Workplace-related determinants of mental health in food and bar workers in Western, high-income countries: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

This review synthesizes evidence from etiologic and intervention studies of workplace-related determinants of mental health in workers in food and bar workers in the hospitality industry in Western high-income countries.

METHODS

Peer-reviewed literature published between January 2000 and August 2023 was gathered from five bibliographic databases. Any study design was eligible. Study quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute tools for appraisal.

RESULTS

A narrative analysis was conducted for 26 included studies (total n = 15,069 participants) across Australia (3), Ireland (1), Norway (1), Spain (2), the United States (17) and the United Kingdom (2). Individual and task-related factors such as high emotional job demands and low job control were associated with high burnout and depression. Uncivil and hostile interpersonal interactions with customers, management, and colleagues were found to contribute to poor mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and burnout.

CONCLUSION

Findings from included studies highlight the impact of workplace culture, including management practices and workplace social support, on mental health. Organization-level interventions may therefore be most effective for addressing individual, interpersonal, and organizational determinants of mental health in food and bar occupations, particularly when implemented as part of broader organizational efforts to support health and wellbeing. Industry-wide policy changes may also be necessary to address structural concerns, including job and financial insecurity, job strain and access to benefits, such as secure sick leave and minimum contract hours.

A systematic review of observational studies exploring the relationship between health and non-weight-centric eating behaviours

Eating behaviour that does not centralise weight, otherwise known as weight-neutral, is associated with improved physical and psychological health, and greater health promoting behaviours. However, consolidated evidence is lacking. This study aimed to systematically evaluate 'health-centric' eating behaviour reflective of weight-neutral approaches, and their relationship with health (physical and mental) and health promoting behaviours. A systematic search was performed, identifying observational studies with adult populations, ≥1 physical/mental health outcome(s), and ≥1 validated measure(s) of health-centric eating behaviour. Study design, sample characteristics and outcomes were extracted and characterised into four domains. Our search identified 8281 records, with 86 studies, 75 unique datasets, and 78 unique exposures including 94,710 individuals. Eating behaviours included intuitive eating (n = 48), mindful eating (n = 19), and eating competence (n = 11). There were 298 outcomes identified for body composition, size, and physical health (n = 116), mental health and wellbeing (n = 123), health promoting behaviours (n = 51) and other eating behaviour (n = 8). Higher levels of intuitive eating, mindful eating and eating competence were significantly related to a lower BMI, better diet quality and greater physical activity. Higher intuitive and mindful eating were significantly related to lower levels of disordered eating, and depressive symptoms, and greater body image, self-compassion, and mindfulness. Greater eating competence and intuitive eating were significantly related to higher fruit and vegetable intake, and greater eating competence to higher fibre intake and better sleep quality. Our results demonstrate that 'health-centric' eating behaviours are related to a range of favourable health outcomes and engagement in health promoting behaviours. These findings help to enhance our understanding of eating behaviours that do not centre around body weight, providing support for health-centric eating behaviour in healthcare. Future research should focus on intervention studies and more diverse population groups.

Do I Say or Let it Go? Emotions Predict How People Respond to Receiving Sexual Objectification at Work

Many people are reluctant to report sexual objectification at work. We tested whether emotions determine how people respond to sexual objectification at work. In Study 1 (N = 159) women recalled a time that they had experienced sexual objectification at work. Participants then rated their emotions in this situation and how they responded. Anger positively and a shame-based emotion (rejection) negatively predicted taking action against the perpetrator (active response). In contrast, shame positively predicted women blaming themselves (self-blame). Moreover, pride positively and anger negatively predicted women viewing the action positively (e.g., as flattering, benign response). In Study 2 (N = 135) women imagined themselves receiving either a highly objectifying or ambiguous comment at work. Being objectified increased negative emotions and decreased pride. Moral outrage (i.e., anger and disgust) positively whilst shame-based emotions negatively predicted active responding. Shame-based emotions positively predicted self-blame, whilst pride positively and anger negatively predicted benign responding. Therefore, emotions determine how people respond to sexual objectification at work. Promoting moral outrage and reducing other emotions (e.g., shame, fear, and pride) may make women (a) more willing to report sexual objectification at work and (b) less likely to blame themselves or view such actions positively (i.e., benign responses).

Sexually objectifying work environments and affective commitment in a sample of Italian waitresses: The mediating role of anxiety and job satisfaction

BACKGROUND

Sexual objectification can assume various forms, from interpersonal to cultural and environmental ones. Previous research has highlighted how working in sexually objectifying environments (SOEs) can lead female workers to experience negative feelings (i.e. anxiety, job dissatisfaction). The study's main aim was to investigate the relationships between sexually objectifying work environments, job satisfaction, anxiety, and affective commitment.

