Work, Well-Being and Performance

The Work, Well-Being and Performance research group undertakes rigorous and impactful research that aims to improve the health and well-being, working lives, and productivity of individuals, teams, and organisations.

Our work is externally funded and designed in collaboration with those who will benefit from the research insights. It draws and applies knowledge from a range of areas within psychology (such as developmental/lifespan, personality, health, community, and social psychology) and cognate areas such as business and management, occupational health, sport science, and ergonomics. Specific research interests cover: health and well-being, organisational interventions, intervention evaluation, diversity, coaching, organisational resilience and recovery, work behaviours (e.g., presenteeism, absenteeism, workaholism), climate and culture, change and organisational development, human error and safety, ageing and work, (in)quality, job design, leadership and teamwork, commuting and working away from home, affect (nostalgia) and individual differences, mindfulness, performance and motivation, chronic health, “always on”, and acceptable behaviours in SMEs.

Our work is carried out in a range of workplace settings, including, for example, healthcare, higher education, local government, the police, and manufacturing. Our work has been funded by the European Commission, Research Councils, charities, and industry.

• Laval University, Canada
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
• Technical University of Denmark
• Manchester Business School
• Stoke on Trent City Council
• Southern Health and Social Care Trust
• South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
• TNO, Netherlands
• Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
• Tilburg University, Netherlands
• European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
• University of Nottingham, Division of Primary Care

• Whysall, Z., Bowden, J., and Hewitt, M. (2018). Sickness presenteeism: measurement and management challenges. Ergonomics, 61(3), 341-354.
• Werner-de-Sondberg, C.R.M., Karanika-Murray, M., Baguley, T., & Blagden, N. (2017). Sector well-being differences among UK police custody staff. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology (online fist), 1-13.
• Betts, L. R., Hill, R., & Gardner, S. E. (2017). “There’s not enough knowledge out there”: Examining older adults’ perceptions of digital technology. Journal of Applied Gerontology.
• Kendrick, D., Dhiman, P., Kellezi, B., Coupland, C., Whitehead, J., Beckett, K., ... & Morriss, R. (2017). Psychological morbidity and return to work after injury: Findings from a multicentre cohort study.
• Gkiontsi, D., & Karanika-Murray, M. (2016). Dealing with economic and demographic challenges: Workplace innovation practices as a timely and effective response to older workers' needs. European Journal of Workplace Innovation, 2(1), 25-42.
• Karanika-Murray, M., Duncan, N., Pontes, H. M., & Griffiths, M. D. (2015). Organizational identification, work engagement, and job satisfaction. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 30(8), 1019-1033.
• Karanika-Murray, M., Pontes, H., Griffiths, M., & Biron, C. (2015). Sickness presenteeism determines job satisfaction via affective-motivational states. Social Science & Medicine, 139, 100-106.
• Karanika-Murray, M., Bartholomew, K., Williams, G., & Cox, T. (2015). LMX across levels of leadership: Concurrent influences of line managers and senior management on work characteristics and employee psychological health. Work & Stress, 29(1), 57-74.
• Robertson, I., Cooper, C. L., Sarkar, M., & Curran, T. (2015). Resilience training in the workplace from 2003-2014: A systematic review. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88, 533-562.
• Brunsden, V., Hill, R. and Maguire, K. (2014). Putting Fire & Rescue Service Stress Management into context: a UK informed perspective. International Fire Service Journal of Leadership and Management. 7, 27-39.
• Hill, R., Betts, L.R. and Gardner, S.E. (2015). Older adults' experiences and perceptions of digital technology: (dis)empowerment, wellbeing, and inclusion. Computers in Human Behavior.48, 415-423.
• Sarkar, M., & Fletcher, D. (2014). Ordinary magic, extraordinary performance: Psychological resilience and thriving in high achievers. Sport, Exercise, & Performance Psychology, 3, 46-60.