STUDY OF SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECTING WELLBEING OF EMPLOYEES IN KANO STATE’S TEXTILE INDUSTRY.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1         BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Current research by sociologists and social psychologists, on one side, and clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, on the other, raises the question of a dangerous trend in modern society. Sociopsychological well-being is about lives going well. It is the combination of feeling good and functioning effectively. Sustainable well-being does not require individuals to feel good all the time; the experience of painful emotions (e.g. disappointment, failure, grief) is a normal part of life, and being able to manage these negative or painful emotions is essential for long-term wellbeing. Psychological well-being is, however, compromised when negative emotions are extreme or very long lasting and interfere with a person’s ability to function in his or her daily life.

These conditions further exacerbate the work and life of the average Nigerian worker whose aim is to make a living and who may have to arduously build up accommodating arrangements and cognitive psychological coping behaviours that stimulate desirable satisfaction and effectual functioning both at work and at home. Most workers in Nigeria are affected by lack of work flexibility, elevated work pressures and long working hours; a situation that decreases their job performance and productivity.

 

In today’s competitive world, organizations are spending lot of time and money on employee satisfaction in an effort to improve productivity as well as various needs of the organization. There are indications that long work hours may harm personal health, endanger safety and increase stress. Developing economies like Nigeria are faced with serious economic challenges and labour market pressures added to poor social infrastructures, poverty, high unemployment and corruption. The concept of feeling good incorporates not only the positive emotions of happiness and contentment, but also such emotions as interest, engagement, confidence, and affection. The concept of functioning effectively (in a psychological sense) involves the development of one’s potential, having some control over one’s life, having a sense of purpose (e.g. working towards valued goals), and experiencing positive relationships.

Recent years have witnessed an exhilarating shift in the research literature from an emphasis on disorder and dysfunction to a focus on well-being and positive mental health of workers. This paradigm shift has been especially prominent in current psychological research (e.g. Argyle, 1987; Diener, 1984; Kahneman, 1999; Ryff & Singer, 1998a; Seligman, 1991, 2002). But it has also captured the attention of epidemiologists, social scientists, economists, and policy makers (e.g. Huppert, 20G5; Layard, 2005; Marks & Shah, 2005; Marmot, Ryff, Bumpass, Shipley, & Marks, 1997; Mulgan, 2006). This positive perspective is also enshrined in the constitution of the World Health Organisation, where health is defined as If a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948). More recently, the WHO has defined positive mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” (WHO, 2001).

An impressive body of cross-sectional survey data shows that happy people: tend to function better in life than less happy people; are typically more productive and more socially engaged; and tend to have higher incomes (Diener, 2000; Judge, Thoresen, Bono, & Patton, 2001). Ryan and Deci (2001) pointed out that people high in happiness or subjective well-being tend to have attributional styles that are of self-enhancing and more enabling than those low in subjective well-being, suggesting that positive emotions can lead to positive cognitions which, in turn, contribute to further positive emotions.

Experimental social psychology is full of examples showing that positive emotional experiences have beneficial effects on the way people perceive and interpret social behaviours and how they initiate social interactions (e.g. Forgas, 2001; Isen, 1987). It has also been found that people experiencing positive emotions evaluate themselves and others more positively, make more lenient attributions, and behave. in a more confident, optimistic, and generous way in interpersonal situations (Forgas, 2002,2006; Sedikides, 1995).

Positive emotions can be the consequence of certain cognitive behavioural processes as well as their cause. Extensive research, l-oth experimental and observational, on goal pursuit showed that enhanced subjective well-being is associated with: goals being intrinsic, i.e. self-generated (e.g. Kassel’ & Ryan, 1996); progress towards a valued goal (Sheldon & Kasser, 1998); the pursuit of approach goals rather than avoidance goals (Elliot, Sheldon, & Church, 1997); and the pursuit of goals congruent with personal values (Brunstein, Schultheiss, & Grassman, 1998; Sheldon & Elliot, 1999). In addition, a large body of work showed that active participation in social activities and involvement in one’s community is associated with higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction (Argyle, 1987; Helliwell, 2003; Helliwell & Putnam, 2005;

Puhlam,2000). Taken together, the findings suggest that positive emotions lead to positive cognitions, positive behaviours, and increased cognitive capability, and that positive cognitions, behaviours, and capabilities in turn fuel positive emotions (Fredrickson & Joiner, 2002).

