The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of work design characteristics (task, knowledge, social, and contextual characteristics) in the relationship between professional self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Research has shown how motivational job design has positive consequences for individuals, increasing control and perception of internal forces (such as self-efficacy) and affects positively job satisfaction. However, little is known about how self-efficacy affects job satisfaction through job enrichment. In this study, 353 Chilean workers answered a self-reported survey. Regression analyses confirmed partially the hypotheses, showing a complete mediation of task and social characteristics of work design in the relationship between professional self-efficacy and job satisfaction. These results show how professionalself-efficacy relates to work design and highlight the importance of social and task characteristics to improve job satisfaction, contributing to a better understanding of how self-efficacy improves job satisfaction through work design. Un importante volumen de investigación ha mostrado cómo las características motivacionales del diseño del trabajo tienen consecuencias positivas para las personas, al aumentar la percepción de control y creencias como la autoeficacia,afectando positivamente a la satisfacción laboral. Sin embargo, se tiene poca información respecto a cómo puede la autoeficacia, a través del trabajo enriquecido, afectar la satisfacción laboral. Tomando esto en cuenta, el propósito de este estudio fue investigar el rol mediador de las características del diseño del trabajo (características de tarea, conocimiento, sociales y físicas) en la relación entre autoeficacia profesional y satisfacción laboral. Participaron 353 trabajadores chilenos voluntarios, quienes respondieron una encuesta de autoinforme. Los análisis de regresión lineal permitieron sostenerparcialmente las hipótesis de investigación. Se observó una mediación total de las características de tarea y conocimiento en la relación entre autoeficacia profesional y satisfacción laboral. Se advierte que la autoeficacia se relaciona con el diseño del trabajo y que las dimensiones social y de tarea del diseño del trabajo pueden incidir en la satisfacción laboral. A partir de esto se puede avanzar en la comprensión de cómo la autoeficacia aumenta la satisfacción laboral a través del diseño del puesto.

The social distancing, confinement and quarantine adopted since March 2020 to confront the COVID-19 pandemic have affected multiple vital areas, and specially work, business and productive activities. Prior research has highlighted the relation between perceptions of risk in employment and its concomitant financial risk with a myriad of consequences for people’s well-being and health. In order to analyze the potential negative consequences of temporary layoffs, downsizing or closure of companies and businesses, and the consequent insecurity about the continuity of employment, the aim of this study is twofold. Firstly, to analyze the relations between the perceptions of job insecurity and financial threat and overall mental health during the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of the Chilean adult population. And secondly, to identify the potential buffer effect of perceived social support on this relation. To analyze this, we carried out a cross-sectional study on a non-probabilistic sample aimed at a general Chilean adult population. The results show that both perceptions of job insecurity and financial threat are associated with a decline in perceived mental health. Additionally, results indicate a moderate buffer effect of perceived social support relative to the size of the social network. Thus, in relation to job insecurity and financial threat, the network size mitigates the association of both with the decline in perceived mental health. The theoretical and applied scope of these findings are analyzed, and their challenges and limitations are discussed.

Background: Stigma towards people diagnosed with a severe mental disorder (SMD) is one of the main obstacles for these service users to receive timely and relevant healthcare. This study was undertaken to understand how stigmatizing attitudes are demonstrated towards people with SMD in primary healthcare centers (PHC) from the perspective of those affected and primary healthcare professionals. Methods: We used a qualitative exploratory research design to contrast the differences and similarities regarding stigmatizing attitudes towards people with SMD in primary healthcare centers (PHC) from the perspective of two groups: (i) people diagnosed with a severe mental disorder, and (ii) healthcare professionals. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and discussion groups and subsequently analyzed using Atlas.ti software. Results: Our results indicate that both service users and healthcare professionals manifest stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminatory behavior in health care. In addition, structural aspects of the health system and organizational culture appear to contribute to stigmatization. Both groups agreed that there is a need for healthcare professionals to have more education, specialization, and skill development related to mental health issues. Conclusions: Interventions to reduce the stigma towards people with SMD in PHC must consider delivery of information about mental disorders, development of skills in the healthcare professionals, and modifications in the culture of the health centers.

