n t i o n a l q u e s t i o n n a i r e i n v e n t o r i e s and attempt t o r e l a t e t h e s e r e s u l t s t o the de f a c t o e v e n t s as they o c c u r i n n a t u r e . A f u r t h e r s t e p would be t o r e p l i c a t e t h e s e r e s u l t s u s i n g a number of d i f f e r e n t o c c u p a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n s . C e r t a i n l y the r e s u l t s i n P a r t I i n d i c a t e t h a t d i f f e r e n c e s between o c c u p a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n s a r e l i k e l y . F u t u r e s t u d i e s may a l s o want t o use o t h e r measures o f f i t n e s s as an a d j u n c t t o M V O 2 . Measures such as f l e x i b i l i t y and s t r e n g t h may be p a r t i c u l a r l y r e l e v a n t t o o c c u p a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n s and the i n c i d e n c e o f absence. 100 REFERENCES A l l e n , G. 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(1982) Cost Containment Through Health Promotion -Programs. Journal of Occupational Medicine. Vol. 24, No.12. Yolles, S.F., Pasquak A., and Krinsky, W. (1975) Absenteeism in Industry. American Lecture Series 969. Charles Thomas, S p r i n g f i e l d , I l l i n o i s Young, R.J. and Ismail, A. (1976) Personality Differences of Adult Men Before and After a Physical Fitness Program. Research Quarterly 47: 513-519. 108 *APPENDIX A Summary Of Major S t u d i e s On P h y s i c a l A c t i v i t y And Heart Disease RATIO OF INCIDENCE OF CORONARY DISEASE INCIDENCE AMONG ACTIVE PERSONS INCIDENCE AMONG SEDENTARY PERSONS Author M o r r i s , 1953 London Brown, 1957 Chapman, 1957 Los Angeles Z u k e l , 1959 N. Dakota Stamler, 1954-57 McDonough, 1964 Ge o r g i a Rose, 1969 London C a t e g o r i e s Studied 31,000 urban t r a n s p o r t employees. A c t i v e conductors/ sedentary d r i v e r s , 35-64 years 180,000 man-years. P o s t a l workers. A c t i v e d e l i v e r y s t a f f / s e d e n t a r y employees. 35-59 years 1,062 men aged between 50 and 60, i n c l u d i n g 89 coronary s u f f e r e r s . 158 very a c t i v e occupations/137 sedentary o c c u p a t i o n s . 766 f a i r l y a c t i v e / 1 3 7 sedentary o c c u p a t i o n s . 772 c i v i l s e r v i c e employees 40-59 y e a r s . 492 ac t i v e / 2 3 6 sedentary ( d i f f e r e n c e s not s i g n i f i c a n t ) 1,886 c o n t r o l s and 288 cases of coronary d i s e a s e s . Over 35 yea r s o f age. Farmers/ o t h e r o c c u p a t i o n s . 740 p u b l i c s e r v i c e employees. 50-59 y e a r s . Blue c o l l a r / white c o l l a r 3,102 a g r i c u l t u r e workers. 15-74 y e a r s . C o n s i d e r a b l e / i n c o n s i d e r a b l e degree o f p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y 9,777 c i v i l s e r v a n t s . 40-64 y e a r s . R a t i o of i n c i d e n c e of ECG l e s i o n s . 3,561 walkers/ 436 nonwalkers Coronary Diseases I n f a r c t i o n Deaths 0.70 0.75 0. 29 0. 53 1.03 0.70 0.78 0. 17-0. 50 0.53 0.48 0.50 0. 63 0. 60 0. 98 0.48 D i f f e r e n c e s t a t i s t i c a l l y not s i g n i f i c a n t 0. 61 (•From Quasar, 1976) 109 APPENDIX B Summary of Major S t i d i e s o f F h y s i c a l A c t i v i t y and Absence From Work Author- P o p u l a t i o n R e s u l t s Shepherd; 1981 white c o l l a r , Canadian Insurance employees (n=1200) Bj u r s t r o m and A l e x i o u , white c o l l a r , e d u c a t i o n a l 1978 employees, New York St a t e (n=847) Negative a s s o c i a t i o n with adherence p a r t i c i p a n t s i n program l e s s absent Cady e t a l , 1979 f i r e f i g h t e r s n e g a t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h l e v e l o f f i t n e s s Pravosvdov, 1976;1978 white and b