DESIGN AND METHOD

In this study, we investigated the role of working in sexually objectifying environments (i.e. bars and pubs) in triggering female workers' (i.e. waitresses) feelings of anxiety and in decreasing their job satisfaction and their affective organizational commitment. Our hypothesis was tested through a mediation model with a sample of (N = 546) Italian restaurant/bar waitresses.

RESULTS

The results supported a model in which sexually objectifying environments had a direct effect on job satisfaction and both direct and indirect effects on anxiety. Further, sexually objectifying environments indirectly affected affective commitment through both anxiety and job satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

Working in a perceived sexually objectified environment can raise waitresses' feelings of anxiety and job satisfaction. These feelings, in turn, negatively affect workers' affective commitment toward their workplace. The limitations and implications of this study were discussed. The main implication concerns the need to implement people's awareness of the existence of SOEs and the harmful effects they may have on women.

Lay awake with a racing mind: The associations between sexual objectification, insomnia, and affective symptoms

BACKGROUND

Sexual objectification is a form of interpersonal maltreatment that women may experience in daily life. Research has focused on testing how it leads to various psychological distresses. However, little research has examined its influences on women's sleep quality, the underlying psychological mechanisms, and the potential implications for affective symptoms. We addressed this research gap by testing whether sexual objectification predicted perceived stress and insomnia, thereby predicting affective symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety). We further examined whether sex-is-power beliefs moderated these associations.

METHODS

Participants completed validated measures of sex-is-power beliefs, sexual objectification, perceived stress, insomnia, depression, and anxiety. We conducted regression analyses, structural equation modeling, and bootstrapping analyses to test the associations between these psychological constructs.

RESULTS

As predicted, the results showed that sexual objectification was positively associated with perceived stress, insomnia, and affective symptoms. Moreover, perceived stress and insomnia serially mediated the association between sexual objectification and affective symptoms. Furthermore, sex-is-power beliefs moderated the serial mediation effect, such that the effect was only observed among participants with weak sex-is-power beliefs.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings advanced current theories and knowledge of sexual objectification by demonstrating that sexual objectification is associated with perceived stress and insomnia, thereby predicting affective symptoms. The findings also highlighted the role of beliefs in weakening the negative consequences of sexual objectification.

Intuitive eating and its psychological correlates: A meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Intuitive eating is an adaptive style of eating that has generated significant research attention. Theoretically, intuitive eating is a core construct that features prominently in the Acceptance Model of Intuitive Eating, a framework that explains how positive environmental influences can foster intuitive eating practices via body appreciation. Empirically, intuitive eating has been connected to a broad range of adaptive mental health indices. At present, a quantitative synthesis of intuitive eating and its correlates has yet to be conducted. This was the objective of the current meta-analysis.

METHOD

Ninety-seven studies (89% cross-sectional) were included. Random effects meta-analyses were conducted on 23 psychological correlates, divided into three clusters: eating behavior and body image disturbances, positive body image and other adaptive factors, and general psychopathology. Meta-analytic path analyses were also computed to test the validity of the Acceptance Model.

RESULTS

Intuitive eating was inversely associated with multiple indices of eating pathology, body image disturbances, and psychopathology (rs = -.23 to -.58). Intuitive eating was positively associated with numerous positive psychological constructs, such as positive body image, self-esteem, and wellbeing (rs = .20 to .58). Men reported higher levels of intuitive eating than women (d = 0.39), with differences being largest in Caucasian samples. Meta-analytic path analyses strongly supported the hypothesized pathways specified in the Acceptance Model of Intuitive Eating.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a strong evidence base for intuitive eating's connection to numerous adaptive psychological constructs. Attention should now shift toward prospective and experimental designs so that the temporal nature of these relationships can be identified.

Perception and experiences of sexual harassment among women working in hospitality workplaces of Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Workplace sexual harassment is a public health problem that depends on gender, context, and perceived ideology. Although studies have documented the prevalence and consequences of workplace sexual harassment worldwide, victims' perceptions and experiences are still poorly understood in low and middle-income countries, particularly Ethiopia. Female workers in the hospitality industry, including hotels, bars, restaurants, fast-food restaurants, and cafeterias, are particularly affected. Hence, this study aimed to explore sexual harassment perceptions and experiences among women working in these workplaces.

METHODS

An exploratory qualitative study was conducted from 1 January to 30 August 2019. Data were collected from female employees and key informants from several hospitality workplaces in Bahir Dar City. Data were collected through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and key-informant interviews. Women who experienced sexual harassment were selected using the snowball method, and key informants were recruited purposefully. Six focus group discussions, ten in-depth interviews, and thirteen key informant interviews were conducted. Data were analysed using the ATLAS ti version 8.4.24.

