SPES: a psychological test system to diagnose environmental hazards. Swedish Performance Evaluation System

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health Psychology
• Environmental Psychology
• Psychological Assessment

Background:

• Unfavorable work environments negatively impact employee well-being and productivity.
• Assessing these effects requires objective psychological performance measures and subjective well-being data.
• Previous research highlighted the need for standardized tools to evaluate workplace conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the rationale for using psychological performance measures and mood/symptom ratings in occupational health research.
• To introduce the computerized performance evaluation system (SPES) developed at the Swedish National Institute of Occupational Health.
• To demonstrate the applicability of SPES through empirical studies for various research objectives.

Main Methods:

• Development of a computerized performance evaluation system (SPES).
• Utilizing psychological performance tests.
• Incorporating subjective ratings of mood and symptoms.
• Demonstrating applicability through numerous empirical studies.

Main Results:

• The SPES system provides a robust method for assessing psychological performance.
• Empirical studies confirm the system's applicability across diverse research objectives.
• The system effectively measures the impact of environmental conditions on psychological well-being.

Conclusions:

• Psychological performance measures and mood/symptom ratings are crucial for studying adverse work environments.
• The SPES system offers a validated tool for occupational health research.
• SPES facilitates objective assessment of workplace environmental impacts on employees.