Positive emotions are not, however, beneficial for all cognitive processes. There is evidence that people in negative mood states are better at taking in the details of a situation, and that people who are sad, anxious, or fearful are more conforming and less likely to break rules (e.g. Forgas 1998, 1999; Huppert, 2006). Bless and Fiedler (2006) suggested that the different cognitive styles engendered by positive and negative emotions are adaptive. That is, externally driven behaviour “accommodation” (e.g. checking, conforming) is an appropriate response to perceived threat, whereas internally driven behaviour or “assimilation” (e.g. flexible or strategic thinking) is an appropriate response to perceived opportunity.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The multi-faced demand between work and home responsibilities have assumed increased relevance for employees in recent years. This is due to demographic and workplace changes, such as: transformation in family structures, growing reluctance for ‘long number of hours’ acceptance culture, greater number of women in the workforce and technological advancement. All these may result in the employees having difficulty in prioritizing between their work roles and their personal lives. Muhammad (2010) found that in 1980s, Kano textile industries employed a minimum of 500 workers to a maximum of 4,000 depending on their size and capacity. Muhammad further asserted that by 1980, Kano had 40 textile factories but as of 2003 not up to 10 were in operation. Some of the closed factories in Kano are Kano Textile Printers; Kano Textile Industry and Bagauda Textile Industry. However, over the years, the decay in Kano textile industries is attributed with a number of challenges like work life balance, job satisfaction, poor power supply, unavailability of raw materials, and lack of financial assistance from the government and importation of foreign goods resulting in very high production cost. Furthermore, Faleye (2013) identifies some of the factors that are responsible for the dwindling fortune and closure of a large number of Nigerian organizations. Many workers of textile industry were laid off leading to increased unemployment and poverty rates among the indigenous citizens of the state, and taxes derived in billions by governments from these industries had become a thing of the past.

When workers have a poor working organizational culture; such as buying of work-leave of employees, inconvenient period of leave for employees and the inability of employers to keep leaving policy in their employment agreement. All these may lead to stretched workloads which bring about different issues in the employee. This issue involves both the socio-psychology and the emotional well being of employee and these actions may result in reduction in employee performance such as, poor service delivery and health related issues. Well-being research seems especially prominent in current empirical Socio-psychology. In part this reflects the increasing awareness that, just as positive affect is not the opposite of negative affect (Cacioppo & Berntson 1999); well- being is not the absence of mental illness. For much of the last century, psychology’s focus on the amelioration of psychopathology overshadowed the promotion of wellbeing and personal growth. But beginning ill the 1960s with a shift ill focus toward prevention, and continuing to the present, a few researchers have been studying growth (Deci, 1975), well-being (Diener 1984), and the promotion of wellness (Cowen, 1991).

Socio-psychological wellbeing leads to desirable outcomes, including economic ones. Furthermore, economic outcomes do not always lead to positive socio-psychological wellbeing outcomes. In a very intensive research done by Diener (2001), people who score high in Sociopsychological wellbeing later earn high income and perform better at work then people who score low in wellbeing. It is also found to have a positive relationship with physical health. In addition, it is often noticed that what a society measures will in turn influence the things that it seeks. If a society takes great effort to measure productivity, people in the society are likely to focus more on it, sometimes to the detriment of other values. If a society regularly assesses wellbeing, people will pay attention to it and learn more about its causes. Socio-psychological wellbeing is therefore valuable not only because it assesses wellbeing more directly but because it is beneficial as a national priority in itself.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the condition of textile industry in Kano State?
2. What are the relationships between work life balance and job satisfaction?
3. What are the effects of work pressure on employee job satisfaction?
4. What are the recommendations that could help the organisation and employees to achieve a    better work life balance and job satisfaction?

1.4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.

The main objective of this study is to assess the socio-psychological factors affecting wellbeing of employees in Kano state textile industry. The specific objectives are to:

1. examine the condition of textile industry alongside worker well-being in Kano State.
2. study the relationship between work life balance and job satisfaction.
3. evaluate the effect of work pressure on employee job satisfaction
4. provide a list of recommendations that could help the organisation and employees to achieve a better work life balance and job satisfaction.

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

1. There is no positive relationship between work life balance and job satisfaction
2. Work pressure has no negative impact on employee well being

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The research is very important to policy makers to have the empirical findings about the condition of workers in textile industry in Kano State, the factors necessitated to the condition of the industries, the effects of the condition of the industries on the workers in the state, and it will further suggest recommendations on the measures to address the challenges faced by the employees. The study will help to gather or find out knowledge which, if adopted by management of organizations, will improve job satisfaction among employees. The study will also provide the basis for good company policies related to job satisfaction and human resource policies as a whole; hence it will enable companies to design effective human resource policies for implementation by various organizations.