RESULTS

In this study, most participants perceived that sexual harassment is pressuring, threatening, touching, abducting sexual advances, and experiencing verbal, physical, and non-verbal types. Similarly, the perceived risk factors were related to the organisations, the customers, and the victims, with the consequences being work-related, health-related, financial-related, and family-related.

CONCLUSIONS

Workplace sexual harassment in hospitality workplaces is poorly understood, but many women experience it. A variety of factors also caused it, and it influenced both organisations and people. Public awareness programs, pre-service preparation, in-service training, prevention, and psychosocial support are needed. Similarly, policies and strategies for the organisations should be developed and implemented.

Validation of a Perception of Objectification in the Workplace Short Scale (POWS)

An increasing number of studies focus on the phenomenon of objectification in the workplace. This phenomenon reflects a process of subjection of the employee, where he is considered as an object, a mean (utilitarian) or reduced to one of his attributes. Previous studies have shown that objectification can have consequences on the workplace health or performance. Field studies are based on objectification measures based on tools whose psychometric qualities are unclear. Based on a previous workplace objectification measurement scale, we conducted a study with the aim of devising a new parsimonious scale. We present three studies which aim to validate this new scale. In the first study, an EFA and a CFA were performed in order to construct a scale and verify its structure validity. We obtained a 10-item scale reporting two factors labeled “Instrumental value” and “Powerfulness.” The psychometric qualities of this scale were satisfactory, i.e., showed good internal reliability and good structural validity. In a second study, we tested the convergent and divergent validity of the scale. We observe that POWS is adequately correlated with dehumanization indicators. Finally, in a third study, we found that only powerfulness was associated with negative consequences for occupational health. This suggests that objectification is a process of social perception that contributes either to the devaluation of social agents in the workplace or to normal functioning at work.

Exploring the relationship between strip clubs and rates of sexual violence and violent crime

AIMS

We examined whether (a) the number of strip clubs per capita and (b) the proportion of clubs with "high-risk characteristics" were significantly associated with rates of sexual violence (SV) and other violent crime at the county level.

METHODS

Using large, public data sets, we tested effects across 926 counties (13 U.S. states), controlling for percent below the poverty line and alcohol outlets per capita.

RESULTS

We found that rates of strip clubs were significantly associated with violent crime, but not SV, in all but one model (accounting for Saturday hours). Counties with greater proportions of "high-risk" strip clubs (i.e., greater days and hours of operation, drink specials, full-nudity policies, or private rooms) have higher rates of SV. All models, except the full-nudity policy model, demonstrated increased rates of violent crime.

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide information for community-level violence prevention and equips stakeholders with information to create safer communities.

Sexual Objectification, Internalization, and College Women’s Depression: The Role of Shame

This study examined potential mediators, a moderator, and a moderated mediation of the link between sexual objectification experiences and depression among 489 young adult college women. Findings from the mediation analyses revealed that sexual objectification was directly and indirectly related to depression via greater body surveillance and self-blame. Shame moderated the direct effect of sexual objectification on body surveillance. Sexual objectification predicted body surveillance for women with low but not high or moderate levels of shame. Shame also moderated the direct effect of sexual objectification on self-blame and provided support for moderated mediation via conditional process analyses. Sexual objectification predicted self-blame for women with high and moderate but not low levels of shame. The findings underscore the importance of attending to experiences of objectification when working with women clients presenting with depression and to help them lessen habitual body monitoring, blaming themselves for being sexually objectified, and feelings of shame.

Self- and Other-Dehumanization Processes in Health-Related Contexts: A Critical Review of the Literature

Dehumanization is an everyday, pervasive phenomenon in health contexts. Given its detrimental consequences to health care, much research has been dedicated to understanding and promoting the humanization of health services. However, health care service research has neglected the sociopsychological processes involved in the dehumanization of self and others, in formal but also informal health-related contexts. Drawing upon sociopsychological models of dehumanization, this article will bridge this gap by presenting a critical review of studies on everyday meaning-making and person perception processes of dehumanization in health-related contexts. A database search was conducted in PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed, using a combination of keywords on dehumanization and health/illness/body; 3,229 references were screened; 95 full texts were assessed for eligibility; 59 studies were included. Most studies focused on informal contexts, reflecting a decontextualized and one-sided view of dehumanization (i.e., not integrating actors’ and victims’ perspectives). Despite the dominant focus on self-dehumanization, emerging perspectives uncover the role of processes that deny human uniqueness to others, and their individual determinants and consequences for mental health. A few studies bring to light the functions of a variety of dehumanizing body metaphors on self- and other-dehumanization. These trends in the literature leave several gaps, which are here critically analyzed to inform future research.