l u e c o l l a r s n e g a t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h l e v e l o f f i t n e s s McKendrick, 1982 white c o l l a r p h y s i c a l a c t i v e workers l e s s absent Linden, 1969 customs o f f i c e r (n=51) ne g a t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h MV0 2 K e e l o r , 1976 blue c o l l a r , Sweden p a r t i c i p a n t s l e s s absent \ 110 •APPENDIX C Absence and Job S a t i s f a c t i o n Research, C a t e g o r i z e d by Methodology Source Sample R e l a t i o n s h i p Found Noland(1945) Van Z e l s t and K e r r T a l a c h i ( 1 9 6 0 ) Patchen(1960) Harding and Bottenberg(1961) Vroom{1962) Gadourek(1965) Gerstenfeld(1969) Smith,Kendall,and Hulin(1969) Hackman and Lawler(1971) Waters and Roach(1971) Waters and Roach(1973) Newman(1974) Clark(1975) N i c h o l s o n , W a l l , and Lischeron(1977) Category 1; I n d i v i d u a l C o r r e l a t i o n S t u d i e s 466 b l u e - c o l l a r males 340 b l u e - c o l l a r males 42 b l u e - c o l l a r males 487 male p r o c e s s o p e r a t o r s 376 airmen 489 male process o p e r a t o r s 2,227 b l u e - c o l l a r 148 b l u e - c o l l a r females 98 b l u e c o l l a r males 208 b l u e - c o l l a r males 160 w h i t e - c o l l a r females 197 w h i t e - c o l l a r females 108 male and female n u r s i n g s t a f f zero 62 female student nurses 95 b l u e - c o l l a r males n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e zero z e r o zero z e r o n e g a t i v e ( 4 and z e r o ( l z ero n e g a t i v e ( 2 and z e r o ( 3 n e g a t i v e ( 1 and z e r o ( 4 z e r o s c a l e s ) s c a l e ) s c a l e s ) s c a l e s ) s c a l e ) s c a l e s ) n e g a t i v e ( 3 s c a l e s ) and z e r o ( 3 s c a l e s ) Category 2: C i t e r i o n or C o n t r a s t e d Group St u d i e s Kornhauser and Sharp(1932) Fraser(1947) Katz and Hyman(1947) Metzner and Mann(1953) White(1960) Taylor(1968) Ferguson!1972) OPCS(1973) 200 b l u e - c o l l a r females 3,000 b l u e - c o l l a r males and females 1,800 b l u e - c o l l a r males 251 blue c o l l a r males 163 w h i t e - c o l l a r males 212 w h i t e - c o l l a r females 50 b l u e - c o l l a r males and females 194 male process operators 109 b l u e - c o l l a r males 7,998 males ( a l l occupations) 5072 females ( a l l occupations) n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e zero n e g a t i v e ( 2 s c a l e s ) and z e r o ( 4 s c a l e s ) n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e Kerr,Koppelmeir, and S u l l i v a n ( 1 9 5 1 ) Mann and Baumgartel(1952) Lundquist(1959) As(1962) Mann, Indik, and Vroom(1963) Category 3: Group C o r r e l a t i o n a l Studies 19 f a c t o r y departments 163 w h i t e - c o l l a r males 251 b l u e - c o l l a r males 9 f a c t o r y departments 18 f a c t o r y work groups 24 f a c t o r y work groups n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e zero n e g a t i v e *From(Chadwick, N i c h o l s o n & Brown, 1982) I l l APPENDIX D Summary of S t u d i e s on Absence and Sex Author M a r l i n 1976 Redmond 1978 Sylwester 1979 G a r r i s o n & Muchinsky 1977 Johns 1978 Po p u l a t i o n Teachers Teachers Teachers White c o l l a r R e s u l t s Female > male Female > male Female > male Female > male Female > male APPENDIX E MEMBERSHIP QUESTIONNAIRE EMPLOYEE FITNESS PROGRAM P a r t 1 1. a) Are you a r e g u l a r user o f the Employee F i t n e s s Centre? YES NO b) IF YOU NO LONGER USE THE EMPLOYEE FITNESS CENTRE * DO NOT CONTINUE - GO DIRECTLY TO PAGE 6 * 2. F a c i l i t y use: a) Please i n d i c a t e the number of times per week you use the f a c i l i t y on the f o l l o w i n g days and times: Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. F r i . 