Feeling double locked-in at work: Implications for health and job satisfaction among municipal employees

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Muhonen, Tuija

Affiliations: Department of International Migration and Ethnic Relations, Malmö University, SE-205 06 Malmö, Sweden. Tel.: +46 40 665 75 31; Fax: +46 40 665 73 30; E-mail: tuija.muhonen@mah.se

Abstract: Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the double locked-in phenomenon at work (i.e., being in a non-preferred occupation and non-preferred work place), and its associations to psychological health, physical health and job satisfaction. Methods: A total of 136 municipal employees who visited a career coaching center (response rate 59%) participated in the questionnaire study. Results: The results showed that 61% of the participants were double locked-in and half of them perceived rather much or very much stress. Multiple regression analyses showed that a feeling of being double locked-in predicted psychological health (GHQ-12) and job satisfaction, even after optimism and perceived stress were controlled for, whereas double locked-in did not predict physical health. Conclusions: This study suggests that the locked-in phenomenon and its underlying causes and consequences need to be studied further in future research. To counteract the negative effects of the double locked-in phenomenon it is important to facilitate employees' mobility in different ways.

Keywords: Locked-in at work, health, job satisfaction, optimism, municipal employees

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2010-1070

Journal: Work, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 199-204, 2010