The research work is also significant to the scholars and researchers to serve as a blueprint for investigation and further research. It is also important to the students carrying out a social science research to be used as a useful data and frame of reference.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Metropolis refers to a large city or urban area and in the case of Kano metropolis comprises of the area within the eight LGAs (Dala, Fagge, Gwale, Kumbotso, Municipal, Nassarawa, Tarauni, and Ungogo). While the industry remains the unit of investigation, however, this studied condition of employees in the textile industries in Kano State. And representative respondent were selected from the selected political wards of Kumbotso and Gwale Local Government Areas of Kano metropolis for the study. The study assessed socio-psychological wellbeing of employees in the textile industries in two selected local Government Areas of Kano metropolis.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

There are lots of concepts relating employees’ wellbeing, this research basically concentrate on Job satisfaction and Work-life balance. Also, the sample of participants came exclusively; the high-tech and textile industries and the workloads of employees in those industries typically vary on a seasonal basis. Time and resources were limitations which researcher was able to overcome through parent support.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

WELLBEING

In 2012, Dodge et al proposed that wellbeing could be defined as ‘…when individuals have the psychological, social and physical resources they need to meet a particular psychological, social and/or physical challenge’.

According to Dodge et al (2012) the Measuring National Well-being national debate identified a range of significant factors associated with personal well-being, including:

Job satisfaction.

Work-life balance.

Economic security

Education and training.

Local and natural environment.

Work-life balance:

Work-life balance refers to the level of prioritisation between personal and professional activities in an individual’s life and the level to which activities related to their job are present in the home. No single framework or perspective of work-life balance is universally acceptable (Voydanoff,

2004); a lot depends on the frame of reference scholars are using. As Mayo, Pastor and Sanz (2008) note, the academic body of knowledge regarding work family or work-life balance scholarship relies on a variety of theoretical frameworks, which include spillover, compensation, resource drain, enrichment, congruence, work-family conflict, segmentation, and integration theories (Champoux, 1978; Lazarus and Launier, 1978; Clark, 2000; Thornthwaite, 2004.; Frone, 2003; Epie, 2006).

JOB SATISFACTION

Job satisfaction has been defined in many studies. Cranny, Smith and Stone (p.1,1992) define job satisfaction as employees’ emotional state regarding the job, considering what they expected and what they actually got out of it. In fact, an employee with low expectations can be more satisfied with a certain job than someone who has high expectations. If one’s expectations are met or exceeded by the job, then one is happy and satisfied with the job.

 

 

SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGY

The study of the manner in which the personality, attitudes, motivations, and behavior of the individual influence and are influenced by social groups. According to psychologist Gordon (1955), social psychology uses scientific methods “to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied the presence of other human beings.” Essentially, social psychology is about understanding how each person’s individual behavior is influenced by the social environment in which that behavior takes place. The Socio-Psychological Theory asserts that individual and society are interlinked. This means, an individual strives to meet the needs of the society and the society helps him to attain his goals. Through this interaction, the personality of an individual is determined.

 

 

 

SOCIOLOGY OF WORK

The sub-discipline of Sociology of Work is interested in the broad issues of the implications of work among men in the society. It directs its attention to such issues as the conception of work, social organization of work, attitude of people towards work and the interrelationship among participants at the workplace. Other issues of concern are work experience, values, ideologies, orientations, work and non-work as well as gender and work.

SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING

Most sociologists associate the term with a somewhat different matter. First, sociologists focus typically on problems. In sociology books words for subjective experiences denote negative states most of the time, such as anomie, alienation, deprivation, and subjective poverty. Second, sociological notions of subjective well-being are typically more specific and denote not only how well one feels but also about what. Anomie is discomfort about the moral climate, and in alienation is the feeling of being ruled by a system in which one does not take part (Beerling,

1978). The term subjective wellbeing describes a person’s overall experience in life and reflects a person’s self-described happiness. Subjective wellbeing includes positive attitudinal judgements as well as the experience of positive and negative effect. Job satisfaction, an important component of subjective wellbeing, is a positive emotional state resulting from an appraisal of one’s job or job experiences (Locke, 1976). It’s the most commonly researched phenomenon in organizational behaviour studies (Brief & West, 2001).

STUDY OF SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECTING WELLBEING OF EMPLOYEES IN KANO STATE’S TEXTILE INDUSTRY.

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