8:00 am 1:30 pm 6:00 pm 8:00 pm b) I f you use the F i t n e s s Centre l e s s than once a week, how many times a month do you use the f a c i l i t i e s ? (must be l e s s than 4) 3. Length of time you have been a member o f the FITNESS PROGRAM: l e s s than one year 1 - 2 years 3 - 4 years 4 or more years t 4. F a c i l i t i e s or programs I use r e g u l a r l y a r e : (check as many as apply) weight t r a i n i n g equipment a e r o b i c s c l a s s e s e x e r c i s e bikes n u t r i t i o n a l c o u n s e l l i n g a l l a v a i l a b l e s e r v i c e s 6:00 -11:00 -3:30 -6:00 -113 FOR QUESTIONS 5 & 6 USE THE FOLLOWING RATING SCALE: 1 = POOR 2 = BELOW AVERAGE 3 = AVERAGE 4 = ABOVE AVERAGE 5 = EXCELLENT 5 Compared to similar f a c i l i t i e s you have v i s i t e d , how would you rate the EMPLOYEE FITNESS CENTRE i n the following areas? 1 2 3 4 5 Service Hours of Operation Cleanliness Personalized programs 6. Please rate our staf f in the following areas: 1 2 3 4 5 A v a i l a b i l i t y _ Competence Courtesy Friendliness 7. Please add any comments concerning our st a f f and service that may help us serve you better. 8. Number of times per week you use f a c i l i t i e s OUTSIDE of the Fitness Centre: 4 or more times per week 3 times per week 2 times per week 1 time per week I do not regularly use other f a c i l i t i e s 9. I f you use o t h e r f a c i l i t i e s , what a c t i v i t i e s do you pursue? N a u t i l u s t r a i n i n g F r e e we ight t r a i n i n g A e r o b i c s c l a s s e s N u t r i t i o n a l c o u n s e l l i n g Other a c t i v i t i e s such as swimming, r a c q u e t b a l l e t c . . 10. What equipment would you l i k e t o see the Employee F i t n e s s Program purchase? N a u t i l u s equipment F r e e we ights Sauna, steam room or spa Suntan s t u d i o Other FOR QUESTIONS 11 & 12: CHECK AS MANY AS APPLY, INDICATING THE DEGREE OF IMPORTANCE YOU F E E L SHOULD BE ASSIGNED TO I T , USING THE FOLLOWING SCALE: 1 = NOT VERY IMPORTANT 2 = SHOULD BE CONSIDERED 3 = SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED 4 = VERY IMPORTANT 5 = ESSENTIAL 11. I would l i k e t o see a d d i t i o n a l emphasis i n such areas a s : 1 2 3 4 5 Comprehensive t e s t i n g N u t r i t i o n a n a l y s i s P e r s o n a l i z e d c o n s u l t a t i o n A t h l e t i c s / r e c r e a t i o n 12. Should a d d i t i o n a l funding become a v a i l a b l e , these funds s h o u l d be used f o r : (check ALL below) 1 2 3 4 5 More programs More equipment Expans ion o f f a c i l i t y Increase hours a v a i l a b l e There s h o u l d be no i n c r e a s e i n spending 13. P a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the EMPLOYEE FITNESS PROGRAM has caused the f o l l o w i n g changes i n me: LEGEND 1 = NO CHANGE 2 = L I T T L E CHANGE 3 = NOTICEABLE CHANGE 4 = SIGNIFICANT CHANGE 5 = GREAT CHANGE 1 2 3 4 5 a) More p o s i t i v e work a t t i t u d e _ b) B e t t e r h e a l t h _ c) Lowered absentee i sm _ d) I n c r e a s e d p r o d u c t i v i t y _ e) Lowered s t r e s s and t e n s i o n _ f) Weight l o s s _ g) Improved s e l f - i m a g e _ h) Gained new f r i e n d s 14. YOUR INPUT a) What do you l i k e BEST about the Employee F i t n e s s Program? b) What do you l i k e LEAST about the Employee F i t n e s s Program? c) How would you improve on the q u a l i t y o f s e r v i c e a v a i l a b l e ? d) P l e a s e l i s t any unsafe or i n c o n v e n i e n t c o n d i t i o n s w i t h i n the f a c i l i t y : 116 15. PERSONAL DATA a) sex: male female b) age: 18 - 24 24 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 + c) Where do you u s u a l l y work? HQ B u i l d i n g Boundary P l a z a ST & B " W i l l