A Study Concerning the Work Stress and Coping Methods of Journalists

Transcription

1 , pp A Study Concerning the Work Stress and Coping Methods of Journalists Sang-Young Park 1, Sung-Je Cho 2 1 Dept. of Education, Dongbang Culture Graduate University, Seoul, Korea 60, Seongbuk-ro 28-gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, , Korea Corresponding Author: pouio3000@hanmail.net 2 Dept. of Education, Dongbang Culture Graduate University, Seoul, Korea 60, Seongbuk-ro 28-gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, , Korea chosj715@daum.net Abstract. The purpose of this study was an attempt to establish a foundation for smooth work performance by apprehending the correlation between the work stress and coping methods of journalists. For this study, a survey was conducted on 112 journalists working at 12 general daily newspapers in the metropolitan area from November 1, 2014, to April 30, The data analysis was made using the SPSS Win 18.0 program to conduct a factorial analysis and correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, structure equation model analysis, etc., and was verified with a significance level of 5%. The research results showed that, first, out of the work stress factors, excessive quantitative roles had a positive influence on coping methods. Second, physical symptoms were analyzed to have a positive influence on coping methods. The implications of this study are expected to become data for the arrangement of effective health promotion programs based on the research results regarding the physical symptoms of journalists as a result of their work stress. Keywords: Coping methods, General daily newspaper, Journalist, Physical symptom, Work stress 1 Introduction 1.1 The Need for Research Journalism is an organization established with the purpose of providing information as well as reporting and commentating on various incidents that occur in society. Depending on the form of control of the management rights they can be divided into governmental, private, and the form between governmental and private: public. The journalists belonging to these mediums play the role of providing information to the recipients. With journalism being an organization that constructs and leads the proper public opinion for the sake of social development and change, mediums such as the press, broadcasting, and the Internet belong to this category. Journalists have to deliver live news, and therefore it is their professional destiny to be constantly wrestling against time. Because they have to suffer the competition of exclusives and breaking ISSN: ASTL Copyright 2015 SERSC

2 news, and because there is great burden concerning misinformation and the violation of rights of report subjects, they can t help but be exposed to overladen work stress. Not only does work stress lower job satisfaction, but it also has a negative effect on quality of life at a personal level. In particular, if work stress accumulates it can have a direct effect on inducing physical symptoms[1] and as it is aggravated further and further to mental burnout it raises the probability of various diseases[2]. Because excessive work stress shapes the state of consciousness negatively, in the event of accumulation from continuous recurrence it can even make physical activity impossible[3]. According to the research results of an analysis of the average life expectancies of different occupations, the average life expectancy of the research subjects 11 occupation groups revealed a result of 80 years old for the religious and 75 for the politicians, however journalists had the lowest with 67 [4]. Despite this, there is little research in regards to the coping methods or the physical symptoms as a result of the work stress of journalists[5]. It is in extreme contrast to the in-depth research that has been done on other types of occupations such as for nurses, public officials, and educators. In research regarding journalists there are research results that reveal that regular exercise helps with mental health and overcoming stress. This study confirmed that exercising regularly can help in lowering stress levels, maintaining confidence during the reporting process, and overcoming stress[6]. It suggested the improvement and prevention of aggravation[7] of physical symptoms through appropriate programs thereafter. The advanced research has only measured the before and after effects of a certain period of exercise, and there is little research that has analyzed the correlation between work stress, physical symptoms, and coping methods. Hence this study hopes to make an analysis concerning the work stress and coping methods of journalists. 1.2 Research Hypothesis This study hopes to verify 2 hypotheses. The detailed research hypotheses are as follows. First, work stress will have an influence on coping methods. Second, physical symptoms as a result of work stress will have an influence on coping methods. 1.3 Research Model and Suitability Assessment For a research model and a hypothesis verification in order to examine the cause-andeffect relationship of the work stress, physical symptoms, coping format, etc., of journalists, a structural equation model analysis was carried out. With the suitability assessment results for the research model as shown in <Table 1> it can be concluded that there is no issue in accepting the model analysis results. Copyright 2015 SERSC 15

3 Table 1. Classification Suitability Index Optimal Model Suitability Result Absolute Correspondence Index Incremental Correspondence Index χ 2 statistics (p) p>0.05 χ 2 = df=3374 p<0.001 Q value(χ 2 /df) less than RMSEA below GFI above NFI above IFI above TLI above CFI above Research Method 2.1 Research Subject and Method The subjects of this study were 112 of the 120 metropolitan general daily newspaper journalists that we distributed surveys to from November 1, 2014, to April 30, 2015, excluding the 8 who gave inadequate answers. The metropolitan general daily newspapers were confined to mediums with head offices based in the Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi area out of 109 local general daily newspapers according to the classification standard of the Korea Press Foundation[8]. The current state of journalist workers that are active domestically is shown in <Table 2>. The data analysis was made using the SPSS Win 18.0 program to conduct a factorial analysis and correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, structure equation model analysis, etc., and was verified with a significance level of 5%. Table 1. Current State of Journalist Workers Classification mediums journalists mediums Ratio (%) Rate of change compared to previous year Journalist (%) journalists ratio(%) Average number of journalists per 1 company daily newspapers l 11 2, , daily newspapers ll Local general daily newspapers 102 3, , Copyright 2015 SERSC