This study examines the perceived productivity of office occupants in moderate thermal environments in Chile. Specifically, it analyses environmental parameters and contrasts participants’ self-reported answers to cross-sectional and retrospective questionnaires. To this end, data were collected for one day in winter and one day in summer, in eighteen office buildings in the cities of Concepción and Santiago. The results show that the average operative temperatures are 22.2 °C in winter and 23.5 °C in summer. 80.5% of the occupants declared their productivity to be normal on the cross-sectional survey. However, on the retrospective survey, 82.7% said that their productivity is affected by the thermal environment. To reveal the interrelationships between perceived productivity and the thermal environment, a categorical principal components analysis was carried out. It demonstrated that there is only a relationship between cross-sectional and retrospective productivity in winter. Subsequently, a good-fitting structural equation model was created, which showed that different relationships exist between the variables. These findings could enable organizations and design professionals to better understand occupants’ perceived productivity in relation to thermal conditions in office buildings.

Research about immigrants’ psychological functioning emphasizes the negative impact of discrimination on psychological well-being. Although there is agreement about the relevance of job access to immigrants’ adjustment to host countries, employability’s effects on immigrants’ well-being have been scarcely studied. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived discrimination, employability, and psychological well-being in a sample of 100 Latin-American immigrants settled in Chile. We aimed to determine the contribution of discrimination and employability on well-being’s explanation, and to establish the incidence of employability on the relation between discrimination and well-being. Perceived discrimination and employability explained the 31.5% of well-being’s variability, and employability mediated the relation between discrimination and well-being. Employability’s role as a psychosocial resource in a migratory context is discussed. Los estudios que indagan en el funcionamiento psicológico de los inmigrantes ponen de relevancia el impacto negativo de la discriminación sobre el bienestar psicológico. Así también existe consenso respecto de la importancia del trabajo en su ajuste en países receptores; no obstante, escasamente se ha estudiado el efecto de la empleabilidad en su bienestar. Este trabajo indaga en las relaciones entre la discriminación percibida, la empleabilidad y el bienestar psicológico de 100 inmigrantes latinoamericanos asentados en Chile. Se buscó determinar la contribución de la discriminación y la empleabilidad en la explicación del bienestar y establecer la incidencia de la empleabilidad en la relación entre discriminación y bienestar psicológico. La discriminación percibida y la empleabilidad explicaron el 31.5% de la variabilidad del bienestar y la empleabilidad medió la relación entre discriminación y bienestar. Se discute acerca de la empleabilidad como recurso psicosocial en el contexto de la inmigración.

Background: People with severe mental disorders (SMDs) have higher disease and death rates than the general population. Stigma (negative attitudes and perceptions) contributes to limited access to health services and a lower quality of medical assistance in this population, and it is manifested as negative attitudes, social distance, and discrimination toward this social group. For these reasons, healthcare workers are a priority group for anti-stigma interventions. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a program specifically designed to decrease negative attitudes and social distance and increase inclusive behaviors in healthcare workers toward people with SMD. Methods: The study will be a randomized clinical trial. A minimum of 210 healthcare workers from 11 primary care centers in the province of Concepción, Chile, will be randomly chosen to receive the program or be part of the control group. There will be a pre-, post-, and 4-months evaluation of social distance, attitudes, and behaviors of participants toward people with SMD using standardized scales such as the social distance scale, which is a scale of clinician attitude toward mental illness adapted from attitudes of clinicians toward mental illness, and self-reports. The intervention program will consist of education strategies, direct, and indirect contact with people diagnosed with SMD, and skill development. There will be six face-to-face sessions directly with the participants and two additional sessions with the directors of each healthcare center. The program will involve a facilitator who will be a healthcare professional and a co-facilitator who will be a person diagnosed with SMD. Discussion: This study will evaluate an intervention program especially designed to reduce stigma in healthcare workers toward people with SMD, a topic on which there is little background information, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. It is important to have interventions with proven effectiveness for this purpose to ensure equity in healthcare services. Trial Registration: This study was registered under ISRCTN.com (ISRCTN46464036).