i a m F a r r e l l " P lease s t a t e d) Department and f l o o r e) My o c c u p a t i o n i s p r i m a r i l y : M a n a g e r i a l P r o f e s s i o n a l T e c h n i c a l C l e r i c a l Other (p l ease s t a t e ) f ) Y e a r s w i t h the company l e s s than 1 y e a r 3 y e a r s o r l e s s 5 y e a r s o r l e s s 10 y e a r s o r l e s s more than 10 y e a r s PART II TO BE COMPLETED ONLY IF YOU NO LONGER USE THE EMPLOYEE FITNESS CENTRE 1. a) Are you a member/user o f another f i t n e s s c e n t r e ? yes no b) IF Y E S , what type o f equipment do you use? Check as many as are a p p l i c a b l e N a u t i l u s or s i m i l a r F r e e weights E x e r c i s e b i k e s Tanning s t u d i o s Sauna, steam room o r c) IF YES, what type o f programs do you p a r t i c i p a t e i n ? Check as many as are a p p l i c a b l e N u t r i t i o n A e r o b i c s o r d a n c e r s i z e Weight t r a i n i n g Clubs - j o g g i n g P e r s o n a l c o n s u l t a t i o n 2. In o r d e r to improve s e r v i c e , the EMPLOYEE FITNESS PROGRAM must p l a c e more emphasis i n the f o l l o w i n g a r e a s : Increase programs o f f e r e d Expand e x i s t i n g f a c i l i t i e s Expand h o u r s o f o p e r a t i o n Purchase new equipment ' Improve t r a i n i n g o f s t a f f and 3. I l a s t used the EMPLOYEE FITNESS CENTRE: More than one month ago More t h a n two months ago More than f o u r months ago More than s i x months ago More than twe lve months ago . 4. I no l o n g e r use the EMPLOYEE FITNESS CENTRE f o r the fo l lowing reasons : U n s a t i s f a c t o r y s e r v i c e Inadequate f a c i l i t i e s - too crowded I n a p p r o p r i a t e programs f o r me M e d i c a l reasons or i n j u r y Other h o t tub v o l u n t e e r s 118 PART II ( c o n t ' d ) 5. PERSONAL DATA a) sex: male female b) age: 18 - 24 24 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 + c) Where do you u s u a l l y work? HQ B u i l d i n g Boundary P l a z a ST & B W i l l i a m F a r r e l l P l ease s t a t e d) Department and f l o o r e) My o c c u p a t i o n i s p r i m a r i l y : M a n a g e r i a l P r o f e s s i o n a l T e c h n i c a l C l e r i c a l Other (p l ease s t a t e ) f ) Years w i t h the company l e s s than 1 y e a r 3 y e a r s or l e s s 5 y e a r s o r l e s s 10 y e a r s o r l e s s more than 10 y e a r s APPENDIX F PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The employee f i t n e s s program d e s c r i b e d i n t h i s s tudy i s an example of a m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l approach to w o r k s i t e f i t n e s s . P a r t i c i p a n t s i n the program had access to a number o f d i f f e r e n t i n d i v i d u a l and group e x e r c i s e a c t i v i t i e s . These a c t i v i t i e s i n c l u d e d group a e r o b i c s (40-45 c l a s s e s per week) , r u n n i n g , s t r e n g t h t r a i n i n g , i n t r a m u r a l a t h l e t i c s , r e c r e a t i o n a l p r o g r a m s , i n d i v i d u a l c o u n s e l l i n g and comprehensive p h y s i c a l f i t n e s s e v a l u a t i o n s . These a c t i v i t i e s were conducted on company pr emise s and l e a d by p a i d s p e c i a l i s t s and company v o l u n t e e r s . A l l a c t i v i t i e s were o f f e r e d on "non-company t i m e " . P a r t i c i p a t i o n was v o l u n t a r y , but s u p p o r t e d by the c o r p o r a t i o n ' s management. The program d e s c r i b e d i n t h i s s tudy has been i n e x i s t e n c e s i n c e 1977 and at l a s t r e p o r t (1985) had a p p r o x i m a t e l y 45% of the employees of the c o r p o r a t e h e a d q u a r t e r s as a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a n t s .