4 Economic dailies 9 1, , Sports dailies Foreign dailies Other special dailies Free dailies Dailies Subtotal 168 9, , weekly newspapers weekly newspapers 469 1, , Special weeklies 665 3, , Weeklies Subtotal 1,156 5,491 1,136 5, Paper Newspapers Subtotal 1,324 15,041 1,313 15, Public broadcasting 22 1, , Private broadcasting Religious/special broadcasts Comprehensive/report channels Terrestrial DMB Broadcasts Subtotal 53 3, , Online general newspapers 411 1, , Online local newspapers 486 1, , Online special newspapers 772 3, , Online Newspapers Subtotal 1,669 7,417 1,776 8, Telecommunication 14 1, Total 3,046 25,554 3,156 27, Research Hypothesis Verification Result 3.1 Work stress will have an influence on coping methods The verification results of the hypothesis that predicted that out of the work stress factors of journalists the factor of excessive quantitative roles would have a positive(+) influence on coping methods showed that excessive quantitative roles has a significant positive(+) influence on coping methods. Out of the work stress factors of journalists the factor of role conflict also revealed to have a significant positive(+) influence on coping methods. From this we can deduce that there is a difference in coping methods depending on a journalist s degree of role conflict. Copyright 2015 SERSC 17

5 3.2 Physical symptoms as a result of work stress will have an influence on coping methods The verification results of the influence that physical symptoms have on coping methods revealed that physical symptoms have a significant positive(+) influence on coping methods. As a result, the hypothesis that a journalist s physical symptoms will have a positive influence on their coping methods was supported. From this we can deduce that the degree of the coping method differs depending on the degree of physical symptoms. 4 Discussion and Conclusion This study has looked into the work stress and coping methods of journalists working in metropolitan general daily newspapers. The discussion of the research results is as follows. First, the hypothesis that a journalist s work stress will have an influence on their coping methods revealed that excessive quantitative roles and role conflict has a significant influence. This kind of result semantically coincides with the research results[9] that it has an influence on coping methods in proportion to rank and years of service. Second, the verification results concerning the influence that physical symptoms have on coping methods revealed that physical symptoms have a significant influence on coping methods. From this we can deduce that these results are no different from previous research results[10] stating that coping methods are a process of adaptive behavior in order to solve new issues. The following propositions are being made based on these research results. First, there is need for much more research concerning journalists in order to apprehend the correlation between the work stress and coping methods of journalists. Second, a strategy must be devised for the improvement of the work environment based on the research results of the correlation between physical symptoms and coping methods. Continuous attention and research is needed hereafter in order for journalists to be able to devote themselves to their roles and at the same time maintain a healthy life. References 1. Tenant. C.: Work-related stress and depressive disorder, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, pp (2001) 2. Hoon-Suk Lee, Byung-June Chun,: Effects of Emotional Labor and Job Stress of Broadcast Artist on Job Satisfaction," JKCA, Vol.12, p.624 (2012) 3. Mi-Hye Choi,: A Study on the Mediating Effect of stress appraisal and Moderating Effect of emotional disposition, POS in the Relations between the Frequency of Customer Verbal Aggression and Emotional Exhaustion, Department of Business Administration Graduate School Chungnam University, p.21 (2012) 4. Jon-In Kim,: Longevity of Different Occupation in Korea, Health and Welfare, Vol12, p.10 (2010) 18 Copyright 2015 SERSC

6 5. Sang-Young Park, Sung-Je Cho,: Study of the journalists job stress to Emotional exhaustion and the Physical symptoms effect, Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society Vol.15, No.6, p.3549 (2014) 6. Eyu-Jin Kim,: Effect of regularly exercises of journalist on dead-line stress, accrual a doctoral thesis, Sung Kylin Kwan university, pp (2003) 7. Dong-Ryul, Kim,: Job burnout that comes from the media for psychological research(newspaper reporters in Seoul 6 targets), Korean Academy of Resource Management, Vol.13, No.2, p13 (2006) 8. Korea Press Foundation,: 2014 Journalists Survey, 9. Graham K, Schmidt G.,: Alcohol use and psycho-social well-being among older adults, J Study Alcohol, Vol.60, No.3, pp (1999) 10. Pearlin, L. I., & Schooler, C.,: The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. Vol.19, No.,2(21), (1978) Copyright 2015 SERSC 19