Subjective Wellbeing and Quality of Work Life in Macau
Date: 2013-09-26
Degree: Doctoral Thesis
Programme: Business Administration
Authors: Ricardo Jorge Parreira Rato
Supervisors: Doctor José Alves, University of Saint Joseph, Doctor Prof Gareth Davey, Hong Kong Shue Yan University
Abstract:
This dissertation contributes to management and wellbeing research by developing a theoretical framework that combines well‐accepted theoretical models linking people’s need satisfaction at work with their overall wellbeing and applying it in a non‐Western context where limited research has been conducted. Despite growing research and interest on these topics, very little is known about the wellbeing of people in Asian societies. Moreover, the extant management literature has a shortcoming in that it has failed to link research in Quality of Work Life with the emerging research on Subjective Wellbeing.
A two‐stage quantitative methodology is used in this dissertation. The first stage comprised a longitudinal investigation of SWB. Data were collected via quarterly public surveys (2007 to 2009; n = 8,230), as part of the Macau Quality of Life Report. The second stage consisted of one survey conducted in 2012 to a sample of 512 members of Macau’s working population, including questions about their SWB and wellbeing at work.
The findings of this dissertation confirm a model of worker’s wellbeing based on need‐satisfaction and spillover theories. Furthermore, the adult population of Macau was found to be generally satisfied with their lives, in line with a normative range proposed for non‐Western societies and the specific measurement instruments employed were found to be reliable and valid. The results reveal also that the satisfaction of ‘health and safety’ needs at work contribute the most to worker’s wellbeing in Macau. Important implications for research, practice and policy are drawn from this research, which paves the way for further research and interventions at the organizational and societal level.
