This Encyclopedia provides an overview of a large range of key topics within occupational health psychology. The book offers definitions and descriptions of both old and new topics, including for instance job crafting, organizational justice, workplace bullying, workplace health and well-being strategy, gig work, the 4-day working week, remote and virtual work, entrepreneurship, technostress, and AI. This Encyclopedia shows a large diversity of concepts, theories and methods.
The book has 72 chapters. Each chapter provides a definition, key association, future directions and readings as a fundamental starting point for future research. All entries are written by experts on occupational health psychology from around the world. This book has three main editors and 130 other authors, and this format is very impressive. The authors have different scientific backgrounds, and many have high competence in social sciences, while others have their main knowledge in health and safety. The authors write and discuss risks seen from different angles and give inspiration to new thoughts about the working society. The authors have good knowledge of the fields they write about, and the reference lists are long. The authors are mainly from Europe and Australia, but authors from other countries are also represented.
The target groups for the book are students, academics, practitioners and policy-makers. To read this book, it is an advantage to have a background in social sciences and to be interested in research, as the book is quite theoretical. However, the texts can be eye openers to understand how the changes in our society influence the situation for the workers, and the book will also be a resource for anyone interested in the health and well-being of people at work.
As occupational health psychology is a relatively new area, this Encyclopedia will be a great help to learn about the field. The field of occupational health psychology probably started in the 1980s. At this time, major workplace changes took place. Many jobs became more insecure, as, for instance, technological change was moving at a fast pace. Occupational health psychology emerged as a new field, focusing on key areas of occupational stress, work well-being and work–life balance.
Occupational physicians who want to understand and tackle the new complex workplaces we see today should all read this book.
Rating
★★★☆ (Buy and keep)
