Occupational Health Psychology

Introduksjon

Please note that this is a preliminary course description. The final version will be published in June 2027.

How can organizations create workplaces that promote health, where people thrive, function, and perform at their best? This course explores the field of occupational health psychology (OHP), emphasizing how organizations can foster employee health and well-being to support sustainable performance and human flourishing at work. The course also addresses how to handle challenges when things go wrong—such as mistreatment or conflict—and how these can be prevented, understood, and managed effectively.

OHP stands at the intersection of health psychology, work and organizational psychology, and environmental psychology. It draws on theoretical frameworks and empirical research to examine how factors such as working conditions, leadership, and individual differences influence psychological health, organizational stress, and employee well-being. Students will gain advanced understanding of key theories, research, and evidence-based strategies in the field, and learn how to apply this knowledge to analyse and address real-world organizational challenges in ways that support overall employee and organizational functioning and contribute to healthy, thriving, and energizing workplaces.

Kursets innhold

Topics covered in the course include:

• Theories of occupational health, organizational stress, and well-being

• Positive occupational health psychology
• Sources, boundary conditions, and consequences of occupational health, organizational stress, and well-being
  
• Mental illness and substance abuse at work
• Coping and recovery
• Deviant workplace behaviour and conflict (e.g., mistreatment, bullying, harassment, conflict resolution strategies)
• Preventive stress management strategies
• Occupational health and stress interventions, including ethical challenges and whistleblowing