The experience of occupational psychosocial stress among librarians in three African countries
| Date | 12 August 2019 |
| Published date | 12 August 2019 |
| Pages | 368-378 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-11-2017-0122 |
| Author | Dominic Dankwah Agyei,Faustina Aryeetey,Adaora Chigozie Obuezie,Sixolile Nkonyeni |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
The experience of occupational
psychosocial stress among
librarians in three
African countries
Dominic Dankwah Agyei
University Library, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana
Faustina Aryeetey
University Library, Methodist University College Ghana, Accra, Ghana
Adaora Chigozie Obuezie
College Library, Anambra State College of Health Technology, Obosi, Nigeria, and
Sixolile Nkonyeni
University Library, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to focus on describing the experience of occupational psychosocial
stress among librarians in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. It further seeks to identify the various
psychosocial stress components and how they interact to determine the stress level of librarians.
Design/methodology/approach –Using the Effort-Reward Imbalance scale, this descriptive study
employed a web-based data collection tool (Google Form) to design and solicit data from respondents.
Convenientsampling technique was used to employ 153 librarians from Ghana, Nigeriaand South Africa with
at least a diploma inany library-related programme, whowork in either academic, public or special libraries.
Findings –This study established the prevalence of occupational psychosocial stress among librarians from
Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. It was realised that gender, country of residence of respondents, age, work
experience, workers with children under 13 years of age and work roles were the main factors that influenced
the occupational stress among the respondents.
Research limitations/implications –The response rate for this study was low. As a result, undertaking
any inferential statistics to explain relationships was not possible.
Originality/value –The value of this study lies in the depth of narrative data collected and the insight it
affords with regards to contemporary work within libraries in Africa and beyond. The results presented may
provide both a starting point for further discussion and may also promote an increased openness about issues
of employee safety in the library environment.
Keywords Nigeria, Librarianship, Ghana, South Africa, Effort-Reward Imbalance scale,
Occupational psychosocial stress
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Job or occupational stress has become a major concern of many workers and human
resource management, and has in recent times become the focus of many research studies
(Chinyere and Ezinwanyi, 2016). Also, Lee Larson (2004) mentioned job stress as a major
headache in the management of occupational safety as well as in organisational
well-being. Ogunlana et al. (2013) averred that stress is usually expressed as either the
external stimulus from the environment or the response in the individual, subjective in
nature, and can occur in anyone who feels he or she is under pressure. Thus, it involves
processes in which environmental events or forces seem to threaten the well-being of an
individual in the society (Chinyere and Ezinwanyi, 2016). Stress, if not well managed can
be harmful, destructive and detrimental to the well-being of staff and productivity
(Ekienabor, 2016). With regards to the individual, stress can lead workers to become
Library Management
Vol. 40 No. 6/7, 2019
pp. 368-378
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-11-2017-0122
Received 8 November 2017
Revised 25 February 2019
Accepted 4 March 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
368
LM
40,6/7
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