Can Meaning at Work Guard Against the Consequences of Objectification?

Objectification at work reflects instrumentality and denial of humanness in work relationships. These relationships have deleterious consequences for workplace health. One of the consequences of this type of relationship is self-objectification in which the self is perceived as a non-person or as an object. This phenomenon leads to perceiving oneself without mental states (i.e., dementalization) or as an instrument (i.e., instrumentalization) and as a nonperson (i.e., loss of humanness). However, few studies have considered how to reduce these consequences. In this study, we examine the protective role of meaning at work against the consequences of objectification. A total of 153 employees answered an online questionnaire which measured objectification, meaning of work, mentalization, and instrumentality/humanness. The results highlight an impact of objectification on instrumentality and humanness but not on mentalization as in previous studies. There is also a moderation effect of the meaning of work on the relationship between objectification and humanness. These results lead us to consider instrumentality, humanness, and dementalization as separate constructs accounting for self-objectification.

Eating Disorders in the Workplace: A Qualitative Investigation of Women’s Experiences

Though employment is typically associated with positive mental health outcomes for individuals with disabilities, the ubiquity of stress and stigma at work may complicate the relation between work and well-being for women with eating disorders (EDs). To date, however, the experiences of women with EDs in the workplace have not been examined. By utilizing a qualitative methodology to form an initial framework for the examination of EDs in the workplace, we address this gap in the literature. Seventy adult women with anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder discussed the relation between work and their condition. The data analysis led to the delineation of a theoretical model, which we propose explains the interconnections between key study constructs, including individual characteristics; workplace stressors; identity, stigma, and stress management techniques; and related personal and organizational outcomes. Our research suggests that, depending on how stress is managed, the workplace can serve as a bridge or a barrier to ED recovery. This study lays the groundwork for understanding the ways in which workplace life interacts and interferes with ED management, opening up a new line of investigation for researchers working to enhance the lives of individuals with EDs across life domains.

Does the work environment matter? Sexual objectification and waitresses' body dissatisfaction

We investigated the relations between working in sexually objectifying restaurant environments and body dissatisfaction in a sample of 252 United States waitresses. Supporting our hypotheses, results indicated that working in sexually objectifying restaurant environments was positively correlated with waitresses' body dissatisfaction. Our findings also supported a theorized serial three-chain mediation model in which working in sexually objectifying restaurant environments was related to body dissatisfaction through more thin ideal internalization and greater self-objectification/body surveillance. Furthermore, thin ideal internalization had a direct, unique link to body dissatisfaction. Our findings highlight the importance of working conditions and internalization processes in understanding waitresses' body image concerns.

Sexually Objectifying Environments

In this study, we investigated the relations between sexually objectifying restaurant environments (SOREs) and anxiety and disordered eating in a sample of 252 waitresses working in restaurants located in the United States. Supporting our hypotheses, results indicated that higher levels of SOREs were positively correlated with waitresses’ anxiety and disordered eating. Our findings also supported a theorized four-chain mediation model in which higher levels of SOREs were related to both anxiety and disordered eating directly and indirectly via, in serial: less organizational power, less personal power and control, and more rumination. In addition, SOREs and a lack of organizational power had direct, unique links to rumination. Our findings highlight the importance of both contextual and intrapersonal factors in understanding waitresses’ mental health problems. These findings underscore the need to implement both system-level and individual-level interventions to combat the existence of SOREs and the negative effects these environments may have on women who work in the industry. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ 's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/page/pwq/suppl/index

Objectification in Action

Although the process of sexual objectification is theorized to occur within interpersonal interactions, we believe this is the first study to examine sexual objectification and self-objectification in actual (nonconfederate) interpersonal encounters. Men and women were brought into the laboratory and interacted in mixed-sex dyads. We used dyadic analysis to detect whether partners’ objectification of each other affected state self-objectification, and the resulting feelings of comfort and authenticity during the interaction. After the interaction, participants completed a cognitive performance task, a measure of career aspirations, and a measure of relationship agency. Results showed that for women only, being objectified by their male interaction partner was associated with an increase in state self-objectification, and state self-objectification led to perceptions that the interaction was less comfortable and less authentic. Furthermore, for women but not for men, having authentic interactions was found to relate positively to relationship agency, career aspirations, and cognitive performance. This research shows that self-objectification is not only a self-process but an interpersonal process heightened by the real-time sexual objectification of a male interaction partner. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available to PWQ subscribers on PWQ's website at http://pwq.sagepub.com/supplemental